Note: Look at the plan of the flat very carefully when you answer the next questions in the programme.

In these sample programmes the materials are constructed according to a predetermined plan. Each programme has a precise objective. For instance, "Programme on compara­tives" teaches the pattern "X is something -er than Y". In the last frame the learner is asked to make a statement of com­parison unaided by the wording of the frame.

Every frame contains a blank for the pupil to respond to. The correct response is supplied one step below on the right, or under the frame so that the learner receives immediate confirmation of his responses. As the steps are small and an unlimited number of repetitions is possible weak pupils are not discouraged. Such programmed materials may be presented as textual frames in the book and in combination with the tape recorder.

In a branching programme the information is followed by a multiple-choice question and the learner's answer to this determines the material he sees next. If he selects the right answer he will be presented with a new unit of information. If he selects a wrong answer he is told he is wrong and the likely nature of his mistake. The student is either directed back to the original frame to make another attempt at the question or he is directed to the sequence before. An able pupil who will see only frame at will progress through the material far more quickly than a pupil who has to go through the remedial frames (p. 15, 11). Thus the time that a pupil spends on a branching programme will depend not only on the speed with which he deals with each of the frames but also on the amount of information he has to deal with in any remedial frames.

Programmed foreign language instruction properly util­ized is a useful medium which allows the teacher to indi­vidualize his pupils' work at the foreign language and create favourable conditions for language learning.

 

Visual materials.

Objects. There are a lot of things in the classroom such as pens and pencils of different sizes and colours, books, desks and many other articles which the teacher can use in presenting English names for them and in stimulating pupils' activities to utilize the words denoting objects they can see, touch, point to, give, take, etc. Toys and puppets may be widely used in teaching children of primary schools, which is the case in the specialized schools.

Flashcards. A flashcard is a card with a letter, a sound symbol or a word to be used for quick showing to pupils and in this way for developing pupils' skills in reading and pro­nunciation. Flashcards are usually made by the teacher or by the pupils under the teacher's direction, though there are some ready-made flashcards. '

Sentence cards. They bear sentences or sentence patterns which can be used with different aims, e. g., for reading and analyzing the sentences, for using these sentences in speak­ing, for compiling an oral composition using the sentence as a starting point, for writing a composition.

These cards arc prepared by the teacher and distributed among the pupils for individual work during the lesson. The teacher checks his pupils' work afterwards.

Wall-charts. A wall-chart is a big sheet of paper with drawings or words to be hung in the classroom and used for revision or generalization of some linguistic phenomenon. Such as "English Tenses", "Passive Voice", "Ing-Forms", "Rules of Reading".

For example: The letter С is read as [k] or [s] pencil, face

Though there are printed wall-charts, the teacher should prepare his own wall-charts because he needs more than he can get for his work.

Posters or series of illustrations portraying a story. They are used as "props" in retelling a story read or heard. The teacher himself, or a pupil who can draw or paint, prepares such posters.

Pictures. There are at least three types of pictures which are used in teaching a foreign language: object pictures (e. g., the picture of a bed), situational pictures (e. g., the picture of a boy lying in bed), topical pictures (e. g., the picture of a bedroom). They may be big enough to be hung in the class­room or small to be distributed among the pupils for each one to speak on his own. Pictures may be utilized separately (as single units) and in sets to be used as "props" for oral com­position or re-telling a story. For example, there is a set of pictures by M.S. Kaplunovsky which can be used for creating vivid situations on a flannel board.

Printed pictures are available for the teacher to use in the classroom. However, they cannot cover the teacher's needs in these materials. So he should make pictures. The teacher either draws or paints them himself or asks some of his pupils to do this. ' He can also use cut-outs (pictures cut out of some periodicals).

Photographs. They are of two kinds: black-and-white and coloured. One can use photographs which are on sale, e. g., "Views of Moscow'.' or have them taken, e. g., "We are going on a hike", or "Our family".

