Assessing teachers preferences on teaching materials: Textbook versus authentic materials in Malaysian school.

ABSTRACT This paper aimed to look at the important aspect in teaching materials and material selection in Malaysia school and to see the current trend and choices preferred by teachers in English learning. Most of the teachers in school preferred to have textbook as their main sources or primary materials in teaching English language but rapid changes in information technology and curriculum has enable the variety of the material development and selection that lead to various teaching materials. Conventional materials such as textbooks are likely dropping because textbook is regarded as no longer relevant and considered as the dead pages. Keywords: Language acquisition, materials, authentic materials, textbook. 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY.

Material development is defined as both of a field study and practical undertaking. As a field, it studies the principles and procedure of the design, implementation and evaluation of language teaching materials. As undertaking it involved the production, evaluation and adaptation of language teaching materials. Materials include anything that can be used to facilitate the learning of the language. They can be linguistic, visual, auditory or kinesthetic, ant they can be presented in print, through live performance or display, or on cassette, CD-ROM, DVD or the Internet (Tolimson, 2001:66).

When addressing the issue of material selection, it is important for us to understand how assorted materials are regarded as a tool used by teachers, facilitators, and tutors to help learners improve in learning English. Teaching materials are the assorted materials particularly written, to support teaching, including textbooks,
1

printouts, and handouts. Teaching materials are used widely to illustrate or reinforce a skill, fact, or idea, and to relieve anxiety, fears, or boredom. The objective is to help learners in learning and acquiring the language since language course has many complexities compared to other subjects. In this study, I will look at the advantages of textbook and authentic materials in teaching English and the relationship between these two variables in understanding why the materials are preferred by teachers in the classroom.

1.2

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Textbook is a collection of the knowledge, concepts, and principles of a selected topic or course. It is usually written by one or more teachers, educators or education experts who are authorized in a specified field. Most of them come with teachers guides which provides supplemental teaching materials, ideas and activities to use throughout the academic year.

Textbooks are helpful for beginning teachers and good textbook are excellent teaching aids or material in teaching-learning because they are the resources for both teachers and students. In current education world where knowledge is just at the finger tips, authentic materials have a lot to offer. It provides the knowledge outside the language classroom and the information is tip-top compared to the textbook which is celebrated because of its longevity and threaten materials. Therefore this research will review the use of textbook and authentic materials in teaching and learning. The research attempts to explore the

advantages of both teaching materials in current teaching and learning and the most preferred one by teachers and what makes they believe it delivered the best in their teaching and learning.

1.3

TEXTBOOK VERSUS AUTHENTIC MATERIALS

Textbook or course book have important roles in teaching English. However there were times that educators regard textbook as no longer relevant and considered as the dead pages. In some cases, textbook cannot be avoided especially in assisting the novice teachers in their teaching and learning as reported by Gadusova and Hartanska (2003:154). one cannot avoid using course books: as teachers need support when juggling with so many variables that go into teaching. As such, determining which books to use is the crucial factors for teachers in teaching and learning. In teaching and learning English, one cannot deny the roles of authentic materials in the classroom. Authentic materials make excellent learning tools for students because they are authentic and it helps students to bridge the gap between the classroom and the outside world. When used effectively, authentic materials help bring the real world into the classroom and significantly enliven the ESL (English Second Language) class.(Kelly, Kelly, Offner, Vorland, 2002)

1.4

THE FRAMEWORK

To assist teachers evaluate, compare and understand the teaching materials available, Richards and Rodgers (2001) reworked and created an interdependent system using the levels of Approach, Design and Procedure, for exactly such a purpose. The effectiveness of this framework will be examined more closely in an attempt to clearly define the concepts put forward. Richards and Rodgers framework will then be applied to methodology which later will help us to understand the teaching-learning situations. It is essential because a view into methodology will help us to understand and identify the importance of teaching materials and the role of it in teaching and learning.

The role of materials is determined by all of the previously mentioned levels in the Design phase. It seems clear that where the teacher is the initiator and monitor of the learning that the materials will be significantly different from those where the learner is responsible for the level of input as in selfinstruction (Mangubhai, 2006). What the materials aim to achieve (eg: present content, promote communication), and the form that they take will all be reflected in the role that materials play in each method. It is important to note that teaching materials such as textbooks and authentic materials which come under the term design in the model is linked to Approach and Procedure and form an interdependent system. It means that materials do not exist in isolation and they are related to Approach and Procedure in language acquisition.

