Materials Evaluation and Materials Design

The coursebook, whether in a traditional or digital version, appears to be the most essential teaching and learning tool that leads teachers and learners' actions in many classrooms. A teacher's resource book or resource pack, audio and video material and digital packages, and supplementary online materials or 'apps' are all included in modern coursebooks. Young learners' coursebooks are well designed with attractive features, such as colorful visuals, fun games and tasks, crafts, and projects.

In certain situations, teachers must strictly adhere to a predefined course book, lesson by lesson and exercise by exercise, but in others, teachers are allowed to choose their own materials and activities. Most professors, in reality, fall somewhere in the center, where a course book must be followed but there is also room for unique additions.

Syllabuses: four skills and more

Children's course materials usually include appealing real materials, tales, and enjoyable activities, and they are in line with some of the educational objectives. Additional materials, including as posters, cards, iTools, a teacher's website, an audio CD, a Big Question DVD, online practice materials, and a parent website, are available to help teachers and students.

Evaluating coursebooks

Both teachers and students often analyze and adapt coursebooks informally. Teachers keep track of what works and what doesn't, and they interpret the book in their own way. Coursebooks can also be professionally assessed. One apparent goal of such an evaluation may be for instructors to make a case to school management to replace an outdated coursebook or to find methods to augment the current coursebook.

Supplementing coursebooks

Every coursebook has appealing characteristics, but they are also limited in certain respects, and it is critical that teachers take the time to discover these gaps. After that, they may start adapting and rewriting items to fill in the gaps, making the content more appropriate for their class.

The teacher wants to try something new by encouraging kids to learn to learn. If the coursebook does not include learning to learn, teachers might develop activities to include the "plan-do-review" cycle into each unit or teach specialized vocabulary acquisition tactics. Another typical motivation for augmenting a coursebook is to inspire students with attractive, real content.

For example, a teacher may decide to include authentic stories or storybooks to supplement the predictable language of the coursebook. Storybooks, children's magazines, and other children's publications, as well as the internet, are great sources of authentic materials for teachers

Authentic texts

Many authentic materials such as picture books can be used in English classes without any adaptation. Children generally do not mind if they do not understand every word in a story as long as following the plot is still possible. Repeated opportunities to listen to the same story will also help learning new language embedded in the story.

Adapting a well-known-fable

Fable The Grasshopper and the Ants could be a good source of language learning for children. But, as the teacher has indicated, the traditional fable is far too difficult for her class of eight-year-olds with very little English. Fables are particular types of animal stories with moral lessons applicable to human life.

Source: Teaching Young Language Learners (Second Edition). Annamaria Pinter. Oxford University Press 2017