Design of Instructional

Materials
Dr.
Dr Lockias Chitanana

Midlands State University

Instructional System Design
TEACHER TAUGHT

TRADITIONAL SYSTEM SPATIO-TEMPORAL FIXEDNESS

CURRICULUM FIXEDNESS

PARIDGM SHIFT

SELF LEARNING

CORRESPONDENCE FREEDOM OF LOCATION

EDUCATION
CURRICULUM FIXEDNESS

PARIDGM SHIFT

SELF LEARNING

FREEDOM OF LOCATION
ODL EDUCATIONAL
SYSTEM FREEDOM TO LEARN
 Instructional System Design

 Instruction is a systematic process that

involves teacher, learners, materials, and
learning environment in order to achieve
successful and identified learning goals.
 The “system” refers to an orderly, logical
method of identifying, developing, and
evaluating a set of strategies aimed at
attaining a particular instructional goal
(Morrison, Ross, Kemp, 2004)
 Instructional System Design
 An instructional system is an arrangement of resources and
procedures to promote learning.
 Design implies a systematic or intensive planning and ideation
process prior to the development of something or the
execution of some plan in order to solve a problem.
 Instructional System Design is used interchangeably with
Instructional Design
 ISD is a systems approach for the design, development,
implementation, and evaluation of instruction.
Instructional System Design
 Training refer to those instructional
experiences that are focused upon individuals
acquiring very specific skills that they will
normally apply almost immediately.
 Teaching refer to those learning experiences
that are facilitated by a human being - not a
videotape, textbook, or computer program,
but a live teacher.
Education

Instruction

Training

Teaching

(Source: Smith & Ragan, 1999)

ID Definition
 Instructional design refers to the systematic
and reflective process of translating
principles of learning and instruction into
plans for instructional materials, activities,
information resources, and evaluation.
(Smith and Ragan, 1999)
Definition I
 Instruction Design as a Process:
 Instructional Design is the systematic
development of instructional specifications
using learning and instructional theory to
ensure the quality of instruction. It is the
entire process of analysis of learning needs
and goals and the development of a delivery
system to meet those needs. It includes
development of instructional materials and
activities; and tryout and evaluation of all
instruction and learner activities.
Definition II
 Instructional Design as a Discipline:
 Instructional Design is that branch of

knowledge concerned with research and

theory about instructional strategies and
the process for developing and
implementing those strategies.
Definition III
 Instructional Design as a Science
 Instructional Design is the science of

creating detailed specifications for the

development, implementation, evaluation,
and maintenance of situations that
facilitate the learning of both large and
small units of subject matter at all levels
of complexity.
Definitions IV
 Instructional Design as Reality
 Instructional Design can start at any point

in the design process. Often a glimmer of

an idea is developed to give the core of an
instruction situation. By the time the entire
process is done the designer looks back
and she or he checks to see that all parts of
the “science” have been taken into
account. Then the entire process is written
up as if it occurred in a systematic fashion.
What is a Teacher?
Advocate
Counselor
Evaluator
Coach
Learner
Motivator
Organizer
Judge
Collaborator
Referee
Model
Nurse
Artist
Confidant
Instructional
Listener Designer
 The Form of Teaching Materials
 Printed materials
ex. books, workbooks, worksheets, readers
 Nonprint materials
ex. cassette, audio materials, videos
 Both print and nonprint sources
ex. self-access materials,
materials on the Internet
 Magazines, newspapers, TV programs
The role of materials (Cunningsworth, 1995)
 A resource for presentation materials
 A source of activities for learner practice and
communicative interaction
 A reference source for learners on grammar,
vocabulary, pronunciation, and so on
 A source of stimulation and ideas for
classroom activities
 A syllabus
 A support for less experienced teachers
The functions of materials
 As a source of language
 As a learning support
 For motivation and stimulation
 For reference

(Dudley-Evans & St. John,

1998)
Authentic versus created materials
 Authentic materials:
Teaching resources that are not specially
prepared for pedagogical purpose

 Created materials:
Text books and other specially developed
instructional resources
Advantages of authentic materials
 have a positive effect on learner motivation
 provide authentic cultural information about
the target culture
 provide exposure to real language
 relate more closely to learners’ needs
 support a more creative approach to teaching

(Phillips & Shettlesworth, 1978; Clarke, 1989; Peacock, 1997)

