Shalimar, Florida TESOL Online & Teaching English Jobs

In this unit we look at different sources of material a teacher can use to help their students develop or progress in the classroom. We therefore look at authentic and created materials and how the use of course books can help us get the best out of students, while also helping teachers understand the pros and cons of using the course book. Teaching materials can be divided into two groups. We have authentic materials which is almost anything a native speaker can hear or read. For instance, programs, magazines, songs, poems, video films, etc. we use authentic material because they are real and more interesting and motivating. Students also gain confidence when they understand them and they can be geared to the interest of a particular group of students. It should be noted that authentic material is not graded for level and so should be selected carefully. On the other hand, created materials are designed by the teacher to replace materials from the course book. Examples include: crossword puzzles, picture stories, flash cards, gap fill activities, etc. Created materials can be graded to the level of students. In my opinion, teaching using authentic material would favor those of the intermediate level and above. This is because they are more likely to understand and communicate on a wide rand of issues when presented for instance with a sports or celebrity magazine or tourist brochure, newspaper, restaurant menus, etc. taking into consideration their level of English, they are more exposed and bound to find themselves using such material in real life situations. Though they still lack in accuracy, fluency and limited vocabulary, lessons built using an effective ESA `Boomerang‘ lesson could help them improve in these areas. On the other hand, basic, elementary and low intermediate should be taught using creative materials since their scope of communication and understand of English and material is limited. The teacher here can easily create or identify material which is suited for their level and needs. Course books are meant to assist the teacher in drawing up lessons for students. Course books consist of work books for homework or classwork, cassettes, teachers guide books on how to teach the material in the book, other publishers’ material and in some cases videos. Some of the advantages of using the course book is that it is usually expected by the students, it provides a syllabus which van be graded to the level of the students, it also provides continuity and progression, etc. However, the use of course books also has its disadvantages. It does not always fit the specific need and interest of all class members, course books dictate what it to be taught and the exclusive use of a course book can become very predictable and boring to the students, as well as make the teacher lazy and lack creativity, etc. Therefore, the best way to use a course book is to explore ways to match the book to the needs of the students, when planning a lesson think about which items will motivate the students and which material needs to be supplemented, adapted or replaced. Also, don’t regard the book as a solution to everything, experiment with new ideas. In case where teachers are fortunate to be able to choose the course book, several factors should be considered. For instance, the price of the books should be affordable for all students, there should be availability, the design should be attractive and user friendly. Make sure that the course book readily allows for an ESA style lesson, etc.