Materials Development Procedures

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The steps or procedure of materials development includes the design, implementation, and evaluation of language teach in g materials. Dick and Carey (1990) suggest ten components of the systems approach model, that is, identify an instructional goal, conduct an instructional analysis, identify entry behaviors and characteristics, write performance objectives, develop criterion-referenced test items, develop an instructional strategy, develop and/or select instructional materials, design and conduct the formative evaluation, reviseinstruction, and conduct summative evaluation. Each of these components is closely related to each other in the systems approach model.

To design/develop an accurate teaching materials, each component in the systems has to be considered. In other words, suitable teaching/learning materials should be able to fulfill each of the other components in the system approach. The teaching/learning materials already developed for specific target learners have to be implemented in the reallearning/teaching situation. The implementation of the learning/teaching materials in the real situation in this step is meant to try out the teaching/learning materials whether they are suitable for the target learners. If not, then the learning/teaching materials have to be revised based on the data obtained from the try out to the target learners. This is called the evaluation step.

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Materials Development as a Practical Undertaking

 

Learning/teachingmaterials,inpractice,canbedeveloped/producedbyevaluating learning materials, adapting, supplementing and creating own mate .

Teachersusuallyuseanytextbookavailabletoteachtheirstudents. What they can do is usually trying to evaluate the textbook they have to use to teach their students. In evaluating the textbook, teachers observe what works and what does not work and they add their own style/preference and interpretation to the text book. If they think that the text book is in line with the curriculum/syllabus, the text book can be used to teach their students. Teachers will evaluate and select text books according to how appropriate they seem for the given context. Well-designed textbooks can support inexperienced teachers a lot because they act as training materials. Textbooks can also be evaluated by exploring teachers and learners experiences and opinions about the text books as used in the classroom. This evaluation can result in the most effective text books which can be used in the classroom. This result, however, cannot be valid for different students and teachers and in different time. After evaluating the text book, each teacher has his/her own decision, that is, using the text books without having any change at all, adapting it according to the needs, supplementing it if necessary, or if the text book does not fulfill the teachers criteria,theycancreatetheirownmaterialsbasedontheirstudentsneedsorothercriteriaofdevelopingmaterials.Adaptingatextcanbebasedondifferentcriteria.Onepossibleadaptationisassociatedwiththelinguisticdemands.Adifficulttextcanbeadaptedbyteacherstosuitthecompetenceleveloftheclass.Pinter(2006:120) describes an adaptation of a well-known fable The grass hopper and the ants from the original one to teachher class of eight-year-olds with very little English. Although this adaptationshowsquitedifferentformfromtheoriginalone,thisadaptedfablestillworksfor a number of reasons. First of all, the story is still a good source for learning newvocabulary,structures,andfunctions.Fromthevocabularypointofview,children can learn the names of animals, grasshopper and ants. From the structure,theycanlearnpasttenseusedinthestory,questionsandanswersintheconversation between the grasshopper and the ants. From the functions, the fablestillcanbeenjoyedbythechildrenwhentheyreaditorlistentoitandthefablestillcanteachthetraditionalmorallessonabouttheneedtoworkforfood. Another thing to remember is that adapting teaching materials, especially from the authentic text, does not always work well. In adapting the authentic text to become learning materials, at each erhas to remember the English that the students have to learn from the adapted texts. Still, we have to allow the students to have an effort to cope with more challenges from the adapted texts. A teacher has to beconscious that gradually the students will have to struggle themselves to face the authentic texts without having any adaptation.

