3.

3 CONTENT CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION OF MATERIALS

Language teachers have a wide choice of materials to be used in the language classroom. The
textbook is one of the materials. Textbook writers produce the materials to meet the needs of the
intended users, however, they are subject to adaptation when they are actually used in the
classroom. This is because the textbooks are not written for any particular class and only the
teacher teaching the class will be able to tell whether the materials are suitable for the target
group of students or not. In most ELT cases, teachers have to adapt the materials they are using
if they want their teaching to be more effective and more interesting. Before a material is used in
the classroom, teachers need to evaluate the suitability of the material so that there is no
mismatch between what is needed and what is provided by checking the criteria for material
selection.

Criteria for material selection The material must match the goals and objectives of the syllabus
or language programme. The material should be consistent with the teaching-learning situation
/ approach. The authenticity of the material. the material must suit the target audience
level /ability, needs, interest, time The material should be reasonably priced if cost is involved
The material should make learning easier the material should create joy and interest in the
learners. The material should be attractive, colourful, and durable where applicable. Below is a
checklist for evaluation of materials. a. Checklist for evaluation and selection of listening and
speaking materials

Teaching of Listening and Speaking Skills in the Primary ESL classroom

Aims and approaches Do the aims of the materials correspond closely with the aims of your
lesson objectives and with the needs of the learners Is the material suited to the learning /
teaching situation?

Design and organisation How is the content organised? ( e.g. According to structures,
functions, topics, skills, etc)? Is the organisation right for learners and you? How is the content
sequenced? ( e.g. On the basis of complexity, learnability, usefulness, etc)? What type of text
is it? (expository, narrative, descriptive, discursive, etc) Is the layout clear? (printed materials)

Language Content Does the material cover the grammar item you intend to teach? Is the
vocabulary level suitable to your students ability? If you are focussing on pronunciation, does
the material include individual sounds/ word stress/ sentence stress/ intonation? Are style and
appropriacy dealt with? If so, is language style matched to social situation?

Skills and recorded materials Does the material cover the particular micro skill for listening
comprehension /oral communication you intend to teach? Is listening material well-recorded?
Is listening material authentic / non-authentic? Does the dialogue have many speakers? Is
the speech clear? Is the accent familiar to the students? Is there any visual support
material?

Topic Is the topic of the listening material in the scope of the syllabus? Is the topic familiar?
(Culture) Will the topic help expand students awareness and enrich their experience?

Teaching of Listening and Speaking Skills in the Primary ESL classroom

Teachers guide Are typescripts provided? Is there adequate guidance as to how to conduct
the activity? Is there any justification on the basic premises and principles underlying the
material? Teachers have the choice of selecting authentic or non-authentic materials for their
lessons. Authentic materials are produced in response to real life communicative needs rather
than an imitation of real life communicative needs. On the other hand non-authentic materials
are materials that are specially produced for pedagogical purposes. However, it is recomended
that teachers should expose authentic materials to the pupils as they will encounter these
materials in the real world. Examples of materials that can be used for teaching Listening and
Speaking skills

b. Printed materials books story books newspaper articles brochures / pamphlets notices
announcements calendars internet articles blogs

c. Printed authentic materials fairy Tales songs news announcements excerpts from TV
shows/ Movies movie Trailers conversation face-to-face, telephone weather report
Nursery rhymes Documentaries Advertisements

Teaching of Listening and Speaking Skills in the Primary ESL classroom

Discussion 1. Select five different materials to be used for a target group. Based on the above
checklist, discuss the suitability of the materials for the target students. Present your answer in
class. 2. Discuss the relevance of using authentic materials in the classroom with specific
examples.

PRINCIPLES OF MATERIALS ADAPTATION

Learning is an individual process of gathering and understanding knowledge and learners have
different preferences and requirements for learning. This diversity commonly requires a supply of
learning material that fits to the learners needs. Teachers have the textbook as a source of
materials but not all the materials match the particular group of pupils they are teaching.
Therefore, the textbook should be regarded as a resource for creativity and inspiration. No book
will suit all the students in terms of their learning styles, motivations, interests and levels of
English that is why teachers need to adapt materials for the lessons. Materials adaptation should
be based on the results of materials evaluation. It is importartant to note that different materials
have different potential areas for adaptation. The following are some common deficiencies of
existing ELT materials: fail (unable) to fulfil the goals and objectives specified by national or
local syllabuses or curricula fail to fulfil the goals and objectives of schools where the materials
are used cannot be finished in the time available require facilities or equipment or other
supporting materials that are not available not engaging the learners personality detrimental
to the learners culture not cater for the learners interests

The following are principles of materials adaptation: Make dialogues communicative Make
learning activities relevant and purposeful Meet the learners needs, both external and
psychological Use models of real, authentic language Very often, adaptation involves
supplementation, that is, teachers add materials from other resources to the textbook they are
using. It is believed that authentic materials are better than non-authentic materials for
supplementation. So teachers who make a point of collecting authentic materials find it much
easier to adapt textbooks. This is especially true in ELT contexts where authentic English
materials are not always readily to hand.
a. Factors to bear in mind when adaptating materials: Teachers should not adapt materials too
casually, e.g. based on his or her own preferences or tastes; Materials deleted or added should
not go beyond a reasonable proportion, otherwise consider alternative materials. Teachers
should not adapt materials only to cater for the needs of exams or tests.

b. Level of materials adaptation Textbook adaptation can be done at three levels: Macro
adaptation This is ideally done before the language programme begins. After comparing what is
covered in a textbook and what is required by the syllabus or examination, the teacher may find
that certain areas or even whole units of the book can be omitted, and certain contents need to
be supplemented. Macro adaptation is very important because it helps to avoid waste of time
and energy of the teacher and the students as well. It also helps the teacher to see in advance
what he or she needs to supplement so that he or she can keep an eye on materials that could
be used. Adapting a unit This could be reordering the activities, combining activities, omitting
activities, rewriting or supplementing exercise material, et cetera. Unit adaptation improves
classroom teaching and helps the teacher to better fulfil the aims of a unit. Adaptation of
specific activities Occasionally an activity is regarded as valuable, but it is not well-designed or it
is not feasible in a particular class. If the teacher does not want to give up the activity, he or she
needs to adapt it.

c. Specific adaptation Materials adaptation can be carried out using the following techniques:
Omission: the teacher leaves out things deemed inappropriate, offensive, unproductive, et
cetera, for the particular group. Addition: where there seems to be inadequate coverage,
teachers may decide to add to textbooks, either in the form of texts or exercise materiall.
Reduction: where the teacher shortens an activity to give it less weight or emphasis. Extension:
where an activity is lengthened in order to give it an additional dimension. (for example, a
vocabulary activity is extended to draw attention to some syntactic patterning.)
Rewriting/modification: teacher may occasionally decide to rewrite material, especially exercise
material, to make it more appropriate, more communicative, more demanding, more
accessible to their students, et cetera. Replacement: text or exercise material which is
considered inadequate, for whatever reason, may be replaced by more suitable material. This is
often culled from other resource materials. Re-ordering: teachers may decide that the order in
which the textbooks are presented is not suitable for their students. They can then decide to plot
a different course through the textbooks from the one the writer has laid down. Branching:
teachers may decide to add options to the existing activity or to suggest alternative pathways
through the activities. (for example, an experiential route or an analytical route.)