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Paper 12; Module 24; E Text
Principal Investigator
PROF. TUTUN MUKHERJEE,
University of Hyderabad
Paper coordinator:
DR. NEERU TANDON,
V.S.S.D. College, CSJM University,
Kanpur
Content writer:
Dr Shravan Kumar
RKGITW, Ghaziabad
Content Reviewer
DR. NEERU TANDON,
V.S.S.D. College, CSJM University,
Kanpur
Language Editor
DR. NEERU TANDON,
V.S.S.D. College, CSJM University,
Kanpur
Title of the Paper:
Teaching Materials and Teaching
Aids - I
Module ID
MODULE 24
Subject
ENGLISH
Paper
English Language Teaching
Teaching Materials and Teaching Aids - I
Module Structure:
24.0 Learning Outcomes
24.1 Introduction
24.2 Teaching Materials & Teaching Aids: Role of teacher
24.3 Guidelines for Teaching Learning Materials
24.4 Teaching Materials
24.5 Significance of Teaching Materials
Learning Outcome
After reading this module, any student will be able to comprehend the role of teacher as an
aid who uses materials in effective ways. Anyone can get to know the difference between
aids and materials and the role of materials in the classroom and their impact on the students
and their career. Students will be able to know about the usage of worksheets and many other
materials.
Introduction
Teaching is an art which includes knowledge, presentation, an art of dissemination and above
all every aspect of paralinguistics. Teaching demands broad knowledge of subject matter in
all horizons, complete curriculum with standards, positive and caring attitude with
enthusiasm, and a desire for learning and techniques of classroom management and a desire
to make a difference in the lives of young people. I am sure that nobody will deny the fact
that a teacher is an aid and the activities used by the teachers are materials in the classroom.
The existence of materials is totally based on the creativity and innovative ways of teachers.
No one can assume even a single material without a Teacher because it is a teacher who uses
the materials in the classroom effectively and the effective usage of those materials is
reflected by the involvement of the students.
We should know the difference amongst Teaching, Aid and Material. As per
www.dictionary.com,“material used by a teacher to supplement classroom instruction or to
stimulate the interest of students.”
i
. As per Merriam Webster, “Teaching Aid is an object
(such as a book, picture, or map) or device (such as a DVD or computer) used by a teacher to
enhance or enliven classroom instruction”
ii
and “Material denotes or consists of physical
objects rather than the mind or spirit.”
iii
Teaching Materials & Teaching Aids: Role of teacher
Teacher is the driver of the classroom who drives the class as per his/her pace and desire.
S/he makes an environment in which all the students delve themselves in the ocean of
knowledge which happens due to usage of the materials and aids used by the teacher in the
classroom. They use themselves as an aid when they start using facts as a starting point and
ask “why” questions and then look at all sides and encourage students to predict what will
happen next. As a material, they try to engage the whole class with their questions and with
the help of their motivation and varied questions they make a live classroom where every
student gets involved. William Arthur Ward rightly says, “The mediocre teacher tells. The
good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
iv
And,
this quote reveals that teacher is an aid who changes her/himself according to the desired
situation for facilitating and motivating the students in a better way. Dr Seuss also
corroborates Mr William when he says, “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your
shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own, and you
know what you know. And you are the guy who'll decide where to go.”
v
As soon as teacher enters in the classroom, he starts using materials which already exist in the
classroom. S/he starts talking about last classes which gives a platform to the students for
getting out something and teacher tries to link up that interaction with his/her upcoming class
and it becomes a material for a teacher. A teacher digs out the material from the classroom
and uses accordingly. Like, Students were scolded by a teacher of last class and an ELT
teacher can ask few students to come up and share the experience of last class and from there
that ELT teacher tries to hone the speaking skills of the students. These materials can be used
to chisel the speaking skills of the students and students will be speaking whole heartedly
which can be a good material to be used by any ELT specialist.
