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Unit 14 focused on coursebooks and materials. It discussed the advantages of authentic and created materials, as well as both the advantages and disadvantages of coursebooks. Authentic materials allow students to have access to realia, which allows them to be more confident. This, however, would not build confidence in a beginning student. For instance, as a foreigner living in Poland, I would not understand what is being said in a radio show. Created materials allow the teacher to design materials that are appropriate for his/her students. This unit then discusses coursebooks, which some teachers love, and some teacher’s don’t. There are teachers who heavily rely on a coursebook, which takes away from the teacher’s creativity. Coursebooks are often designed for a general audience, and not a specific audience. As a result, if a teacher only uses the coursebook, he/she will not be meeting the needs of all his/her learners. An effective teacher when using a coursebook can do four things to enhance the content being taught: omit lessons, replace material with something similar but more appropriate, supplement extra material, and adapt materials to match the teacher’s personal style. In my own teaching, I will often read through the program and recognize what acitivites may be too boring or repetitive for my students. I then research and design activities that achieve the same learning goal, but meet the needs of all of my students. For example, the students were learning about maps and directions in their coursebook. Instead of reading maps and directions and answering questions about the maps in the workbook, I had the students design their own maps and sets of directions, then put them to the test! Other students had to use their maps and directions to get to a specific location. This activity was challenging and engaging for the students.
