Language Curriculum and Syllabus
Language Curriculum and Syllabus
1 Language Curriculum
1.1 Definition
Language curriculum can be understood as an aspect of a broader field of educational activity known as curriculum development.
Curriculum development is concerned with determining what knowledge, skills, values and attitudes students learn and develop
in schools, what experiences should be provided to bring about intended learning outcomes, and how teaching and learning in
schools or educational systems can be planned, implemented, measured and evaluated.
According to Richards (2001: 1), language curriculum development seeks to answer questions including the following:
What are learners’ needs, and how can their needs be determined?
What is the nature of aims and objectives in teaching and how can these be developed?
What procedures can be used to determine the content of a language program?
What contextual factors need to be considered in planning a language program?
What factors are involved in planning the syllabus and the units of organization in a course?
How can good teaching be provided in a program?
What issues are involved in selecting, adapting and designing instructional materials?
How can the effectiveness of a language program be measured?
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The content model underpins grammar-based curriculum, and the syllabus consists of grammar and vocabulary. The
purposes of a language program are to transmit knowledge of the language system to the learners and to ensure that
they master the grammar rules and vocabulary of the language. Thus,
Language learning is seen as a means of sharpening the intellect, not as a means of communication.
Content or the syllabus is concerned with the selection and sequencing of individual grammar points and
lexis as well as translating from L1 to the target language and vice versa.
The teaching procedures and learning experiences include drilling of grammatically correct sentences,
explanation of theory and memorization of lists of vocabulary.
Assessment is based on the learner’s ability to produce grammatically accurate sentences.
d) Strengths of the Content Model
It states definite ideas of what most people consider ‘good education’, that is, literature, ethics/religion,
physical science, biological science, history, second language (the ability to think effectively, to
communicate thought, to make relevant judgments, to discriminate among values).
It laid the foundation for later developments.
e) Criticisms
Fails to cope with the discussions of the wider purposes of education.
Does not take into account the abilities or problems of the individual learner or the complexities of the
learning process.
It fails to take into account the widely differing needs of the mass of the student population (the ‘educated’
are no longer an elite trained to rule the next generation).
The basic premises of science no longer rest on objective, logical, value-free theories but are shaken by new
discoveries and uncertainties.
The foundations of universal knowledge are no longer secure.
c) Language teaching/learning
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Language is viewed as a means of communication and understanding each other among people. Grammar is seen as
something that supports communication, and what people do with the language is more important than mastery of
grammatical items.
In foreign language teaching, reconstructionism underlies audiolingual, situational, topic, and functional/notional
approaches, each of which purports to bring about communicative ability in a different way and adopts different
organizing principles in the design of language curriculum. Accordingly:
Audiolingualism focuses on good grammatical ability.
Topic-based approach emphasizes the ability to handle particular topics effectively.
Situational approach is concerned with the use of appropriate language in varying situations.
The functional/notional approach is concerned with the mastery of formal means to express certain
predetermined meanings.
d) Strengths
Clarity of goals: goals are clear both to the teacher and learners.
Needs: it introduced the concept and ways of conducting needs assessment.
Education for all: every citizen has the right to learn.
Ease of evaluation: learning can easily and accurately be evaluated to the extent that the objectives have been
fulfilled.
Accountability: the model provides clear methods for needs identification, establishing learning purpose and
providing measurable outcomes of the educational program.
e) Criticisms
Reduces people to the level of automatons who can be trained to behave in particular ways and precludes such
concepts of autonomy, self-fulfillment and personal development; all learners are treated in the same way
Attempts to impose a linear process on something that is spiraling and cyclical; treats learning as something
that occurs bit by bit.
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Necessity of predetermined goals: carefully predetermined goal is necessary and must be spelt out with the means
(methodology) to achieve it.
Problem of large classes: it requires one to one teacher and student ratio.
Motivated learners: requires high degree of motivation from learners
Exposure to target language: rich exposure to the target language is necessary
2 Syllabus Design
A syllabus is a specification of the content of what is to be taught and tested in a course. It is a plan of what is intended to be
achieved through teaching and learning. Thus a syllabus for a speaking course, for example, might specify the kinds of oral skills
and other aspects of conversation that will be taught and practiced and the order in which they will appear in the course.