Harsono, Developing Learning Materials Supplementingtheexistingtextbooksusedtoteachisanotherefforttocover the weakness of the available textbooks that does not match with the syllabus/curriculumorobjectivesoftheteaching/learning.Thesupplementary teaching/learning materials can vary according to the availability of the materials or the creativity of the teachers. Creatingownmaterialsistheteacherslastefforttodeveloplearningmaterials instead of adapting or supplementing the existing textbooks or authentic texts.Thereshouldbefundamentalbasesinordertocreateownmaterials,amongothers,teachingobjectivesorinstructionalgoals(DickandCarey,1990),studentsneeds,andtopic-based planning. DickandCarey(1990)suggestalongproceduretodevelopinstructionalmaterialsafteridentifyinginstructionalgoals.Therearefivestepsbetweenidentifyinginstructionalgoaluptotheinstructionalmaterialsdevelopment:conductinginstructionalanalysis,identifyingentrybehaviorsandcharacteristics, writing performance objectives, developing criterion-referenced test items, and developing instructional strategy. The next step is developing and selecting instructional materials. With these steps Dick and Carey want to emphasize on theaccuracyofallthecomponentsinthesystemapproachofinstructionaldesign,includingtheaccuracyofdevelopingandselectinginstructionalmaterials. A teacher can also develop learning materials on the basis of the studentsneeds (Pinter, 2006). This situation would happen when a teacher is facing new students.InordertomeetthestudentsneedsofEnglish,anEnglishteacherhastofindoutwhatEnglishcompetencethestudentswanttoachieve.Afterknowing the English competence that the students want to achieve, the teacher develops the learning materials to help the learners achieve the English competence they want. CreatingownmaterialsbasedonTopic-basedplanningmeansthatthematerialsdevelopedforthelearningmaterialsshouldbebasedonthetopicalreadychosenand,therefore,alltheactivitiesinallareasofthecurriculumshould be related to that one broad topic.

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DEVELOPING LEARNING MATERIALS FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES

 

In this section, the applicationoftheprinciplesandproceduresofdevelopinglearningmaterialsisdescribedfocusingonmaterialsdevelopmentforspecific purposes of the teaching of English. In order to develop learning materialsforspecificpurposes,onethingthatshouldbecomethestartingpointisthelearnersneeds.ThisisinlinewiththefirststepofdevelopinglearningmaterialsforgeneralpurposesaswellasthatforEnglishasaspecificpurposes 176TEFLIN Journal, Volume 18, Number 2, August 2007(ESP)proposesbyHutchinsonandWaters(1989:3)whichstatesthatESPisbasedondesigningcoursestomeetlearnersneeds.Learnersneedscanbeidentifiedbytheteachersfromthetargetlearnersfrom whom they are going to develop the materials. Very often, learners needs havebeenformulatedbytheinstitutionwherethelearnersarelearningintheformoflearningobjectives.TheselearningobjectivescanbemademorespecificintheformofsyllabuswhichaccordingtoHutchinsonandWaters(1989:80)meansadocumentwhichsayswhatwill(oratleastwhatshould)be learnt.Thereareatleasteighttypesofsyllabusthatcanbeusedtoanalyzelearnersneeds:topicsyllabus,structural/situationalsyllabus,functional/notionalsyllabus,skillssyllabus,situationalsyllabus,functional/task-based syllabus, discourse/skills syllabus, and skills and strategies syllabus. Any syllabus can be used as far as the syllabus can accommodate the analysis of the learnersneeds.InadditiontothesystemapproachproposedbyDickandCarey(1990)describedintheprevioussection,HutchinsonandWaters(1989:90-94)proposefourapproachesofcoursedesignprocess:alanguage-centeredapproach,askills-centeredapproach,alearning-centeredapproach,andtheposthocapproach.Inalanguage-centeredapproach,therearefivestepstofollow,thatis,analyzingtargetsituation,writingsyllabus,writingorselectingtextstoillustrateitemsinsyllabus,writingexercisestopracticeitemsinthesyllabus,anddevisingtestsforassessingknowledgeoftheitemsinthesyllabus.Inaskills-centeredapproach,therearesixstepstofollow:analyzingtargetneeds,selecting interesting and representative texts, devising a hierarchy of skills to exploit thetexts,orderingandadaptingthetextsasnecessarytoenableafocusontherequired skills, devising activities/techniques to teach those skills, and devising a system to assess the acquisition of the skills. In a learning centered-approach, therearethreechainsofprocedures:(1)analyzinglearningsituation,creatinginteresting andenjoyablematerials,andcheckinglanguageandskillscontentof materials and making necessary adjustments; (2) analyzing target situations, establishinggeneralsyllabusoftopicsandtasks,creatinginterestingandenjoyablematerials,andcheckinglanguageandskillscontentofmaterialsandmakingnecessaryadjustments;(3)analyzingtargetsituations,establishinggeneralsyllabusoftopicsandtasks,producingdetailedlanguage/skillssyllabus,andcheckinglanguageandskillscontentofmaterialsandmakingnecessary adjustments. In the post hoc approach, there are only two steps in the procedure: writing materials on undefined criteria and writing cosmetic syllabus to satisfy sponsors, teachers, students, etc.Todeveloptheselearningmaterials,ateacherhastofollowthecorrectprocedureofdevelopinglearningmaterials.Iwouldliketosuggesttwomajor Harsono, Developing Learning Materials177steps to develop these learning materials. First, a teacher has to learn the learnersneedsandespeciallythesyllabus,choosetheitembyoneitemfromthesyllabus onebyoneandthendevelopthematerials.Second,s/hehastodevelopthelearningmaterialsaccordingtothenatureofthelearningmaterialsandtheprinciplesaswellastheprocedureofdevelopingthelearningmaterials.Concerning the nature of the learning materials, a teacher has to be able to differentiatethematerialsforthecontentandlanguage.Forlisteningandcontentmaterials,forexample,ateachercanselecttheexistingmaterialsintheform of a cassette, CD-ROM, video, or any other audio materials that can help thelearnerstoachievethebasicneedsthattheteacherhasformulated.Incasethematerialsdonotexactlyhelpthelearnerstoachievetheexpectedcompetence,theteachercanaddormodifytheexistingmaterialsoreventheteachercan develop his/her own materials. In dealing with the principles of developing learning materials, in addition tothenatureofthelearningmaterialsthatateacherhastoconsiderwhens/hedevelopslearningmaterials,ateachercanapplyanyoneormoreprinciplesofdevelopingmaterialsstatedpreviously.Principlenumber1suggestedbyTomlinson(1998:7-21),forexample,thatmaterialsshouldachieveimpact.HeexplainsfurtherTheimpactisachievedwhenmaterialshaveanoticeableeffectonlearners,thatis,whenthelearnerscuriosity,interest,andattentionareattracted.Thesematerialscanachieveimpactthroughnoveltyof,forexample, unusual topics, illustrations, and activities; through variety of, for example, usinganumberofdifferentinstructorvoicesonacassette;throughattractivepresentation,forexample,usingattractivecolors;andthroughappealingcontent,forexample,topicsofinteresttothetargetlearners,newtopics,universalthemes,etc.Therefore,evenonlybyreferringtooneprincipleofdevelopinglearning materials --- impact --- a teacher can develop various materials.Theprocedureofdevelopinglearningmaterialswhichconsistsofthedesign, implementation, and evaluation has to be implemented as well in order to producemoreaccuratelearningmaterials.Thedesignstepsincludetheformulation of the first draft of the learning materials which have considered the syllabus,thetargetneeds,thechoiceofthesuitablenatureoflearningmaterials,andtheprinciplesofdevelopinglearningmaterials.Havingthecompletedraftofthelearningmaterials,ateacherhastoimplementthematerialstothetargetlearnersintherealteaching-learningsituation.Anyweaknessesfoundinthetry-outorintheimplementationofthematerialshavetobeconsideredtorevise the learning materials. This is what is called the evaluation step in the materials development.

