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As we know course materials are a huge part of any ESL class. They provide the teacher and the students with a sense of security. Preparing a good collection of course materials can be a challenge, especially for less experienced teacher. They can be time and energy consuming but, they should be prepared nonetheless. Many aspects should be considered when preparing course materials, some however are more important than others, we will mainly focus on which aspects teachers should pay most attention to. Even though course books have many benefits, they can have quite a few down sides as well if they are not well thought through. Some course materials are rigid, so the teacher can't play with them to fulfill the needs of the students. Another problem is, sometimes just one skill is emphasized and all the other skills are neglected or not enough attention is paid to them. In most countries, when a student joins an ESL class, the first thing they will say is “I just want to learn how to speak, I don’t like grammar”. Most institutes unfortunately, take advantage of this situation therefore all or most of their materials are speaking centered activities or exercises. It’s true that speaking is a very important part of learning any language, however knowing the structure, the intonation, the grammar, having the listening skills, having reading and writing skills are just as important in any language. These will be the building blocks of their new language, if all of the parts are not there the foundation will be weak, which will lead to a very slow learning process. Course materials, if used in the right way can work wonders. Course materials should be flexible, they should be relatable, something students can understand and enjoy. Course materials should cover a variety of subjects and topics from different sources to adapt to every students learning style. One of the best ways of choosing course material is finding a lot of resources but preparing nothing before the first class. The teacher should get to know the students, their levels, their interests, their motives for learning English. Based on all of these and also cultural taboos, the course material should be prepared. Using a variety of different materials to practice different skills of the language can be very helpful for building a good foundation. Different skills, such as reading, writing and speaking can be integrated into one activity or exercise, in this way students who feel like they only need to improve their speaking skills will have something to look forward to, students who feel like they need to improve all of the skills will have a chance to work on the other skills as well. When preparing course materials, considering student interest in the topic is crucial, the more interested they are the more they will participate and learn. Course materials can also include outside of the classroom activities to change the environment and give the students a feeling of change end excitement. In conclusion, course materials must be flexible and easily adapted to different situations and different levels of students. Covering the six main skills, speaking, listening, writing, reading, grammar and pronunciation is essential in any successful course material. Course materials to some degree determine how much a student learns and enjoys their ESL class. Therefore, they should fun, engaging and educational.