Nunan (1988) makes a distinction between curriculum and syllabus and writes that while curriculum is concerned with “the
planning, implementation, evaluation, management, and administration of education programs”, syllabus “focuses more narrowly
on the selection and grading of content.”
Syllabus, therefore
is more localized than curriculum, based on accounts and records of what actually happens at the classroom level as
teachers and learners apply a given curriculum to their own situation;
focuses on the selection and grading of course content;
forms the sub-component of the planning phase of curriculum development.
Structural syllabus: Grammatical and phonological structures are the organizing principles –sequenced from easy to difficult or
frequent to less frequent
Lexical syllabus: The lexical syllabus takes 'word' as the unit of analysis and content for syllabus design. It identifies target
vocabulary arranged according to levels such as the first 500, 1000, 1500 words.
Notional/ Functional syllabus: Conceptual categories called notions (such as quantity, duration, location, etc.) and functions
(such as introduction, ask and give information, etc.) are the organizing principle – sequenced by some sense of chronology or
usefulness of each function
Situational syllabus: Situations (such as at the school, at a restaurant, at the supermarket etc.) form the organizing principle –
sequenced by the likelihood students will encounter them
Content or topical syllabus: Topics, themes or other units of content (such as our body, our house, our family, etc.) form the
organizing principle - sequenced by the likelihood that the students will encounter them
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Skills syllabus: Skills (such as listening for main ideas, scanning a reading passage for specific information, etc.) serve as the
basis for organization - sequenced by some sense of chronology or usefulness for each skill.
Task or activity based syllabus: Tasks (such as jigsaw tasks, information gap, problem-solving and decision making) serve as
the basis for organization.
Procedural syllabus: Activities (such as naming parts of a diagram, drawing maps, following directions or instructions) serve as
the basis for organization.
Process syllabus: Content is not specified in advance and there are no predetermined goals. The syllabus grows naturally out of
the learning situation as a result of ongoing negotiations between teacher and learners and among learners.
Competency-based syllabus
Competencies refer to essential skills, knowledge and attitudes that are required for the effective performance of particular tasks
and activities.
As shown above, there are different types of language syllabi. This, however, does not mean that in practice each type of syllabus
occurs purely independently of others. This is to say that most language teaching syllabi combine two or more types in the
teaching situation. For a given language course one type of syllabus often dominates and other types may be combined with it.
For example, a content-based syllabus may be used in combination with skill and task-based syllabi. Moreover, the different
types of syllabi are not entirely distinct from each other. For example, the distinction between skill-based and task-based syllabi
may be minimal.
Depending on how they treat the above question, syllabi can be put into one of two superordinate categories:
a) product-oriented syllabi
b) process-oriented syllabi
Long and Crookes (1993) make a similar distinction between what they refer to as synthetic and analytic syllabi. White (1988)
also distinguishes between Type A and Type B syllabi in a similar way.
Product-oriented syllabi encompass structural, lexical, notional, functional and most topical syllabi in which it is assumed that
learning occurs as a gradual accumulation of separately taught parts, building up to the learning of the entire structure of the
language. According to Long and Crookes, the synthetic or product-oriented syllabi
…rely on learners’ (assumed) ability to learn a language in parts (e.g. structures and functions) independently
of one another and also to integrate or synthesize the pieces when the time comes to use them for
communicative purposes ((1993: 12)
Process-oriented (analytic) syllabi, which consist of skills, tasks, procedural and process syllabi, on the other hand, are
concerned with the process of learning and not the product. Accordingly, the concern of the syllabus designer in this
case is with ‘how’ rather than with ‘what,’ and the basis for a syllabus in this category is psychological and pedagogical
rather than linguistic. This also means that prior analysis of the total language system into a set of discrete items of
language is largely unnecessary.
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to acquire the ability to perform with some degree of fluency in the second language, that is, to develop
communicative competence
Thus, if priority is given to the knowledge of the language system, the product- oriented/synthetic/type A syllabus will
be most appropriate, If, however, the aim is to
develop the second language competence, a process syllabus will be preferred. Within these two general syllabus types
a choice may be made between “sub-types” based on the needs and circumstances of the learner.
