c. Textbooks as an Instructional Material
Instructional materials are perceived as very important in the teaching and learning of English language. Instructional materials are materials or tools or
devices used to enhance and enlighten the effective teaching and learning process. Instructional materials include textbooks, technology-based materials, other
educational materials, and tests. Due to this, in the English teaching and learning process, textbooks function as a part of the teachers‟ instructional materials.
Donovan in Tomlinson 1998 affirms that materials should have a high degree of regularity in unit design, content, task type, etc. Tomlinson 1998 in
Richards 2001: 263 suggests that good language teaching materials have the following characteristics:
1 Materials should achieve impact
2 Materials should help learners feel at ease
3 Materials should help learners to develop confidence
4 What is being taught should be perceived by learners as relevant and useful
5 Materials should require and facilitate learner self-investment
6 Learners must be ready to acquire the points being taught
7 Materials should expose the learners to language in authentic use
8 The learners‟ attention should be drawn to linguistic features of the input
9 Materials should provide the learners with opportunities to use the target
language to achieve communicative purposes 10
Materials should take into account that learners have different learning styles 11
Materials should take into account that positive effects of instruction are usually delayed
12 Materials should take into account that learners differ in affective attitudes
13 Materials should permit a silent period at the beginning of instruction
14 Materials should maximize learning potential by encouraging intellectual,
aesthetic, and emotional involvement that stimulates both right and left brain activities
15 Materials should not rely too much on controlled practice
16 Materials should provide opportunities for outcome feedback.
The impact of the use of textbooks as one of instructional materials to classroom learning is significant, and they have been shown to be a significant
tool for teachers in classrooms. Textbooks as an instructional material serves as one of the most important means of access for students to the knowledge and
skills they must master. Textbooks also support teachers in making instructional decisions and selecting effective teaching strategies that lead to student mastery of
the language. Richards and Renandya 2002 summarize several roles and characteristics
of effective language teaching materials: 1 Language is functional and must be contextualized, 2 Language development requires learner engagement in
purposeful use of language, 3 The language used should be realistic and authentic, 4 Classroom materials will usually seek to include an audiovisual
component, 5 Learners need to develop the ability to deal with written as well as spoken genres, 6 Effective teaching materials foster learner autonomy, 7
Materials need to be flexible enough to carter to individual and contextual
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