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Unit 14 covers course books and lesson materials. Lesson materials can be of two types: authentic materials, and created materials. Authentic materials can include pretty much anything that a native speaker might come across in their daily life - be it magazines, newspapers, TV programs, menus, movies, songs, poetry, brochures, etc. Authentic materials are more interesting and motivating for students, and students can gain a lot of confidence when they find they can understand authentic materials. However, they're not graded to level or designed for EFL students. Therefore, they should be selected very carefully, and the teacher must decide - according to the students' level - what the students should do with this material. Created materials are generally designed by a teacher in order to supplement, or even replace, materials from a coursebook. Unlike authentic materials, created materials can be and usually are graded to the level of the students. Created materials can include things such as flashcards and role-play cards, crosswords and word search puzzles, picture stories, gap fill activities, etc. Course books, on the other hand, can include the following sets of materials: student's textbooks and workbooks, teacher's books, cassettes, and videos. They can also include learner dictionaries, vocabulary flash cards, test books and graded reading books. Course books are extremely useful for a few different reasons. While not all of the content may be suitable for your class, it's much easier to supplement than to deign an entire syllabus and create all materials from scratch. Course books generally provide a good balance of grammar, vocabulary, and skills work. The syllabus is graded to an appropriate level for students, and the materials will normally have been tried and tested beforehand. The teacher's books can be especially helpful for inexperienced teachers. However, it's important to remember that course books don't always cater to the specific needs of all the students in your class. Most course books are made for a general audience, and may not cover adequately the language problems specific to the nationality of your students. Course books also pose the danger of becoming monotonous and boring for students, and teachers may find themselves relying far too heavily on course books alone. Therefore, it's important to strike a balance between the usage of course books and other materials and activities in a class. It's best to pick and choose, and if needed to supplement, adapt or replace material from a course book to best fit the needs of your students.