1. Based on the needs of the students, determining what outcomes are desired for the learners in the
instructional program. That is, defining what the learners should be able to do as a result of the instructional
program
2. Evaluating available resources in expertise, in materials and in training for teachers
3. Determining what syllabus types would be the easiest to implement given the available resources
4. Reviewing the question of combination or integration of syllabus types and determining how combinations
will be achieved and in what proportion
5. Translating decisions into actual teaching units.
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2.4.4 Users of needs analysis
Information obtained from needs analysis can be used by different groups, individuals and organizations. For example, a needs
analysis carried out to revise the secondary school English curriculum in a country can be used by
curriculum experts in the ministry of education, who may wish to use the information to evaluate the adequacy of
existing syllabus, curriculum and teaching materials;
teachers who will teach from the revised curriculum;
learners, who will be taught from the curriculum;
writers, who prepare new textbooks;
testing personnel, who are involved in developing end-of-school assessments;
staff in higher learning institutions, who are interested in knowing what the expected level will be of students exiting
the schools and what problems they face.
3 Materials Development
3.1 Terms and Concepts in Materials Development
Materials
The term materials can be understood as anything which is used by teachers and learners to facilitate the learning of a language.
Materials could obviously be videos, DVDs, emails, You Tube, dictionaries, grammar books, readers, workbooks, or photocopied
exercises. They could also be newspapers, food packages, photographs, live talks by invited native speakers, instructions given
by a teacher, tasks written on cards or discussions between learners. In other words, they can be anything which is deliberately
used to increase learners’ knowledge and/or experience of the language. This means that there are various sources of input for the
purpose of language teaching and learning. It can also be useful to keep in mind that materials ‘can be instructional in that they
inform learners about the language, they can be experiential in that they provide exposure to the language in use, they can be
elicitative in that they stimulate language use, or they can be exploratory in that they facilitate discoveries about language use.’
(Tomlinson 2001: 66)
Materials development
‘Materials development is both a field of study and a practical undertaking. As a field it studies the principles and procedures of
the design, implementation and evaluation of language teaching materials’ (Tomlinson 2001: 66). As a practical undertaking it
refers to anything which is done by writers, teachers or learners to provide sources of language input, to exploit those sources in
ways which maximize the likelihood of intake and to stimulate purposeful output: in other words, the supplying of information
about and/or experience of the language in ways designed to promote language learning. Ideally the ‘two aspects of materials
development are interactive in that the theoretical studies inform and are informed by the development and use of classroom
materials’ (Tomlinson 2001: 66).
Materials developers might write textbooks, tell stories, bring advertisements into the classroom, express an opinion, provide
samples of language use or read a poem aloud. Whatever they do to provide input, they do so ideally in principled ways related to
what they know about how languages can be effectively learned. In materials development it is thus necessary to consider the
three vital questions of what should be provided for the learners, how it should be provided and what can be done with it to
promote language learning.
Coursebook
A textbook which provides the core materials for a language-learning course. It aims to provide as much as possible in one book
and is designed so that it could serve as the only book which the learners necessarily use during a course. Such a book usually
includes work on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, functions and the skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking.
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Global coursebook
A coursebook which is not written for learners from a particular culture or country but which is intended for use by any class of
learners in the specified level and age group anywhere in the world.
Multimedia materials
Materials which make use of a number of different media. Often they are available on a CD-ROM which makes use of print,
graphics, video and sound. Usually such materials are interactive and enable the learner to receive feedback on the written or
spoken language that they produce.
Self-access materials
Materials developed for learners to use independently (i.e. on their own without access to a teacher or a classroom). They are
normally used by learners at home, in the library or in a self-study centre and can be paper-based or electronic.
Supplementary materials
Materials designed to be used in addition to the core materials of the course. They are usually related to the development of the
skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking rather than to the learning of language items but also include dictionaries,
grammar books and workbooks.