 

The following Quality Principles identified were seen as a way that will enable production of learning materials that address the varying needs. The Quality Principles in question are Foundation; Scope; Structure and Design; Flexible Delivery; Access and Equity; Content; and Evaluation and Feedback.

 

2.1 Foundation

Learning materials must be guided and supported by the aligned or outcomes expressed curricula and they must: o be relevant to industry needs so that they are capable of preparing the learner for the current and future trends in the world of work; o be challenging but still appropriate for the level of the target group; o adapt rather than duplicate the existing materials – eg reference materials, manuals; o be internationally comparable; o not violate copyright laws; and o indicate notional learning time.

 

2.2 Scope

Scope refers to the breadth and depth of the learning material. In order to ensure that the scope is fit for purpose – ie suitable for the target group and addressing the expected outcomes of learning – developers need to: o identify the relevant outcomes of learning or competencies, and support their acquisition; o relate to the appropriate target group(s) – ie flexible enough to accommodate the varying abilities and backgrounds – eg academic, training, work experience; Guidelines for Developing Learning Materials BOTA will be recognised nationally and internationally for creating and promoting a quality vocational training system Page 16 of 43 o provide clear examples, explanations and illustrations; o indicate resources needed; o provide an accurate industry context to suit current and future work environment; o emphasise purpose of learning in terms of employment opportunities; and o provide a list of recommended further reading.

 

2.3 Structure and Design

Learning materials must not only promote effective learning and assessment strategies but must also have a clear structure and be sequenced such that the target group can easily explore them. They must: o be easy for the learner to navigate through; o present a visually attractive design; o be usable by the hearing, visually and physically impaired; o provide activities and learning strategies designed to motivate learners; and o use words/language appropriate for the level of the target group.

