23. THE ELABORATION OF CURRICULAR MATIERALS FOR THE ENGLISH CLASS.
CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION AND USE OF COURSEBOOKS. AUTHENTIC AND ADAPTED
MATERIALS: LIMITATIONS OF USE. INVOLVING PUPILS IN THE DESIGN OF AUTHENTIC
MATERIALS.
1. INTRODUCTION
2. THE ELABORATION OF CURRICULAR MATERIALS FOR THE ENGLISH CLASS
3. CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION AND USE OF COURSEBOOKS
3.1. Why are coursebooks used in class?
3.2. Selecting a coursebook
3.3. How can teachers use a coursebook?
4. AUTHENTIC AND ADAPTED MATERIALS: LIMITATIONS OF USE
4.1. Authentic material
4.2. Adapted material
5. INVOLVING PUPILS IN THE DESIGN OF MATERIALS
5. CONCLUSION
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
7.1. Legal References
7.2. General References
7.3. Webliography
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1. INTRODUCTION
It is more than evident that the field of foreign language teaching has experienced drastic changes
triggered by the implementation of the communicative approach, which focuses of fluency and
communication. What is more, the final goal stated by the Spanish educational policies is the so-
called communicative competence. Hence, the selection, elaboration, and use of materials in the
English classroom will have to follow fulfill this condition.
As a result, this paper sets out to, on the one hand, analyze the creation of curricular materials and,
on the other hand, delve into the question of choosing a coursebook. Thus, this paper falls into four
different parts, starting with an introduction to the elaboration of curricular elements; the second part
focuses on the criteria used for the selection of coursebooks; the third part concentrates on the
limitations of authentic and adapted texts, and finally, the involvement of pupils in the designing of
materials will be dealt with.
The arguments put forward in this paper are foregrounded on some of the most important works in
the field, namely The Practice of English Language Teaching J. Harmer, (2007) and The Primary
English Teacher’s Guide, Brewster and Ellis, (2002), among others. Moreover, the current
legislation, Act 209/2022, establishes clear guidelines so as to the materials for the English class.
2. THE ELABORATION OF CURRICULAR MATERIALS FOR THE ENGLISH CLASS
The elaboration and selection of curricular materials or elements for the English class should be
done on the grounds of the Spanish curriculum, which stresses that the materials and didactic
resources should be diverse, varied, interactive and accessible, as regards the content they
present and the format (Act 209/2022, Art.10, section f).
In this sense, Ellis and Brewster (2002) give some reasons for producing our own materials: the
coursebook may not provide enough practice; some of the materials are not appropriate for our class;
or we may want to foster a different methodology as well as add some activities.
Only after teachers know the pupils’ characteristics and needs, can they deal with the production of
material. In this sense, pupils are at the core of our decisions, and, thus, they highly influence the
coursebook chose and the design of new curricular materials. Teachers should consider the pupils’
features (age, familiar background, motivation) and pupils needs (communicative competence).
Among the supplementary materials, we can find both flashcards and worksheets. On the one hand,
flashcards are picture cards that can be used on their own or with word cards. They are great for
introducing new vocabulary, memorizing, revising, and consolidating vocabulary and concepts, and
for simulating communication.
However, when using flashcards, teachers should bear in mind three important aspects: flashcards
must be big enough for the whole class to see them; the picture must convey the meaning clearly;
and the pictures must be appropriate for the pupils’ age. What is more, web pages such as
www.quizlet.com offer teachers the possibility of creating digital flashcards.
On the other hand, worksheets should be clear, simple, and attractive, targeting a specific language
point. They must engage students in various skills and offer opportunities to link English with other
curriculum subjects.
Worksheets can be used for different purposes, such as reinforcement, extension, assessment or
revising, to name just a few. Moreover, some types of worksheets include labelling, matching,
cutting, and pasting, completing, reading, and coloring, etc. Nowadays, web pages like
www.liveworksheets.com help teachers create online worksheets students can do.
3. CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION AND USE OF COURSEBOOKS
One of the aspects teachers should consider when selecting a coursebook is the legislation they
abide by as the general methodology associated with primary teaching. Act 209/2022, 17th
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November, highlights that the methodology used in Primary Education in the Region of
Murcia should be communicative, active, and participative, and it will be aimed at reaching
mainly those objectives directly related to the competences.
