Developing English Teaching Materials

According to Hutchinson and Waters 1987: 21 designing a language teaching course is a matter of works to sequence processes of producing a syllabus, designing teaching materials doing a classroom teaching, and making an evaluation. They proposed the procedures of research and development to develop teaching materials into. Figure 1: Procedure of Research and Development to Develop Teaching Materials Before developing materials, Brown, James 1995: 140 suggests a framework for materials design: 1 Approach The one point about which most language curriculum developers would probably agree is that there must be sort of theoretical motivation underlying any curriculum development. Brown calls it approaches and interpreted as ways of defining what children need to learn based on assumption and theoretical positions drawn from discipline as diverse as linguistics, psychology, and education. Conducting need analysis Selecting the topics and objectives of the materials Writing the course grid Developing the teaching materials Trying out and evaluating the teaching materials Revising the teaching materials 2 Syllabus The teaching activities called syllabus are predominantly concerned with the choices necessary to organize the language content of a course or program. The procedures involved in developing a syllabus should eventually include examining instructional objectives, arranging them in term of priorities, and then determining what kinds of techniques and exercises are required in order to attain those objectives. 3 Techniques Once the syllabus are in place, the category of teaching activities called techniques come into play. This set of activities was defined as ways of presenting language points to the children. Materials developers must make decisions early in the process about the principal kinds of activities and learning experiences that the program will use and the criteria that will be employed for selecting those activities and experiences. 4 Exercises Once the approaches, syllabuses, and techniques have been attentively set, the category of teaching activities called exercises must be considered. Brown defined this set of activities as ways of having the children practiced in many ways, but typically such as learner to learner, learner to self, learner to teacher, learner to group, learner to cassette player, learner to class, and so forth. These learning experiences are selected and facilitated by the teacher to help bring about practice that will reinforce learning. Materials development aims to develop input sources. Materials should vary and motivate the learners in the teaching learning process.

c. Characteristics of Children’s Learning Materials

Considering all that are discussed above, the development of teaching materials should take into account a number of requirements. In addition, Scott and Ytreberg 2004: 5 propose eight principles in teaching English as second or foreign language to children. They are: 1 Words are not enough The materials should not only be relied on the spoken words. Most activities for the younger learners should include movements and involve the sense. Teachers will need to have plenty of objects and pictures to work with, and to make full use of the school and their surroundings. Teachers demonstrate or give the example to their children. The balance will change as the children get older, but appealing to the senses will always help the pupils to learn. 2 Play with the language The materials should let the pupils talk to themselves by making up rhymes, singing songs orand telling stories. The children should play with the language by experimenting words and sounds. ‘Let’s go – pet’s go.’ ‘Blue eyes – blue pies.’ Playing with the language in this way is very common in first language development and is a very natural stage in the stage of foreign language learning too. 3 Language as language Language which the children acquire is language the children can easily use in spontaneous conversation 4 Variety in the classroom Varieties in the classroom are necessary, for example, varieties of activities, varieties of organizations, and varieties of choices. 5 Routines Children benefit from knowing the rules and being familiar with the situation. The materials should have systems and routines. The teachers should organize and plan their lessons through familiar situations and familiar activities. This can be done, for example, by repeating stories and rhymes. 6 Cooperation not competition The materials should avoid rewards and prizes. Other forms of encouragement are much more effective by making room for shared experiences. They are an invaluable source of language work and create an atmosphere of involvement and togetherness. Most of children enjoy the feeling of belonging and this is particularly true of young children. 7 Grammar Children have an amazing ability to absorb language through play and other activities which they find enjoyable. How good they are in a foreign language is not dependent on whether they have learnt the grammar rules or not. 8 Assessment Even though formal assessment may not be a compulsory part of the teacher’s work, it is always useful for the teacher to make regular notes about each