Rubena St. Louis

BA

W 09

Good instructional materials: • Based on theoretically

sound learning principles.

• Use of prior knowledge.– Cognitive– Linguistic– World knowledge – Learning styles

Good instructional materials:

• Arouse and maintain interest and

attention.

Good instructional materials: • Provide examples of

language use.

• “..the outcome of language learning depends on large measure on the amount and kind of exposure to the target language…”

• Spolsky, (1989)

Good instructional materials: • Create appropriate

learning atmosphere

“a mental block, caused by affective factors ... that prevents input from reaching the language acquisition device.........” (Krashen,1985)

Good instructional materials: • Build confidence

– Use pair work

– Encourage interaction

– Use interesting activities

– Use “fun” activities

Good instructional materials: • Build confidence

– Give enough time• Individual learner

differences

– Give feedback• Explicit• Appropriate• Individual

– Give encouragement

Good instructional materials: • Relevant to students

and their needs.

– Variety of activities– Allow student creativity

• Increase expectancy of success– Grade level of difficulty

Good instructional materials: • Provide opportunities

for interaction

• Negotiation of meaning– Reformulations

• Formation of hypothesis

– Testing of hypothesis

Good instructional materials: • Provide involvement

with authentic tasks

– Authentic tasks are those having the same types of cognitive challenges as complicated real-world tasks do.

• Egbert, Chin-chi Chao, & Hanson-Smith, (1999)

Good instructional materials: • Include a variety of

tasks.– Deep semantic level

• Problem solving – Emotionally

significant to learner– Variety of language

input• Focus on meaning• Focus on form

Good instructional materials: • Encourage learner

autonomy.– Teacher as facilitator– Learner-centred– Learner as decision

maker– Learner creates

internal system

• Learning delivered almost anywhere at any time

• Materials easy to update• Large number of resources

available• Ability to include multiple

media• Real-time content through

– video conferencing – video streaming – chat rooms

•Increased interaction•Learners and facilitators•Learners and learners

•Learner centred •Use of different learning styles

•Immediate feedback on progress

Age:

Sex:

Linguistic level:

Cognitive level:

Interests:

Learning styles:

Attitude:

• Stimulate students• Arouse students’ interest• Catch students’ attention• Cause an impact• Engage students• Promote interaction• Produce a variety of

activities

•What am I teaching?Content?

Functions?

Language?

•Where is the learning taking place?

•How is the learning taking place?

•How much time do I have?

•What resources are available?

•Type of input/output•Video

•Audio

•Text

•Type of activity•Introduction

•Practice

•Consolidation

•Type of control•Teacher

•Student

•User friendly

•On or off line

•Cost effective

•Secure

•Effective

Some tools

Age group: ________________ Level: ______________

ObjectivesLearning

Outcomes Authentic material needed

Activities correspondOutcomes/objectives

Tools Problems

To describe someone: Physically

Personality

Use of adjectivesnouns related to the topicPresent simple tense

(Images)PicturesPhotosFlash cardsTexts

VocabularyLabellingDrag & dropMatching GamesGuess who?Hang man

Exercise generator(Hot potatoes)Search engine(google)

Voice recorder

Will they do what is required of them?

Check instructions

Verbs:

Adjectives:

Nouns:

Describe people both orally and in writing. Ask & answer questions….

Video segment(beauty pageant)Audio(police line up)

Student initiated searchReportsOral:podcastWritten:

Microsoft image galleryPicture show(BubbleShare)

Audio(Springdoo)

Traditional activities• Open ended questions• Multiple choice questions

– One correct answer– Several correct answers

• True or False questions• Cloze activities• Fill-in-the-blanks• Drag and drop• Matching • Ordering

Input stimulus

Visual Text

Drawing/PictureVideo

Aural Music/lyrics of a song

Recital of a poemMonologueDialogue

The more creative side of things…Make, show and tell

Move over Spielberg!

I’m afraid that I don’t agree with

you there.

Some sites • Hotpotatoes: http://hotpot.uvic.ca/• Script O: http://www.readingmatrix.com/quizmaker/index.php• Word learner: http://www.wordlearner.com/

• Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/• Springdoo: http://www.springdoo.com/• Voice thread: http://voicethread.com/#home• Splash cast: http://web.splashcast.net/catalog/search.aspx

• Zimmer twins: http://www.abc.net.au/zimmertwins/• Comic creator: http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/comic/• Bubbleshare: http://www.bubbleshare.com/• Discovery school educator:

http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/