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Unit 14 discusses coursebooks and lesson materials. Some lesson materials that can be used are authentic materials or created materials. These are defined and discussed in the lesson. Advantages and disadvantages of using coursebooks is discussed, as well as suggestions for how to best use a coursebook for an effective, motivating, interesting and useful lesson. Authentic materials are things from the real environment that a teacher can use to challenge and motivate a higher level class. These are things such as magazines, brochures, films and videos, songs, etc. They are current and more interesting, as well as challenging, to the students. They can help prepare the student for real world experiences. And the teacher can choose items that she/he knows will be interesting to his/her particular students. A lot of creativity can be used to create ways to use these items in the lessons. Created materials are things like crosswords, flashcards, picture stories, and the like. It can be easier to gear these materials to the particular students and their level. Or they can be used as replacement materials for course book lessons. Some created materials, however, may take lots of time and effort to produce, which may not always be an advantage. There are several advantages as well as disadvantages to using a coursebook for teaching English to foreign students. One advantage would be that it saves a lot of time for the teacher. Another would be that coursebooks offer continuity and progress in their lessons and are tried and tested already. A disadvantage would be that the book may not fit all the needs of a particular class of students. They may also tend to make the teacher lazy, and not trying to be more creative in finding materials that fit their specific students. Using the coursebook exclusively is not recommended, nor is always using it for every lesson. A variety of pertinent materials that are interesting to the specific group can supplement, replace or be adapted to the lesson to make it much richer and more interesting. Care must be taken to choose a coursebook that fits the students of the class, if it is decided to use a coursebook. Suggestions are also given for analyzing and choosing books that are appropriate. Things to take into consideration are price, availability, methodology, design, and several other things. All in all, this lesson on course books and materials is very helpful in guiding us to be mindful and appropriate as well as creative when planning lessons.