 Critics of using authentic materials
 Created materials can also be motivating for
learners
 Authentic materials often contain difficult language
 Created materials may be superior to authentic
materials because they are generally built around a
graded syllabus
 Using authentic materials is a burden for teachers
 Past and current trends in
English language textbooks
Then Now
 Author and academic  Market led
centered
 Uncertain global market  Specific fragmented markets
 European focus  Pacific Rim/ Latin American
focus
 Sell what is published  International or local culture
 Culture and methodology  Indigenous learning
of origin situations
 English for its own sake  English for specific purposes
 Past and current trends in
English language textbooks
Then Now
 UK/ US publisher  Rise in local publishing

dominance
 Native speaker expertise  Nonnative speaker
 Culturally insensitive
competence
 Culturally sensitive
 Low risk / competition
 High risk / competition
 Little design
 Design rich
 Artificial texts and tasks 
Authenticity
 Single-volume titles  Multicomponent/multimedia
Advantages of using commercial
textbooks
 Provide structure and a syllabus for a program
 Help standardize instruction
 Maintain quality
 Provide a variety of learning resources
 Be efficient
 Provide effective language models and input
 Train teachers
 Visually appealing
Negative effects of commercial
textbooks
 May contain inauthentic language
 May distort content
 May not reflect students’ needs
 Can deskill teachers
 Be expensive
Evaluating textbooks
Before evaluating a textbook, information is
needed on the following issues:
 The role of the textbook in the program
ex. Will it be used with small classes or large ones?
 The teachers in the program
ex. Are teachers free to adapt and supplement the book?
 The learners in the program
ex. What do learners typically expect in a textbook?
Criteria for textbook evaluation
They should:
 Correspond to learners’ needs.

Match the aims and objectives of the

language learning program.
 Reflect the present or future uses
 Take account of students’ needs
 Have a clear role as a support for learning

(Cunningsworth, 1995)
A checklist for textbook
evaluation and selection ( Appendix 2)
Organized under the following categories (p. 274)
 Aims and approaches
 Design and organization
 Language content
 Skills
 Topic
 Methodology
 Teachers’ books
 Practical considerations (Cunningsworth, 1995)
Questions to ask when selecting
ESP materials
 Will the materials stimulate and motivate?
 To what extend does the material match the
stated learning objectives and your learning
objectives?
 To what extent will the materials support
the learning process?
(Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998)
Factors involved in textbook
evaluation and selection
 Program factors
 Teacher factors
 Learner factors
 Content factors
 Pedagogical factors
Adapting textbooks
A good provider of materials will be able to:

 Select appropriately from what is available

 Be creative with what is available
 Modify activities to suit learners’ needs
 Supplement by providing extra activities

(Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998)

Forms of adaptation
 Modifying content
 Adding or deleting content
 Reorganizing content
 Addressing omissions
 Modifying tasks
 Extending tasks
Preparing materials for a program

Advantages: Disadvantages
‧Relevance ‧Cost
‧Develop expertise ‧Quality
‧Reputation ‧Training
‧Flexibility
 The nature of materials
development
The process of materials development:
 Preparation: ex. critical analysis of texts
 Representation: ex. examples, demonstrations
 Selection: ex. choice from modes of teaching,

organizing, managing, and arranging

 Adapting and tailoring to student characteristics:

ex. consideration of social class, gender, age

(Shulman, 1987)
Characteristics for good language
teaching materials (Tomlinson, 1998)
Materials should:
 achieve impact
 help learners feel at ease
 help learners to develop confidence
 be relevant and useful to students
 require and facilitate learner self-investment
 expose the learners to language in authentic use
 provide the learners with opportunities to achieve
communicative purpose
 take into account that positive effects of instruction are usually
delayed
 Characteristics for good language
teaching materials
Materials should:
 take into account that the learners have different learning styles
 take into account that learners differ in affective attitudes
 permit a silent period at the beginning of instruction
 maximize learning potential
 not rely too much on controlled practice
 provide opportunities for outcome feedback
 Learners must be ready to acquire the points being taught
 The learners’ attention should be drawn to linguistic features of
the input
Decisions in materials design
Processes of program design and materials design:
 Developing aims
 Developing objectives
 Developing a syllabus
 Organizing the course into units
 Developing a structure for units
 Sequencing units
 Choosing input and sources
 Selecting exercise types
Choosing input and sources
 Grammar materials
 Listening materials
 Reading materials
 Writing materials
 Speaking materials

** copyright permission
Selecting exercise types (Appendix 1,
p.272)

An example of exercises that involve a nonlinguistic

response to the text:
 Ordering a sequence of pictures
 Comparing texts and pictures
 Matching
 Using illustrations
 Completing a document
 Mapping it out
 Using the information in a text
 Jigsaw reading (Grellet, 1981)
Selecting exercise types
An example of exercises that involve a linguistic
response to the text:
 Reorganizing the information: recording events
 Reorganizing the information: using grids
 Comparing several texts
 Completing a document
 Question types
 Study skills: summarizing
 Study skills: note taking (Grellet, 1981)
Managing a materials writing
project ( Appendix 3, p. 277)
A team-based writing project involves:
 Selecting the project team
 Planning the number of stages involved
 Identifying reviewers
 Planning the writing schedule
 Piloting the materials
 Design and production
Monitoring the use of materials
Forms of Monitoring:
 Observation
 Feedback sessions
 Written reports
 Review
 Students’ reviews
Thank you!