CRITICAL REVIEW ARTICLE 1

Evaluating and Adapting Materials For Young Learners by Paul Dickinson.

ARTICLE 2   Guidelines For Designing Effective English Teaching and Learning Materials by Jocelyn

Howard.  PREPARED BY:

1. ANUM BINTI NOR AZMAN2. NOOR AQILAH BINTI

KAMARUDIN

Definition of terms

Young learners• In this paper young learners will be considered learners between five and twelve years of age.

Adaptation• Adaptation is the altering of materials to improve or make them more suitable for a particular type of learner or group of learners.

Course book and Textbook• coursebook and textbook will be used interchangeably to refer to books intended by their producers to be used as core teaching materials.

Materials evaluation• Materials evaluation will be considered a procedure that involves examining learning materials to establish their value

Materials• Materials will be considered anything which is used to help language learning

Principles of language learning

Children actively try to construct meaning

 Children need space for language growth

 Language in use carries cues to meaning that may not be noticed

 Development can be seen as internalising 

from social interaction

 Children’s foreign language learning 

depends on what they experience

A learning-centred approach to teaching young learners

focus on the needs of the learner

does not revolve around having children do activities or projects individually or in groups, or being as physically 

active as possible.

 It is ‘more mental than physical’ with the initial 

desire for learning starting within each child

keep in sight the long-term view and direct the child towards increasingly 

demanding challenges so as not to waste any learning 

potential

Learning through tasks and activities

have coherence and unity for learners (from topic, activity and/or outcome)

 have meaning and purpose for learners

•have clear language learning goals

 have a beginning and end

 involve the learners actively

Follows upbuilds on the successfully 

completed core activity and might involve an oral 

performance or written work based on language used in 

the core

Core activitycentral to the task and is set 

up through its language learning goals.

Preparationhelp prepare learners to successfully complete the 

core activity, and may include the activation of key 

vocabulary

Materials evaluation skill schemeGeneral 

Appearance

 Layout and Design

 Methodology

Activities

Language Skills

Language Content

Topic Content

Teachability and Flexibility

Assessment

Adapting materials for a learning-centred classroom

The activity Activity demands

Activity support

Balancing and demand support

The activity

The student book activity is an oral practice activity intended to practise the question and- 

answer pattern

These items should already be familiar to learners having been introduced in the 

preceding activity.

Activity demands

Focusing first on the learning demands it can be seen that this activity includes both cognitive and languagedemands.

Cognitive demands Language demands

- understand that they have to work from left to right, from number 1 through 8- understand that the picture shows a present situation- understand that want is used in the depicted situation to express a desire for somethingthat is immediately available

- recall the vocabulary to describe each food or drink item-- put the words together in the right order - use a or an correctly with each item - pronounce the words - give correct stress and intonation to words and sentences - understand teacher’s instructions and feedback- understand partner’s questions and responses

Activity support

The graphic supportslearners’ language 

production by contextualising the language to be used.

The audio CD provides support by providing a model of how to say the 

new language.

Support is also provided through the use of words 

and sentences

The teacher provides support by demonstrating 

and modelling the activity.

Learners are also supported by working in pairs and listening to their 

partners.

Balancing demands and supports

the successful completion of an activity and the subsequent 

language learning benefits depend not only on the demands or the support, but on the dynamic 

relationship between demands and support.

If the learning demands are too high the child will find the activity too difficult and either not be able to complete it or appear to use the new language successfully during the activity, but not understand or 

learn it.

On the other hand, if an activity provides too much support, then children will not be sufficiently challenged to develop their 

language.

Task that will help the learner learn more language will be 

demanding but not too demanding and provide support but not too 

much support.

CRITICAL REVIEW ARTICLE 1

Evaluating and Adapting Materials For Young Learners by Paul Dickinson.

ARTICLE 2   Guidelines For Designing Effective English Teaching and Learning Materials by Jocelyn

Howard.  PREPARED BY:

1. ANUM BINTI NOR AZMAN2. NOOR AQILAH BINTI

KAMARUDIN

OVERVIEW 

ARTICLE 2 

PRINCIPLES OF MATERIALS 

SELECTION AND ADAPTATION 

EVALUATION OF ISSUES ARISING 

EVALUATION OF STRENGTHS AND  WEAKNESSES 

CONCLUSION 

ARTICLE 1 

PRINCIPLES OF MATERIALS 

SELECTION AND ADAPTATION 

EVALUATION OF STRENGTHS 

EVALUATION OF WEAKNESSES 

CONCLUSION 

COMPARE AND CONTRAST: 

ARTICLE 1 & ARTICLE 2

ARTICLE 2Guidelines For Designing Effective English Teaching and

Learning Materials by Jocelyn Howard

PRINCIPLES GUIDELINES FOR DESIGNING EFFECTIVE TEACHING MATERIALS 

EVALUATION OF STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

CONCLUSION

FACTORS 

The learners 

The curriculum and context

The resources and facilities available 

Personal confidence and competence 

Copyright compliance 

Time constraint 

PRINCIPLES GUIDELINES

Guideline 5: Offer opportunities for integrated language use.

