UNIT 1: Introduction to Materials Development

Communication is a survival resource. In this era of massive advancement in information, science,

technology, you need to be equipped with a wide array of scaffolds that can help facilitate active
engagement with different kinds of environment in order for you to survive in this globally competitive
world. In the school setting, this can be achieved when communicative teaching-learning strategies,
activities/instructional materials are well-planned and are framed towards linguistic and communicative
competence of learners.

Nunan (1992)
●States that teaching materials are often the most substantial and observable component of pedagogy.
This premise leads to the idea that language learning activities, oftentimes teachers consider learning
materials as fundamental elements towards the attainment of expected competencies as they support
meaningful teaching and learning.
Edge (1993)
●Stated that materials exist in order to support learning/teaching, so they should designed to suit the
people and the processes involved.

Lesson 1: Essence of Instructional Materials

Instructional materials- serve as the heart of active engagement of students in language learning.
- the tangible, non-tangible; print or non-print devices which lead the students to
become lifelong learning skills who are critical and creative thinkers.
- refer to those alternative channels of communication, which a classroom teacher can
use to concretize a concept during teaching and learning process. (Amadíoha, 2009)

●Aside from the teachers' pedagogy, students need tangible as well as intangible aids to ensure that
language learning engagement is meaningful and relevant.

In the development of instructional materials for language learning, it is fundamental to enrich your
understanding on the following important concepts as shared by experts of instructional materials
development and how these would foster meaningful learning the language:
1. Amadíoha (2009)
Before a teacher can design or produce an instructional material he has to know what
 these instructional materials are,
 their advantage and disadvantage,
 characteristics,
 limitations, etc.
The essence of producing instructional materials is to facilitate the teaching learning process.
2. Brown (1995)
●An instructional material is any systematic description of the techniques and exercises to be used in the
classroom teaching.
3. Obanya (1989)
●They are didactic material things which are supposed to make learning and teaching possible.
4. Remilliard and Heck (2014)
●They are human and non-human materials and facilities that can be used to ease, encourage, improve
and promote teaching and learning activities. They are defined as resources that organize and support
instruction, such as textbooks, tasks and supplementary materials."
5. Shukla (2018)
●Teaching Aids are objects (such as a book, picture or map) or devices (such as DVD or computer) used
by a teacher to enhance or enliven classroom instruction.
6. Cunningsworth as cited in Richards (2003)
●The role of materials (particularly textbook) in language teaching as a resource for presentation
materials; activities for learners practice and communicative interaction, for learners on grammar,
vocabulary, pronunciation stimulation and ideas for classroom activities; a support for less experienced
teachers

In order to make instructional activities effective, the teachers' corresponding instructional materials
need to be
 well-thought-of
 appropriate and
 responsive to the varying needs of students.
In other word, without them, learning becomes theoretical and not practical.

Lesson 2: Development of Instructional Materials

Authenticity and purposiveness of instructional materials for language learning
●Essential elements before they can be meaningfully utilized in class.
●They are essential elements and potent guides in designing and developing these materials.

Other key factors towards motivating the students to learn the target language
●teachers' experiences in language teaching
●their understanding of their students' knowledge, skills and behavior

Here are some ideas about material development:

● "Materials development is basically dealing with selection, adaptation and creation of teaching
materials."
● "Materials development refers to anything which is done by writers, teachers or learners to provide
sources of language input in ways which maximize the likelihood of intake." (Tomlinson, 1998)
● "The importance of materials-as-content acts as a stimulus for communicative interaction and
materials-as-language serves the purpose of information about the target language and carefully
selected examples of use." (McGrath, 2013)
● "Teacher-produced materials play an important role in bridging the gap between the classroom and
the world outside." (Pardo and Tellez, 2009)
● "Language learning and teaching have been further transformed by the rapid development of a wide
range of technology-mediated resources, materials, tasks and learning environments." (Reinders and
White,2010)
● "Integrating texts with the local culture will lessen the unfamiliarity and help students to read better."
(Regmi as cited in Nambiar; Ibrahim,et al. 2020)
The development of instructional materials is a challenge among the teachers.
●Its rigorous preparation should not be taken for granted.
●It has to be well thought of and carefully aligned with the desired learning outcomes as well as the
learning activities.

