Second edition

teacher's books, and the aims of some activities may not he clear. Some materials and activities may look very attractive, but they may not be appropriate for the


162

Unit 25 Selection and use of supplementary materials and activities

stage or the level that learners have reached. So it is always important to think about exactly how supplementary material will replace or improve on material in the coursebook,

• 
  It may be useful to use authentic material (which is not designed for a particular level), in order to give learners the experience of working with more challenging texts and tasks.
  

@ The activities in materials designed to develop individual skills often include the use of other skills, e.g. learners need to read a text before they carry out a listening task, or to do some writing as a follow-up activity after a speaking activity. When selecting materials and activities, it is important: for us to think carefully about all the skills that they require learners to use.
© Many publishers produce materials for practising separate language skills at different levels. Teacher's resource books, too, usually list tasks and activities according to level. Before we decide to use these materials, however, the first step is to consider how appropriate the level is for our learners, and to think about the language they will need to understand or to produce.
Use of supplementary materials and activities
% Learners get used to the methodology in their coursebook. If we are using
supplementary materials with procedures that are different from those used in the coursebook, we may need to give special attention to instructions.

• 
  We can adapt many supplementary materials for use with classes at different levels. The texts used in these materials may not be graded, but we can grade the activities by making the learners' tasks more or less challenging.
  

© Games and extra communicative activities can provide variety and make learning fun. But unless we think carefully about our reasons for using them, our lesson may not have a dear purpose. Older learners especially may want to know why they are doing these activities.

• 
  In a mixed ability / mixed level class (i.e, one where learners are at different language levels), if the material in the coursebook is too easy or too difficult for some of our learners, supplementary materials and activities can also help us to provide appropriate materials for different learners. (This is known
  

as differentiation.) We can give different tasks to different groups, pairs or individuals which are more suited to their level.
© We may need to input new vocabulary or language patterns before we can use supplementary materials or activities. We just need to make sure our students have the language they need to make the best use of the materials or activities.
See Unit 23 for consulting reference resources and Unit 24 for the selection and use of coursebook materials.





Look at the extract from a supplementary book of communication activities. Think about the following questions;

1. 
   What could this activity be useful for? Make a list of different possible aims and 1 e a rn i ng о u tcome s.
   
2. 
   Where could this activity fit in a lesson? What language would students need?
   
3. 
   How could you lead into the activity?
   

163

Module 2

4. 
   Wo u Id you lo 1 low i h c [mice d u re so gges t e d i n the ex tract, or wo u 1 d you c ha nge i t i n any way?
   
5. 
   How would you follow up the activity? What would you do in the next stage, or in the next lesson?
   

3 Pirry jobs? I

4. 
   A fast food chain ihal opens 'restaurants' in beautiful i
   

squares in the old quarters of towns, *

5. 
   A nuclear power station, s
   
6. 
   A tobacco company. ;;
   
7. 
   How honest were you in answering these questions? tf C
   

you had no other opportunities for getting a job, is f
there no way you would reconsider? How much is %
one realty contributing to the problem by working for ^:
such com pontes? L
Writing