 

2.4 Flexible Delivery

Learning materials must consider that learners (as well as trainers and assessors, as appropriate) have varying needs, preferences and entry levels, therefore must: o provide a variety of learning methods; o provide for use in a variety of training/learning contexts eg on job, off job and simulations; o provide guidance on entry requirements (especially for learning packages/self access material(s)); o be adaptable for use under different but similar conditions – eg making coffee is different from making tea but the process is more or less the same; o provide adequate user guides – ie other relevant reference materials like manuals, must be indicated in the material for reference purposes; o provide guidance, as necessary, on safety, health and environment requirements pertaining to the learning event; o be challenging to cater for target population (eg should challenge both the homogeneous and heterogeneous groups); Guidelines for Developing Learning Materials BOTA will be recognised nationally and internationally for creating and promoting a quality vocational training system Page 17 of 43 o be linked to industry minimum performance requirements/standards in order to adequately prepare the learner for the world of work; and o highlight issues pertaining to modes of delivery – eg distance learning.

 

2.5 Access and Equity

In order for learning materials to be inclusive, they must: o accommodate learners from different geographical locations – for instance, using relevant/common examples/contexts – for workplace learning taking place in remote areas; o accommodate cultural diversity; o challenge stereotypes of gender, ethnicity, creed and ability status, which can be corrected/reversed by use of non discriminatory words, pictures, illustrations and examples; o be affordable in terms of purchase price/procurement; o be moderately colourful but attractive – not boring but not too colourful – Avoiding colours like orange and red; o be produced in a way that is cost effective – ie affordable by producers; o take Information Technology needs on board; o provide guidance on training/learning and employment opportunities.

 

2.6 Content

Content refers to what goes into the learning material. It provides an elaboration of the expressed KSAs in the curriculum. A well-balanced content must: o be interactive by keeping the target group engaged – ie tasks must adopt a practical approach, – eg role plays, projects, drama and surveys of living examples; o be presented in a language appropriate for the level of the user – eg the lower the learner’s educational background the simpler the language; o be simple but yet challenging to the learner in order to sustain their interest; o simulate reality in terms of work requirements and problem solving – ie be realistic; o assist the trainer’s effort in delivering/implementing the curriculum; o be sufficient in parameters – not too much and not too shallow – guided by the curriculum; Guidelines for Developing Learning Materials BOTA will be recognised nationally and internationally for creating and promoting a quality vocational training system Page 18 of 43 o Internationally and locally comparable and up to date; o provide notional learning time frame; and o integrate and correlate theory with practice.

 

2.7 Feedback and Evaluation

Learning materials must promote self assessment for the learner and provide feedback to both the learner and the developer. They must: o show the date on which the material was produced; o show the date of next review of the material; o provide a list of assessment questions/tasks/activities for the user; o include a questionnaire to evaluate the material; and o state the contact details of the producer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These principles are briefly outlined in this section.

Materialsshouldachieveimpact.Impactisachievedwhenmaterialshaveanoticeableeffectonlearners,thatiswhenthelearnerscuriosity,interest,andattentionareattracted.Ifthisisachievedthereisabetterchancethatsomeofthelanguageinthematerialswillbetakenforprocessing.Further,itissaidthatmaterialscanachieveimpactwhentheyarenew,varied,presentedattractively, and appealing content.

 

Materialsshouldhelplearnerstofeelatease.Materialscanhelplearnersto feel at ease in many ways, for example, texts and illustrations rather than just texts, texts that the learners can relate with their own culture than those that are culturallybound,materialsthatincludeexamplesratherthanwithout,andmany others.

 

Materialsshouldhelplearnerstodevelopconfidence.QuotingDulay,Burt,andKrashen1982,Tomlinson(1998:9)saidthatRelaxedandself-confidentlearnerslearnfaster.Manylearnersfeelrelaxedandself-confident if they think that the materials they learn are not too difficult but just one step further or more difficult than they master. What is being taught should be perceived by learners as relevant and useful.InESP,teachersofEnglishcaneasilyselectmaterialsthatarerelevanttothe specific choice of topics and tasks that the learners are also learning in their field of study, therefore, the materials they learn must be relevant and useful.

Materialsshouldrequireandfacilitatelearnerself-investment.