In certain cases, teachers who are confronted with a number of responsibilities

●Resort to utilizing available materials at hand offered by colleagues and friends not showing much
concern on the appropriateness, relevance and responsiveness of the instructional materials to the
diverse needs of students.
In effect, students' learning remains theoretical and not practical.

Teachers who take the challenge of developing the instructional materials themselves.
●Some of them claim that there's no better way to utilize instructional materials than to have them
personally designed and developed.
●Whichever the case maybe, the teacher is the legitimate authority to act on the most appropriate
action with this aim in mind - to enhance students' learning and make the academic engagement
meaningful.

Below are some suggestions that may help you in developing instructional materials for language
learning:
1. Know your students well.
Get acquainted with the individual students' profile family background, health record, and other
pertinent data that can help you assess the student's would-be performance in class. In doing so, you
already have in mind at some point the kind of activities/ instructional materials he/she needs.
2. Understand the learning outcome/s.
This is your anchor in the selection/ development of the instructional materials. Ultimately, the expected
students' learning outcome of the course is to be proficient in both oral and written communication
skills. Therefore, your preparation as well as facilitation of the learning activities should apparently lead
to the attainment of these competencies/outcomes.
3. Think smart and practical.
Indigenous materials may just be found around the corner. Carefully select and reconfigure them to
serve as instructional materials.
4. Adapt/adopt well- proven effective instructional materials.
A number of research-based effective instructional materials for language may be appropriately utilized
in certain communicative contexts.
5. Create contextualized materials.
Print (hard copies) and non-print materials (soft copies) are both indispensable to teaching and learning.
Any teacher is given the opportunity to create his/ her own instructional materials with due
consideration of the context, content and structure.

In the realization of the aforementioned, any teacher is given the right and the freedom to do what is
best for the students in the attainment of the intended outcomes.
Lesson 3: Materials Evaluation

The development and the utilization of instructional materials for language learning need to be relevant
and well-focused. In so doing, these materials need to be assessed and evaluated anchored on certain
principles for materials development

The following inputs embody the value of evaluating instructional materials. Mindful of their role in
language learning, then their form and substance should likewise be given due attention:
1. Tomlinson and Masura (2004)
"Materials evaluation is the activity which measures the value of a set of learning materials by making
judgments about the effect of the materials on the people using them including its measure and appeal
to the learners; materials validity/flexibility; materials ability to interest the learners; materials potential
learning value; delivery & assessment."
2. Dick and Johnson (2002)
"Materials development is a procedure that involves measuring the value (or potential value) of a set of
learning materials. It involves making judgments about the effect of the materials on the people using
them like the appeal, credibility, validity, reliability and flexibility of materials to learners, teachers and
administrators."
3. Amadioha (2009)
"Materials need to be flexible enough to cater to individual and contextual differences. In order to use
instructional materials and aid more effectively, they must make learning more real and meaningful."
4. Garnier (2002)
"When evaluating the quality of a textbook's exercises or activities, there has to be considerations on
their contribution to language acquisition, balance in format and varying and challenging exercises."
5. Ganpatsingh (2016)
"Clarity of instructions is a useful starting point in materials evaluation. Often teachers' books give
supporting grammar advice but the real workings of materials lie in students' instructions hence
activities need to be understandable, achievable and culturally acceptable."
6. Dick and Carey (1985)
"Evaluation is essential in obtaining data in order to revise instruction to make it more efficient and
effective. This includes enhancement/revision of the instructional materials, to make them as effective as
possible. These ideas give you a clearer picture on the need to assess instructional materials. "

