ELT03-LANGUAGE LEARNING

MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT
Adrian Joseph A. Leoparte
Instructor, College of Teacher Education
Instructional Materials

1. Definition
2. Purposes
3. Principles Underlying the Preparation of Materials
4. Types (both Conventional and Modern/ Technology
Based)
5. Authentic Materials
6. Factors Affecting Material Preparation

1. Definition of Instructional Materials (IMs)

• IMs are an important element within the curriculum and are often the
most tangible and visible aspect of it (Nunan,1991)

• They can provide a detailed specification of content, even in the

absence of the syllabus (Richards and Rodgers, 1986).

• They can define the goals of the syllabus, and the roles of the teachers
and the learner within the instructional process (Wright, 1987).

Instructional Materials (Tomlinson, 2001; Tomlinson 2001)

• Include anything which can be used to facilitate learning

• Can be linguistic, visual, auditory or kinesthetic

• Can be instructional, experiential, elicitative or exploratory,

in that they can inform in use, they can stimulate, language
use or they can help learners to make discoveries about the
language for themselves.

What materials can be used to a ect language learning?

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2. Purpose of Instructional Materials Preparation

•Shortcomings and failures of existing

materials
•Set of new and promising concepts



Role of Instructional Materials
(Cunningsworth, 1995)
• A resource for presentation material
• A source of stimulation and ideas for classroom activities.
• A syllabus (where they reflect learning objectives which have
already been determined)
• A support for less experienced teachers who have yet to gain in
confidence.

Role of Instructional Materials

(Dudley-Evans & St. John; 1998)

•As a source of language

•As a learning support
•For motivation and stimulation
•For reference

3. Principles Underlying the Preparation of

Instructional Materials

• Materials should achieve impact.

• Materials should help the learners to feel at ease.
• Materials should help the learners to develop confidence.
• What is being taught should be perceived by learners as
relevant and useful.
• Materials should require and facilitate learner self-
investment.

•Learners must be ready to acquire the points being

taught.
•The learner’s attention should be drawn to linguistic
features of the input.
•Materials should provide the learners with opportunities
to use the target language to achieve communicative
process.
•Materials should take into account that the positive
effects of instruction are usually delayed.
•Materials should take into account that learners differ in
learning styles.

• Materials should take into account that learners differ in

affective attitudes.
• Materials should permit a silent period at the beginning of
instruction.
• Materials should maximize learning potentials by encouraging
intellectual, aesthetic and emotional involvement which
stimulates both right and left brain activities.
• Materials should not rely too much on controlled practice.
• Materials should provide opportunities for outcome feedback.

4. Types of Instructional Materials (Ellington,1987)

•Printed and duplicated materials

•Non-projected display materials
•Still projected display materials
•Audio, video and computer-mediated materials

 Types of Instructional Materials (Tomlinson,1998)

1. Textbook
• Main reference for the entire course.
• Usually chosen by the school
• Reflects the minimum learning competencies for specific
levels



2. Workbook/Skill book
•Usually accompanies the textbook
•Provides exercises and drills on specific skills
•Presents reinforcement and remedial activities to support
lessons in the textbooks.

3. Teacher’s Book/ Teacher’s Manual/Teacher’s Guide

• Contain a detailed rationale for textbook
• Explain the scope and the sequence for the lessons
• Provides guidance in planning the lessons from materials to
suggested activities.

4. Work Text

•Combines the features of the textbooks and workbooks

•Provide teaching points like those in the textbooks.
•Reinforce the teaching points with many drills and
exercises just like those that contain A-Z practical
suggestions for teaching.

5. Module and Self-Learning Kit (SLK)

• More interactive than the other types of written IMs

appear in the workbook
• Develops independent study through self-paced instruction
• Contains posttest, pretest, lesson inputs, exercises and
drills- provisions for self-paced learning

6. Reference Book
•Provides general information on various topics
•Includes encyclopedia, dictionary, atlas, manuals, etc.

7. Multimedia Instructional Materials

•Audio and visual materials accessible through various
medial like radio, television and computer
•Also includes interactive courseware on various topics

4. Authentic versus created materials

• Authentic materials refer to the use of teaching of texts,

photographs, video selections, and other teaching
resources that were not specially prepared for pedagogic
purposes.

• Created materials refer to textbooks and other specially

developed instructional resources.




Advantages of Authentic Materials (Philips & Shettlesworth, 1978;
Clarke, 1989; Peacock 1997)

• They have positive effect on learner motivation

• They provide authentic cultural information about the
target culture.
• They provide exposure to real language

5. Considerations for Instructional Materials Preparation

•The curriculum, syllabus, and learning

competencies
•Learner’s learning styles, aptitudes and proficiency
•Pedagogical principles held by the teacher
•Societal demands

Task 2
1. In your groups, discuss the di erent factors according to:
2. Cite an example using a given
• Understanding
textbook, that shows the particular
factor.
• Structuring/clarifying

• Sequencing

• Balancing

• Explaining

• Pacing

• Reviewing

• Elaborating

• Transfer of Learning
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 • Understanding:


• For books such as SRA Reading Laboratory, students are

required to take a pretest that classi es you to your reading level.
In here, we can see requires matching the materials to the learners’
abili es and prior knowledge. They are only admi ed to a color (level)
that ts their ability.


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