The curriculum, Act 209/2022, emphasizes the need for integrated learning activities that help
students develop key competences. These activities should encourage reflection, investigation,
and intellectual challenges. The curriculum also highlights the importance of reading, writing, ICT
skills, and oral expression through debates and presentations.
3.1. Why are coursebooks used in class?
Regarding the use of a coursebook in the English classroom, we can state that using coursebooks
has both benefits and restrictions. On the one hand, as for the benefits, Halliwell (2008) suggests
that the coursebook helps both the teacher and the pupils in a number of aspects: it provides the
teacher a clearly thought-out programmed which offers a coherent syllabus, satisfactory language
control or supporting material, such as the teacher’s book, visual materials, recordings, or
evaluations. Moreover, coursebooks also help our pupils, as they foster a sense of purpose and
progression, and provide material which students can look back at for revision and checking.
On the other hand, we can also find some restrictions. In this sense, coursebooks, used
inappropriately, impose learning styles and contents over which teachers can have little control.
Moreover, units and lessons often follow an unrelating format so that students and teachers
eventually become demotivated, not to mention that coursebooks can sometimes be culturally
inappropriate and do not suit our students’ needs and interest.
3.2. Selecting a course book
Different scholars in the field have examined the criteria for the selection of coursebook, firstly,
Salaberri (2001) criteria are based on a set of principles, namely the analysis of pupils’ needs,
objectives, design of syllabus and learner’s centered teaching. The criteria consider: linguistic
content, gradation of language, phases within a unit and trained basic skills and, revision.
Secondly, Harmer (2007) claims that any coursebook evaluation form should be based on the
following criteria, namely: practical considerations (price and availability of book); layout and design
(attractiveness); balance of activities (aural language and communicative activities); skills (oral and
written skills); language type (language authentic or simulated authentic); subject and content (match
with students’ personality, background and needs) and, guidance (teacher and students guidance).
Finally, Nunan (1990) suggests the criteria serves as a link between the classroom and world; it
fosters independent learning; focusing on students’ learning process and needs. Furthermore, the
coursebook is readily available and it can be used at more than one level of difficulty since their
pedagogical objectives are clear.
3.3. How can teachers use a coursebook?
Teachers can choose between a linear or creative approach in using coursebooks, deciding whether
to implement specific lessons or substitute them based on student needs. While omitting or
replacing material is permissible, frequent changes may hinder students' revision opportunities and
disrupt overall course coherence. When opting to use a coursebook lesson, teachers can choose to
maintain its structure or modify it for better alignment with their students' needs. Potential
modifications include adding supplementary material, rewriting exercises, substituting activities or
texts, reordering activities or lessons, and even reducing lesson content by removing exercises or
activities. This flexibility allows teachers to adapt coursebooks in ways that enhance engagement
and effectiveness in the learning process.
4. AUTHENTIC AND ADAPTED MATERIALS: LIMITATIONS OF USE
The main aim of all our teaching is to enable students to reach communicative competence. Thus,
in the foreign language class, the teacher will not only use the coursebook, but also some extra
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materials which might provide variety. In general terms, the different materials can be classified into
authentic and adapted.
As the focus will be on assisting our pupils to do in class what they will need to do outside, the
materials we use should reflect the world outside and render the experience of English-speaking
countries. In other words, they should have a degree of authenticity. All the more so it is established
by our curriculum Act 209/2022, 17th November, which focuses in acquiring basic level of
communicative competence and enrich and develop intercultural awareness.
4.1. Authentic material
Before going into detail, it is important to mention that the term of authentic material usually refers to
written and listening material. On the contrary, the use of real objects in class is known as realia.
In this view, Nunan (1990) describes authentic materials as those which have been produced for
other purposes than to teach the languages. According to him, a key aim of a learner-centered
curriculum is to use authentic materials in order “to generate classroom activities which simulate
genuine communication in the classroom in the hope that this will facilitate transfer of learning” from
classroom to or real world second language use.
These authentic materials can be selected from many different sources: video clips, recordings of
authentic interactions, extracts from television, radio and newspapers, signs, maps and charts,
photographs and pictures, timetables, and schedules (Nunan, 1990).
