WHAT DO TEACHERS NEED TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WHEN SELECTING MATERIALS?

• There are different options - print material - digital material
• Materials should follow the criteria of the institution and should have connection to the educational objectives of the institution as well.
• They should be relevant to the students needs.
• There is a responsability for selection materials which means the experience and the education needed is not enough but also it is important the ability to defend the choices made.
• Newscats , websites , videos , blogs and ebooks are great material 

THE ROLE OF MATERIALS IN RELATION TO OTHER ELEMENTS

After the 70s things have changed in the education process because learners are the main focus in the process of learning language and teachers, materials and the curriculum is now focused on them and their needs. And teachers are constantly verifying their effectiveness or their faults to change their teaching strategies. Because the main purpose of teachers is to help students to learn.

There are a great variety of materials for learning English such as: textbooks, video and audio tapes, computer software, and visual aids and the effectiveness of their use depends on the teacher ability to handle them.

Even though students should be the focus of teaching material are also very important because it becomes the center of the learning and teaching process.

WHY DO WE USE MATERIALS / WHAT ARE MATERIALS FOR?

According to the article Selecting and Developing Teaching/Learning Materials the teaching process has five important components: students, a teacher, materials, teaching methods, and evaluation. And materials are one of the most important components because they teach students to learn and offer support to the teachers in their teaching. Textbooks help students understand and study their lessons.

It is very import to point out that an English teacher can give a class without a text book but in the majority of the cases following the structure of a text book will help the teacher guide himself in giving an organized lesson. So it is important that the teacher chooses the best English text for his lesson.

IMPORTANCE OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL

Instructional materials are essential tools in the English language arts classroom. They allow students to interact with words, images, and ideas in ways that develop their abilities in reading, listening, viewing, thinking, speaking, writing, and using media and technology. Because instructional materials are a primary resource for English language arts teachers, they must be selected wisely.

The base of consistent, pedagogically selection practices is a clear, written policy for the selection of materials in the English language arts program. Such a policy not only helps teachers to achieve program goals, but also helps schools protect the integrity of programs increasingly under pressure from censors, propagandists, and commercial interests.

To select the correct materials it's key to understand that adults learn in a different way than children. Adults want their learning to be immediately applicable to their lives, adults want to know why something needs to be learned, they are self-directed and problem solving oriented learners; that’s why it´s very important to choose an appropriate content, materials and activities according to their needs and interests, to keep the students interested in the class it´s important that the teacher plans the lessons responding to the learners needs.

It is recommend to follow a learner– Centered class, where it can be develop activities in pairs and group work, or a project- based learning, that allows adults pursue their own interest with the opportunity of incorporating authentic material to the class.

It´s important to remember that the selection of teaching and learning materials is an integral part of curriculum planning and delivery, the school has the responsibility to select and provide access to them according to the student needs, the diversity of value and belief systems in the community, the backgrounds and the environments of the students should be reviewed in the process.

The idea is to pick the best materials and most appropriate for the particular learning activities from the available resources, providing access with equal opportunities to all the students to their learning process, considering the importance of the technology and the different sources available for the teaching of English in the media and multimedia materials to which today's young people have access to.

MATERIALS DESIGNED FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING A CRITICAL EVALUATION

It`s not correct to pretend to use course books as the only source of information and material for our classes because we can be far away to offer a teaching process according to the specific needs of our students. Besides being receivers of knowledge, learners should have the opportunity 'to respond to or challenge the information they receive from the perspective of their own culture, for this reason we must supplement lessons with additional material as close as possible to their own life experience. It can then serve other purposes more easily such as for grammar review or extended reading, writing and speaking practice.

Group work and the use of L1 create a good atmosphere in the class and save time, because students feel less intimidate and it helps overcome 'problems of vocabulary, sentence structure and language confidence.

The pupils not only reviewed the grammar, but they did it by being 'engage in a language activity', and ‘using language pragmatically'. They also used the cognitive processes mentioned by Ellis, that of 'selecting, classifying, ordering, reasoning, and evaluating information'.

Using a variety of approaches and allowing learners to interact with one another, where they can make use of what they have learned, through activities that 'encourage learner initiation and creativity' and allow 'the possibility of peer feedback, adds to the vitality needed in successful SLA, where the learners are not only receivers of knowledge, but also decision makers.

Technology plays an important role in the teaching students; it helps them gain apprenticeship into new discourse communities. This is accomplished through creating opportunities for authentic and meaningful interaction both within and outside the classroom, and providing students the tools for their own social, cultural, and linguistic exploration. The computer is a powerful tool for this process as it allows students access to online environments of international communication. By using new technologies in the language classroom, we can better prepare students for the kinds of international cross-cultural interactions which are increasingly required for success in academic, vocational, or personal life.

Technology gives students and teachers the possibility to explore different materials adapted to our environment and our daily life. Actually, there`s no excuses of saying that we can`t find enough materials to develop a specific class or a specific activity, because technology opens the door to a huge world of possibilities.

Definitively students need to be involved into the learning process and we as teachers must allow them to do it especially today when students can find the information = knowledge anywhere. Teachers are just guide for students to language acquisition. 

CHOOSING AND USING TEACHING LEARNING MATERIALS

The selection of teaching and learning material is an integral part of curriculum planning and delivery, the school have the responsibility to select and provide access to them according to the student needs, for this is important to take into account the diversity of value and belief systems in the community, the backgrounds and the environments of the students, the range of the media and multimedia materials to which today's young people have access.

In the selection is necessary to pick the best materials and most appropriate for the particular learning activity from the available resources, and the access means to provide equal opportunities and facility the access processes for all the students to the learning materials.

Given the power and influent role of Internet use at these times in choosing and using the material for our classes, we can`t fail to mention that as educators we require to ensure that children and students are afforded the same appropriate freedoms, guidance and protection as relate to other teaching and learning materials, taking into account the risks for users of online services like exposure to inappropriate material.

Choosing and Using Teaching Learning Materials is a very important part of the learning and teaching process, from my experience I suggest the best way to do it is first to set up the needs and expectations from the students and the teacher from the material and then implement it while choosing the right material and then using it .

Choosing materials for teaching English to adolescents and adults main points:

• Materials help learning and teaching.

• Materials are the center of instruction and one of the most important influences on what goes on in the classroom.

• Learners should be the center of instruction and learning. Teachers may adapt, supplement, and elaborate on those materials and also monitor the progress and needs of the students and finally evaluate students.

• Learners need assessment

• Lesson planning is fundamental according to the needs and requirements of our students.

HOW WE LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

The adults learn in a different way than children, it is necessary to take into account the following aspects for an effectively teaching. Adults want their learning to be immediately applicable to their lives, adults want to know why something needs to be learned, they are self-directed and problem solving oriented learners; that’s why is very important to choose an appropriate content, materials and activities according to their needs and interests, to keep the students engage in the class is key that the teacher plan the lessons responding to the learners needs.

It is recommend following a learner– Centered class, where you can develop activities in pairs and group work, or a project- based learning, that allows adults pursue their own interest with the opportunity of incorporate authentic material to the class.

The assessment process is the key feature of planning for teaching adults, the teacher needs to apply achievement test throughout the term class, to determinate how well the learners are picking up the material used in class always with the intention of improve it.