escuela de ciencias de la educaciÓn menciÓn inglÉs...
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ESCUELA DE CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN
MENCIÓN INGLÉS
DISTANCE SYSTEM
The use of supplementary materials for teaching children in EFL classes
Research done in order to achieve
the Bachelor’s Degree in Teaching
English as a Foreign Language
AUTHORS:
Baldeón Herrera, Sofía Liseth
Erazo Flores Karen Vanesa
ADVISOR:
Mgs. Orlando Vicente Lizaldes Espinosa
Quito - Ecuador
2012
ii
CERTIFICATION
Mgs. Orlando Lizaldes
CERTIFIES THAT:
This research work has been thoroughly revised by the graduation committee.
Therefore, authorizes the presentation of this thesis, which complies with all the
norms and internal requirements of the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja.
Loja, March 2012
………………………………….
Mgs. Orlando Lizaldes
iii
CONTRATO DE CESIÓN DE DERECHOS DE TESIS DE GRADO
Nosotras, Sofía Baldeón y Karen Erazo declaramos ser las autoras del presente
trabajo y eximimos expresamente a la Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja y a sus
representantes legales de posibles reclamos o acciones legales.
Adicionalmente declaramos conocer y aceptar la disposición del Art. 67 del
Estatuto Orgánico de la Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja que en su parte
pertinente textualmente dice: “Forman parte del patrimonio de la Universidad de la
propiedad intelectual de investigaciones, trabajos científicos o técnicos y tesis de
grado que se realicen a través, o con el apoyo financiero, académico o institucional
(operativo) de la Universidad”.
……..……………..……… ..........................................
Sofía Baldeón Herrera Karen Erazo Flores
iv
AUTHORSHIP
The thoughts, ideas, opinions and the information obtained through this research are
the only responsibility of the author.
March, 2012
……………………….. ……………………………..
Sofía Baldeón Herrera Karen Erazo Flores
v
DEDICATION
I dedicate this Project to:
God:
He is my father, to him I owe my life, health and everything I am. Thanks for let me
get to this point in my life.
My Husband:
He has been my best friend and faithful companion; he also has been my
encouragement and strength after a hard day.
My daughter Ana Paula:
She has become an important part of my life, she is the motivation that I have needed
and the main reason to be a good person.
My parents:
Because they have foster me to be who I am; thanks for all your patience and all the
great love that you have always brought to me.
With love,
Karen Erazo Flores
vi
DEDICATION
I dedicate this Project to:
God:
He has been my support in good and bad moments, He has given me faith, strength,
and hope; He also has put in my way all those people who have given me advice and
support when I needed it.
My daughter Lizeth:
Who has been my motivation all these years; she has been my strength and courage
to go ahead. Thanks my beloved child for being patient; for give me all the time that
belonged to you and I have taken to study my career.
My parents:
They were with me during all this time and they motivated me to go ahead, by giving
me good advices and praying for me to continue and finish my studies.
With love,
Sofía Baldeón Herrera
vii
CONTENTS
CERTIFICATION…………………………………………………………….… ii
CONTRATO DE CESIÓN DE DERECHOS……….………………………..... iii
AUTHORSHIP…………………………………………………………………. iv
DEDICATION…………………..……………………………………………… v
DEDICATION ………………………………………………………………….. vi
CONTENTS……………………..…………………………………………….... vii
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………..………………… 1
INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………..………….. 2
METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………………… 6
DISCUSSION………………………………………………………………….. 8
Literature Review………………………………………………………. 8
Results ………………………………………………………………….. 24
Description, Interpretation and Analysis of Results……………………. 29
Conclusions…………………………………………………………….. 61
Recommendations……………………………………………………... 62
REFERENCES…………………………………………………………..……. 63
ANNEXES…………………………………………………………….……… 66
1
Abstract
This study was related to The Use of Supplementary Materials for Teaching
Children in EFL Classes, its principal aim was to determine and analyze the type of
supporting materials used by teachers in elementary schools. More specifically, the
analysis aimed to determine whether the supporting materials were used according to
the contents and students’ needs; in addition, this research analyzes aspects such as
quality, frequency and variety of material used in the observed classes.
The observations took place in a private elementary school in Quito with
children from the 4th
(eight years old approximately), 5th
(nine years old
approximately), and 6th
(10 years old approximately) grade. On each grade, ten
classes were observed to determine the type, pertinence, and appropriateness of
materials. The methods used to analyze the results were: Qualitative and
Quantitative.
Main conclusions show that frequently used materials were: white board,
posters, flashcards, pictures, word cards, objects, dialogues, songs, handouts, and
tales. Finally, it was observed that teachers do not use a variety of materials for
teaching children; they tend to use visual materials rather than other types.
2
Introduction
It is important that teachers consider all the necessary resources in order to
achieve the planned objectives of a lesson. In particular, it is equally important to
know the type of materials that teachers use for teaching Ecuadorian children in EFL
classes and main reasons for their selection.
Teachers’ reasons for use supplementary materials in their classes must be
related to the pertinence, appropriateness, and quality of design of supplementary
materials; therefore, those aspects were the main goal of this research. The
researchers employed methods, techniques and instruments to perform this research.
To analyze the results about the use of supplementary materials, the researchers
applied the Quantitative and Qualitative methods. Information was gathered through
these techniques: reading and note taking. Finally, observations sheets, tables, and
surveys were the main instruments used in this research.
A first step in this research was to select a public elementary school to carry
out observations in ten classes in 4th
, 5th
, and 6th
grades; on each class, the
researchers observed the type of supplementary materials and they filled the
observation sheets. In addition, the researchers interviewed a teacher and two
students on each grade to know their opinion about the use of supplementary
materials in the observed classes; these information helped researchers to analyze
aspects such as pertinence, appropriateness, and quality of the used materials.
The theoretical framework of this research includes studies about the effects
of using educational resources as aids in the classroom. Specifically, Nguyen in 2006
proved the effects of songs in teaching listening skills; 60 students from a Bio-
technology department at a Vietnamese University participated in this research. The
results showed that students’ attitude towards English songs were positive. In
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addition, questions about students’ manners of listening songs showed that half of
them tried to catch the words of the song and they enjoyed the activity. Finally, the
activities that students enjoyed the most, were arrange jumbled lines, and students
considered that songs make lessons more relaxing. With regard to these results, the
researcher concluded that songs can help to motivate students in listening skills and
they also allowed maximum participation by every student in listening lessons. To
end with this study, limitations concerned with students’ difficult to follow the song
because of their lower levels of English; in addition, this research could not prove the
effectiveness of songs on improving word recognition, awareness of word linking,
enhancing their attention, or comprehension skills.
A second important study was done by Peacock in 1997 to investigate
whether authentic materials increase the classroom motivation of learners. The
participants in this research were 31 beginner-level students in two EFL classes at a
South Korean University. Results of this research showed that students were slightly
motivated by the use of authentic materials but not because the materials were
interesting; it was quite difficult for the students accept authentic materials after a
long period of receiving instruction with artificial materials. Main limitations were
related to the instruments designed for this research, they did not bring information
about the effects of authentic materials on students’ motivation; in addition, the
interview was written in English and this restricted the participants’ responses.
The last study was conducted by Rong in 2004 in Taiwan; the purpose of the
study was to investigate if an integrated-reading writing instruction through picture
books benefits elementary schools students in the English as a foreign language
setting in Taiwan. The results of the interview showed positive effects of the story
time on children’s perception toward picture books, it was also observed some
4
changes in students’ attitudes toward reading, writing, and pictures book; they
acquire more experience on the use of picture books. As a consequence of the
effects of storytelling on children in this research, the investigator concluded that
activities based on the stories of the pictures books helped them to learn new
vocabulary and to overcome affective filter toward learning English. This study was
limited by three aspects: the investigator play the role of teacher, the study lasted one
semester only, this research only showed aspects of a particular EFL setting.
An implication of this research is that both researchers and teachers could
find important knowledge about the use of supplementary materials. For teachers,
this research provides significant evidence about the use and effects of
supplementary materials; researchers could use this research to do further studies
about similar topics.
For researchers it is important to know the type of materials that teachers use
for teaching children in EFL classrooms in terms of pertinence (content),
appropriateness (students´ needs), and quality. In that sense, the present research is
subject to these limitations:
First, regarding that in 4th
, 5th
, and 6th
grades there were different teachers; we
found variation in teaching techniques, which generate variability in the observed
data; for this reason, the amount of observations were not enough to acquire
accurately evidence on the use of supplementary materials in Ecuadorian classrooms.
Second, even though the researchers needed to analyze the appropriateness of each
one of the supplementary materials used, the participants on the survey sometimes
had demonstrated fear when they had to evaluate the material in use; in consequence,
it was not possible to determine whether students agreed with the material used in
each class.
5
Taking into account the mentioned limitations, researchers suggest that
observations for this kind of investigation should be carried out during a semester or
an entire school year.
Moreover, the authors observed that teachers tended to use visual materials
rather than other types; for this reason, they consider important that teachers use
audio and audiovisual materials at least once per week, and if it were possible they
could occasionally use websites.
A last aspect of this research refers to the information itself; researchers had
gathered the necessary information from different sources such as Internet, and
books.
6
Methodology
This section deals with some aspects related to the manner in which this
research was developed, such as design, methods, materials and procedures applied
to analyze the use of supplementary materials for teaching children in EFL classes.
Settings and participants
An elementary school in Quito was selected for this research. The participants
consisted of 25 students in the 4th
grade, 28 students in the 5th
grade, and 27 students
in the 6th
grade; all of them were children whose ages varied from 8 to 10 years-old.
They attended classes in the morning and they received instruction during 2 hours
per day.
Procedures
The first step was to review the literature related to the topics of this research;
important information was found on books and searching on the Internet, and they
were classified in bibliographical charts according to the research topics.
After revising the literature, the researchers carried out the field research
observing ten classes in each of the grades at the school selected for this purpose.
The instruments to gather the information from each class were observation sheets on
which the researcher wrote down the topic of the class, the objectives of the class,
and the type of material used by the teacher; detailed information about each type of
material was described on a separate sheet titled “Description of the used material”.
After, the researchers had completed the ten observations in all grades, they
classified the information into charts according to the pertinence of the material in
relation to the objectives and topic of the class; the appropriateness of the material in
relation to the students’ age and level was also tabulated into the same charts. The
charts considered these variables to classify the information: visual materials, audio
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materials, audiovisual materials, realia, and online materials; indicators related to this
variables were flashcards, power point presentations, maps, charts, pictures,
handouts, posters, word cards, white board, songs, dialogues, stories, tales, movies,
documentaries, and websites.