Teacher can use himself/herself to project anything in a better way by his/her gestures,
postures, facial expressions and voice. For example, a teacher can teach the presentation
strategies to the students by his/her voice modulation and facial expressions. It is the power
of speech that may turn a dull topic into an interesting one whereas poor delivery may spoil
significant presentation. So once the speaker has planned and developed the content he
should begin practicing because it is not important what to say as it is how to say. There are a
variety of delivery methods. A speech with same pitch delivered with stating pitch becomes
monotonous so there should be variation in a pitch. The voice should be well modulated with
proper pause at the right place along with normal rate of speech and fillers should be avoided.
It can be easily practiced by these materials used by teacher in the classroom.
We express our emotions through words but often the feel of emotion is expressed through
our various body parts. We can communicate by nodding our head, blinking our eyes,
shrugging our shoulders or working our hands. When we study body language we look at the
symbols of meaning that the physical movements of the body are communicating. Through
body movements true inner conditions are reflected. For the expression of these inner body
states faces, eyes, gestures & physical appearance are to be studied. For self control the
presenter should pay attention to his body language. These things can be easily learnt by the
students when they observe their teacher in the classroom and try to imitate the teacher.
Guidelines for Teaching Learning Materials:
Littlejohn and Windeatt says, “Materials have a hidden curriculum that includes attitudes
toward knowledge, attitudes toward teaching and learning, attitudes toward the role and
relationship of the teacher and student, and values and attitudes related to gender, society,
etc.”
vi
Materials have a basic instructional viewpoint, approach, method, and content,
including which provide linguistic and cultural information.
As Jolly and Bolitho say, “Materials should also be contextualised to the experiences,
realities and first languages of the learners. An important part of this involves awareness on
the part of the teacher-designer of the “socio-cultural appropriacy” of things such as the
designer’s own style of presenting material, of arranging groups, and so on.”
vii
So, It is
required to inform about the culture-specific learning processes of the proposed learners.
Materials should be interlinked by which learner can acquaint him with the materials. The
materials should be based on the experiences and realities which should be related to the
topics and it should be appropriate for the desired learner to make sure of their involvement.
Mr D Hall says, “Most people who learn to communicate fluently in English which is not
their L1do so by spending a lot of time in situations where they have to use the language for
some real communicative purpose”
viii
It means that the materials should stimulate interaction
and it can be achieved by providing the activities which involve the situation and their real
time conversation. Mr D Hall also says that the materials should encourage learners to
develop their learning skills and strategies and the activities such as recording of their
conversations.
According to Demetrion, “an antidote to the profusion of skills based activities and artificial
language use pervasive in the field of ESL instruction.”
ix
It clarifies that the materials should
be developed to help the learners towards analytical approach with a focus of learning.
As Bell and Gower suggested, “at the very least we listen and speak together, and read and
write together”
x
. I think the materials should be well connected with all these four skills. The
learner can integrate LSRW skills with the help of materials.
Materials should be alluring in terms of appearance, User friendliness and durability. If any
material possesses these characteristics then all the learners will readily use the material
whole heartedly which will definitely produce the positive results in the classroom. Materials
should be flexible also by which we can use that material in many places like a picture can be
used to teach parts of speech as well to enhance the spoken skills, even that picture can be
used to develop writing skills by the change of instructions. Materials should be authentic
also by which the acquirement will be better and faster and the students feel successful over
their achievement because the skills that they acquire make them feel that they can handle the
situations in the real life too. Teachers should be very cautious while choosing the materials
because the students can be demoralized if the materials are higher than the level of the
students.
Teaching Materials
Earlier it was hard to see the interactive classroom, teaching –learning materials and the
teaching-learning environment that’s why teaching became very monotonous and students
had to mostly rely on the process of mugging up. The classroom teaching was dominated by
the Lecture Method of teacher and there were some essential aids like chalk, duster,
blackboard in the classroom. Teaching learning
materials were hardly used in the classroom. The
Teaching Learning Materials (TLMs) are being designed
to disable the monotonous learning methods. These
TLMs made a shift from Response Strengthening to
Knowledge Acquisition for construction of Knowledge.