Albums. An album is a book of pictures or photographs which is used for developing pupils' language skills. It usually contains textual material to supply pupils with necessary information, and in this way make their work easier in describ­ing these pictures.

Maps and plans. In teaching English the maps of Great Britain, the USA, and other countries where English is spoken may be used. The plans, for example, of a house, a building, a piece of land with measurements may be a help in comprehension and thus stimulate pupils' speaking.

Slides. A slide is a glass or plastic plate bearing a picture. Slides are usually coloured and used in sets to illustrate a story; the teacher can utilize slides for developing hearing and speaking skills.

Filmstrips. A filmstrip represents a series of pictures, as a rule, situational pictures in certain sequence which a learner sees while listening to a story from the teacher or the tape to reproduce it later. Special filmstrips are available. They last about о—10 minutes and can be used with synchro­nized tapes. When a picture appears on the screen, the tape is heard. See, for example, "Great Britain", "London".

Audio materials. Tapes and records or discs belong to audio materials. Tapes are usually prepared by the teacher (he selects the material and the speaker for recording). Tapes and records' are used for leaching listening comprehension, speaking, and reading aloud.

Audio-visual materials. Sound film loops and Minis are examples of audio-visual materials:

Sound film Imps are becoming popular with the teachers. They are short (each lasts 1.5—1.7 min.) and the teacher can play the film loop back as many limes as necessary for the pupils to grasp the material and memorize it.

Films. Specially prepared educational films for lan­guage teaching have appeared, e. g., "The Mysterious Bridge", "Robert Burns", "Australia", "New York", "Winter Sports".

Young children like to sing and play various games, that is why songs and games should constitute an important part of teaching materials. Folksongs and popular current songs develop a feeling for tile distinctive culture being stud­ied. They furnish a frame work for pronunciation practice. Games give an opportunity for spontaneous self-expression in the foreign language and can be used as a device for re­laxation.

Practical and educational functions of teaching materials are as follows:

Teaching materials used in various combinations allow the teacher to develop his pupils' oral-aural skills. Recorded materials can provide the teacher and the pupil with an authentic model, tireless and consistent repetition and many different voices.

These materials are valuable for presentation, exercises, revision, testing, etc.

Visual materials have an important role to play in the development of hearing and speaking skills. Carefully devised they help to get rid of the necessity for constant translation and assist the teacher in keeping the lesson within the foreign language.

By portraying the context of situation, the gestures and J expressions of the speakers, and even their personalities, visual aids allow immediate understanding and provide a stimulus to oral composition. '

Especially important are graded materials designed for the teaching of reading. Graded reading materials are essential at every stage from the introduction to reading in association with audio and visual "props", through the elementary stage of reading familiar material to intensive and extensive reading.

Graded materials are also important for the development of writing skills. ^! Appropriately designed and selected these materials are needed to cover all stages from the intro­duction to writing through copy writing, memory writing and dictation to guided composition, and finally to free composition. Visual aids can provide a useful stimulus for writing, especially at the stage of guided composition.

Teaching materials can also be used to assist in the general development of the pupil's personality, and this is of great educational value.

Teaching materials acquire special importance in gaining cultural aims. From the earliest stages, thanks to visual aids, pupils are introduced to the foreign country and its people.

In this connection it is necessary to mention the qualities teaching materials should possess:

Authenticity. Whatever is presented to the pupils, whether linguistic or cultural material, it should be an authentic representation of the language or culture of the foreign country (countries).

Clarity. The materials must possess a clarity of exposition which leaves the pupils in no doubt as to their meaning.

Practicality. To provide maximum help to the teacher, the materials must be practical in use, economic of cost and time, easy to store, and immediately accessible.

Appropriateness. To fulfil the role of motiv­ating the learner and sustaining his enthusiasm, teaching materials must be appropriate to the age, interests, and abili­ties of pupils. They must also be appropriate to the functions which are required of them, i. е., whether the teacher needs them for presentation, exercises, testing, etc.

