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program on sound and rhythm perception is conducted for hearing impaired students. Self development itself refers to activities which are aimed to give
chances for students to develop and to express themselves according to their needs, ability, talent, and intention as well as the school condition.
4. Instructional Materials
According to Tomlinson 2005, instructional materials refer to things which teachers and learners utilize to assist the language learning. Materials
contain presentation or information about the learned language in any form which is intentionally used to improve the knowledge and the experience of the learners
about the language p. 2. In this research, the form of the materials is a textbook. As stated by Tomlinson 2005, a textbook acts as the core materials during a
lesson p. ix. He adds that such book usually contains work on four basic skills as well as vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and functions.
Due to the unavailability of the English textbooks for hearing impaired students, a development of instructional materials is needed. Tomlinson 2005
indicates that materials development means things which teachers, learners, or writers do to supply information and experience about the language to support
language learning p. 2. He adds that materials developers use principled ways in providing language input. These ways deal with their knowledge about how a
language can be learned effectively. Thus, they should focus on what to give to the learners and what to do with it to support language learning.
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provide a definitive answer to the real problems of second language teaching at this point” as cited in Tomlinson, 2005, p.5. However, this present condition
should not prevent materials developers from implementing their knowledge of second and foreign language learning in the form of materials development which
is aimed to support the teaching learning activities. Tomlinson 2005 adds that their knowledge of language learning is the result of reflective teaching as well as
experimental and observational research which have been conducted for years p. 6. Combining this result with the available empirical evidence can create criteria
for successful materials developme nt. In addition, the materials developers‟
intuitions can lead the quality of their instructional materials. Tomlinson 2005 conveys that these intuitions can be gained through information from “recent and
relevant classroom experience” and from “knowledge of the findings and of the recent second language acquisition research” p. 6.
The following are some basic principles of second language acquisition which are relevant to the materials development for language teaching
Tomlinson, 2005, p. 7. Materials should achieve impact.
Impact achievement occurs when materials noticeably attracts the learners‟ attention, interest, and curiosity. Impact can be achieved through
novelty, variety, attractive presentation, and appealing content. Novelty can be shown through unusual activities while variety can be shown by avoiding
monotony, such as using various texts from different references. Attractive
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presentation can be promoted through colours while appealing content can be promoted through topics based on learner
s‟ interests. Materials should help learners to feel at ease.
Dulay, Burt, and Krashen 1982 state that “the less anxious the learner, the better language acquisition proceeds” as cited in Tomlinson,
2005, p. 8. In other words, the statement implies that learners can learn a language faster if they are relaxed and comfortable. That can promote ease to
the learners is not only teacher but also materials. Materials can make the learners feel comfortable if they have more white space, relevant texts and
illustrations, helping intention, and casual voice Tomlinson, 2005, p. 8. Materials should help learners to develop confidence.
Besides feeling relaxed, learners can learn in a shorter time period if they also feel confident. Tomlinson 2005 indicates that building confidence
can be done through activities which have an attempt to encourage the learners a little beyond their current proficiency by engaging them in stimulating,
problematic, but achievable tasks and which can push the learners to apply and to develop their current language skills through imaginative, creative, or
analytical thinking p. 9. Materials should be perceived as relevant and useful by the learners.
Tomlinson 2005 states that “narrowing the target readership” and “researching the target learners‟ interests and wants” can help learners
recognize materials relevance and utility p. 9. Moreover, he adds that to achieve the same purpose, teaching points should also be related to
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challenging tasks and presented in ways which can suppor t the learners‟
desired task outcomes achievement Tomlinson, 2005, p. 9. Materials should expose the learners to language in authentic use.
Materials can expose authentic input through their advice, instructions, texts, and activities. To support the language learning, the input
should be comprehensible and suitable with the characteristics of authentic discourse in the target language. Tomlinson, 2005, p. 13. Furthermore,
materials should also motivate not only the learners‟ passive reception of the input but also their interaction with it.
5. Communicative Syllabus