Once researchers had finished data tabulation, next step consisted on the
analysis and interpretations of results; this analysis was made using the qualitative
and quantitative methods. The qualitative analysis described aspects related to
pertinence and appropriateness of materials used in the classroom in each of the
observed classes as well as creativity, originality, and quality of materials. Similarly,
the quantitative analysis described the frequency of use of supplementary materials;
this analysis brought the researchers evidence of the material that teachers frequently
used in each of the observed classes. To meet the general objective of this research,
this quantitative analysis also described the group of materials with the highest
frequencies along the ten observed classes.
8
DISCUSSION
This section presents the review of the literature related to the use of
supplementary materials because the main goal of this research it to analyze the type
of supplementary materials used to teach children in the elementary schools in
Ecuador. In order to achieve the objectives of this research, this section also includes
the analysis of results obtained from observations that took place on each of the
grades that participated in this research. The analysis of those results provided
important conclusions and recommendations that are presented on the last part of this
section.
Literature Review
The use of supplementary materials in EFL classes is an innovative way to
teach children because it provides not only motivation, but also such materials are
important teaching resources which facilitate the language acquisition through the
use of different kinds of learning aids such as: visual, audio, audiovisual, realia, and
websites. For this reason, the aim of this paper is to determine and analyze the type
of supporting materials used for teaching children in EFL classes.
With the intention of comprehend better the benefits and significance of
supplementary materials this study presents a theoretical support with subjects such
as: teaching a foreign language, learners, learning styles, teaching techniques,
different teaching contexts, supplementary material, and five studies of different
authors which are important themes that will reinforce and support the application of
supplementary material in EFL classes.
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Teaching a Foreign Language
In the majority of primary schools of industrial countries in the world, English
has been adopted as a foreign language, and it is the one which parents see as an
important tool to their children, in order to give them social and cultural capital.
There is another reason, mentioned by Byram (2008), by which English is
significant in education: English is the model of teaching all foreign languages.
Regarding to how English is taught, this author claims that it is determined by
different contexts such as social, political, economic, and by disciplinary context that
focuses on the learning process in the classroom. In the same way, this author
mentions other aspects more related to the way English is taught as its methods,
which are based on theories of language, how people acquire a foreign language
according to their age, and how people interact within the context of a foreign
language.
More specifically, interaction within the context of a foreign language refers to
the communicative purpose of a language. About this, Rodriguez & Valera (2004)
cite an investigation made by Kraus (1979), who claims that language should be
taught from a communicative perspective; children must be motivated to apply the
language as much as possible by using situation games, animated toys, arts, or any
activity that provides real situations. Furthermore, Rodriguez & Valera (2004)
mention in their journal a work researched by Mur (1998), who states that children
have full skills which help them to increase the knowledge of their own language as
well as EFL such as: the ability for indirect learning, lively imagination, and
creativity.
Teaching a foreign language as a means of communication is associated to the
role and effects of language in learners’ life. About this, Broughton, Brumfit,
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Flavell, Hill, & Pincas (2003), say that teaching English as a foreign language
provides a choice of language variety because it plays different roles within a
nation´s daily life which can be influenced by geographical, historical, cultural, and
political factors; for this reason, it is important to take into account the way in which
English is taught due to the impact that it causes on learners. In the case of young
learners between 7 and 9 years old, teachers of primary school argues that this kind
of students, learn better through enjoyable activities than with intellectual ones.
Learner´s age
Age is an important characteristic of learners and it determines groups of
learners as younger and older learners. About younger learners, Troike (2006)
mentions some of their advantages to learn a foreign language such as their brain
plasticity, they acquire the target language through informal and naturalistic L2
learning context, and they are less reserved and receive input language from others
which facilitate their learning. With regard to older learners, this author explains that
they acquire the target language in formal instructional settings, they have better
memory for vocabulary, and analytic ability which permits them to understand and
use grammatical rules, they may transfer in a positive way some pragmatic skills
from L1 to L2, and also their knowledge about real world allows them to perform
more complex tasks.
From a comparative point of view about younger and older learners, Ur
(2006) states that it is easier for children to learn languages than older learners when
they are exposed in the foreign environment and when they have the guidance of
teachers and people around them who contribute with their learning. In similar
manner, Mackey, Oliver, & Philip (2008) mention the investigation of Berman
(2007), who said that in the middle childhood, children think more logically, they are
11
able to analyze multiple aspects of a problem, to maintain a topic, and make requests.
At this stage, they acquire better metalinguistic consciousness, which is reflected in
their language use. Instead, their oral and written literacy will increase as they go
through schooling. Also, he claims that adolescence is different to middle childhood,
because of cognitive, linguistic and social factors. At this age, learners get abstract
thought such as language analysis and the possibility to make logical inferences, and
are able to deal with other language aspects such as phonology, morphosyntax,
lexicon and pragmatics.
Learner´s differences
It is notable that age is an aspect that determines some differences among
learners; but, there are other important factors to take into account. Some of these
factors are mentioned by Troike (2006) as sex, aptitude, motivation, cognitive style,
personality, and learning strategies. In contrast, Ur (2006) explains differences
between learners in relation to foreign language acquisition; according to her, these
differences are based on the way in which children, adolescents and adults acquire a
foreign language, for example, adults have logical thought which permits them to
develop a number of learning skills and strategies that children do not have. Besides,
adults are more disciplined and cooperative they learn voluntarily, they choose an
English course by themselves. Another advantage mentioned by this author is the
fact that adults have their longer concentration span; it is easier for teachers to
maintain adults concentrated on certain learning activities than children. On the
contrary, it is easier to increase children´s motivation by selecting interesting
activities, while adults are more difficult to motivate because they are more self-
reliant and critical learners.
12
To conclude, Dantas & Rilling (2009) also make a comparison between
children, adolescents, and adults, they explain that adults learn a foreign language by
stating clear purposes and goals according to their needs. On the other hand, as these
authors explicate, children concentrate on meaning and not in correctness, they have
short concentration spans; for this reason, they need active environments and
interactive activities in which teacher must employ movement, senses, objects, and
pictures. Regarding to adolescents, these authors comment that they tend to use
language in abstract ways; they need material focused on their interests, and talents.
Learner´s motivation
Learners not only need active environments, interactive activities, or attractive
material to be engaged on the learning process; they learn because they have a
purpose or motive to learn. According to Troike (2006), motivation is an important
element in foreign language acquisition because it states the effort that learner
employ to acquire L2; furthermore, it contains learner´s goals, desires, and rewards.
In addition, there are two kinds of motivation: integrative and instrumental; the first
one is related to the interest and desire in L2 learning while the second one is based
on the application of L2 in different areas such as business, prestige and power or
just for approve an English course.
The interest and desire in L2 learning is different among children, adolescents
and adults. Ur (2006) claims that Children need to be engaged by developing
interesting activities and by using important sources which arouse their interest in
learning for example, pictures, stories and games, which provides visual and aural
stimulus and sometimes help to produce physical movement. Children learn in an
active and enjoyable way, by playing; for this reason, games must be designed
creatively in order to improve language learning. On the other hand, this author
13
explains that adolescents are more difficult to motivate than children; however, they
have a great learning potential that must be well conducted and controlled.
Regarding to adults, they are easier to manage, because they are self motivated,
willing to learn a foreign language and have special purposes and goals.
In addition, motivation not only depends on learners’ age, according to
Daosheng (2004), motivation emerges from internal and external factors. The
internal factors are related to cognitive, affective and neurobiological elements.
Besides, external factors include social elements such as political, educational, and
influences produced by school, teacher, peer and classroom effects.
Learning Styles
Learners have different motives to learn a language, and their style to learn
also is different. About this, n a journal published by Ali (2011), she mentions the
description made by Reid (1995) who said that learning styles are the internal
characteristics which are the base to understand new information, in which students
can choose the best strategy or style in order to obtain and understand the foreign
language.
Regarding to students’ learning styles in the elementary school, Ali (2011)
refers to the investigation of Peck, who makes a distinction between sequential
(field-independent) and global (field-dependent) cognitive learning styles. The field-
independent learner is analytic acquire knowledge in classroom; while field-
dependent learner is intuitive and gets the language though everyday situations.
Moreover, Ali (2011) mentions the work of Brown (1994) who states, that students
learn better due to their own initiative and this combined with appropriate teaching
methods, and motivation help to improve learning styles. Consequently, Scott
(2009) claims that learning styles need special attention because it is a different
14
approach or way of teaching children; also, she statutes that, “Opportunities should
be provided for children to initiate their own learning and to use and apply the
literacy skills they have been taught”.
With regard to types of learning styles, Woolfolk, (2006), in her study refer to
the investigation of Snow, Corno, and Jackson (1996), who claim there are two kinds
of approaches related to learning styles; the first one is a deep-processing approach
which is related to learning activities focused on concepts or meaning, in which
motivation plays an important role. Besides, the second one is a surface-processing
approach focused on remember the learning materials not recognize them. In this
case, students need to be motivated by rewards, grades, and positive evaluation from
others. In general, learning styles improve when students learn and study in their
preferred site and mode.
Teaching Techniques
The way in which learners organize their preferences about learning a
language is complemented with a good teaching technique applied by teachers in the
classroom. According to Dhand (2008), to teach successfully techniques means
knowing how to facilitate a positive learning experience for all students, the teacher
must use the best and professional judgment to decide which technique will work
best for a particular situation. Also, the author states, that the passive teacher only
relies on the same old teaching techniques day after day; whereas, the active teacher
varies the day planning different teaching strategies and techniques have a tendency
to reach more success in teaching.
In addition, Dhand (2008) argues that not only this practice of different
teaching provide change for the teacher, it also serves as a motivation for students.
He suggested that physical organization of the classroom is also an influencing factor
15
on the success of an activity. The teacher will have to take into consideration the size
of the classroom, accessibility of open space, illumination, physical arrangement of
furniture, and materials.
About the importance of teaching techniques, Kochhar (2008) explains that
new teaching techniques have been introduced in education to make it more
productive, and more individual. One of the most significant techniques in today’s
schools is the encouragement of creativity, to promote original thought and invention
is the great role of creative education. He also states that working with children
implies that they need support to set their own goals, to plan their own activities,
work in groups in which opinions can be shared, besides that children have the
opportunity to find new ways of handling material and freedom to express their own
personalities.