In conclusion it may be said, according to A. Spicer, "The purpose of teaching materials is not used to make the tea­cher’s work easier. Their main purpose is to make it possible for the teacher to leach more effectively, more interestingly, and more economically. It is equally important that the materials should help the pupil to learn more easily and more rapidly."

It is well known that in our country much attention is given to foreign language learning. Educational researchers, methodologists and teachers are striving to improve teaching methods is this field. For this purpose new teaching mate­rials have been produced.

As a result the teacher has Teacher's Book, Pupil's Book, visual, audio-visual, audio, and other materials at his dis­posal.

For teaching English two sets of teaching materials are suggested which cover six years (5—10 forms) of the essential course in ten-year schools: (1) teaching materials by S. K. Folomkina, H. M. Weiser, E. I. Kaar, A. D. Klimentenko, and (2) teaching materials by A. P. Starkov, R. R. Dixon, Z. V. Starkova. Teaching materials by both groups of authors include: teacher's books, pupil's books, sets of wall-charts or albums, filmstrips (or slides), sound film loops, long-playing records and supplementary readers. Although both sets of teaching materials are based on scientific principles as to the selection of linguistic material, topics to be covered and terminal behaviour at the end of the course, however, they differ in many respects.

The main difference lies in the organization of teaching beginners. S. K. Folomkina, H. M. Weiser, E. I. Kaar start by teaching beginners all the language skills, i. е., hearing, speaking, reading, and writing simultaneously, ' although thev give seven introductory lessons which are to be conducted orally. - A. P. Starkov, R. R. Dixon, Z. V. Starkova start with the oral introductory course and teach hearing and speaking first for more than a term.³ During the oral intro­ductory course, beginning with the fifth lesson, pupils start writing English letters and combinations of letters. They begin reading at the 40th class-period. '

Another difference is in the arrangement of the material in pupil's books. A. P. Starkov and R. R. Dixon adhere strictly to the arrangement of the material by "topics". S. K. Folom­kina, H. M. Weiser, A. D. Klimentenko do not observe the topical arrangement of the material in pupil's books, though they cover the topics set by the syllabus.

They differ in their introduction of new material. S. K. Fo­lomkina, II. At. Weiser, E. I. Kaar, A. D. Klimentenko use oral presentation of linguistic materials. Pupils grasp the vocab­ulary or grammar items by ear so as to assimilate them mainly for auding. Oral work at linguistic material does not exceed one class-period, as a rule.

The second group of authors follow the oral approach in teaching linguistic material, i. е., pupils can use the mate­rial in auding and speaking before they can read and write it.

One more difference is in the use of the mother tongue in teaching English. They both admit the use of the mother tongue for presenting linguistic material whenever it is neces­sary to ensure comprehension of what pupils learn. As to translation exercises for developing pupils' language skills, they are used in pupil's books by the first group of authors,' and are not utilized by the second.

They differ in presenting grammar too. The first group of authors present the material in sentences which are followed by grammar rules in Ihe mother tongue in the pupil's books (see, for instance, Book Three, p. 58—62) and exercises.

¹ Spicer A. The Nuffield Foreign Languages Teaching Materials Project. — "English Language Teaching", v. 23, 1968.

 

A. P. Starkov, I. R. Dixon present the material in structural groups. However, grammar rules are not excluded from teaching.' in learning grammar material pupils pass through the following stages: (1) they assimilate a structural group; (2) they learn how to use the new words in the grammar structures; (3) they utilize the structures in a logical sequence in speech; (4) they speak within the situations offered, using the linguistic material covered.

