Textbook adaptation, evaluation and assessment and A/V aids

Course outline
1 Textbook adaptation, Evaluation and assessment
a) What is a textbook?
b) The criteria for choosing a textbook
i) Rules for evaluation
ii) The international constant
iii) Evaluation and assessment
c) Adapting a textbook
i) The strategies to adapt a textbook
a) Addition
b) Deletion
c) Substitution, and
d) Replacement

2 A/V aids
a) Introduction to A/ V aids
i) Aids used for specific purposes
ii) Aids used for general purposes
ii) The choice of a suitable aid

3 Language Teaching Methods
a) An overview
b) Method and Approach
c) The choice of a suitable Method










Appropriate Classroom Materials
In the ESL teaching world there is currently a continuing debate as to which type of class materials for oral and listening activities is more suitable. The choices are between authentic dialogues and materials taken from authentic sources such as radio interviews, magazine articles etc. and scripted dialogues prepared especially for the lesson by the teacher or some other English teaching source. Generally, the argument for authentic materials is that the materials should represent what learners will be confronted with in every day life when using English. On the other hand, proponents of scripted materials feel that by preparing the material students are not introduced to issues that may be beyond the scope of the current level. Both arguments are equally valid, and it is my own practice to use both types of materials in my classes. Below is a consideration of what I consider the main advantages and disadvantages of both types of materials.Authentic dialoguesThe advantages of authentic dialogues are probably mostly in the area of listening comprehension. By using authentic dialogues, learners are confronted with 'real life' experiences in which they will have to function. By using these authentic dialogues, the teacher can focus on variations in pronunciation, and how intonation and incomplete structures are used to express meaning. By having students focus on such areas of openings and closure, a teacher could then lead the class to discussion about, and practice of, appropriate types of openings and closure as well as other appropriate language (or inappropriate as the case may be). Other, more subtle issues, may also be addressed by using authentic dialogues. For an advanced class, the issue of flouting co-operative principles may be discussed by using the manner in which this is achieved in an authentic dialogue as an example. Students could then model oral activities on the exchange and see how close they can come to producing the same effect (a very difficult task indeed!)Scripted DialoguesI think that using scripted dialogues are probably most useful when a teacher is trying to focus on correct form. This is particularly appropriate when working towards stimulating oral work. By using a scripted dialogue, the teacher can steer the class towards new or recycled language skills while keeping irregularities to a minimum. Especially in the case of lower level classes, where communication skills are generally the primary target of such an activity, the use of a scripted dialogue allows the teacher to concentrate on 'bare-bone' structures without having to worry about confusing the students. The issue of shared knowledge does not need to be addressed, as well as other linguistic subtleties (such as flouting co-operative principles in order to express irony) and the teacher can use his/her knowledge of the class's ability to model the conversational flow.
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The Selection and Grading of Language Items

Functional syllabuses and structural syllabuses
In the choice for a textbook much depends on the type of syllabus the book is designed according to. The purpose of a functional syllabus is communicative while that of a structural syllabus is subject-centered. While teaching the functional syllabus, a teacher has to focus on a limited number of language structures prior to the use of the learner. The focus of this syllabus is to teach the language use. The focus of the structural syllabus is to teach the language structure no matter how easy or complex it is, or how much of it the learner has to use in the practical life. It aims to teach the internal structure of the language and not its use.
Structural syllabus
Does teach
Doesn’t teach
The form and meaning of language
The use of language
The manipulation of language forms
The meaning of language necessarily
The way language is made
The way language is used
All forms of language
Limited forms of language


The Functional syllabus
Does teach
Doesn’t teach
The use of language
The form and meaning of language
The meaning of language necessarily
The manipulation of language forms
The way language is used
The way language is made
Limited forms of language
All forms of language

Both syllabuses are not opposed to each other but rather complementary.
Backwash effect
When passing the examinations becomes the students’ objective than to learn, this is called a backwash effect. It means that the students get deviated from the right track despite reading the same syllabus.
Grading
Grading means to evaluate the rate with which a student is learning. Functional courses are expected to be graded steeply whereas in the structural syllabuses, the grading ought to be shallow.
Recycling
The consolidation of the previous knowledge of language items with the newly learnt ones to make all of them functional is called recycling.
Linear and cyclic progression
Learning the language items with their use one after the other is linear progression.
Learning the language items first and then referring back to them for the purpose of making them functional is called cyclic progression.
Linear is an intensive kind of an approach in which the learner has to spend much of his time in learning all the possible uses/ forms of a language item. The cyclic is perhaps more convenient and extensive, because in it, a language item is taught in respect of a few uses/ forms and is later, referred back to for learning other uses/ forms.

Implications for the teaching of functional and structural syllabuses
Implication for the teaching of a syllabus, be it a functional or a structural one, should be evaluated by going through the objectives it follows. They always follow an approach for their design. Thus we must see what options are available to a writer for designing a syllabus.








Text
Any recorded piece of language (whether written or spoken) is called a text.
There are mainly two kinds of approaches followed while writing a text:
a) The inductive, and
b) The deductive.

a) The inductive approach
It moves from a specific to a general. For instance, from the observation of a number of hardworking professors, one may infer that all professors work very hard (Mathews, 1997).

b) The deductive approach
It is the style of argument that moves from the general to the specific. For example, we say that all trees have leaves. Oak is a tree. Thus we infer that oak has leaves too (Mathews, 1997).

Normally language teachers teaching at different levels like to choose texts written in both approaches to give to their students in order to enhance their level of competence in reading skills especially. In Pakistan, mostly the languages skills mainly under focus are reading and writing skills (at all levels of language teaching ranging from the primary to the college and university level). Modern teaching methodology asserts the development of all four skills of language through teaching (Gondal, 2007).

A textbook
Normally a textbook is a book prescribed for teaching as a part of the curriculum to learners at a specific level developing their mind with a certain approach. Every teaching institute has a certain bend of mind that if follows to teach the students. Thus every textbook prescribed to be taught at a certain level reflects what approach the institute follows.
In order to select the best suitable textbook for teaching, there are two ways:
a) To select one of the textbooks available in the market, and/ or
b) To develop one’s own textbooks either by writing or forming an anthology.



Bibliography
Gondal, P. S. (2007). Teaching of English As a Foreign Language (1st ed.). Urdu Bazar, Lahore: Famous Publishers, .
Mathews, P. H. (1997) (1st ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.