Text
Any extended sample of a language presented to learners of that language. A text could be written or spoken and could be, for
example, a poem, a newspaper article, a passage about pollution, a song, a film, a live conversation, an extract from a novel or
play, a passage written to exemplify the use of the past perfect, a recorded telephone conversation, a scripted dialogue or a speech
by a politician.
Simplified texts
These are texts which have been made simpler so as to make it easier for learners to read them. The usual principles of
simplification involve reduction in length of the text, shortening of sentences, omission or replacement of difficult words or
structures, omission of qualifying clauses and omission of non-essential detail. Some applied linguists prefer to simplify texts by
adding examples, by using repetition and paraphrase and by increasing redundant information. In other words by lengthening
rather than shortening the text, by elaboration rather than reduction.
Authentic text
A text which is not written or spoken for language-teaching purposes.
Tasks
These are activities in which the learners are asked to use the target language in order to achieve a particular outcome within a
particular context (e.g. solving a problem; planning a meeting; selecting candidates for an interview).
Pedagogic task
A task which does not replicate real world task but which is designed to facilitate the learning of language or of skills which
would be useful in a real world task. Completing one half of a dialogue, filling in the blanks in a story and working out the
meaning of ten nonsense words from clues in a text would be examples of pedagogic tasks. Pedagogic tasks can, however,
require the use of real world skills. A task requiring a group to reproduce a diagram which only one member of the group has
seen, involves the use of visualization, giving precise instructions and asking for clarification. It is arguable that such tasks,
despite not being real world tasks, are in fact authentic.
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Contrived Materials
These are materials that are intentionally created or produced for the purpose of teaching and learning a language. Teacher-made
materials and commercial textbooks are examples of contrived materials. Using such materials has both advantages and
disadvantages.
Advantages
They can provide efficient language models (inputs) for teachers and students.
Tasks and activities are readily available in the textbooks (saves teachers’ time).
They maintain quality.
They provide variety of learning resources.
They help to standardize instruction.
They train inexperienced teachers.
They provide resources for self-study outside the classroom.
Disadvantages
They fail to present language in real use, or they may contain inauthentic materials
They may not reflect students’ interests; they are produced for general learning.
Textbooks compensate the deficiencies of teachers.
Culture may not be considered.
They may distort content by presenting an idealized view of the real situation.
They can be causes of student errors.
They may be expensive.
Authentic Materials
In language teaching and learning authentic materials refers to the use of texts, photographs, video selections and other teaching
resources that were not specifically prepared for pedagogical purposes. The use of authentic materials in this sense has several
advantages as opposed to the use of contrived materials.
Advantages
They have a positive effect on learner motivation because they are intrinsically more interesting and motivating than
created materials.
They provide exposure to real language rather than the artificial texts found in created materials that have been
specifically written to illustrate particular grammatical rules or discourse types.
They relate more closely to learners’ needs and hence provide a link between the classroom and students needs in the
real world.
They support a more creative approach to teaching. In using authentic materials as a source for teaching activities,
teachers can develop their full potential as teachers, developing activities and tasks that better match their teaching
styles and the learning styles of their students.
Authentic materials keep students informed about what is happening in the world, so they have an intrinsic educational
value.
Textbooks often do not include incidental or improper language.
Language change is reflected in the materials; thus students and teachers can keep abreast of such changes.
Books, articles, newspapers, and so on contain a wide variety of text types, language styles not easily found in
textbooks.
They provide authentic cultural information about the target culture.
Disadvantages
Authentic materials often contain difficult language and unneeded vocabulary items.
Created materials may be superior to authentic materials because they are generally built around a graded syllabus and
hence provide a systematic coverage of teaching items.
Too many structures are mixed, so lower levels have difficulty decoding texts.
With listening, there may be too many different accents.
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Using authentic materials is a burden for teachers. Teachers have to spend a considerable amount of time locating
suitable sources for materials and developing activities and exercises.
They may be too culturally biased, so unnecessarily difficult to understand.
The material can become outdated easily, e.g. news items.
Thus, teachers often use a mixture of contrived/created and authentic materials because both have their advantages as well as
limitations.
