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.