Teaching techniques not only promote learners’ creativity, they have specific
purposes as Brandvik &, McKnight (2001) mention. They suggest that a good
technique for the first day of class is to give students information about ourselves, as
teachers we are supposed to teach students with diverse ability levels and from varied
linguistic backgrounds. To be effective teachers, we need to know our students well
and to get to know them as quickly as possible; that is why a good technique is to
distribute name tags or having each student design one of his or her own. In addition,
these authors also suggest that occasionally an opening exercise encourage students
to move around the room to talk with one another and find the answer to questions
that we have written on the board,
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Different Contexts for Teaching
Effects of teaching techniques depend a lot on the context where teaching
takes place; for this reason, Candlin, & Mercer (2003) state that English is applied in
a variety of institutional, geographic, and social contexts.
Concerning to social context, Candlin, & Mercer (2003) suggest that teaching
in its social context deals with the number of interpretations and perspective in mind;
the social context is also related to the classroom context in which interactions
between teachers and learners has an effect in the nature and quality of language
learning. Besides, according to these authors, for some learners the contexts outside
the classroom are not only where they make use of English, but they can also
comprise a powerful motivation for additional learning. In addition, these authors
explain that not only the contexts of learning are important, but also we need to
understand the professional context of teachers´ practices in this interactive process
of classroom teaching-and learning, and also we need to take into account the socio-
cultural context by which communicating partners in this process evoke shared
knowledge in a sense of building the best context for successful language learning.
Also about the social context, Candlin, & Mercer (2003) claim that in that
sense the wider social context of life that is external to the classroom has an
important effect on what takes place in these relationships between learners and
teachers, and among learners themselves.
There are other aspects related to the teaching context, Barron, Grimm, &
Gruber (2006, p. ) say, “touch subjects and routine practices, evoke this embodied
identity, including the inescapable material quality of it as well as the touchiness of
any reference to race; it will also include the resulting problematic biases and tacit
interpretations used in making meaning of race”. Besides, these authors explain that
17
teaching contexts mean that we encourage students, teachers, scholars, educational
administrators, and educational policymakers as a starting point for discussions and
decisions about these participants.
In addition to the aspects mentioned above, Edwards, Biesta, & Thorpe (2009)
argue that between the different teaching contexts we found the contexts of strata, the
level of cultural and the economic status which are very significant because the
teaching and learning could differ from person to person, or group to group. They
suggest that the strata context, and the economic context emphasizes on the status of
the group for education and training, such as schools, colleges and universities.
Supplementary Material
Supplementary materials make classes more interest and motivate students to
learn. In relation to this, Kumari (2006) argues that supplementary material is the
assistant of the teacher, and it helps to have in mind the mental capacity of the
students; he also mentions that supplementary materials should be within the easy
reach of the pocket of the students if it is not available in the library school.
Additionally, this author states that supplementary material is a part of a work,
physically separate from the basic bibliographic unit and frequently in a different
medium.
Another definition is provided by Richards, & Rodgers (2007), they suggest
that the role of supplementary material is to assist the teacher to develop language
mastery in the learner; a student textbook is often not used in the elementary phases
of a course where students are primarily listening, repeating, and responding.
Weimer (2002) also give important description about supplementary materials,
he claims that the most effective way to work on a skill and awareness of language
development are supplementary materials which are used to make more interesting
18
and didactic any class; that is why, using supplementary materials in the classroom
have a great importance. This author also explains that use of good supplementary
materials can support the teacher work on developing learning skills and awareness
by underscoring what is already an in-class priority and by making students
responsible for their own development. In addition, the same author suggested that
for new teachers, the use of supplementary material is considered as an instrument
that helps students and teachers to ensure the extent to which students are using the
deep or surfaced approaches; according to him, supplementary materials can help to
stimulate individual thinking and to connect content and learning in the class, and
also they can help student to enhance their cognitive skills.
Specifically about the type of supplementary materials available for teachers,
Gower, Phillips, & Walters (2005) suggested that visuals can be used to arouse
interest and concentrate attention at the beginning of a class, to elicit already known
language, to illustrate a new language item, or a vocabulary item, to create a need for
new language; also they argued that audio is one of the teacher´s most useful tools, in
addition many teachers have access to authentic audio material that that can be
brought into the classroom.
Gower, Phillips, & Walters (2005) argued that audiovisual materials have
several advantages because the students can see as well as hear what is being said
and the recording is much closer to real life. They also suggested that realia material
can take many forms but the most common are real objects such as pictures or
photographs; some teachers also make some use of small blocks of wood designed to
teach materials to made clothing.
19
After revising main points related to this research it is also relevant to talk about
the evidence provided by five studies which are going to be described in the next
paragraphs.
The first study to be presented was done by Tsou, Tzeng, and Wang in 2004;
they performed a study based on the use of storytelling in order to demonstrate that it
is a powerful teaching tool. The study consisted of the implementation of a website
in one elementary school in southern Taiwan during ten weeks. First, all 5th graders
in the school were tested for their general language proficiency in order to measure
their story comprehension and language complexity. In addition, teachers received
18 hours of instruction within an EFL storytelling workshop; including techniques,
activities, classroom management and teaching aids in English storytelling. Then,
five stories were chosen according to students´ cognitive and language levels.
Students were divided into two groups, in the first group, instructor presented the
storytelling by using visual aids, flash cards and books; while, in the experimental
group the stories were recreated with the Storytelling Website to accompany the
teacher’s storytelling. Finally, a questionnaire was applied in order to measure story
comprehension, story sentence complexity, and general language proficiency and to
provide feedback. Main conclusions of this study indicate that use of the Internet and
the implementation of multimedia Storytelling Website help teachers to integrate the
culture and improve the knowledge of the English language though the acquisition of
reliable materials to teach English such as songs, pictures and activities related to
storytelling.
Another important study was carried out by Domínguez & Romero in 2008,
the purpose of this study was focused on determine how the use of computers help
students for language learning. This study was developed with participation of 20
20
students at Universidad Autónoma in Baja California; the instruments applied on this
research were a questionnaire and an interview. The 20 students answered a
questionnaire to know the use of computer for language learning, the type of
program used for language learning, the use of internet, the type of exercises that
students choose, and the students’ point of view about the level of improvement of
their language skills. The interview was designed to know perceptions about the
students’ preferences in the computer lab.
Main findings of this study revealed that students preferred educational software
and they usually search the internet for educational websites and programs that allow
them to increase their language skills. The students’ answers also showed that their
language skills have increased with the use of computers and they preferred the use
of software rather than the Internet; these results were affected by students’ lack of
ability to use computers. About these results, the researchers conclude that students
had improved their language skills and they preferred to work with educational
software specifically designed for this purpose. Finally, these researchers
recommended that coordinators should pay attention to the use of the Internet
because it provides a lot of resources that students usually do not take into
consideration.
A third study was done by Peacock in 1997 to investigate whether authentic
materials increase the classroom motivation of learners. The participants in this
research were 31 beginner-level students in two EFL classes at a South Korean
University, they received instruction with artificial materials one day and with
authentic materials the next day; in this way, data was gathered over a period of 20
days. Instruments consisted on two observation sheets and a questionnaire;
observations sheets were used to quantify learners’ on task behavior and overall class
21
motivation, the questionnaire evaluate levels of motivation about the material in use.
In addition, two students were interviewed after each class to know on their own
words their views on materials used that day.
As a result of the instruments applied in this research, it was possible to find
that students were slightly motivated by the use of authentic materials but not
because the materials were interesting; researchers also found that it was quite
difficult for the students accept authentic materials after a long period of receiving
instruction with artificial materials. Main limitations were related to the instruments
designed for this research, they did not bring information about the effects authentic
materials on students’ motivation; in addition, interview was written in English and
this restricted the participants’ responses. Finally, the researcher suggested that for
this type of research is important to separate factors affecting motivation from effects
of materials on learners; in this way, it would be possible to know which aspects
would help to construct motivation and which effects would have supplementary
materials on learners.
This next study was done by Nguyen in 2006 to prove the effects of songs in
teaching listening skills; 60 students from a Bio-technology department at a
Vietnamese University participated in this research. The researcher designed three
instruments to collect the data: tests, questionnaire, and a test; they were used during
the three stages of this study. First, the researcher, that was the same person who
taught the classes to the students, applied a pre test to the students to know their
opinion about their listening skills. Then, one group of students received instructions
with songs and the other group received instructions with their textbooks only. In the
third stage, the students answered an interview to know their opinion after receiving
listening classes the whole term with the use of English songs. The results from this
22
procedure showed that students’ attitude towards English songs were positive. In
addition, questions about students’ manners of listening songs showed that half of
them tried to catch the words of the song and they enjoyed the activity. Finally, the
activities that students enjoyed the most, were arrange jumbled lines, and students
considered that songs make lessons more relaxing. With regard to these results, the
researcher concluded that songs can help to motivate students in listening skills and
they also allowed maximum participation by every student in listening lessons.
Moreover, the researcher recommended that teachers should select carefully the
songs in relation to students’ level and in accordance to the teaching method; in
addition, when teachers work with lyrics they should be separated according to
sentences and phrases. To end with this study, limitations concerned with students’
difficult to follow the song because of their lower levels of English; in addition, this
research could not prove the effectiveness of songs on improving word recognition,
awareness of word linking, enhancing their attention, or comprehension skills.
Finally, the last study was made by Rong in 2004 in Taiwan; the purpose of
the study was to investigate if an integrated-reading writing instruction through
picture books benefits elementary schools students in the English as a foreign
language setting in Taiwan; to achieve its objective the researcher used some
instruments as worksheets, oral instruments, questionnaires, the investigator’ notes
and reflective notes. These instruments were applied to collect data about students’
attitude towards storytelling, picture books and to the English learning process itself.
Data was gathered with a qualitative approach, a preliminary pilot study was done to
know students’ level and preferences; after that, students received instruction during
20 minutes eight times a week. Next, the researcher applied an oral test to obtain
more in depth information about students’ feelings and attitudes to story time.
23
Main findings revealed that 73% of the students (35 out of 48) though they were
attentive in the story time and 27% (13 out of 48) though that they were not. The
investigator also found that children were actually quite strict when they were
assessing themselves; in addition, the results of the interview showed positive effects
of the story time on children’s perception toward picture books, except for one
student, most participants felt well about picture books at the end of the study.