In line with the inductive approach, it is important to emphasise the use of context because a good context
shows what the new grammar item means and how it is used (e.g. in a text, dialogue);
provides background for a great deal of language use so that students can use the information not only for repetition of
model sentences but also for making their own sentences – immediate creativity;
is interesting for students – at least students want to see or hear the information;
uses realistic situations; and
is memorable.
In designing vocabulary developing tasks, the amount of attention devoted to words should vary according to whether students
are expected to just understand (passive vocabulary) or be able to use (active vocabulary). This helps the material developer to
arrive at appropriate decisions about designing tasks and choosing procedures for presenting and practicing words.
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Contextual meaning
Sense relations (synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms, homonymy and polysemy)
b. Word use
Metaphors and idiomatic expressions
Collocation
Style and register
c. Word formation
Parts of speech
Prefixes and suffixes
Spelling
Pronunciation
d. Word grammar
Nouns: countable/uncountable
Phrasal verbs
Positions: adjectives and adverbs
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d. Word-forms occurring in different contexts with different meanings
homonymy (a word with different meanings) e.g. bank
polysemy (a single word form having several but closely related meanings
leg of a person/chair
foot of a bed/mountain/page
iv. Organizing words according to their formations
prefixes
suffixes
compound words
v. Organizing using collocations
lick an ice-cream chew a gum
sprain an ankle break a leg
a bunch of bananas a pack of cards
bedroom bathroom
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encourage students to clarify and extend their thinking about the text and help them to express their thoughts
about what they have read (post-reading questions).
b. Makes use of effective questions on a reading text which
have a clear purpose and encourage a particular kind of thinking;
are appropriate to the level of students;
take into account and try to exploit the experience of the students
are simply and unambiguously stated.
3.3.3.2 Selection of Reading Texts for the Reading Approach
In order to help learners to develop their reading skills, it is essential to select or provide them with reading texts which fit their
interest or needs. Thus, do not use texts that deal with:
a. topics which are familiar to the students;
b. experiences which are remote to the students;
c. very familiar concepts and experiences; and
d. involve language below or above the proficiency level of students.
This means that every effort should be made to ensure that the texts used are appropriate to students in terms of:
a. familiarity of topic and experience;
b. level of difficulty of language in the text;
c. level of difficulty of concepts in the text; and
d. level of interest the texts are likely to generate among students.
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Understanding lexical cohesion – awareness that two or more expressions in a text may have the same referent or
signification.(the poor woman-Kedija-the lady)
Interpreting discourse markers and signals – knowing the meaning of a discourse marker (the value it
signifies) and working out meanings of sentences
Sequencing: first of all
Re-expressing: that is to say
Summarizing: to sum up
Transferring information skills
Transferring information refers to reading a text and summarizing the main pieces of information in the form of
table/chart. Tasks students can as they are reading include:
Reading and labeling a diagram
Choosing a picture that fits the meaning of a text
Reordering jumbled sentences correctly
Note: Not all kinds of texts lend themselves to information transfer; texts which give factual information are most
appropriate.
Understanding text organization
The ability to identify the way a text is organized or information is structured in a text is a vital skill for two reasons:
helps learners to understand the overall message of a text; and
provides a basis for being able to take good notes from reading.
A text at a paragraph level can be based on the following principles of organization:
sequence of events
generalspecific
specificgeneral
problemsolution
definitionexample
causeeffect
effectcause
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Reading to confirm expectations - open-ended
Reading for gist - MCQ
Reading for specific purpose - T/F
Finding answers in the text (literal/plain) - open-ended
Finding answers requiring reorganization, - MCQ
interpretation of information - T/F
- open-ended
Deducing meanings from context - matching
(vocabulary questions) - MCQ
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Listen and choose (true/false)
Listen and complete (notes from talks, news broadcasts)
Listen and enjoy (a joke, a story)
c. Post-listening tasks/activities
Objectives
To help learners practice various skills
Macro-skills: overall idea/gist
Micro-skills: specific details
Relating experience to the text (going beyond the text)
Activities/Tasks
Complete a summary of the listening text from notes
Answer true/false questions
Answer open-ended questions
Put items in the correct order
Discuss opinion about…
Relate what you heard to your own experience
Thus, in the classroom situation where the aim is to develop students’ speaking skills, any activity, whether it is for genuine
communication or for promoting language use, students should have a desire to communicate. This, in other words, means that
speaking tasks/activities should engage learners in using language to achieve some communicative intent.
