Dover, Pennsylvania TESOL Online & Teaching English Jobs

In this unit, I learned about the use of coursebooks and lesson materials. There are two types of materials that can be created by the teachers themselves, authentic materials and created materials. Authentic materials, although not graded to the level of students, are real and therefore more motivating and more interesting to students. Students can gain confidence when they understand these types of materials and it can be geared to the interest of students. Created materials are used to replace or supplement materials from a course book and they can be graded to the level of students. Examples of created materials are crossword puzzles, word search, role-play cards, flashcards, and gap-fill activities. On the other hand, course books usually consist of a set of materials namely a student's book, a workbook, cassettes, a teacher's book, and sometimes videos. Some advantages of using a course book are as follows: a) it is easier and less time-consuming, b) it has a balanced mix of grammar, vocabulary, and skills practice, c) it has been tried and testes, d) it offers continuity and progressions, e) it's syllabus is graded to a level suitable for students, and e) it provides ideas for inexperienced teachers. Four options in using a course book could be to omit certain lessons not beneficial/relevant to the students, replace unsuitable materials with similar, more appropriate materials, supplement some activities, or adapt it using the teacher's own style.