Teaching Materials

 What kind of materials can help the learning process of our students? Which ones are the best: real-life, adapted, or teacher produced materials? These are some questions that teachers often ask to themselves. Teaching materials are as important as the English course, but one must be choose the correct ones carefully.

  It is important to keep in mind the difference between them. Real-life materials are the ones taken from real-life situations and/or created by native speakers; for instance, a newspaper, TV shows, sitcoms, etc.  Adapted materials are the ones that have been modified to the level of English of the students like books. Teacher produced materials are the ones that the teacher has created by him/herself.

  Moreover, one can consider helpful to use real materials. It prepares students to the real world. With real materials the student can practice real situations which can help them to have a better understanding with native speakers. On the other hand, adapted materials can be very useful especially for A1 and A2 students. Adapted materials can help these students to get familiar with the language. Once the students are familiar with the language, they can be ready to practice with Real Material.

  Bbclearningenglish.com is a useful website for EFL teachers. Teachers can find materials and ideas for their English classes. They can find free downloadable lesson plans, handouts and activities. Also, it is a useful website for students. They can improve their vocabulary skills by watching videos and listening to current news; also they can practice their English by making online quizzes or playing online games.

  In conclusion, it does not matter the kind of materials that we use in our class; the most important aspect is that the materials are helping our students. We must use the needs analysis to choose the correct materials. Other good option to keep in mind is the teacher produced material. If we create our own material, we will promote creativity in our students. Though it takes time creating our own material, it could create a big interest in our students.