Theoretical problems of the content of teaching foreign languages

3.Content of teaching language material.

Most countries attribute the English Language to be the global language. As a result, English is used in international communication both orally and in written communication, for general as well as specific needs. English teachers usually teach their students by using available textbooks. However, such learning materials which are ideally suitable for the needs of the students are not always available. This situation should not discourage teachers as far as they have the objectives of the teaching. By having objectives of the teaching/learning or being familiar with the needs of the learners, the teachers can develop their own materials for the learners to achieve the objectives or to fulfill the learner’s need.

A decade ago, a collection titled Materials development in language teaching edited by Tomlinson (1998) made little reference to the contribution of computers, apart from a discussion of corpus data and concordances and Alan Maley’s observation that man stands on the threshold of a new generation of computerised materials for language teaching. The absence of a focus on computer-assisted language learning materials in that collection was remarked on (Johnson,1999 ; Levy, 2006), as an indicator of the divide between CALL and the wider field of language teaching. In the decade since Tomlinson’s book, opportunities for language learning and teaching have been further transformed by the rapid development of a wide range of technology mediated resources, materials, tasks and learning environments. The place of these developments in the field of language teaching has been the subject of debate. Coleman (2005), for example, argues that current research and practice in CALL has the potential to enhance our understanding of language learning and teaching, but that it remains in a relatively marginal position.