1.5

THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

To gain an overall view of the authentic material over classic textbook and to find out teachers preferences towards teaching materials in teaching English. The research questions are as follows. 1. What are the main materials sources that teachers used in teaching and learning English? 2. Do appropriate teaching materials support the development of the English learning? 3. Why do teachers choose the particular teaching materials in their teaching and learning and are there any differences between the materials chosen with English learning? 4. Is there any significant relationship between material selection with the teaching and learning English? 5. What are the teachers perceptions toward textbooks and authentic materials in English Language? 1.6 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES Four hypotheses are constructed to answer the research questions. There are: a) Hypotheses 1 There is no relationship between teaching aids/materials preferences and teaching-learning English. b) Hypotheses 2 There is a positive relationship between the teaching aids/materials preferences used with teaching-learning English. c) Hypotheses 3 The development of the English Learning/language acquisition in current language learning depends on the materials chosen by teachers.
5

d) Hypotheses 4 e) There is a significant difference between the materials preferences and selection in teaching English. 1.7 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research exploring the teachers preferences towards teaching materials, conventional versus authentic materials has its importance. The results of the research will serve as the guide for teachers in choosing the appropriate teaching aids that suit with the learners level and ability. The results also will help teachers in understanding the importance of the appropriateness of the teaching materials in facilitating teaching and learning in current education. Apart from that, I hope that the result will contribute knowledge to the Ministry of the Education on making the wise and right decision when it comes to textbook because in Malaysia, Textbook lifespan is longer and sometimes the content are irrelevant with current events or outdated from latest issues. The government has spent a lot of money on purchasing the textbook and majority of the Malaysian public school teachers are never involved in the processes of textbook selection so it clearly indicate that the decision is not made base on teachers knowledge. Latest report is on English Textbook for year 1 which was recalled due to errors and inaccuracies published in the textbook and the recall is considered as country devastated (cited in the News Straits Times, Jan 4, 2011). Finally, this result definitely will benefit parties, teachers and students in Malaysian schools.

2.0

LITERATURE REVIEW

Language learning is normally considered to be a conscious process which consists of the committing to memory to memory of information relevant to what is being learned. Language learning can be explicit and

implicit. In language learning, it seems that researchers cannot at present agree upon a single view of the learning process which can safely be applied wholesome to language teaching (Tarone and Yule 1989). Allwright (1990) argues that materials should teach students to learn, that they should be resource books for ideas and activities for instruction/learning, and that they should give teachers rationales for what they do. From Allwright's point of view, textbooks are too inflexible to be used directly as instructional material. O'Neill (1990), in contrast, argues that materials may be suitable for students' needs, even if they are not designed specifically for them, that textbooks make it possible for students to review and prepare their lessons, that textbooks are efficient in terms of time and money, and that textbooks can and should allow for adaptation and improvisation.

Allwright emphasizes that materials control learning and teaching whereas O'Neill emphasizes that they help learning and teaching. It is true that in many cases teachers and students rely heavily on textbooks, and textbooks determine the components and methods of learning, that is, they control the content, methods, and procedures of learning. Students learn what is presented in the textbook, and the way the textbook presents material is the way students learn it. The educational philosophy of the textbook will influence the class and the learning process. Therefore, in many cases, materials are the center of instruction and one of the most important influences on what goes on in the classroom.

Theoretically, experienced teachers can teach English without a textbook. However, it is not easy to do it all the time, though they may do it sometimes. Many teachers do not have enough time to make supplementary materials, so they just follow the textbook. Textbooks therefore take on a very important role in language classes, and it is important to select a good textbook.

On the contrary, authentic materials believe that it is derived from consumer experience.

These can include brochures, pamphlets, menus, instructional manuals, posters, and advertisements, various kinds of magazines, newspapers as well as the video clips, radio broadcast and Internet materials. These are the materials that have been produced for some social or intellectual purposes in the community (Peacock, 1997).

Authentic materials keep students informed about what is happening in the world, so they have an intrinsic educational value. As teachers, we are educators working within the school system, so education and general development are part of our responsibilities (Sanderson, 1999).

Michael Breen, known for his theories on authenticity, describes four types of authenticity that differ depending on what the teachers goal with the material is. One is the authenticity of the texts that we may use as input data for learners, which corresponds to how authenticity is defined above. The second type takes into account the learners own interpretation of texts: Does s/he understand it as it was meant to be understood? If so, the material is authentic to the learner regardless of its origin. The third type deals with how materials are actually used in language teaching. Do the teachers methods make proper use of the materials? The fourth and last type deals with the social situation in the language classroom, meaning that the contexts that teachers create in conjunction with materials have to be relevant. Hutchingson & Waters summarizes Breens ideas by stating that authenticity is not a characteristic of a text, film or newspaper in itself; it is a feature of a creation in a particular context and it can only be authentic in the context that it was originally created for (Taylor, 1994).

3.0

RESEARCH METHODOLY

In the experimental research, using both quantitative and qualitative the researcher will observe an ongoing English Language teaching session in the classroom. The subjects for the study are the English teachers at secondary school. The teachers from SMK are selected to represent a target sample of the population. The objective is to find out the preferences of the teaching aids/materials used in the classroom.

3.1

Instrument

The study will use two instruments: a questionnaire and a semi-sturctured interview. The questionnaire aimed at gauging teachers perceptions in teaching aids and material selection in teaching English.

The questionnaire was generated from a review of related literature and insights from informal discussions with teachers. It employed the 5-point Likert scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The interview is semi-structured so that a better insight into the issues at hand could be gained. The main focus of the interview questions is on asking the participants to describe their teaching approaches and their teaching materials in teaching English.

3.2

Data Analysis

Descriptive statistics will be used to analyze the responses in the questionnaire. The SPSX will be employed to calculate the frequency, mean and standard deviation. The interview protocol will be transcribed to reveal the qualitatively different ways in which teachers perceived the above issues.

10