Evaluating an instructional material is as important as its development. Since language teaching and
learning is a complex process as it basically entails teachers' background and preparation, sensitivity and
responsiveness to students' varying needs, the added responsibility of examining an instructional
material is integral.
More than the preparation and utilization of the instructional materials, the evaluation phase is
considered critical as this involves gathering feedback both from students and teachers.
These would serve as potent input for improvement.
Regular review and evaluation are necessary as these lead to making the teaching and learning better
every single year.
With the desire to develop students' critical and creative thinking skills, the following are added tips in
evaluating instructional materials for language learning:
1. Alignment of purpose
See to it that the materials intended for use are aligned to the learning outcomes.
2. Capacity of the learners
Make sure that the learning materials do not bore the students with advanced knowledge and skills and
frustrate those who with lesser capability to perform. In other words, the material should embrace the
idea of inclusivity as it is beneficial to the entire group of students.
3. Localization and contextualization
A meaningful learning experience happens when materials are familiar to the students and when
experiences are authentic. Once customs and traditions are taken into consideration, students value
their culture. In effect they will be conscious of preserving and promoting their culture.
4. Physical appearance of the instructional material
Provide sufficient but attractive graphics that can capture the interest of the students. The content, style
and structure should be considered to ensure continuance of engagement. Further, examine its
durability. For practical reasons, these materials maybe enhanced for future use.
5. Challenge for lifelong learning
In the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0), technology- driven learning engagement is at
the forefront. Every teacher needs to be proactive in accepting this challenge. Therefore, an instructional
material should likewise contain challenging activities that guide the students in the development of
their critical and creative thinking skills may they be on paper or on technology. The utilization of a
management learning system in teaching-learning activities is encouraged.

It is therefore helpful that instructional materials be regularly evaluated with the collaboration among
the teachers as this engenders improvement of the instructional delivery.

Lesson 4: Adaptation of Instructional Materials

Education in the 21st Century
●Highlighted by the judicious use of technology in teaching and learning.
●In the area of language learning where students the expected to demonstrate effective communication,
the use of learning resources including ICT, shall be made relevant and sustainable.
●Relevance in education actualized when activities cater to the learning needs of students-where
majority of whom are technology savvy.

Adaptation of learning materials

●Denotes the process of modification of the original composition of the material to suit to the context of
the intended learners.
●Stanford History Education supports that adaptation is modifying primary source documents so that all
students can read and analyze them in their classrooms.
●This ushers alignment of the learning outcomes, learning content, learning activities and assessment
optimizing appropriacy and relevance.
●These learning materials in order to be meaningful, offer both the opportunities and challenges for the
students to communicate in various context. It is paramount that these activities vary with consideration
of the students' level of unrest.
●Adapting appropriate instructional materials for language learning takes a rigorous process. This entails
ample knowledge of the students, the materials to be utilized, the teaching methods and the evaluation
measures. Once these are considered, their preparation for presentation and facilitation with the
students is paramount.

McDonough and Shaw (2003)

"Effective adaptation is a matter of achieving congruence, among several related variables like the
teaching materials, methodologies, students, course eves, the target language and its content as well as
the teacher's own personality and tracking style."
Madsen and Bowen as cited in McGrath (2002)
"Adaptation is one or more of a number of techniques: supplementing, editing, expanding,
personalizing, simplifying, modernizing, localizing, or modifying cultural/situational content.”

To adapt an instructional material is a scholarly endeavor. Your adeptness in the selection of the
said material involves careful planning. Amid the myriad of instructional materials for language learning,
you need to consider vital considerations before coming up with the decision to adapt the materials.

The following may hopefully guide you when you adapt an instructional material:
1. Choose a renowned and credible author.
A lot of authors contribute similar and differing ideas on that adaptation of instructional materials. Read
their credentials and give preference to those acclaimed experts.
2. Ask permission from the author of the chosen instructional material or simply acknowledge
him/her in the adapted material.
Once a permission from the author is secured, you have the authority to adapt or use his/her material. If
this is not feasible, acknowledgement of the author will suffice.
3. Modify certain ideas to suit to your purpose and context.
Examine the suitability/alignment of the material to the desired purpose and to the group of students,
then feel free to make modifications.
4. Validate the material by experts of the field.
Make sure that the adapted material is reviewed by content experts. They have ample knowledge about
the validity and reliability of its content.
Remember, when you adapt a material, consider your preparation and readiness to utilize the material
for a learning engagement. Anticipate scenarios when students challenge your competence. Be prepared
for this.