Finally, it was observed some changes in students’ attitudes toward reading,
writing, and pictures book, they acquire more experience on the use of picture books.
As a consequence of the effects of storytelling on children in this research, the
investigator concluded that activities based on the stories of the pictures books
helped them to learn new vocabulary and to overcome affective filter toward learning
English; The researcher also recommended that teachers must consider aspects
related to students’ language proficiency, their interests, vivid illustrations, the
author, the writing style before they select books.
About limitations, there were three important constraints about this study.
First, the study was conducted in the form of a case study showing only the teaching
aspects of a particular EFL setting with limited scope. Second, due to time
constraints, the story time of picture books lasted for one semester (18 weeks, 360
minutes) only. The final limitation was that the investigator decided to play the role
of instructor increased the difficulty of data collection.
24
Results
Qualitative tabulation
Chart one: Type of supplementary material used to teach children
Variable Indicators Yes No
Visual
Flash cards √
Power point presentations x
Maps x
Pictures √
Charts x
Handouts √
Posters √
Word cards √
White boards √
Audio
Songs √
Dialogues √
Stories x
Tales √
Audiovisual
Videos x
Movies x
Documentaries x
Realia Objects (toys, plants, fruits) √
Online Websites x
Authors: Sofía Baldeón & Karen Erazo
Source: 4th
, 5th
, 6th
grades
25
Chart two: Pertinence and appropriateness of the supplementary material used to
teach children
V
ari
ab
le
Indicators
1st
cla
ss
2n
d c
lass
3rd
cla
ss
4th
cla
ss
5th
cla
ss
6th
cla
ss
7th
cla
ss
8th
cla
ss
9th
cla
ss
10
th c
lass
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Vis
ua
l
Flash cards √ √ √ √
Power point
presentations
Maps
Pictures
Charts
Handouts
Posters √ x √ x √ √
Word cards √ √
White board √ √ x x √ √ √ x x x √ √ √ √
Au
dio
Songs √ √
Dialogues √ x √ √
Stories
Tales
Au
dio
vis
ua
l
Videos
Movies
Documentaries
Rea
lia
Objects (toys,
plants, fruits) √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
On
lin
e
Websites
Authors: Sofía Baldeón & Karen Erazo
Source: 4th
grade (8 years old approx.)
26
Chart three: Pertinence and appropriateness of the supplementary material used to
teach children.
V
ari
ab
le
Indicators
1st
cla
ss
2n
d c
lass
3rd
cla
ss
4th
cla
ss
5th
cla
ss
6th
cla
ss
7th
cla
ss
8th
cla
ss
9th
cla
ss
10
th c
lass
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Vis
ua
l
Flash cards √ √ √ √
Power point
presentations
Maps
Pictures √ √ √ √
Charts
Handouts √ √
Posters √ √ √ √
Word cards √ √ √ √
White board √ √ √ √ √ x x x √ √
Au
dio
Songs √ √
Dialogues
Stories
Tales
Au
dio
vis
ua
l
Videos
Movies
Documentaries
Rea
lia
Objects (toys,
plants, fruits)
On
lin
e
Websites
Authors: Sofía Baldeón & Karen Erazo
Source: 5th
grade (9 years old approx.)
27
Chart four: Pertinence and appropriateness of the supplementary material used in to
teach children.
V
ari
ab
le
Indicators
1st
cla
ss
2n
d c
lass
3rd
cla
ss
4th
cla
ss
5th
cla
ss
6th
cla
ss
7th
cla
ss
8th
cla
ss
9th
cla
ss
10
th c
lass
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Vis
ua
l
Flash cards
Power point
presentations
Maps
Pictures √ √ √ √
Charts
Handouts
Posters √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Word cards √ √
White board √ √ √ √ x x √ √ √ √ √ √
Au
dio
Songs
Dialogues x x
Stories
Tales √ √
Au
dio
vis
ua
l
Videos
Movies
Documentaries
Rea
lia
Objects (toys,
plants, fruits)
On
lin
e
Websites
Authors: Sofía Baldeón & Karen Erazo
Source: 6th
grade (10 years old approx.)
28
Quantitative tabulation
Chart five: Frequency of use of supplementary material.
Variable Indicators
4th
grade
5th
grade
6th
grade Total
f f f f %
Visual
Flash cards 2 2 4 8%
Power point
presentations
Maps
Pictures 2 2 4 8%
Charts
Handouts 1 1 2%
Posters 3 2 4 9 18%
Word cards 1 2 1 4 8%
White boards 7 5 6 18 36%
Audio
Songs 1 1 2 4%
Dialogues 2 1 3 6%
Stories
Tales 1 1 2%
Audiovisual
Videos
Movies
Documentaries
Realia Objects (toys,
plants, fruits)
4 4 8%
Online Websites
TOTAL 50 100%
Authors: Sofía Baldeón & Karen Erazo
Source: 4th
(8 years old approx.), 5th
(9 years old approx.), 6th
(10 years old approx.)
grades
29
Description, analysis, and Interpretation of results
This section presents the qualitative and quantitative analysis of results. With
regard to qualitative analysis, it describes the information that the researcher
classified considering the pertinence and appropriateness of the materials in use in
each observed class; this analysis also explains whether teachers applied the
materials with creativity and originality, students’ motivation towards the material,
and quality of the materials. In addition to the quantitative analysis, this section also
includes a qualitative analysis; the purpose of this analysis aims to provide a general
view about those materials that are frequently used in the classroom. After all this
analysis this section presents conclusions and recommendations.
Qualitative analysis
The supplementary materials used in the ten observed classes were: flashcards,
posters, word cards, white board, songs, dialogues, realia, pictures, handouts, and
tales.
4th
grade /8 years old
In the first observed class the topic was Subject pronouns and the objective was
to teach students the use of this grammar structure. The teacher used flashcards and
the white board; these materials were used as follows:
Flashcards
Subject pronouns were the topic of the first class with the purpose of teaches
students the use of this grammar structure. The material was used to introduce the
topic to the class, it helped the teacher to explain the proper use of subject pronouns;
therefore, the material was adequate to the topic and objective of the lesson because
it assists the teacher to develop language mastery in the learner, as Richard &
Rodgers (2007) mention. The material had colorful cartoons and under each image it
30
was written a subject pronoun; it had a good quality and all the students felt
motivated by this material. This material was used with creativity and originality
because the teacher selected cartoons that were known to the students; for this
reason, students were engaged in the activity all the time. Students’ attitudes in the
classroom were consistent with their answers on the survey; in addition, they
expressed preferences about the use of other materials as for example songs, videos,
movies, and realia.
White board
The teacher used the white board to write sentences about this grammar
structures and then students wrote their own sentences. The material was pertinent to
the topic and to the objectives of the lesson and the students participated actively;
therefore, the white board was appropriate to students’ age and level. About this, it
was observed that the teacher used the white board as Weimer (2002) suggests, to
make work on learners’ skills and awareness of language development. Students
explained that they liked the activity and they would like other types of materials
such as pictures, songs, videos, movies, and objects.
In the second class the students were taught about the use of possessive
adjectives. The materials used in this class were posters and the white board; the
teacher used them as follows:
Posters
The teacher elaborated attractive posters to show the students examples of
possessive adjectives; first, he introduced some sentences and then students gave
their own sentences. The material was pertinent to the topic and to the objective of
the lesson; even though many students participate actively, some students
demonstrated difficulty to produce their sentences. Therefore, the material was not
31
appropriate for overall students; maybe because they needed to learn in different
way. Ali (2011) explains that some children learn according to their own initiative
and this should be combined with the appropriate teaching method. About the
survey, students explained that they did not like the material but it helped them to
understand the topic; clearly, this result is opposite to what they demonstrated in the
classroom. In addition, the students chose some materials that their teacher could use
in the classroom such as maps, picture, word cards, songs, stories, tales, videos,
movies, objects, and paints. These answers indicated that the students gave,
apparently, general answers about all the material that they would like their teachers
use in the classroom.
White board
In the second class, the teacher used this material to write the topic of the
class and to paste posters that he additionally used. Students wrote sentences on their
notebooks using the examples on the posters. Therefore, this material was not
pertinent to the topic because the teacher did not used it as a means of instruction; in
the same way, the material was not appropriate to students’ age and level because it
was not used to provide practice in the mastery of language as Richards & Rodgers
(2007) mention. Students’ survey showed that they did not like the used material and
they would prefer other materials as maps, pictures, word cards, songs, stories, tales,
videos, movies, objects, and paints.
The third class was titled Verb to be – affirmative sentences and learners
should learn to make affirmative sentences using verb to be. For this class, the
teacher used word cards and the white board; these materials were used as follows:
32
Word cards
First, the teacher explained the students how to make affirmative sentences
using the white board; then, he used word cards to form unscrambled sentences that
students had to put in the correct order. Not all students participated actively because
of their lower English level but in general terms they comprehend the mechanisms of
the grammar structure. Consequently, the material was pertinent to the topic and
objectives of the lesson; in addition, it was appropriate to students’ age and level.
This confirms what Weimer (2002) mentions about supplementary materials; they
make more interesting and didactic any class. According to students’ survey they
liked the material and they would prefer other types of materials as dialogues, videos,
objects.
In the fourth class the topic was Verb to be (negative sentences) and the
objective was to teach the students about the use negative sentences using verb to be.
The materials used in this class were posters and dialogues; these materials were
used as follows:
Posters
The teacher explained how to make negative sentences with verb to be using
the white board, he presented unscrambled sentences with the aid of a poster and
students should arrange them in the correct order. The whole activity was bored
because the poster was simple and it was not used creatively; however, the material
was pertinent to the topic and the objectives of the lesson. It also was appropriate to
students’ age and students’ level. With reference to this, Ur (2006) claims that
children need to be engaged by developing interesting activities and by using
important resources which arouse their interest in the learning process.
33
Students answered that they liked the material; they argued that they were
afraid of teachers’ reaction if they criticized the material. In addition, they expressed
they would prefer pictures, charts, word cards, songs, dialogues, stories, tales, videos,
movies, documentaries, objects, and websites.
Dialogues
The teacher played dialogues and students repeated the sentences. Even
though the material was related to the topic and objectives of the lesson, the whole
class was bored. But students answered that they liked the material; clearly they did
not want to criticize the used material. About their preferences on supplementary
materials, they mentioned some materials such as picture, charts, word cards, songs,
dialogues, stories, tales, videos, movies, documentaries, objects, and websites. It
would be more effective that the teacher used the dialogue to complete sentences; in
this way the activity would have been more related to the objectives of the lesson.
