Guide Questions: Importance of Materials Development

Prepare for the following questions:

1. Why do you think materials development was initially thought as 'insufficiently academic' or a
mere 'subsection of methodology?'

very few books had been published on materials development. This reflected the feeling at
the time that materials development was ‘insufficiently academic’ to be treated as a field in its
own right and that it was a “subsection of methodology, in which materials were usually
introduced as examples of methods in action rather than as a means to explore the principles and
procedures of their development” (Tomlinson, 2001, p. 66).

2. Do you agree that teachers, researchers, linguists, and publishers should be brought together
in a joint endeavor to stimulate and support principled research, innovation and
development? Why or why not?
Yes, I agree. I believe that materials development is a crucial part of the learning process
because materials are basically essential for the students to learn, so it has to be a good
and legitimate one.
3. In your own words, define what materials are and what are its functions. Cite examples for
each.
Materials are “anything which can be used to facilitate the learning of a language,
including coursebooks, videos, graded readers, flash cards, games, websites and
mobile phone interactions” (Tomlinson, 2012, p. 143).

Informative - informing the learner about the target language;

instructional - guiding the learner in practicing the language;
experiential - providing the learner with experience of the language in use;
eliciting - encouraging the learner to use the language;
exploratory - helping the learner to make discoveries about the language.
4. What is the difference of language acquisition from language learning? How can materials facilitate
both?

5. What is materials development and what processes are involved in the creation of such? Explain each
briefly.

Materials development is a practical undertaking involving the production, evaluation,

adaptation and exploitation of materials intended to facilitate language acquisition and development.

6. Enumerate and briefly discuss the principles and procedures essential in developing effective
learning materials.

It is also a field of academic study investigating the principles and procedures of the design,
writing, implementation, evaluation and analysis of learning materials.
7. How can language teachers and applied linguists collaboratively work in materials development?
What expertise and limitations do both have to complement each other?

8. Explain the conflict between the common practice of using materials as the basis of much language
input and practice, yet there is no course book that can meet all the needs of every class.

Most learners of English these days are learning it in distinctive contexts for distinctive
purposes.

9. What are the roles of the teacher as a materials developer and how are these roles responded to in
a typical classroom setup?

This means that “Every teacher is a materials developer” (English Language Centre, 1997) who is
constantly evaluating the available materials, adapting them, replacing them, supplementing them and
finding effective ways to implement the materials chosen for classroom use.

10. Why should a language teacher also be a materials developer? Explain the global, specific, and
pragmatic contexts surrounding this demand among educators.

In addition to the obvious pragmatic function of preparing teachers for the realities of classroom
teaching materials development can also be extremely useful as a “way of helping teachers to
understand and apply theories of language learning – and to achieve personal and professional
development” (Tomlinson, 2001, p. 67).

Participating in materials development can increase awareness, criticality, creativity and self-
esteem. It can also improve career prospects too.

11. How can materials development help in teacher growth and training? How was the author able to
prove this claim?

Extended simulations can help participants to become more aware of important issues in
language acquisition and development, can help them to become more critical and creative in adapting
and developing materials for target learners and can foster considerable teacher growth.

12. Cite instances that can best exemplify the responses to the author's program? (See page 5)

13. What standards ensure that materials development is effective for teacher growth? Explain each.

14. How is materials development different from the perspective of the teacher, materials writer,
researcher, and applied linguist?
15. What are the conclusions of the author regarding materials development as a practical undertaking
and as an academic field of study?

1. What roles does reading satisfy in the language learning program?

2. Why is reading ability considered a valuable asset?
3. What is the difference between reading for language and reading for comprehension?
4. How do learners take meaning from and also bring meaning to the printed material?
5. What is the role of appropriate selection and effective presentation of materials in reading?
6. What makes a reading material appropriate?
7. What are the factors to consider in preparing appropriate reading materials?
8. Explain the effects of each factor in the efficacy of a reading material?
9. What are the characteristics that a material should satisfy to pique a reader's individual
interest? 10. Describe the role of interest in reading that affects a reader's performance.
11. Why do you think readers exhibit reluctance and loss of confidence in low-interest
reading materials?
12. What makes materials relevant and how can they help in facilitating better reading
performance? 13. Why are the materials that are prepared specifically for native speakers
inappropriate for EFL/ESL learners?
14. Why is variety in the reading content important in developing an interesting reading
material?
15. How can a developer establish familiarity and comfort in the selected topics for reading?