TEACHING LANGUAGES IS SOMETHING VERY ENJOYABLE, BUT YOU HAVE TO NOTE THE FOLLOWING KEYPOINTS
English Language Teaching Materials and Media: Instructional Material and Media and Its Function
.Instructional Material and Media and Its Function
A. Instructional Material Instructional material refers to anything which is used by teachers or learners to facilitate the learning of a language.
Materials could obviously be cassettes, videos, CD-Roms, dictionaries, grammar books, readers, workbooks or photocopied exercises. They could also be newspapers, food packages, photographs, live talks by invited native speakers, instructions given by a teacher, tasks written on cards or discussions between learners.
In other words, they can be anything which is deliberately used to increase the learners’ knowledge and/or experience.
Keeping this pragmatic concept of materials in mind can help materials developers to utilise as many sources of input as possible and, even more importantly, can help teachers to realise that they are also material developers and that they are ultimately responsible for the materials that their learners use.
Instructional material control the learning and teaching, because those materials determine the components and method of learning; they control the content, the method, and procedures of learning.
In many cases, instructional materials are the center of instruction and one of the most important influences on what goes on in the classroom.
B. Materials Development Materials development refers to anything which is done by writers, teachers or learners to provide sources of language input and to exploit those sources in ways which maximise the likelihood of intake: in other words the supplying of information about and/or experience of the language in ways designed to promote language learning. Materials developers might write textbooks, tell stories, bring advertisements into the classroom, express an opinion, provide samples of language use or read a poem aloud.
Whatever they do to provide input they do so in principled ways related to what they know about how languages can be effectively learned.
The Function of Instructional Materials There are five functions what materials suppose to do. They should:
1. Act as a stimulus to learning (e.g. texts are interesting; there are opportunities for learners to use their existing knowledge and skills; both teacher and learners can cope with the content);
2. Help to organize the teaching learning process (e.g there should be a clear and coherent structure which helps the teacher to plan lessons and learners to feel a sense of progress and achievement, but the structure should not be so rigid that monotony results.
3. Embody a view of the nature of teaching and learning (i.e. reflects the beliefs of the writer)
4. Reflect the nature of the learning task – in this case, language learning (i.e. represent the complexity of language learning but also its manage ability)
5. Provide models of correct and appropriate language use.
Instructional Media A medium (plural media) is a channel of communication, derived from the Latin word meaning “between”. The term refers to anything that carries information between a source and a receiver. Definition of media focus on use of technologies plus concepts and contexts.
Medias are the means for transmitting or delivering messages and in teaching-learning perspective delivering content to the learners, to achieve effective instruction.
Instructional media for learning- teaching process provide with the tools to engage learners powerfully in the learning process. It greatly enhance the effectiveness of communication.
If it is properly designed, skillfully produced and effectively used have great influence on teaching & learning because it produces impact of:
• Save time
• Increase interest
• Hold attention
• Clarify ideas
• Reinforce concepts
• Add tone
• Prove a point
• Aid memory
Media can be used effectively in formal situation where students are working independently or teacher is working with other group of students.
Media play a significant role in the education of students with exceptionalities children with disabilities in particular need special instructional treatment which is supplemented with adaptation and specially designed media for effective instruction of such students.
The most common use of media in an instructional situation is for supplemental support of the instructor in the classroom to enhance learning.
Every application of media is somewhat unique, but in any case it must be guided by both general principles of learning and the context in which these principles are employed.
For the instructional use of media programs are designed intentionally to make the teaching-learning environment more interesting and effective.
The Function of media in Language Teaching The impact use of media may increase by applying the following principles
Select material with appropriate attributes
Introduce material to learner by relating it to prior learning and indicating its relationship to present objectives
Present material under the best possible environmental conditions. Get feedback from viewers/learners.
Evaluate interial impact.
The teacher can make more effective use of media if he/she understand underlying concepts about teaching- learning process.
Behaviorists stress external control over a learner’s behavior, so specify behavioral (performance) objectives; instructional design and media are highly structured.
While cognitivists stress internal or learner control over mental process, so specify cognitive objectives, allow learners to employ their own cognitive strategies. Instructional design and media is less structured.
Teaching and learning are considered complex processes, influenced by different multiple factors, including use of media or instructional aids, which results active involvement of learners and makes teaching more interactive.
The importance of interactive learning or academic engagement is reflected from the following quote from Killen Roy. “Instructional activities must be arranged so that students have appropriate opportunities to engage in meaningful learning (as opposed to rote learning). Academic engagement will be evident when students are on task, focused on important issues and consciously striving to learn. Students need to be seriously engaged in learning in order to achieve deep understanding. Academic engagement is closely linked to students commitment and motivation and to the nature of interactions within classroom social systems”.
In order to make the learning experiences of the learners more concrete and realistic, teachers has to use and prepare specific teaching materials. These instructional gadgets help teachers to clarify, establish and correlate concepts of learners
It also helps to teach abstract concepts in a meaningful way
“Teaching aids certainly amplify teacher effortful presentation more into influencing instructions. The use of variety of teaching aids has successfully transformed most classrooms from traditional setup, where teachers do most of the talking and students are passive listeners, into participatory learning centers facilitating productive learning”.
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