With regard to this result, Richard & Rodgers (2007) suggest that the role of
supplementary materials is to assist the teacher to develop language mastery in the
learner.
In the fifth observed class, the topic of the lesson was adjectives and the
purpose was centered on teaching students the use of this grammar structure. The
materials used in this class were the white board and dialogues; these materials were
used as follows:
White board
The teacher only wrote adjectives on the board and indicated its meaning. The
whole activity was bored and students expressed on the survey that did not like the
way the teacher used the white board; they would prefer word cards, songs, stories,
tales, videos, movies, objects, and websites. In conclusion, this material was not
34
pertinent to the topic and objectives of the lesson; similarly, it was not appropriate to
students’ age because it did not motivate them to participate in class. Weimer (2002)
claims that the correct use of supplementary materials can support the teacher work
on developing students’ learning skills; the teachers should have used material that
called the attention of their students as for example objects; in this way students
could have described their characteristics using adjectives.
Dialogues
The teacher played a dialogue and students listened to identify adjectives that
people described. Each time the students identified an adjective they had to write
down it on their notebooks and make a draw about it; this part of the class was fun
and students were motivated and participated actively. Therefore, the use of this
material was pertinent to the topic and objectives of the lesson and it also was
appropriate to students’ age and level; this material was used as Ur (2006) states, to
arouse their interest in learning. According to the students’ answers they liked this
material and they would prefer similar materials such as word cards, songs, stories,
tales, videos, movies, objects, and websites.
The topic of the sixth class was numbers; the purpose of this lesson was
focused on teaching students to pronounce and to write numbers. The materials used
to teach the grammar structure were posters and songs; they were used as follows:
Posters
The teacher used a laminated poster with colorful numbers; it called students’
attention and they were motivated to complete the activity. The teacher used a song
to guide the students with numbers pronunciation; after this practice, they completed
sentences with the name of each number on their notebooks. As a result, the material
was pertinent to the topic and objectives of the lesson and it also was appropriate to
35
students’ age and level; it was used with creativity and it developed students’
awareness of language development, as Weimer (2002) explains. Students’ survey
showed that they liked the material. Other types of materials that the students would
prefer were: power point presentations, pictures, stories, tales, movies, objects, and
websites.
Songs
The teacher used a song along with a laminated poster about numbers;
students listened to the song and after that, they spelled each number and wrote
sentences using numbers. The whole activity was fun and students seemed
motivated and participated actively; in consequence, this material was used
according to the topic and to the objectives of the lesson because it helped learners to
improve their language development as Weimer (2002) mentions. In the same way,
this material was appropriate to students’ age and level and they expressed on the
survey that they enjoyed the class; they also would prefer other type of material such
as power point presentations, pictures, stories, tales, movies, objects, and websites.
The topic of the seventh class was Prepositions of place and the objective was
to teach the students to recognize and to use prepositions of place. The teacher used
flashcards and realia; they were used as follows:
Flashcards
The flashcards used in the seventh class had colorful drawings about objects
placed on different positions; so, the students could elicited the meaning of the
grammar structures while the teacher told them sentences using prepositions of place.
In consequence, this material was used correctly according to the topic and
objectives of the lesson because it stimulated learners’ individual thinking as Weimer
(2002) explains. Children understood teachers’ explanations, they were motivated to
36
learn, and enjoyed the activity; for this reason, the material was appropriate to
learners’ age and level. Gower, Phillips & Walters (2005) suggest that visual
materials help learner to concentrate and create on them need for new language.
Realia
First, the teacher explained the meaning of prepositions using flashcards;
then, he used the classroom objects such as: pencils, pens, whiteboard, map, etc, by
asking questions as, where is the whiteboard?, then children had to answer the
question and describe the location of each object in the classroom using prepositions
of place. The activity was good for the level of the students and their age, and they
were able to complete the activity satisfactorily. In this observed class, the material
was pertinent to the topic and to the objectives of the lesson and it also was
appropriate to students’ age and level because the teacher used common objects to
arouse students’ interest on learning as Ur (2006) suggest. About the survey, students
demonstrated positive attitude towards the use of classroom objects in the class; they
also would like that the teacher uses power point presentations, stories, tales, movies,
and websites.
The topic of the eight class was countable nouns and it aimed that students
could recognize countable nouns and could learn to use the structure how many. In
this class the materials used were the white board and realia (objects); they were used
as follows:
White board
The teacher used the white board to explain the concept of countable nouns,
he wrote on the board names of different countable and uncountable nouns and
students should classify them. Students completed the activity and the whole class
participated actively. Therefore, this material was pertinent to the topic and to the
37
objective of the lesson and it was also appropriate to the students’ age and level.
Although students liked the material, they also would like other materials as for
example: power point presentations, stories, tales, movies, objects, and websites.
Realia
The teacher used realia in the lesson countable nouns and the objective was:
recognizing countable nouns and use how many?. In this lesson, he used classroom
elements to ask the students “can I count all your erasers?” and students showed their
eraser and counted them. The activity was fun and students comprehend the concept
of countable nouns; they participated actively and they were motivated. In
conclusion, this material was correctly used according to the topic and objective of
the lesson; this material was also adequate to students’ age and level. In this class
the teacher used the material to enhance students’ cognitive skills as Weimer (2002)
mentions. The students claimed, according to the survey, that they liked the activity
and they also would like other types of materials such as power point presentations,
stories, tales, movies, objects, and websites.
In the ninth observed class the topic was uncountable nouns; the students
would recognize uncountable nouns and would learn to make sentences using the
structure. The teacher used the white board and realia (objects).
White board
The teacher explained to the students what uncountable nouns are and then
they wrote sentences on the board. This time the teacher encouraged students to
write creative sentences about uncountable nouns; therefore, the activity was fun
because the students wrote original sentences. In this way, the material was used
according to the topic and objectives of the lesson as well according to students’ age
and level because it assisted the teacher to develop students’ individual thinking as
38
Weimer (2002) explains. Students expressed through the survey that they liked the
way their teacher designed the activity and they also would like other types of
materials as power point presentations, pictures, handouts, word cards, stories, tales,
movies, and websites.
Realia
The teacher brought to the class some examples of uncountable nouns as
sugar, salt, rice, milk, water; he made a review on countable nouns and then asked
students whether they could count those elements. Students felt motivated and
participated actively in the class; for this reason, the material was pertinent to the
topic and objectives and it also was appropriate to students’ age and level. It was
observed in this class that supplementary materials make classes more interesting and
didactic as Weimer (2002) mentions. Students enjoyed the activity and they gave
positive opinions about the material used in the classroom; they also expressed their
preferences for other types of materials such as power point presentations, pictures,
handouts, word cards, stories, tales, movies, and websites.
In the tenth observed class the topic was There is /There are; the objective
was to teach students the use of this grammar structure in affirmative sentences. The
teacher used only realia in this class.
Realia
The teacher explained the use of there is and there are; she pointed out the
white board and said: “There is a white board in this classroom”, after that she
pointed out the students’ desks and said: “there are many desks in this classroom”.
Then, she encouraged the students to use the grammar structure to describe the
amount of objects in the classroom or in their backpacks. The use of the objects in
the classroom was a good alternative because students could visually comprehend the
39
meaning of there is/there are as Gower, Phillips & Walters (2005) mention;
however, the teacher could use other type of materials as flashcards or posters in
order to increase students’ interest on the topic. At last, the material was appropriate
to the topic and objectives of the lesson; similarly, it was appropriate to students’ age
and level. The results of the survey revealed that students agreed with the use of the
material but they believed that other type of material could be more interesting; they
referred to power point presentations, posters, word cards, stories, tales, videos,
movies, and websites.
Learning styles
In relation to the analysis made to the observed class in the fourth grade, there
was a balanced use of teaching techniques and materials to meet students’ needs. The
teachers used a variety of materials according to students’ learning styles because he
considers that supplementary materials are important to motivate students and to
improve their rate of learning; he preferred to use pictures because they are attractive
and students enjoyed them very much. In our opinion, supplementary materials are a
useful tool, which help to improve and motivate students to participate actively in all
activities; for this reason, the teachers in this grade tried to meet students’ learning
styles and this helped students to apply what they have learned as Scott (2009)
claims.
5th
grade/ 9 years old
The first class observed in this grade was titled Simple present and its
objective was planned to teach students the use of simple present to indicate an
action in present time that is not finished. In this class, the materials used were word
cards and the white board.
40
White board
The white board was used by the teacher in the first class to write the theme of
the class which was titled Simple present and also to write examples of sentences or
vocabulary words about the topic of the lesson. This material was adequately used
because students practiced writing sentences using the grammar structures; therefore,
the material helped the teacher to achieve the objective of the class.
Word cards
First, the teacher introduced the topic using the white board; after the teacher
introduced the topic, she pasted unscrambled word cards on the board that students
put in the correct order to form a complete sentence. The use of this type of material
gave the students a clear idea about the use of present simple; the sentences were
clear and they were adequate to the students’ level. This material also activated
students’ participation and their attention was focused on the activity because the
material was elaborated with pieces of colored cardboard according to students’ age.
The topic of the second class observed in the fifth grade was Vocabulary and
the objective was to teach new vocabulary words and to use simple present tense.
The materials used in this class were posters and the white board.
Posters
The teacher elaborated a poster using pictures from magazines; it showed
images of people doing different activities such as cooking, washing, dancing,
jumping. The teacher wrote the action verbs on the white board and wrote some
sentences such as: “He cooks the meal, she dances in her room”. The poster was big
enough so all the students could see it; it had a good size (120x100cm) and the
pictures were colorful and clearly showed actions related to the vocabulary words
presented by the teacher. This poster allowed the students to identify actions verbs
41
and use the simple present; they demonstrated that they understood the topic writing
sentences on the board and on their notebooks.
White board
This material was used in the second class together with posters that showed
images related to the new vocabulary words. Once the teacher explained the
vocabulary words, she wrote sentences on the board and students had to identify
simple present tense. The material was pertinent to the content and it was also
appropriate to students’ level because the teacher used black and red markers to write
the sentences; she used red markers to highlight the actions verbs. Students were
divided into two groups to compete writing sentences on the white board; students
came out to the white board to write their own sentences using the model provided
by their teacher; the first group that finished first won the competition and got points
from the teacher. This motivates students to participate because the teacher varied
the teaching technique when she used the white board as Dhand (2008) recommends.