Authentic materials link the classroom environment with the outer world, thus making the language
more real and attractive to the students, at the same tie that make students experience the foreign
culture in the classroom.
Following Nunan, the most important aspect about authentic material is learner authenticity. In this
sense, if we want our pupils to think that the materials that we use are authentic, they must fulfil two
conditions: they must be recognized by learners as having a legitimate place in the language
classroom and they must engage the interests of our pupils by relating to their background
knowledge and experience.
Last but not least, authenticity does not imply the inability of adapting these materials, since
especially with beginners, it may be necessary to edit authentic materials in a significant way.
4.2. Adapted material
According to Harmer (2007), a non-authentic text is one that has been designed especially for
language learners. Here we can make a distinction between texts which have been made to illustrate
particular language points for presentation (artificial) and those which appear to be authentic
(simulated authentic).
Therefore, teachers often adapt authentic material to make it easier to understand. Typical
adaptations include making sentences shorter, simplifying the vocabulary, removing complex
grammar, etc.
On a related note, the use of adapted storybooks would be a very useful resource in order to achieve
this aim, as well as to work on the development of cultural awareness and expression competence.
What is more, it is our aim to develop reading habits in our students, both in and out of school, so
we must encourage pupils to read in English.
5. INVOLVING PUPILS IN THE DESIGN
According to the Act 209/2022, it is important to note that a learner-centered approach is put
forward and, thus, we should always have pupils at the core of the teaching-learning process. This
also implies that children are engaged actively in their learning. For this reason, teachers should
make students participants of the material design process
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In line with this, students will be more motivated towards objectives, contents and materials that
have been previously negotiated and agreed with them. At the beginning of the year, teachers could
pass the students some questionnaires in order to know their interests, likes and dislikes and
preferences and we could consider this information in the selection of our syllabus planning.
The children can also help in the design of materials; yet this will vary depending on their level. Thus,
younger children will be more engaged with coloring, decorations, or puppets, whereas older children
can rely on written word as well, such as posters, wallcharts, brochures, or projects.
On the whole, involving pupils in the design of materials not only arouses motivation amongst
students, since they are actively caught up in their learning, but also makes them responsible for
their learning, thus fostering learning to learn and autonomy and entrepreneurship competences.
6. CONCLUSION
Throughout the development of this paper, we have looked not only into the elaboration of curricular
materials for the English class, but also on the use of a coursebook and its limitations as well as the
use of authentic materials and the importance of involving our students in their elaboration.
In this sense, the selection of the appropriate coursebook for our particular group of students is
crucial, as we must provide not only variety, but also motivation, a key element to learn a foreign
language. Moreover, learner-centered teachers should consider the use of authentic materials in
order to generate classroom activities which simulate genuine communication in the classroom.
This leads us to the final goal stated by D198/2014, which pays special emphasis on the idea that
the development of communicative competence in a foreign language enables students to establish
contact and communicate with people from different countries, thus improving both their personal
and working situation and providing them with a global vision of reality. In short, it has educational,
social, and personal benefits.
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
7.1. Legal References
- Organic Law of Education 3/2020, 29th December, which amends the Organic Law 2/2006, 3rd May.
Official State Gazette, 340, 30th December 2020.
- Royal Decree 157/2022, 1st March, which establishes the minimum learnings in Primary Education.
Official State Gazette, 52, 2nd March 2022.
- Act 209/2022, 17th November, which establishes the curricula for Primary Education. Official
Gazette of the Region of Murcia, 267, 18th November 2022.
7.2. General References
- Brewster, J., Ellis, G. and Girard, D. The Primary English Teachers’ Guide. London: penguin, 2002.
- Halliwell, S. Teaching English in the Primary Classroom. Harlow: Longman, 2008.
- Harmer, J. The Practice of English Language Teaching. London: Pearson, 2007.
- Nunan, D. Learner-Centered Curriculum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
- Salaberry, M. R. The use of technology for second language learning and teaching, 2001.
7.3. Webliography
- ‘Learning English’, UCL https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org
- ‘Legislation BOE’, UCL https://www.boe.es/eli/es/lo/2020/12/29/3
- ‘Act 209/2020’, UCL https://www.borm.es/eli/es-mc/d/2022/11/17/209/dof/spa/html