In this context, a teacher provides an environment where
any student can construct his knowledge by interacting
with his physical and social environment.
A teacher should always think about his/her students before providing TLMs. A teacher
should identify the need of developing new teaching and training materials. Teachers can
classify their materials according to the need and requirement of students. A lesson plan can
be one of the effective materials. I would like to give an example of a Lesson plan for
teaching a lesson on Pronoun.
Teacher should show a chart as an aid to the students and can ask them to identify the Nouns
present in the chart. Students will response with curiosity and enthusiasm and they can spot
few names of Noun. Have a look at the Picture. I think students will tell the names of Nouns
like Road, Bicycle, Boy, Girl, Pond, Dog, Sun, Tree, flowers, swings, clouds etc. Then, s/he
can ask primary questions like:
1. Can you name girl in another way?
2. Can you name boy in another way?
Students will give answers that Girl=She and Boy= He. After getting these answers, teacher
can say these terms can be also termed as Pronoun and the terms which we use in place of
Noun are known as pronoun. I think these kinds of involvement of students will make them
enable to understand the definition and usage of Pronoun. Now teacher can elaborate the
types and usage of pronouns and students will learn very easily.
Games can be used as interesting materials in the classroom. Games can help to improve
teaching and learning processes which improve communication and social skills in the
students indirectly. I would like to mention a Grammar based questioning game.
The Teacher can ask students to write separate sentences with each word which they told
after observing the chart. Then, they need to be instructed to write a paragraph with the help
of those sentences. After this, they can be instructed to evaluate his/her friends’ copy. During
evaluation, they can be instructed to check how many students have written all the sentences.
How many sentences are correct (as per their evaluation)? How many of them have used all
the sentences to write a paragraph? How many of them have used these sentences to attain
coherence? All the students will be involved in writing and evaluation which develops the
learning process of students. Another example can be better implemented in the class as a
material to enhance the writing skills of the students. A teacher can ask the students, “Let’s
assume that you live in a room in college which you share with another student. However,
there are many problems with this arrangement and you find it very difficult to work. Write
a letter to the accommodation officer of the college. In the letter
describe the situation
explain your problems and why it is difficult to work, say what kind of
accommodation you would prefer”
These above mentioned games can make the classroom very lively and interactive.
A teacher should know KWL chart before starting any
topic in which he should know about the previous
knowledge of the students and the lesson plan is always
based on previous knowledge where students give the
answers on the basis of their previous knowledge which
becomes the primary answers. It decides the material of the topic because if the students are
acquainted with Noun then only they will try to learn Pronoun and it will show their will to
learn. So, the teacher should know what they are willing to learn and in the classroom
assessment a teacher can know what they learnt. For assessing the students in the classroom
we can use some materials:
1. Think- Pair-Share: In this process students can think individually, then in pairs, and
then share with the class. A teacher can involve the students in a better way where
they can talk and share their experience with more confidence. This material opens up
the ways of honing speaking skills where the students will be speaking after sharing
their thoughts which help them to reproduce many thoughts because when we talk
about second language, students say that they are unable to find out the
words/thoughts while speaking in English. So, this material can provide the platform
of ideas/thoughts.
2. Three minute pause: The three minute pause provides a chance to the students to
think and interpret the concepts and ideas that have just been introduced to and it
would be easy for him/her to make connections to their prior knowledge for better
understanding. Human being is a creature with impetus thoughts and for effective
communication the synchronization of thoughts is very necessary. The instructed
three minute break can help out the students to think and comprehend in a better way.
3. Recapitulation of the topic: The teacher should take care of the topic which he is
covering in the assigned class. He starts by making a bridge between the previous
knowledge and the current knowledge (to be taught) and this can be better attained by
providing recapitulation. This can be achieved by asking questions related to the
topic. Topic can be recapitulated by organizing quizzes in the class or the students
can be asked to explain the topic like a teacher to the class and it really catalyses the
learning environment of the classroom. Just introduced topic should be recapitulated
by the students which would hone the understanding skill of the students.