The topic of the third class was frequency adverbs and the objective was to
help students to use frequency adverbs to describe how often people do something.
The teacher used these materials in this class: flashcards and the white board.
Flashcards
In the third class, the teacher pasted a set of flashcards on the board that
described different activities. Then, the teacher wrote some sentences on the board
and later the students wrote their own sentences using the flashcards as a guide. The
use of this type of supplementary materials was appropriate in relation to the topic
because students had a visual aid to understand the topic. In similar way, its use was
appropriate in relation to the objectives because it facilitates students the use of
adverbs of frequency. In relation to students’ age, this material was appropriate for
42
the students because the material contained drawings with a variety of colors that
called their attention. Even though some students were able to write sentences using
adverbs of frequency, a considerable amount of students demonstrated some kind of
difficulty while trying to write the sentences; this was related to lower level in
students’ language proficiency.
White board
The teacher used this material to write sentences along with flashcards. After
the teacher explained the class, she encouraged students to write their own sentences.
It was observed that this time, students had difficulty to produce adequate sentences;
therefore, this material was not appropriate to students’ level. It would be more
appropriate for this class that the teacher used a poster to visually show the use of
frequency adverbs.
Concerning the fourth class, the topic was Information questions and the topic
was to teach the use of wh-questions. The teacher used only one type of
supplementary material in this class: handouts.
Handouts
This material was used in the fourth class as a means of practice to evaluate
the use of wh-questions; the handouts were elaborated by the teacher and they
contained a text that students read and then they answered using wh- questions. The
material had clear instructions that all students could follow; the content of the
handouts were well related to the topic and they helped the teacher to evaluate
students’ knowledge. The quality of the material was good, it was white and black
and it was well printed.
The fifth class was titled Information questions and the objective was to
reinforce the use of wh-questions; the material used was only the white board.
43
White board
This material was not appropriately used in relation to the objective of the fifth
class because the teacher wrote questions and the answers and then students just
wrote similar sentences. In consequence, students only copied the models that the
teacher wrote using different words and this resulted on a boring activity. The
teacher could use for this class other type of material as for example a story and then
students could asked each other questions about its plot; as Kochlar (2008)
recommends, it is important that teachers encourage creativity and promote original
thought and invention.
The topic of the sixth class was Places and the objective of the class was to
learn new vocabulary words such as: park, airport, bank, restaurant, etc. The
materials used in this class were pictures and songs.
Songs
Students sang a song about different places in the city; this material was used
as a warmer to introduce the topic of the class. The lyrics consisted of questions as
for example: where is Lucy? Lucy is in the park…; this song was used along with
pictures that represented each place and that were used to teach the students the
vocabulary words about different places. The use of this song motivated the students
to focus their attention on the topic and to respond to each task that their teacher
assigned during the class.
Pictures
After the teacher played a song to introduce the topic of the sixth class, the
students practiced vocabulary words about places with the aid of pictures. The
teacher presented pictures of different places as for example: bank, park, aquarium,
library, etc. and he proceeded to teach their pronunciation; then, he explained the
44
meaning of each word. After this practice, the teacher asked the students some
questions about the pictures as for example: This is Lucy, where is Lucy? Lucy is…
and students proceed to complete sentences on the board. This material was pertinent
to the class and appropriate to students’ age and level because it helped students to
comprehend the meaning of each word; in addition, the pictures clearly show each
location and they had colorful images. Each picture had a good size (42x35cm) and
they were cut from magazines and pasted on pieces of cards.
Regarding to the materials preferred by students, it was seen that they would
like that teacher uses: power point presentations, posters, word cards, stories, tales,
movies and websites.
The topic of the seventh class was irregular verbs and the objective was to
learn the conjugation of irregular verbs. The material used was word cards.
Word cards
The teacher elaborated this material using pieces of white cardboard to write
the infinitive, yellow pieces of cardboard to write the past form of the verb, and red
pieces of cardboard to write the past participle of the verb. Furthermore, teacher uses
this material creatively because she made children plays with the word cards by
choosing a word card of any color and looking for the correct pair that contains the
past and past participle form of the verb. This color differentiation helped students to
distinguish how the verb changes to express past actions; as a result, the material was
pertinent to the class because it made the class more didactic as Weimer (2002)
explains. The material was also appropriate to students’ age and to their level
because color cards awoke students’ interest on the topic as Ur (2006) claims.
45
According to the survey, students liked the material used and they would like
to learn with other kind of materials such as: power point presentations, posters,
stories, tales, and real objects.
The eighth class was titled modal verb Can and the objective was to teach
students the use of the grammar structure to express ability. The material used in this
class was posters.
Posters
The teacher pasted a poster on the white board that showed images of children
doing different activities; she gave examples of sentences using can as for example:
“Jean can dance”. Then, students used the poster as a reference to write sentences on
the board and on their notebooks about the images they could see. The material was
pertinent to the lesson and to its objectives because it was an aid for students to
develop their learning skills as Weimer (2002) mentions. The poster was appropriate
to students’ age and level because it had colorful pictures and they showed actions
that students easily understood. About its quality, the material was made using
pictures cut from magazines that teacher pasted on a big cardboard. In addition, they
expressed preferences about the use of other materials as for example maps,
handouts, videos, movies, and websites.
The topic of the ninth class was present progressive and its objective was to
teach the use of this grammar structure to form sentences. The materials used in this
class were flashcards and the white board.
Flashcards
The teacher presented the flashcards to the students while he wrote some
sentences on the white board; then, all the students played mimes and gestures using
the flashcards. This activity was correctly carried out by the teacher and the
46
flashcard helped him to achieve the objective of the lesson because students
practiced and comprehended the use of present progressive correctly; students felt
motivated to participate and they responded according to their level because the
combination of games and flashcards developed their interest on the topic of the
lesson.
White board
This material was used in the ninth class to explain the use of the present
progressive. The teacher presented the flashcards to the students while he wrote some
sentences on the white board as for example: “The boy is playing”. After the teacher
explained the class, she encouraged the students to play mimes and gestures. Each
time that a student guess the correct action, he/she had to write sentences on the
board using the flashcards as a reference; in this way, students wrote accurate
sentences and they seemed motivated to participate. In sum, this material was
appropriate to students’ level and it was also pertinent to the content. About the
survey, students chose some materials that their teacher could use in the classroom
such as: power point presentations, maps, work-sheets, dialogues, movies, and
objects.
The topic of the tenth class was present progressive: affirmative and negative
sentences and the objective of this class was to teach students to make sentences
using affirmative and negative sentences using the present progressive form; the
material used was pictures.
Pictures
A set of pictures was used to teach students the structure of affirmative and
negative sentences using present progressive. The pictures showed famous artist
doing different activities and the teacher encouraged the students to describe actions
47
using present progressive; children wrote sentences describing the pictures on their
notebooks. It was observed that students did their assignments correctly; in
consequence, the materials were used according to the topic and objectives of the
lesson. Equally, the material was adequate to students’ age and level. These pictures
were copied from magazines and they were resized for this special purpose; the
teacher pasted them on pieces of 35x50cm white cards. In addition, students had a
good attitude in this class, and they expressed their interest in other kind of materials
as for example, power point presentations, posters, dialogues, videos, movies, and
websites.
Learning styles
The analysis of the use of supplementary materials in this grade shows a
teachers’ preference for visual materials, she explained that these types of resources
are easy to handle, cheaper, and it is not necessary much time to elaborate them.
Nevertheless, teachers’ opinion did not consider students’ learning styles. The
participants on the survey agreed about the supplementary materials used by their
teacher; they also proposed other types of materials as movies, videos, objects, and
stories.
Regarding to this, we consider that teachers have to take into account the
different learning styles, based on the manner in which their students prefer to learn;
in this aspect, teachers could use a variety of materials in their classes at less two
days per week because as the student´s survey showed, they would like to acquire L2
knowledge through audio, and audiovisual methods.
To end with this grade, according to Gower, Philips & Walter (2005)
supplementary materials arouse learners’ interest and attention in the classroom; for
this reason it is important that teachers use different types of materials.
48
6th
grade/10 years old
The first class observed in the sixth grade was titled articles and the objective
was focused on teaching students the rules of definite and indefinite articles usage.
For this class, the teacher used two types of visual materials: a set of pictures and the
white board.
White board
The teacher used the white board to write the topic of the lesson and to
introduce the rules to use definite and indefinite articles. Then, she used pictures of
different objects to elicit sentences from students; the teacher showed a picture and a
student came out to the white board to write a sentence using the grammar structures.
The material was pertinent to the lesson because it helped the teacher to connect
content and learning in the class, as Weimer (2002) describes. The use of the white
board was appropriate to students’ age and level because the teacher use simple and
clear language to explain the class.
Pictures
The teacher introduced the rules to use definite and indefinite articles using the
white board; then, she used the pictures to elicit examples from the students. The
pictures showed images of different objects that awakes students’ interest on the
topic; some of them were: cat, boy, dictionary, sun, etc. The teacher showed a picture
and said: “This is…” and students complete the sentence using the correct article;
then, a student came to the white board to write the sentence. The teacher pasted the
picture next to the sentence written by the student. In this way, the material was
pertinent to the topic and to the objectives of the lesson because it developed
students’ awareness of articles usage, as Weimer (2002) mentions. The material was
also appropriate to the students’ age and level because it had colorful images that
49
called learners’ attention; the pictures were also useful for illustrate the new grammar
structures, as Weimer (2002) also explains.
With regard to the second observed class in the sixth grade, the topic was
Rules for indefinite articles and the objective was to teach students to use a/an. The
materials used in this class were word cards and the white board.
White board
The teacher used the white board to write the topic of the lesson and to
explain the rules of a/an usage. She uses this material along with a set of word cards
that had written “A” and “An”; the teacher wrote on the white board a list of objects
and she encouraged students to paste the correct article next to the word. The
material was pertinent to the lesson because the teacher used it to explain the class
and students practiced the use of the grammar structure. In the same way, the white
board was appropriate to students’ age and level because it was used to write simple
examples and as a means of practice for students.