Materialsthatenablethelearnerstobeinterestedinthem,thatcandrawtheirattention,andthatcanattractthemtolearnthematerialswillfacilitatethemtolearnthematerials by themselves. Learnersmustbereadytoacquirethepointsbeingtaught.Toacquirethepointsbeingtaught,thematerialslearnedshouldbei+1inwhichirepresentswhathasalreadybeenlearnedand1representswhatisavailableforlearning.AccordingtoKrashen(1985),eachlearnerwillonlylearnfromthenewinputwhat he or she is ready to learn.Materials should expose the learners to language in authentic use. A lot of teaching/learning materials can provide exposure to authentic input through the instructions,advicetheygivefortheactivitiesandthespokenandthewrittentexts included in the materials. Thelearnersattentionshouldbedrawntolinguisticfeaturesoftheinput.These linguistic features should not become the main focus in the materials but thelearnersshouldbemadeawarethatlinguisticfeaturesareneededtolocateand to make a generalization about the function of the linguistic features in the main materials. 172TEFLIN Journal, Volume 18, Number 2, August 2007

 

Materialsshouldprovidethelearnerswithopportunitiestousethetargetlanguagetoachievecommunicativepurposes.Afterlearningthematerials,learnersshouldbegivenopportunitiestopracticethelanguagetheyhavelearnedforcommunicationinreallifesituationnotjustpracticingitintheclassroom controlled by the teacher.

Materialsshouldtakeintoaccountthatthepositiveeffectsofinstructionare usually delayed. As it can be observed in our daily teaching, learners learning a language is not an instantaneous process but a gradual one. In order to facilitatethegradualprocessoflearningoracquiringalanguage,itisimportanttogivefrequentandampleexposuretotheinstructedlanguagefeaturesincommunicative use.Materialsshouldtakeintoaccountthatlearnersdifferinlearningstyles.Not all learners have the same learning styles. Language learning styles include visual, auditory, kinaesthetic (e.g. the learner prefers to do something physical, suchasfollowinginstructions),studial(e.g.thelearnerlikestopayconsciousattention to the linguistic features of the language and wants to be correct), experiential, analytic, global, dependent and independent. Materialsshouldtakeintoaccountthatlearnersdifferinaffectiveattitudes.Learnersattitudesvaryintypesandtimes.Ideallearnerswillneed strong and consistent motivation, positive feelings towards the target language, their teachers, their fellow learners, and the materials they are learning. Realizingthisfact,materialsshouldprovidechoicesofdifferenttypesoftextsandtypes of activities.Materials should permit a silent period at the beginning of instruction. The silentperiodisusedtofacilitatethedevelopmentofaneffectiveinternalizedgrammarandotherlanguageelementswhichcanhelplearnerstoachieveproficiency.Theotherpossibleextensionoftheprincipleofpermittingsilenceisto introduce most new language points through activities which initially require comprehension before production.Materialsshouldmaximizelearningpotentialbyencouragingintellectual,aestheticandemotionalinvolvementwhichstimulatesbothrightandleftbrainactivities.Thisprinciplemeansthatmaterialswhichencouragethelearnerstolearn the same lesson involving different cerebral processes and different states of consciousness in many different parts of the brain will maximize recall.Materialsshouldnotrelytoomuchoncontrolledpractice.Thisprincipleis intended to state that it is still controversial to say that controlled practice activitiesarevaluable.Thestatementswhichstatethatmostspontaneousperformanceisattainedbydintofpractice(Sharwood-Smith,1981)andautomaticityisachievedthroughpractice(Bialystok,1988)havenoevidence.However,manyresearchersagreewithEllissayingthatcontrolledpractice Harsono, Developing Learning Materials173appearstohavelittlelongtermeffectontheaccuracywithwhichnewstructuresareperformed(Ellis,1990:192)andhaslittleeffectonfluency(EllisandRathbone,1987).Yet,controlledgrammarpracticeactivitiesstillfeaturesignificantly in popular coursebooks and are considered useful by many teachers and by many learners.Materialsshouldprovideopportunitiesforoutcomefeedback.Feedbackwhich is focused on the effectiveness of the outcome rather than just on the accuracyoftheoutputcanleadtooutputbecomingaprofitablesourceofinput.Therefore,alearnerwhoissuccessfultoachieveaparticularcommunicative purposewillgainpositivefeedbackontheeffectivenessoftheuseofthelanguage for further language outcome. In relation to this, materials developer has tobesurethatlanguageproductionactivitieshaveintendedoutcomesotherthan just practicing language.

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