4. Observation: Teacher can divide the classroom into the group and after assigning
some task; teacher can walk around the classroom and observe students as they work
to check for learning. The observation plays a vital role to tackle the mixed ability
classroom. By this method, a teacher can pay attention towards the weak students of
the class who do not pay attention to the class and hesitate to ask questions in front of
the entire class.
5. Face-to-Face conversation: A teacher should try to have a face to face interaction
with the students which is a key material to know the exact problems of the students.
The level of understanding of the students can be better understood by F2F.
Worksheets can also be a very effective material for learning in an effective way. A teacher
should take appropriate care while making the worksheets. Questions should be based on
skills and sub skills. Questions which are based on skills are productive and receptive. The
questions based on sub skills can provide specific information, detailed information, and
general information. Fill in the blank reveals the specific information. Multiple choice
questions identify the topic, context, function, gist. The questions can be of the following
types:
1. Yes-No Questions
2. Wh-Question
3. Tag questions
4. Choice Questions
5. Hypothetical Questions
6. Embedded questions
To improve the vocabulary of the students the word scrambles or jumbles help a lot. The
letters of each word can be mixed up and students have to put them into the proper order. A
teacher can set this type of material by keeping the scramble with the help of key vocabulary,
spelling list words, names of students in the classroom and teachers’ last names etc.
Significance of teaching materials
Allwright says, “Materials should teach students to learn, that they should be resource books
for ideas and activities for instruction/learning, and that they should give teachers rationales
for what they do”
xi
. Learners are oriented towards the instruction and learning. Any syllabus
or curriculum has the goals of learning, the methods of learning, etc and teachers help the
learners to learn. Teachers are required to follow the curriculum and provide a better platform
to understand the curriculum with the help of materials. Teachers may adapt, supplement, and
elaborate the materials to disseminate the content to the students and they need to monitor the
progress of the students and finally evaluate the students. Teachers and students rely on
materials to comprehend the content, and the materials become the centre of education.
Therefore, it is important for the teachers to know the correct methods, to choose the best
material for instruction and they should also know how to make supplementary materials for
the class, and how to adapt materials.
References
i. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/teaching-aid?s=t
ii. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/
iii. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/
iv. http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/416931.William_Arthur_Ward
v. http://www.forbes.com/sites/lizlange/2012/02/28/you-have-brains-in-your-head-you-have-
feet-in-your-shoes-you-can-steer-yourself-in-any-direction-you-choose-youre-on-your-own-
and-you-know-what-you-know-you-are-the-guy-wholl-decide-where-to-go/#23a9184a4023
vi. Littlejohn, A., & Windeatt, S. (1989). Beyond language learning: Perspective on materials
design. In R. K. Johnson (Ed.), The second language curriculum. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press
vii. Jolly, D., & Bolitho, R. (1998). A framework for materials writing. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.),
Materials development in language teaching (pp. 90–115). Cambridge: Cambridge Language
Teaching Library, Cambridge University Press
viii. Hall, D. (1995). Materials production: Theory and practice. In A. C. Hidalgo, D. Hall, &
G. M. Jacobs (Eds.), Getting started: Materials writers on materials writing (pp. 8–14).
Singapore: SEAMO Regional Language Centre
ix. Demetrion, G. (1997). Communicative competence and second language teaching: Lessons
learned from the Bangalore Project. Retrieved 30 January 2004 from
http://www.nald.ca/fulltext/George/Prabhu/cover.htm
x. Bell, J., & Gower, R. (1998). Writing course materials for the world: A great compromise.
In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Materials development in language teaching (pp. 116–129).
Cambridge: Language Teaching Library, Cambridge University Press
xi. Allwright, R. L. (1990). What do we want teaching materials for? In R. Rossner and R.
Bolitho, (Eds.), Currents in language teaching. Oxford University Press