Word cards
A set of words card were used to teach the students the use of indefinite
articles a/an. These word cards helped the teacher to explain the rules about the use
of the grammar structures; she wrote names of objects on the board and encouraged
some students to paste the correct word card next to the word. The students
collaborated during the time of the activity and they focused their attention on the
topic. The material was pertinent to the lesson and appropriate to students’ age and
level because, as Weimer (2002) claims, it was an effective way to work on students’
skills awareness and language development.
The topic of the third observed class in the sixth grade was simple past tense
and the objective was to use simple past tense to talk about actions that started and
50
finished in the past. The materials used in this class were the white board and
dialogues.
Dialogues
During the third class, the teacher had used a dialogue along with students’
textbooks. First, the teacher explained the class using the white board; then, to
provide practice with the use of simple past she played a CD with the dialogue. With
the aid of the CD the students listened carefully and identified the correct verb on a
text on their textbooks; this dialogue provided them practice to improve students’
listening skills and they could identify the correct verb. The use of this dialogue was
not pertinent to the objectives of the lesson because students just listened and
identified verbs on a text; they did not practice their speaking skills to describe past
events.
White board
This material was used to write the topic of the class and to review the past
tense of verbs. The teacher wrote a list of verbs on the white board and asked
students the simple past form of each word; she wrote down on the white board what
they said. This material was not pertinent to the objectives of the class because the
teacher only used it to review the simple past tense; she did not explain anything
about actions that start and finish in the past.
It was observed in this class that both supplementary materials were not
adequately used according to the objectives of the lesson; Dhand (2008) explains that
teaching successfully means that teachers know how to provide a positive learning
experience for all students.
The fourth observed class was titled Simple past tense /affirmative and
negative forms using regular verbs, the objective of this lesson was to describe
51
activities at a specific time in the past using affirmative sentences. The materials
used were a poster and the white board.
Poster
The teacher elaborated a poster for the fourth class; it had a time line and
written sentences that explained activities that happened at a specific time in the past
using affirmative forms; it showed a boy doing activities in different days of the
week. The teacher wrote on the white board a list of verbs related to the actions on
the poster; then, she asked students: “What did he do on Monday?” while she pointed
out a verb from the list and students answered correctly with the guidance of the
teacher. The poster was pertinent to the lesson and to its objectives because it helped
students to visualize actions in past time; it had labels indicating when the boy did an
action. The material was also appropriate to students’ age and level because it
showed a boy doing activities such as going to the school, playing football,
swimming, etc.; therefore, students felt identified with the information described on
the poster. The poster had good quality; it had colorful images and a good size
(150x100cm).
White board
The teacher used the white board to write the topic of the fourth class about
simple past tense, and she wrote a list of verbs related to the poster that also was used
in this class. This material was pertinent to the lesson because the teacher used it to
guide students when they described what they saw on the poster; if students made
mistakes she corrected them writing on the board the correct past form of the verb or
any other word that they did not know well. Occasionally, some students came to the
white board because they wanted to write the sentences rather than said them orally.
This demonstrated what Reid (1995) mentions about learning styles, some students
52
had different learning styles and they react according to it to learn new information;
for this reason, the white board was also appropriate to students’ age and level.
The topic of the fifth class was Simple past tense /negative form and the
objective was to teach students negative sentences formation. The materials used in
this class were pictures and the white board.
Pictures
The pictures used in this class were cut from magazines and pasted on pieces
of card. The pictures were used to graphically represent the meaning of sentences
that students had to complete on their textbooks as for example: they ____ ______
go the beach (they went to the mountain). First, the teacher explained the topic using
the board and then she showed the pictures and asked the students questions as for
example: Did he work yesterday? Students answered on their textbook the correct
answer and read aloud their sentences while they looked at the pictures. The students
completed correctly the sentences and the pictures used in this class helped them to
elicit the correct answers; for this reason the material was pertinent and appropriate
to the lesson, age and level of the students. The quality of the materials was good;
pictures were adequate to the topic and they were pasted on card pieces of 30x40cm.
White board
The teacher used the white board to write the topic of the lesson and to
explain the negative form of simple past tense using did. First, she wrote affirmative
past sentences and then she transformed them into negative sentences. This material
was pertinent to the lesson because it allowed the teacher to develop language
learning as Richards & Rodgers (2007) explain. Students’ comprehended teachers’
explanations and they completed the sentences on the textbook correctly; for this
reason, the white board was appropriate to learners’ age and level.
53
With regard to the sixth class, the topic was Simple past interrogative forms
and the objective was to teach interrogative forms of the simple past tense; the
teacher used a poster to explain the grammar structure.
Posters
The teacher elaborated a poster that contained pictures about different actions,
for example, a boy playing basket ball and next to it a question asking did you play
basketball?; also it had had a written formula to form the simple past interrogative in
order that students understand the use of auxiliary verb “did”. Even though the
material was simply elaborated it had clear instructions and students understood the
use of simple past without inconvenient, the poster motivated to children, they were
willing to participate by following the samples showed on the poster. Teacher
covered the written questions, and pointed out to any picture of the poster in order
that children asking a question related to the picture by using auxiliary did.
The quality of this material was good, it was made in a big cardboard with
drawn pictures about activities like playing football, singing, and their own sentences
to illustrate how to ask question in the past tense. As a result, this material was
pertinent to the lesson and appropriate to students’ age and level.
Regarding to the survey made to students, it could be seen that they would like
that teacher uses other kind of materials such as power point presentations, stories,
tales, movies and real objects.
The topic of the seventh class was Pronunciation rules for the past tense and
the objective was to practice pronunciation of regular verbs. The material used in this
class was a poster.
54
Poster
The poster used in the seventh class, had written information about the rules to
pronounce accurately regular verbs; for example, “rule 1: the past tense of verbs
ending in voice sound is pronounced as[d]”; also, teacher used different colors of
markers to differentiate present and past tenses of the verbs. The verbs in the past
tense had remarked with red color the ending letters; the teacher read each pair of
verbs and students repeated after her; in this way, the students could comprehend the
grammar structures and pronounced them correctly because the poster illustrated the
language items as Gower, Phillip & Walters (2005) mention. In consequence, the
material used in this class was pertinent to the lesson; it was also appropriate to
students’ age and level. Additionally, in the survey filled by students they
recommended that teacher uses other kind of materials such as pictures, songs,
videos, movies and websites.
The topic of the eight class was Simple past of regular verbs and the objective
was to practice the use of regular verbs in simple past sentences. The material used in
this class was a tale.
Tales
In order to practice the past forms of regular verbs learned in the eighth class,
the teacher played a CD that narrated a tale about a ship called Saint Mary. Students
listened carefully to the tale and then the teacher encouraged them to rewrite the tale
on their notebooks using simple past. Through this activity, the teacher awakes
students’ interest on the activity and they could complete the task correctly, it was
observed that few students had difficulty doing the assignment. They were very
interested on the tale because the dialogue described a trip to a mysterious island, and
according to the teacher they enjoyed this type of stories. Ur (2006) mentions that
55
children need to be engaged on interesting activities and teachers need to use
important sources which arouse their motivation for learning; for this reason, the use
of tales in this lesson was pertinent and appropriate.
The survey made in this class, showed that students would learn in a better
way if teacher used maps, videos, movies, songs, and websites.
The topic of the ninth class was Wh- questions with simple past tense and the
objective was to teach students wh-questions plus auxiliary verb did. The teacher
only used posters in this class.
Posters
The teacher used a plastic-coated poster that showed pictures of people in the
zoo to teach the students wh-questions with the auxiliary verb did; for example,
What did they see in the zoo?; also, the vocabulary words related to the lesson were
identified on the poster. Thus, the students could answer correctly each time that
their teacher asked them some question using the structures. As a result, this
material was correctly used and students were very interested on the topic because
the poster showed different animals in the zoo. The poster had a good combination of
colors and images; it was big enough (100x150cm) and all students observed the
images correctly; however, students explained that they would like that teacher uses
material more interesting such as: power point presentations, handouts, word cards,
stories, tales, videos, movies, and documentaries.
The topic of the tenth class was General review and the objective was to
review the grammar structures learnt in the last classes. The material used in this
class was the white board.
56
White board
The teacher used the white board to write the topic of the tenth class and to
write the grammar structures reviewed in the last classes. He divided the area of the
white board in three parts; the first column for simple past / affirmative sentences,
the second column for simple past /negative sentences, and the third column for
simple past/question sentences. Then, the teacher organized the students in three
groups for a competition game; a student from each group came out to the board to
write examples on each column. All students participated on the activity and they
were motivated because, as Ur (2006) explains, they were involved in the learning
process in an enjoyable way; for this reason the material was appropriate to students’
age and level. The material was also pertinent to the lesson because the teacher used
it to review concepts that students have already learned; however, other types of
materials that students would prefer were: flash cards, charts, handouts, maps, songs,
tales, movies, documentaries and websites.
Learning styles
The observed classes in the sixth grade showed a similar tendency as in the
fifth grade, the teacher use mainly visual materials with some exceptions in which
the teacher incorporated the use of a dialogue and a tale to the class. Teacher’
answers were similar to his colleague; he explained that this type of material is easy
to use and to develop because lack of time usually influences their decisions about
supplementary materials. It was observed that students were more motivated when
the teacher used audio materials; according to Gower, Phillips & Walters (2005), this
type of supplementary materials are useful tools and teachers have access to
authentic audio materials.
57
Quantitative analysis
The results obtained in this research show that teachers used 10 different types
of supplementary materials with a frequency of 50 times. Analyzing the distribution
of frequencies, it was observed that white board was used 18 times which represents
36%. The use of posters was also high, they were applied 8 times belonging to 18%.
Next materials frequently observed in the three grades were: flashcards, pictures,
word cards, and objects with a usage of 8% equivalent to 4 times out of 50.
Furthermore, the statistics indicate that dialogues, had a frequency of use of 6% (3
out of 50); while, songs were used twice (4%). Finally, handouts and tales were
observed once corresponding to2% of time. These values are graphically represented
as follows:
Handouts
1
2%
Tales
1
2%Songs
2
4%
Dialogues
3
6%
Flash cards
4
8%
Pictures
4
8%
Word cards
4
8%
Objects
4
8%
Posters
9
18%
White board
18
36%
Frequency of use of supplementary materials for
teaching children in EFL classes
Handouts
Tales
Songs
Dialogues
Flash cards
Pictures
Word cards
Objects
Posters
White board
58
Making an analysis about the frequency of the supplementary materials used
on each grade, in the following section there is a set of statistical charts that offers a
better view of the results obtained in this research:
7
4
3
2 2
1 1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
White/black
board
Objects Posters Flash cards Dialogues Word cards Songs
Frequency of use of supplementary materials
4th Grade
As the chart shows, throughout the ten observed classes in the fourth grade, the
students received instruction with the use of seven different supplementary materials
such as: white board 7 times, objects 4 times, posters 3 times, flashcards and
dialogues 2 times, and word cards and songs 1 time each one.
