Mother Goose

• Children all over the world have recited, sang, and repeated Mother Goose rhymes, but they have never bothered to know their origin and their meaning
• Most of the rhymes have been handed down from generation to generation
• Mother Goose

  A myth, a personification of well-loved story-tellers who have existed since the world began
• A French writer, Charles Perrault, published a collection of fairy tales and named it Comtes de Ma mere l'Oye or Tales of My Mother Goose


  1697
• As the Mother Goose rhymes were handed down orally, they had undergone many changes
• The verses reveal interesting bits of history, old customs, manners and beliefs
• JAMES ORCHARD HALLIWELL


  • First to issue Nursery Rhymes of England in 1842
  • Later issued Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Tales of England which are the recognized source of the authentic versions of English traditional rhymes in 1897
• ANDREW LANG

  • Published Nursery Rhymes, a collection of over three hundred rhymes and additional Halliwell rhymes
• IONA AND PETER OPIE

  • Published the simplest and most complete collection of rhymes entitled Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes in 1952
• John Newberry


  • Published the earliest collection of Mother Goose verses in 1765
• Qualities of Mother Goose rhymes

  • Musical quality
  • Action
  • Humor
  • Story interest
  • Variety of subject matter
• Variety of subject matter in Mother Goose rhymes

  • Animals
  • Alphabets
  • Dialogue
  • Counting rhymes
  • Games
  • People
  • Time verses
  • Riddles
  • Tongue twisters
  • Weather
  • Cumulative stories
  • Singing rhymes
• Why children like Mother Goose rhymes

  Musical quality, repetition and unexpected combinations of sounds, action, and presence of familiar characters
• Mother Goose rhymes serve as an introduction to real poetry
• They are good for ear-training and for their pleasure and amusement
• Comprehension of meaning and ability to read are not involved in the child's enjoyment of the rhymes
• Teachers recite the rhyme several times and children just follow and imitate their teachers
• Tomlinson 2001: 66: 'about language use'
• Materials development as a field

  Studies the principles and procedures of the design, implementation and evaluation of language teaching materials
• Materials development as a practical undertaking


  Refers to anything which is done by writers, teachers, or learners to provide sources of language input, to exploit those sources in ways which maximise the likelihood of intake and to stimulate purposeful output
• Materials development

  • It is a practical undertaking that involves the production, evaluation, adaptation and exploitation of materials