Material development

• Materials


  Anything which is used by teachers and learners to facilitate the learning of a language
• Materials


  Any systematic description of the techniques and exercises to be used in classroom teaching
• Principles of second language acquisition relevant to the development of materials for the teaching of languages
• Materials should achieve impact


  • Novelty
  • Variety
  • Attractive Presentation
  • Appealing Content
  • Achievable Challenge
• Materials should help learners to feel at ease


  • Research has shown the effects of various forms of anxiety on the acquisition: the less anxious the learner, the better language acquisition proceeds. Similarly, relaxed and comfortable students apparently can learn more in shorter periods of time
• Materials should help learners to develop confidence


  • Relaxed and self-confident learners learn faster
• What is being taught should be perceived by learners as relevant and useful


  • Positive effect on learning and recall of items of personal significance to the learner. Importance of apparent relevance and utility in language acquisition
• Materials should require and facilitate learner self-investment


  • The role of the classroom and of teaching materials is to aid the learner to make efficient use of the resources in order to facilitate self-discovery
• Learners must be ready to acquire the points being taught


  • Certain structures are acquired only when learners are mentally ready for them
• Materials should expose the learners to language in authentic use


  • Comprehensible input in the target language is both necessary and sufficient for the acquisition of that language provided that learners are 'affectively disposed to "let in" the input they comprehend'
• The learners' attention should be drawn to linguistic features of the input


  • Materials should provide the learners with opportunities to use the target language to achieve communicative purposes
• Materials should provide the learners with opportunities to use the target language to achieve communicative purposes


  • Learners should be given opportunities to use language for communication rather than just to practice it in situations controlled by the teacher and the materials. Opportunities for language use should be interactive and encourage negotiation of meaning
• Materials should take into account that the positive effects of instruction are usually delayed


  • No textbook can really succeed if it teaches features of the language one at a time and expects the learners to be able to use them straightaway
• Materials should take into account that learners differ in learning styles

  • Activities should be variable and should ideally cater for all learning styles (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, studial, experiential, analytic, global, dependent, independent)
• Materials should take into account that learners differ in affective attitudes


  • The learner's motives, emotions, and attitudes screen what is presented in the language classroom. This affective screening is highly individual and results in different rates and results
• Materials should permit a silent period at the beginning of instruction


  • Communication situations in which students are permitted to remain silent or respond in their first language may be the most effective approach for the early phases of language instruction
• Materials should maximise learning potential by encouraging intellectual, aesthetic and emotional involvement which stimulates both right- and left-brain activities


  • A varied series of activities making, for example, analytic, creative, evaluative, and rehearsal demands on processing capacity can lead to deeper and more durable learning
• Materials should not rely too much on controlled practice


  • Controlled practice appears to have little long term effect on the accuracy with which new structures are performed and has little effect on fluency
• Materials should provide opportunities for outcome feedback

  • Feedback which is focused first on the effectiveness of the outcome rather than just on the accuracy of the output can lead to output becoming a profitable source of input. It is very important for materials developers to make sure that language production activities have intended outcomes other than just practising language
• Reflect on your experiences. What current issues can you think of when it comes to materials development and implementation?