Regarding the fifth grade, teachers also used seven types of materials: white
board was used 5 times; flashcards, pictures, posters, and word cards were used 2
times each one; whereas handouts and songs were used once each material; as it can
be observed in the following chart:
59
1
1
2
2
2
2
5
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Handouts
Songs
Flash cards
Pictures
Posters
Word cards
White/black board
Frequency of use of supplementary materials
5th Grade
Similar situation was observed in the sixth grade, the white/blackboard had a
frequency of use of 6 times, posters were used 4 times, pictures were used 2 times,
and other materials as word cards, dialogues, and tales had a frequency of use of 1
time per each material. As it can be seen, during the ten observed classes in this
grade, teachers used six different kinds of supplementary materials.
White/black
board
6
Posters
4
Pictures
2
Word cards
1
Dialogues
1Tales
1
Frequency of use of supplementary materials
6th Grade
White/black board
Posters
Pictures
Word cards
Dialogues
Tales
60
With reference to the frequencies of use on each grade, this analysis showed
that fourth grade obtained the highest value because teachers used the different kinds
of supplementary materials 20 times; while in the fifth and sixth grades the frequency
was only 15 times along the ten observed classes.
Finally, these results suggested that teachers in all grades had used the white
board several times because it has been considered as important part of the class
routine over a long time. In addition, there is a general trend that favors the use of
visual materials; this contradicts what was said by the teachers about the importance
of considering their students’ learning styles.
61
Conclusions
The most important finding to emerge from this research is that frequently used
materials for teaching children were: White board, posters, and flashcards.
The second major finding has demonstrated that white board still remains as an
important resource in the classroom. Teachers support the use of this material
because it is part of the classroom routine.
There is a steady trend among the total amount of frequencies in the three grades;
however, the frequency of use of supplementary materials is slightly higher in the
fourth grade where the teacher uses the white board more times.
In general, the use of visual materials in the ten observed classes indicates that
teachers have not considered their students’ learning styles when they had
selected supplementary materials. The surveys filled by students may support this
finding because they preferred other types of materials such as audio, audio
visual and websites.
Almost all materials have demonstrated to be pertinent to the topic and to the
objectives of the class, except when the white board and dialogues were not used
according to the parameters of pertinence and appropriateness needed to know
the effects of supplementary materials on learners.
Teachers took into account their students’ age and level when they had used
supplementary materials; however, aspects related to creativity and originality
were not considered in some classes.
62
Recommendations
The authors of this research observed that teachers tended to use visual
materials rather than other types; for this reason, they consider important that
teachers use audio and audiovisual materials at least once per week, and if it
were possible occasionally use websites.
Observations for this kind of investigations should be carried out during a
semester or an entire school year, in order to obtain accurately results related
to pertinence, appropriateness, and quality of supplementary materials.
In order to improve English classes, teachers should avoid routine when they
use supplementary materials by using them in creative ways that awakes
students’ interest on the topic, for example they could complement the
materials with educational games, and warm up activities.
The variety of materials used by teachers should be in relation to students’
learning styles.
Investigate the effectiveness for learning of visual materials versus audio,
audiovisual, realia, and online materials in teaching EFL.
Research the relationship between the use of supplementary material and the
learning levels in EFL classes between students of different ages.
Study the type of supplementary materials used more times in students with
different socio-economic levels.
63
References
Ali, S. (2011). Investigating students’ main learning style preferences. Arab World
English Journal, 2, 72-75.
Araya, K. (2007). Teaching materials: A critical position about the role they play in
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66
ANNEXES
67
Chart one: Type of supplementary material used to teach children
Variable Indicators Yes No
Visual
Flash cards
Power point presentations
Maps
Pictures
Charts
Handouts
Posters
Word cards
White boards
Audio
Songs
Dialogues
Stories
Tales
Audiovisual
Videos
Movies
Documentaries
Realia Objects (toys, plants, fruits)
Online Websites
Author:
Source: 4th
grade (8 years old approx.), 5th
grade (9 years old approx.), 6th
grade (10
years old approx.)
68
69
Chart two: Pertinence and appropriateness of the supplementary material used to
teach children
V
ari
ab
le
Indicators
1st
cla
ss
2n
d c
lass
3rd
cla
ss
4th
cla
ss
5th
cla
ss
6th
cla
ss
7th
cla
ss
8th
cla
ss
9th
cla
ss
10
th c
lass
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Vis
ua
l
Flash cards
Power point
presentations
Maps
Pictures
Charts
Handouts
Posters
Word cards
White board
Au
dio
Songs
Dialogues
Stories
Tales
Au
dio
vis
ua
l
Videos
Movies
Documentaries
Rea
lia
Objects (toys,
plants, fruits)
On
lin
e
Websites
Author:
Source: 4th
grade (8 years old approx.)
70
71
Chart three: Pertinence and appropriateness of the supplementary material used to
teach children.
V
ari
ab
le
Indicators
1st
cla
ss
2n
d c
lass
3rd
cla
ss
4th
cla
ss
5th
cla
ss
6th
cla
ss
7th
cla
ss
8th
cla
ss
9th
cla
ss
10
th c
lass
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Vis
ua
l
Flash cards
Power point
presentations
Maps
Pictures
Charts
Handouts
Posters
Word cards
White board
Au
dio
Songs
Dialogues
Stories
Tales
Au
dio
vis
ua
l
Videos
Movies
Documentaries
Rea
lia
Objects (toys,
plants, fruits)
On
lin
e
Websites
Author:
Source: 5th
grade (9 years old approx.)
72
73
Chart four: Pertinence and appropriateness of the supplementary material used to
teach children.
V
ari
ab
le
Indicators
1st
cla
ss
2n
d c
lass
3rd
cla
ss
4th
cla
ss
5th
cla
ss
6th
cla
ss
7th
cla
ss
8th
cla
ss
9th
cla
ss
10
th c
lass
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Pre
t.
Ap
pro
p.
Vis
ua
l
Flash cards
Power point
presentations
Maps
Pictures
Charts
Handouts
Posters
Word cards
White board
Au
dio
Songs
Dialogues
Stories
Tales
Au
dio
vis
ua
l
Videos
Movies
Documentaries
Rea
lia
Objects (toys,
plants, fruits)
On
lin
e
Websites
Author:
Source: 6th
grade (10 years old approx.)
74
75
Quantitative tabulation
Chart five: Frequency of use of supplementary material.
Variable Indicators 4
th
grade
5th
grade
6th
grade Total
f f f f %
Visual
Flash cards
Power point
presentations
Maps
Pictures
Charts
Handouts
Posters
Word cards
White boards
Audio
Songs
Dialogues
Stories
Tales
Audiovisua
l
Videos
Movies
Documentaries
Realia Objects (toys,
plants, fruits)
Online Websites
TOTAL
Author:
Source: 4th
(8 years old approx.), 5th
(9 years old approx.), 6th
(10 years old approx.)
grades
76
77
OBSERVATION SHEET
TYPE OF INSTITUTION: PUBLIC ( ) PRIVATE ( )
DATE:_________________________ CLASS N°_____
GRADE: _______________________
TOPIC OF THE LESSON: _________________________________
OBJECTIVE (S):
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL USED TO THEACH THE LESSON (Check the
ones that have been used)
Visual
Flash cards
Power point presentations
Maps
Pictures
Charts
Handouts
Posters
Word cards
White boards
Audio
Songs
Dialogues
Stories
Tales
Audiovisual
Videos
Movies
Documentaries
Realia Objects (toys, plants, fruits)
Online Websites
78
79
80
81
82
DESCRIPTION OF THE USED MATERIAL:
______________________ (NAME OF THE SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL)
How was it used?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Was it used appropriately in relation to the topic of the class?
Yes ____ No______ Why?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Was it used appropriately in relation to the objectives of the class?
Yes ____ No______ Why?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Was it used appropriately in relation to the students’ age?
Yes ____ No______ Why?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Was it used appropriately in relation to the students’ level?
Yes ____ No______ Why?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Was it elaborated and applied with creativity and originality?
Yes ____ No______ Why?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Were students motivated with the presented material?
Yes ____ No______ Why?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
How do you consider the quality of the used material?
____________________________________________________________________
83
84
85
STUDENTS’ SURVEY
TYPE OF INSTITUTION: PUBLIC ( ) PRIVATE ( )
DATE:_________________________ CLASS N°_____
GRADE: _______________________
PREGUNTAS SI NO
¿Te gusta el material utilizado por el profesor en la clase de ingles?
¿Te ayudo a entender mejor el tema de la clase?
¿Crees que el material didáctico utilizado te ayuda a participar más en clase?
¿Con que materiales crees que aprenderías mejor el tema de la clase?
VISUALES
Flash cards
Diapositivas
Mapas
Gráficos o fotos
Tablas u
organizadores
gráficos
Hojas con
actividades
Posters
Tarjetas con
palabras
Pizarrón blanco
o negro
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
AUDIO
Canciones
Diálogos
Historias
Cuentos
AUDIOVISUALES
Videos
Películas
documentales
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
OBJETOS
REALES
objetos:
juguetes,
plantas, frutas,
etc.
ONLINE
Websites
( )
( )
¿Qué materiales adicionales te gustaría que el profesor utilice en clases?
_______________________________________________________________________
¿Con que frecuencia te gustaría que se utilice el material didáctico adicional?
( ) siempre ( ) de vez en cuando
86
87
88
TEACHER’S SURVEY
TYPE OF INSTITUTION: PUBLIC ( ) PRIVATE ( )
DATE:_________________________ CLASS N°_____
GRADE: _______________________
Do you think that the use of supplementary material motivates students to learn
English? Why?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
What type of supplementary material do you usually use? Why do you use them?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Do you take into consideration the different learning styles when designing and
elaborating the supplementary material for your students? Why?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
What type of supplementary material do your students prefer? Why?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
According to the following percentages, how important is the use of supplementary
materials in the class?
25% ( ) 50% ( ) 75% ( ) 90% ( )
Why?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
89
90