1. ELT 415 MATERIALS ASSESSMENT PART III 1

2. MATERIALS SHOULD HELP LEARNERS TO FEEL AT EASE Materials can help learners to feel at ease in a number of ways: --feel more comfortable with materials with lots of white space than they do with materials in which lots of different activities are crammed together on the same page; --are more at ease with texts and illustrations that they can relate to their own culture than they are with those which are culturally exotic; 2

3. --are more relaxed with materials which are obviously trying to help them to learn than they are with materials which are always testing them. Feeling at ease can also be achieved through a ‘ voice ’ which is relaxed and supportive, through content and activities which encourage the personal participation of the learners, through materials which relate the world of the book to the world of the learner and through the absence of activities which could threaten self-esteem and cause humiliation. 3

4. FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN DEFINING THE CONTEXT People : students (how many, age, gender, culture, other languages, purposes, education, profession, experience) Other stakeholders: school administrators, parents, founders, and community Physical setting: location of school: convenience, setting, classroom( size, furniture, light, and noise) Always same classroom? 4

5. NATURE OF COURSE AND INSTITUTION Type/purpose of course Mandatory, open enrollment Relation to current/previous courses Prescribed curriculum or not Required tests or not 5

6. TEACHING RESOURCES Materials available Required text? Develop your own materials? Equipment: cassettes, video, photocopying, and clerical support 6

7. TIME How many hours total over what span of time How often class meets For how long each time Day of week, time of day Where fits in schedule of students Students ’ timeliness 7

8. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO DEFINE ONE ’ S CONTEXT? The “ givens ” of one ’ s context are the resources and constraints that guide our decisions. Knowing how long a course is, its purpose, who the students are, and how it fits in with other aspects of the curriculum helps us to make decisions about content, objectives, and so on. 8

9. A clearer understanding of what is possible within a given amount of time will allow us to be realistic about what we — teacher and students — can accomplish. Knowing what equipment or support is available will help us make choices about how much and what kind of material to prepare. Information about time, for example, can help us make decisions about how many areas of content we can realistically address within the time frame of the course. 9

10. Information about teaching resources will help us make decisions about how many areas of content we can realistically address within the time frame of the course. Information about teaching resources will help us make decisions about the kinds of materials we choose or develop. The relationship of the course to other courses will help us make decisions about content, so that we build on previous content. 10

11. Expectations of the students and stakeholders can help us make decisions about what is appropriate to cover and how students will be assessed. The more information you have about your context the more able you will be to make decisions and to plan an effective course. 11

12. Defining one ’ s context can also be viewed as part of pre-course needs assessment. Information about the students and about the curriculum is clearly related to students ’ learning needs. Other information, such as time and setting, does not necessarily help define students ’ language learning needs, but has to be taken into account in order to design a course that can focus on the needs within the givens of the context. 12