Muhammad Syahid Usman Tugas Curriculum and Material Development

2120203879102009

MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT

Effective materials in language teaching are shaped by consideration some factors including
the teachers, learners and contextual variables. Whatever materials used by teachers, they generally
serve as the basis for much language input that the learners obtain and the language practice that
occur in the classroom. Generally, teachers tend to use all guidance provided by a textbook.However,
it is a fact that a textbook does not always meet the variety conditions in a language class61. They
often rely on that they are capable of writing worthy materials themselves. Nevertheless, all teachers
are materials developers when they are involved in corresponding materials to the learners’ needs.
Here, some guides to help teachers to develop materials in order to make successful selections and
adaptations, and as a basis for developing their materials.

A. The Concept of Materials Development According to Tommlinson, material development is

anything which is done by writers, teachers or learners to provide sources of language input
and promote language learning. Therefore, materials development processes will be success
if the curriculum developers have the good concepts of material development. Ken Hyland
suggests nine steps of materials development related to course materials namely
consideration of the students (personal goals, proficiency levels, interest, etc.), consideration
of learning context (duration, resources, relationship to other subjects), consideration of the
target context (future roles of learners and the text and the tasks they need), establishment
of course goals and objectives, planning the syllabus, devising units of work and lessons,
creation or evaluation and selection of materials, teaching the course, evaluation of learners.
B. Principles in Developing Materials
According to Tomlinson the basic principles in developing materials for the language
teaching are:
1. Materials should accept impacts
2. Materials should help learners to feel at ease
3. Materials should help learners to develop confidence
4. What is being taught should be perceived by learners as relevant and useful
5. Materials should require and facilitate learners self-investment
6. Learners must be ready to acquire the point being taught
7. Materials should provide the learners with opportunities to use the target language to
achieve communicative purposes
8. Materials should take into account that the positive effects of interaction are usually
delayed
9. Materials should take into account that learners have different learning styles
10. Materials should take into account that learners differ in effective attitudes
11. Materials should permit a silent period at the beginning interaction
12. Materials should not rely too much on controlled practice
13. Materials should provide opportunities for outcome feedback
Moreover, Crawford in Jack C Richard states that materials evidently reflect the writers’
views of language theory and learning theory. Therefore, some points need to be considered
in providing effective materials:
1. Language is functional and must be contextualized
2. Language development requires learner engagement in purposeful use of language
3. The language used should be realistic and authentic
4. Classroom materials will usually seek to include an audio visual component
5. Second language learners need to develop the ability to deal with written as well as
spoken genre

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Muhammad Syahid Usman Tugas Curriculum and Material Development
2120203879102009

6. Effective teaching materials foster learner autonomy

7. Materials need to be flexible enough to cater to individual and contextual differences
8. Learning needs to engage learners both affectively and cognitively
C. Types and Characteristic of Teaching Materials
When a school is planning a language teaching program the plans regarding the role
of materials will be made. Most of people associate the term teaching materials only with
course books. However, according to Tomlinson, teaching mateerials refer to anything which
is used by teachers or learners to facilitate the learning of language. Related to the explanation
above, we can divide the materials into some types as follows:
1. Printed materials, for example textbook, student’s worksheet, pictures, photographs,
newspapers, magazines, etc.
2. Audio materials, for example cassette and compact disc.
3. Audio visual, for example video compact disc, film.
4. Interactive teaching materials, for example web based learning materials, computer
assisted instruction.
Moreover, the teaching materials can be also categorized whether they are authentic or
created.
1. Authentic Materials Authentic or learner-contextualized, materials is print materials used
in ways that they would be used in the lives of learners outside of their education classes.
For example the use in teaching of text, photographs, and other teaching resources that
are not especially prepared for pedagogical purposes. There are some strengths and
limitations of authentic materials.

2. Created Materials Refers to textbook and other specially develop instructional resources.
There are also some strength and limitations of created materials, they are:

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INSTITUT AGAMA ISLAM NEGERI (IAIN) PAREPARE 2022
Muhammad Syahid Usman Tugas Curriculum and Material Development
2120203879102009

