PRIORITIES FOR EVALUATING INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS

PRIORITIES FOR EVALUATING INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
by Prof. MSc. Orietta Vélez Dumani

Evaluation for Selection.

Evaluating instructional materials includes several aspects, sucha s the evaluation for selection of these. According to Patricia Byrd, evaluating and selecting textbooks is a process that varies. There are some settings in which the teacher decides on the books he/she wants to use, as is the case of some universities in USA, where teachers select the texts, order them through the bookstore in campus, and then use them in their classes. In other cases, the Ministry of Education decides about the curriculum and the texts that are used all around a country. Also, there are places where there are groups of people, such as members from the boards of education and administrators give a list of recommendations. Although the English teachers seldom participate in such decisions, it is important to know how to influence in the process of deciding which materials will be used.

The Fit Between Curriculum and Texts.

According to Byrd, fundamental considerations for selecting materials must address a fit between the materials, the curriculum, the students and the teachers. These are requirements that publishers ought to consider if they want their material to be bought by powerful buyers. Nevertheless, this fit is hard to achieve for smallergroups. That is why the materials are not completely congruent with the pedagogical goals of the syllabus.

The Fit between Students and Texts.
To be able to obtain a proper adjustment between the students and the texts, Byrd says that the latter ones have to cover the students´s needs in:
- content, being interesting, useful, with explanations that students understand.
- examples that are suitable for the lives and interests of the students.
- enough variety of exercises and tasks.
- well constructed presentation and format.

The Fit Between Teachers and Texts.
Byrd also says that there must be a proper adjustment between the materials and the teachers so they will use them. These aspects ought to be considered:
- contents that teachers find useful to obtain their goals, that fit their knowledge-base, for teachers must have the adequate English to understand the - examples usable for the teacher.
- enough exercises and tasks that cover different learning styles, with instructor´s manual and answer key.
- presentation and format providing teaching opportunities.

Textbook analysis in the implementation process includes the same aspects mentioned above.

Analysis For Implementation.
It is relevant to know the resources in the textbook well before the teaching process begins to utilize it thoroughly. In the initial reading of a textbook, the teacher should consider the following aspects:
- presentation and format to know the way it is organized.
- content or information in each unit.
- practices given, their relation to the content and connections between activities.
- evaluation provided.
- support for the teacher such as instruction manual.

Analysis of the Content of the Textbook.
ESL/EFL textbooks tend to have either of these two contents:
- the linguistic content;
- the thematic content.
In content-based materials, topics are clearly visible, but in other materials, teachers need to look past the linguistic content to encounter the themes that are being included.

Finally, Byrd recommends sites where we can find text reviews such as:
- TESOL journal,
-the TESOL Quarterly,
-newsletters or journals of regionasl affiliates of TESOL.