UNIVERSIDAD DEL ISTMO

TESOL POSTGRADUATE
DIDACTIC RESOURCES

GRAPHIC MATERIALS
By:
Dante T. Dominguez C. 8-813-1534

April, 2015

Introduction
In second language learning, using graphic materials is an essential teaching strategy in the
English as Second Language classroom. Most foreign language research has recognized that
memorizing language forms and words is a very ineffective strategy for learning a target
language. Using graphic materials can help students to strengthen and reinforce what they
have learned. The reason may be that they allow students to absorb the information through
an additional sensory perception.
Using graphic materials makes the lessons more user friendly, they help teachers
presentations and objectives by placing emphasis on whatever is being taught. Clear visual
aids multiply the learners level of understanding of the material presented, and they can send
clear messages and clarify points from teachers. Moreover, they can involve the audience by
providing a change from one activity to another, and from hearing to seeing. In addition,
learners are more fascinated by gestures and movement in the classroom.
Additionally, graphic materials impact and add interest to a presentation. They can create
excitement, they enable learners to use more than one sense at the same time and they are
unlimited sources of information as one image may elicit multiple definitions.
The most important reason for different perception of a visual aid is because each student has
a different cultural background and past experience. Therefore, one picture can be presented
and internalized by different people in different ways.

Background
Whatever the teacher employs for making his lesson lively, realistic, effective, organized and
interesting is an aid. Some aids employed by the teacher during the course of his teaching
may work by visually representing lesson elements and catching students attention. These
aids usually represent actual pictures or images of the objects in mid, so that the horizon of
the students knowledge becomes widened and well established. Most of the four English
macro skills and well as the secondary skills may be better grasped with the use of graphic
materials. The evaluation of a good visual design is mainly based on measuring
comprehension by the audience, not on personal aesthetic and/or artistic preference as there
are no universally agreed-upon principles of beauty and ugliness
Before incorporating graphic materials into classes, teachers should understand that if used
incorrectly, the graphic material will not be an aid, but a distraction. Planning ahead is
important when using them. It is necessary to choose a graphic material that is appropriate
for the content and class. The purpose of the material is to enhance the lesson.

Graphic materials can be divided in several types:

Objects: The use of objects as visual aids involves bringing the actual object to
demonstrate on during the speech. For example, a speech about tying knots would be
more effective by bringing in a rope.
Models: Models are representations of another object that serve to demonstrate that
object when use of the real object is ineffective for some reason. Examples include
human skeletal systems, the solar system, or architecture.
Graphs: Graphs are used to visualize relationships between different quantities.
Various types are used as visual aids, including bar graphs, line graphs, pie graphs,
and scatter plots.
Maps: Maps show geographic areas that are of interest to the speech. They often are
used as aids when speaking of differences between geographical areas or showing the
location of something.
Tables: Tables are columns and rows that organize words, symbols, and/or data.
Photographs: Photographs are good tools to make or emphasize a point or to explain
a topic.
Drawings or diagrams: can be used when photographs do not show exactly what the
speaker wants to show or explain. It could also be used when a photograph is too
detailed

Advantages

Pictures, charts and organizers can be used in teaching all linguistic features of objects
The transform content from abstract to concrete, they give form to terms.
They are visually appealing and promote students participation
They give context to the class
They help avoid using the first language, promoting a second-language-only
classroom
They are useful cues that help students use past lessons content in new lessons
Can be used to develop oral, composition, reading and writing exercises
Can be used to help students organize content
Can simplify the class by presenting visual representations and, usually, summaries
of the contents
The use of the actual object is often necessary when demonstrating how to do
something so that the audience can fully understand procedure.
Models can serve as substitutes that provide a better example of the real thing to the
audience when the object being spoken about is of an awkward size or composure for
use in the demonstration.
Graphs help the audience to visualize statistics so that they make a greater impact
than just listing them verbally would.
When maps are simple and clear, they can be used to effectively make points about
certain areas.
Good tables are easy to understand. They are a good way to compare facts and to gain
a better overall understanding of the topic being discussed.

Disadvantages

If they are not done in a correct way, they may be distractors rather than aids
A variety of materials are needed to produce quality aids
Usually, the materials cost limits the quality of the aids
Some schools have a no-distractors policy thus preventing the use of graphic
materials in the classrooms
The uniqueness of the graphic materials are limited by teachers access to new
resources, motivation and imagination
Depending on how they are done and how much information they show, they may as
well be dumbing down lessons
Content may not form part of the students culture thus creating apathy and lack of
interest
Sometimes, if they are too specific, students may find them artificial and boring
some objects are too large or unavailable for a speaker to bring with them
Sometimes a model may take away from the reality of what is being spoken about.
For example, the vast size of the solar system cannot be seen from a model, and the
actual composure of a human body cannot be seen from a dummy.
Graphs can easily become cluttered during use in a speech by including too much
detail, overwhelming the audience and making the graph ineffective.

 Inclusion of too much detail on a map can cause the audience to lose focus on the key
point being made.
If the map is disproportional or unrealistic, it may prove ineffective for the point being
made.
Tables are not very interesting or pleasing to the eye. They can be overwhelming if
too much information is in a small space or the information is not organized in a
convenient way.
If the photograph is too small it just becomes a distraction. Enlarging photographs
can be expensive if not using a power point or other viewing device.
If not drawn correctly a drawing can look sloppy and be ineffective. This type of
drawing will appear unprofessional.

Activity ideas
Listening
Students may hear a word and relate them to pictures in the chart
Students may hear words and locate different graphic materials in the classroom that
may represent what they are being told
Students may be given parts of the graphic material and ask them to locate them in
graphic organizers around the classroom
Students may be given or asked to bring graphic representations of the lessons
element to act out commands
Speaking
Students may use graphic materials cues representing pronunciation patterns and
word stressing
Students may use graphic materials to form words and pronounce them
Students may link graphic materials to words thus remembering them whenever they
see the picture (first language restriction needed for this to work)
Question circling may be developed around a graphic material (asking several
questions about single sentences, each question aimed to a different element of the
sentence)
Students may be given graphic materials and asked to list the different elements in
them
Reading
Students look at the graphic material and associate words when reading a certain text
Students may use graphic materials as organizers for their readings
Students may use flowcharts and infographics to clarify reading topics
Writing
Students may look at pictures in the graphic material and write compositions about
them
Students may follow flowcharts when writing
Students may be asked to write explanations for graphic materials

Conclusion
Graphic materials help make your instruction meaningful for students. They help you reach
your objectives by providing emphasis in a different way than speaking. Clear pictures,
graphs, or models multiply your students level of understanding of the material presented,
and they can be used to reinforce your message, clarify points, and create interest.
Graphic materials engage your students and require a change from one activity to another:
from hearing to seeing and sometimes touching. They enable you to appeal to more than one
sense at the same time, thereby increasing your students understanding and retention level.
With drawings, posters, transparencies and other visuals, the concepts or ideas you present
are no longer simply words - but words plus images.

**Adapted from An Introduction to Teaching English to Children by Susan House and

Helping Students to Learn: A Guide to Learner Autonomy by Ricky Lowes and Francesca
Target.