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Contextualized drills: the language structure which students are expected to practice is predetermined
(controlled), little control over the content;
Exchanging personal information: students find out true information about one another by asking questions;
Putting pictures in order: constructing a story by discovering and agreeing on a sensible order for a set of
pictures and reporting using the past tense;
Sequencing a story: constructing a story by discovering and agreeing on a sensible order of a series of
sentences and telling the story;
Ranking: ranking items according to a given set of criteria and discussing the relative importance of each
quality; students discuss, persuade, etc.
Communicative activities: free practice
Aim: fluency (using language naturally, meaningfully and for genuine communication)
Activities:
Solving a problem by selecting and ranking a list of objects, giving opinions, justifications, etc.;
Arguing, agreeing and disagreeing in groups;
Finding differences in pictures;
Reporting their personal experiences outside the classroom.
3.3.6.2 Activities/Tasks
a. Activities for reinforcing vocabulary and grammatical accuracy
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copying;
completing sentences with newly learnt vocabulary;
arranging given words in sentences;
writing sentences which are free of errors (run-ons, fragments, misplaced modifiers, etc.;
combining sentences.
b. Activities for promoting both accuracy and skills of communication
improving what has been written by correcting grammar, punctuation and spelling;
providing appropriate links between ideas in a text;
rearranging jumbled sentences in the correct order;
completing a dialogue, given the words of one speaker;
using newly learnt vocabulary to express one’s ideas;
organizing and expanding given notes into a paragraph;
writing a paragraph using a model paragraph and notes provided.
c. Activities for promoting skills of communicating through writing
discussing and generating ideas in groups on a given topic;
drafting a paragraph or an essay using the ideas generated;
getting feedback on the draft from peers or the teacher;
rewriting the draft by revising it and making changes in it as necessary;
checking the second daft for errors in language, punctuation and spelling;
producing the final draft;
Writing and producing texts of different types and genres.
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3.4.2.2 Deleting or omitting
Subtracting (does not have a significant impact on the original material – similar to extending.
Abridging (a lot of changes are made in the original material to make it shorter).
Note: addition and deletion often work together, as materials may be taken out and then
replaced with something else.
3.4.2.3 Modifying
Modifying refers to making an internal change in the approach or focus of an activity or other pieces of material. Modifying is
achieved in two ways:
Rewriting when some of the linguistic content needs modification (e.g. where textbooks are considered to lag behind
an understanding of the nature of language and of students’ linguistic and learning needs).
Restructuring: This applies to adjusting the material to make it suitable for a different classroom management (e.g.
role play activities).
3.4.2.4 Simplifying
This strictly involves rewriting in order to make the material easier for learners to understand or manage. Simplification often
relates to reading texts, but many elements of a language (e.g. instructions and explanations, exercises and activities, and even
visual layout of a material) can be simplified.
3.4.2.5 Reordering
Reordering is about changing the sequence in which materials are presented. This can be adjusting the order of presentation
within a unit, or doing units in a different sequence from that of the original.
There is implicit acceptance of the view that for materials to be valuable, the learning points should be potentially useful to the
learners and that the learning procedures should maximize the likelihood of the learners actually learning what they want and
need to learn. It is not necessarily enough that the learners enjoy and value the materials.
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3.5.2 Aspects or Stages of Materials Evaluation
Materials evaluation can be understood as having two stages or aspects: external and internal (McDonogh and Shaw 1993).
There are also other factors that need to be taken into account at the external evaluation stage. These include:
Are the materials to be used as the core course or to be supplementary to it?
Is a teacher’s book available in print and locally?
Is a vocabulary list/index included?
What visual materials (photographs, charts, diagrams) does the book contain? Are these included for cosmetic value
only, or are they an integral part of the materials?
Is the layout and presentation clear or cluttered?
Is the material too culturally biased or specific?