D. Developing Materials
There are many ways in developing materials. Some models of developing
instructional materials are proposed by experts of instructional design.According to
Tomlinson, there are seven steps in the process of materials writing. The steps are
identification of need for materials, exploration of need, contextual realization of materials,
pedagogical realization of materials, production of materials, student use of materials,
evaluation of materials against agreed objectives.
In addition, Jack C Richards points out that curriculum development processes in
language teaching comprise needs analysis, goal setting, syllabus design, methodology,
testing and evaluation.
Dick and Carey propose a model of instructional design which is called a systematic
instructional design. They offer ten steps i.e. identifying instructional goals, conducting
instructional analysis, identifying characteristics of the students, writing performance
objectives, developing test-items, developing instructional strategies, developing
instructional materials, conducting formative evaluation, revising instructional materials and
conducting summative evaluation.
Similarly, Finney describes a framework of instructional materials development
consisting of four stages of decision making. The stages are curriculum planning, ends/means
specification, program implementation, and implementation in the classroom. She, however,
believes that evaluation is not a stage in itself, but as necessary and integral part of each and
all of the stages already mentioned.
All models might be applicable and well employed in developing language
instructional materials. However, it is possible to make some modifications in the model of
syllabus/materials development to suit particular instructional needs, purposes, and available
resources.
Materials exist in order to support learning and teaching, so they should be designed
to suit the people and the processes involved. Most teachers are not creators of teaching
materials but providers of good materials. For that purpose, teachers may conduct materials
evaluation and adaptation in order that they can provide good materials for their students.
1. Evaluating Materials
Evaluation is an intrinsic part of teaching and learning. The activity in evaluating
materials involves measuring the value (or potential value) of a set of learning materials
by making judgments about the effect of the materials on the people using them. It tries
to measure, for example:
 the appeals of the materials to the learners
 the validity of the materials
 the ability of the materials to interest the learners
 the potential learning value of the materials
 the assistance given to the teachers in terms of the preparation,
 delivery and assessment
 the flexibility of the materials
In evaluating materials it is necessary to examine the ways in which teaching materials
are sensitive to the language learning process. Evaluation criteria should relate not only
to the aims and contents of language learning, but also, and importantly, to the

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INSTITUT AGAMA ISLAM NEGERI (IAIN) PAREPARE 2022
Muhammad Syahid Usman Tugas Curriculum and Material Development
2120203879102009

procedures for working with text and performing task in the classroom. It is necessary to
analyse learner out comes, but not to the exclusion of evaluating other aspects of the
teaching and the learning process.
The existence of textbook as one of sources for teaching materials cannot be denied
by most teachers. When teachers open a page in their textbook, they have to decide
whether they should use the lesson on that page with their class or not. If the language,
content and sequencing of the textbook are appropriate, the teacher might want to go
ahead and use it. However, if, there is something incorrect with the textbook, the teacher
has to decide what to do next. Therefore, when evaluating the quality of a textbook’s
exercises or activities, four key questions should be answered:
a. Do the exercises and activities in the textbook contribute to students’ language
acquisition?
b. Are the exercises balanced in their format, containing both controlled and free
practice?
c. Are the exercises progressive as the students move through the textbook?
d. Are the exercises varied and challenging
2. Adapting Materials
Materials adaptation involves changing existing materials so that they become more
suitable for specific learners, teachers or situations. In preparation for particular lesson,
teachers may, for example: decide to use only part of a unit, add or delete texts or
activities, replace or supplement texts or activities with ones from other sources
Adapting existing educational materials usually requires less time and fewer resources
than developing new materials. Before using existing materials, review the materials to
ensure accuracy of information. Also, be sure to review and evaluate the materials based
on individual, community, and program needs. You may be able to use some products and
materials without any modification. Other materials may not be appropriate for your
target audience or compatible with your program’s guidelines. These materials may
require modification.
There are always sound practical reasons for adapting material in order to take them
as accessible and useful to learners as possible. However, reason for adaption have varied
and changed as the field has developed and views on language as questions and teaching
practice have become better informed y research and experience. Within this historical
context, it is easy to understand why some teachers will wish to adapt materials.
In adapting the material, the material developers need to consider the following
procedures:
a. profiling of teaching context
b. identifying reasons for adaptation
c. evaluating
d. listing objectives
e. adapting
f. teaching
g. revising
In addition, the various techniques of adapting materials can be divided into three
main categories in term of quantity:

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INSTITUT AGAMA ISLAM NEGERI (IAIN) PAREPARE 2022
Muhammad Syahid Usman Tugas Curriculum and Material Development
2120203879102009

Tomlinson and Masuhara suggest that the most effective way of conducting a material
adaptation is to:
1. Have a large bank of categorized materials that you can
2. Readily retrieve for adaptation.
3. Have colleagues with whom you can share resources and who
4. Are willing to go through the adaptation process together.
5. Have colleagues who are happy to give you feedback on your adapted materials.
6. Be in an environment in which materials evaluation, adaptation and development
are encouraged and teachers’ time and efforts are acknowledged.
7. Revisit adapted materials and improve them.

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INSTITUT AGAMA ISLAM NEGERI (IAIN) PAREPARE 2022