Monkey Island, Oklahoma TESOL Online & Teaching English Jobs

This unit teaches about authentic and created books and materials. Authentic materials are print, videos, and audio materials native speakers encounter in their daily lives such as magazines, newspapers, TV/radio interviews, etc. Such materials are not designed for ESL students and are not graded for level. However, they are real and can help students gain confidence when they understand them, as such they can be choosen carefully to meet the needs of the students. Created materials, on the other hand, are usually designed by the teacher to supplement or replace materials from a course book. They include word search, flash cards, crosswords, etc. Course books usually include student's book, teacher's book, workbook, cassettes and sometimes videos. There are many advantages and disadvantages of using course books. An advantage is that it is easy and less time consuming for teachers; a disadvantage is that it can make teachers lazy and stop them from being creative. What I have learned from this learson are the ways a teacher can best use course books and how to analyze them. To best use a course book, the teacher should think about items that will motivate the students when planning the lesson, the time for each task, create a balanced lesson, match the book to the students and so on. The teacher should not use the course book for the entire lesson. When analyzing a course book, the teacher should consider its price, availability, design, methodology, skills, etc.