Do the materials represent minority groups and/or women in a negative way?
Are the audio/video materials included essential and cost-effective to possess in order to use the textbook successfully?
Would tests (diagnostic, progress, achievement) included in the teaching materials be useful for a particular group of
learners?
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b. Activities/Tasks/Exercises
Presentation
Is language presented in a clear and interesting way?
What is the approach to grammar teaching (deductive or inductive)?
Practice
Is it sufficient?
Does it allow for free production?
Is it meaningful, or are the exercises only mechanical?
Does it ensure that students will be able to generate language on their own outside the classroom?
Clarity of instructions
How clear are instructions for students to do what they are expected to do?
c. Subject matter
Interest
Is it intrinsically interesting, or does it merely serve as a vehicle for language work?
Is the text based on facts or fiction?
Culture, age, gender
Is the material culture-specific?
Is it too childish or too sophisticated for the target group?
Is it sexist?
d. Appearance
Visual appeal
Are the pages too dense?
Are the typeface and layout attractive?
Illustrations
Do they serve a function or are they decorative?
Are they clear enough for their intended purpose?
Are they too many or too few?
Are they childish, sexist or culturally offensive?
Note: It needs to be pointed out here that any attempt made to evaluate a teaching material requires the evaluator to have a clear
idea of the learner for whom the material is intended, before getting involved in the evaluation process. This is because the value
of a teaching material lies in how well it meets the needs of the learner.
Tasks
1 Match the examples below with the following syllabus types
1 Skill-based _________ 4 Grammatical or structural _______
2 Situational ________ 5 Topic-based ________
3 Task-based _______ 6 Functional/notional ________
d) Language focus: question forms e) Making notes from a talk; f) In the clinic;
Vocabulary: meeting people reading for information; At a hotel;
Skills: speaking, listening using a dictionary; At the post
Task preparation: Listen to answering exam questions in office;
people meeting writing At a garage
Topic: interviews
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2 Say whether the following sample texts are authentic or not
a) a newspaper article
b) a rock song
c) a story written to exemplify the use of reported speech
d) a novel
e) a radio interview
f) a dialogue written to show ways of inviting
g) a linguistically simplified version of a novel
h) instructions on how to play a game
i) a traditional fairy story
j) an invitation card
4 In what ways do the following factors influence materials development or materials selection?
a. Age of learners
b. Learner interest
c. Level of proficiency in English
d. Reason for learning
e. Resources available.
f. Class size
g. Time available for the programme.
h. Physical environment; the nature of the building, noise factors, flexibility of chairs and tables, size of room in
relation to size of class.
5 Examine the following statements and say whether you agree or disagree, Give reasons for
your opinions.
Teaching materials:
a. should contain plenty of exercises to practice language skills such as speaking, writing, listening and reading.
b. should be under the control of teachers at all times.
c. should not be permanent; they should be disposable or alterable.
d. should contain samples of authentic language data.
e. should be flexible to allow learners the chance to work at their own speed and in their own preferred ways.
f. are indispensable.
g. are really unnecessary; learners can learn from each other and the teacher without recourse to printed materials.
h. should offer plenty of guidance to both teachers and learners in terms of the tasks they should perform and how they
should perform them.
i. should set up contexts in which learners can express themselves, their own opinions, ideas and attitudes.
6 The following are arguments and counter arguments for using a text book. Comment on each
one.
The arguments for using a text book are:
A textbook is a framework which regulates and times a program.
Without a textbook, learners think their learning is not taken seriously.
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In many situations, a textbook serves as a syllabus.
A textbook provides ready-made teaching texts and learning tasks.
A textbook is a cheap way of providing learning materials.
A learner without a textbook is teacher dependent.
The counter arguments are
If every group of students has different needs, no one textbook can meet all differing needs.
Topics in a textbook may not be relevant for and interesting to all.
A text book is confining, i.e., it inhibits teacher’s creativity.
A textbook of necessity sets prearranged sequence and structure that may not be realistic and situation friendly.
Teachers may find themselves as mediators with no free hand and slave, in fact, to others’ judgments about what is
good and what is not.
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