There is a considerable difference in the authors' approach to the development of speaking and reading skills. S. K. Folomkina, H. M. Weiser, E. I. Kaar, A. D. Klimentenko, for instance, give preference to monologue as a form of speech that should be developed (see exercises in Book One, Book Two, etc.). A. P. Starkov, R. R. Dixon, Z. V. Starkova prefer developing dialogic speech first. In both sys­tems oral language in its two forms, dialogue and mono­logue, is developed. As to general approach to teaching speaking and reading they have but little in common, and especially at the junior stage (5—6 forms).

Gradually the difference in these two sets of teaching materials becomes less striking since they both should meet the school syllabus requirements. Both sets of teaching mate­rials are now in use in schools. Thus teachers of English have received new teaching materials and, therefore, they can teach more effectively than they could before. However, we could expect better results in language teaching if teachers were more fully informed about teaching aids and teaching materials and the methods they should apply, if they were more selective in the choice of methods and techniques.

„Иностранные языки в школе" can supply teachers of foreign languages with useful information from various fields, namely, linguistics, psychology, methodology, teachers' experience, etc. Those who are interested in foreign language teaching abroad can find useful information in the following journals: "The English Language Teaching", "The Modern Languages" (Great Britain), "The.Modern Language Journal", "Language Learning" (USA).

One more problem should be touched upon in connection with teaching aids and teaching materials. That is the problem of implementing them into school life. Indeed it is not sufficient to have new textbooks, teacher's guides, and other teaching materials which meet modern requirements. It is necessary that the teacher can digest all this and use the new teaching materials. The problem, as practice proves, is much more difficult than one might imagine. Its solution depends on many factors, and among them:

1. Thorough comprehension of the methodological credo of the authors by the teacher. To understand a system of teaching reflected in textbooks or other teaching materials the teacher should read about the system and, what is more desirable, listen to the authors when they give an interpre­tation of their system. The stranger the system of teaching is, the more interpretation it requires. Complete assimilation is attained, however, when the teacher uses the system for a number of years and strictly follows the recommendations given by the authors. If the teacher does not use a new text­book in the way he ought to, the textbook, as a rule, does not work. For instance, the series of textbooks for teaching English in schools compiled by A. P. Starkov and R. R. Dixon is highly appreciated by one group of teachers, namely, by those who have grasped the authors' methodological credo and follow their system of teaching, and at the same time is fully rejected by another, who either had no oppor­tunity to study it or who accept the system of teaching reflect­ed in the series of textbooks (or teaching English compiled by S. K. Folomkina, H. b\. Weiser, E. I. Kaar, A. D. Klimen­tenko.

The teacher's ability to free himself of the methods and techniques he has become used to and acquire new ones. For example, for many years teachers have presented new words as isolated units, writing them down on the blackboard so that pupils can sec the words, read and put them down in their vocabulary notes. They got used to the system. Then they had to give up this system to adopt the new one, the oral approach or the oral presentation of words, as is recommended in both series of English textbooks. Some teachers could easily accept the new approach. Some coped with it. And, finally, there are teachers who cannot give up presenting new words the way they did before. They go on with the old approach to vocabulary instruction. For many years teachers have widely used translation as a type of exercise for consolidating linguistic material and in reading texts. They got accustomed to translation and liked it. And now they had to restrict the usage of translation and use instead various exercises within the English language utilizing audio-visual aids and materials as both sets of teach­ing materials require.

3. The teacher's qualification, his desire to be on top of his job, to seek new methods and techniques in language teaching and not only to accept those recommended. Such teachers always read journals and books on methods, they attend lectures and seminars for foreign language teachers.

Consequently, to solve the problem it is necessary:

(a)to help teachers in comprehending the modern trends in foreign language teaching in general, and in assimilating the methodological credo of the authors of the textbooks they use, in particular;

(b)to help teachers in accepting new approaches to foreign language teaching through exchange of experience in order to show them how to apply new methods and techniques of teaching and what results can be achieved;

(c)to improve teachers' training in teachers' colleges and at refresher courses..

The sooner teachers of foreign language acquire-skills in handling teaching aids and in utilizing new teaching materials, the better results in language learning may be expected.