Furthermore, Hyland 2006 via Upton, 2012: 7-8 gives four principal roles that materials play within language instruction as follows.
1 To provide language scaffolding in order to support learners’
understanding of how language is used. 2
To serve a model with the purpose to provide examples of specific language features, structures or functions of the language being studied.
3 To serve a stimulus in order to encourage students to connect with their
experience, articulate their ideas, and interact with others. 4
To serve as a reference. It provides information about language instead of the practice. For example: dictionaries and grammars.
d. Criteria of Good Materials
In developing the materials, it is important to define some criteria of good materials. According to Hutchinson and Waters 1987: 107-108 there are
some criteria of good materials as stated below. 1
Materials provide a stimulus to learning. Good materials do not teach but instead of encouraging learners to learn. Good materials should contain
interesting texts, enjoyable activities which engage learners’ thinking capacity, opportunities to use their existing knowledge and skills, and
content which both learner and teacher can cope with.
2 Materials help to organize the teaching-learning process, by providing a
path through the complex mass of the language to be learnt. Good materials should provide a clear and coherent unit structure that will
guide teacher and learner through various activities.
3 Materials embody a view of the nature the language and learning.
Materials should reflect what you think and feel about the learning process.
4 Materials reflect the nature of the learning task.
5 Materials can have very useful function in broadening the basis of
teacher training by introducing teachers to new techniques. 6
Materials provide models of correct and appropriate language use.
e. Materials Evaluation
Materials evaluation should be done at the end of the developing the materials. I
t is to know whether the materials design meet the learners’ needs and the appropriateness of the materials. Some experts have proposed
frameworks for materials evaluation. Cunningsworth 1995 in Richards 2001:258 suggests four criteria for evaluating materials as follows.
1 They should correspond to learners’ needs. They should match the
aimsand objectives of the language learning programme. 2
They should reflect the uses present or future that learners make of thelanguage. Textbooks should be chosen to help equip learners to
uselanguage effectively for their own purposes. 3
They should take account of students’ needs as learners and shouldfacilitate their learning processes, without dogmatically imposing a
rigid‘method’. 4
They should have a clear role as a support for learning. Like teachers,they mediate between the target language and the learner.
Moreover, Tomlinson 1998:227-231 proposes the four steps are used to ensure that the evaluation is systemic and principled.
Table 2: Steps in Conducting an Evaluation of a Task Step 1
Description of the task: 1.
Contents input, procedures, language activity
2. Objectives
Step 2 Planning the evaluation with references to the
dimensions
Step 3 Collecting information
Step 4 Conclusion and recommendations
5. Task Development
a. Definition of Task
Task is an aspect that should be considered in developing the materials. Nunan 2004 divided task into two categories; they are real-world or target
tasks and pedagogical tasks. The target tasks mean the uses of language in the world beyond the classroom. Meanwhile pedagogical tasks mean those that
occur in the classroom. Accordance with the theories above, Skehan 1998 via Nunan 20014:3 proposes five key characteristics of a task as stated
below. 1
Meaning is primary. 2
Learners are not given other people’s meaning to regurgitate. 3
There is some sort of relationship to comparable real-world activities. 4
Task completion has some priority. 5
The assessment of the task is in terms of outcome. Finally, Nunan 2004: 4 defines task as a piece of classroom work that
involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing, or interacting in the target language while their attention is focused on mobilizing their
grammatical knowledge in order to express meaning, and in which the intention is convey meaning rather than to manipulate form.
b. Components of Task
Nunan 2004 proposes a minimum specification of task that should be applied in developing materials. The components will include goals, input,
and procedures. Those components will be supported by roles and settings. Every component has different function specification as proposed by Nunan
2004: 41-56.
Figure 3: Diagram of tasks simple model by Nunan
Goal Input
Procedures TASK
Teacher’s role Learner’s role
Settings