Guideline 4: English language teaching materials should allow for a focus on form as wells as function.

Guideline 3: English language teaching materials should encourage learners to develop learning skills and strategies.

Guideline 2: Materials should stimulate interaction and be generative in terms of language.

Guideline 1: English language teaching materials should be contextualised.

Guideline 10: English language teaching materials should be flexible.

Guideline 9: English language teaching materials should have appropriate instruction.

Guideline 8: English language teaching materials should be attractive.

Guideline 7: Link to each other to develop a progression of skills, understanding and language items.

Guideline 6: English language teaching materials should be authentic.

Principles Review

Guideline 1: English language teaching materials should be contextualised.

The materials should be contextualised to the: -curriculum they are intended to address. - experiences, realities and first languages of the learners. -topics and themes

Guideline 2: Materials should stimulate interaction and be generative in terms of language.

-able to acknowledge the communication inherent in an interactive activity in the classroom.

Guideline 3: English language teaching materials should encourage learners to develop learning skills and strategies.

-provide opportunity to the pupils for self-evaluation through practices by using the materials. 

Guideline 4: English language teaching materials should allow for a focus on form as wells as function.

-develop active, independent language learners. 

Guideline 5: Offer opportunities for integrated language use.

-the materials provide many language uses to the pupils in the classroom. 

Principles Review

Guideline 6: English language teaching materials should be authentic.

-aim for authentic spoken and visual text. - authenticity in terms of the tasks which pupils are required to perform with them. 

Guideline 7: Link to each other to develop a progression of skills, understanding and language items.

-materials should have coherency and link from one activity to another in one lesson. 

Guideline 8: English language teaching materials should be attractive.

-physical appearance and user-friendliness -durability (can be used more than once by many pupils)

Guideline 9: English language teaching materials should have appropriate instruction.

-help the teachers and pupils to use the materials effectively and wisely. 

Guideline 10: English language teaching materials should be flexible.

-diversity in many areas, can be used by the pupils and teachers to teach different skills.

EVALUATION OF STRENGTHS  

Strengths

Contextualisation

Resources availability

Individual needs

Provide opportunity to

select texts at the right level

Ensure appropriate

challenge and levels of success

Make decisions about the most

appropriate organizing principle

Focus for the materials and

actiivities

Personalisation

Timeless

1 Contextualisation Enables the teachers to take into account their particular teaching and learning environment and to overcome the lack of ‘fit’ of the course book.

2 Resources available To make best use of the resources available in their teaching context.

3 Individual needs It is important to identify learner’s individual needs. -provide opportunity to select texts and activities at exactly the right level for particular learners. -ensure appropriate challenge and levels of success.

4 Make decisions about the most appropriate organizing principle

Focus for the materials and activities. The teacher can choose from the range of possibilities, including topics, situations, skills etc.

5 Personalization -Add a personal touch to teach the students about appreciation (Block, 1991)-Suit the interest and learning styles of students Increase motivation and engagement in learning-Freedom

6 Timeless Up-to-dateRelevant High interest topics and tasks

EVALUATION OF WEAKNESSES 

Organisation 

Confusing for learners 

Poorly focused activities 

May end up damage or with parts missing 

May lack overall coherence, lack of clear direction 

Quality

May contain errors, be poorly

constructed, lack of clarity in layout

and lack of durability

Lack of experience and understanding on the part of the teacher my result in parts missing or

left out

Inconsistent and poor choices of

texts

Ragged and unprofessional as

compared to professional

products

CONCLUSION FOR ARTICLE 2 

COMPARE AND CONTRAST Article 1 Article 2

• Children actively try to construct meaning•  Children need space for language growth• Language in use carries cues to meaning 

that may not be noticed• Development can be seen as internalising 

from social interaction• Children’s foreign language learning 

depends on what they experience

• focus on the needs of the learner• initial desire for learning starting within 

each child

• language learning benefits depend not only on the demands or the support, but on the dynamic relationship between demands and support