UNIVERSIDAD TECNICA PARTICULAR DE LOJA
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
AUTHOR:
Gómez Toro, Verónica Carmen
ADVISOR:
Ms. Lizaldes Espinosa, Orlando Vicente
Quito-Ecuador
i
CERTIFICATION Ms. 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 Particular de Loja.
Loja, March 2012
--- Ms. Orlando Vicente Lizaldes
ii
CONTRATO DE CESION DE DERECHOS DE TESIS DE GRADO
“Yo, Verónica Carmen Gómez Toro declaro ser la autora del presente trabajo y
eximo expresamente a la Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja y a sus
representantes legales de posibles reclamos o acciones legales”.
Adicionalmente declaro conocer y aceptar la disposición del Ar. 67 del Estatuto
Orgánico de la Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja que en su parte pertinente
textualmente dice: “forma parte de patrimonio de la Universidad la propiedad
intelectual de investigaciones, trabajos científicos o técnicos y tesis de grado que se
realicen a través, o que el apoyo financiero, académico o institucional (operativo) de
la Universidad”.
--- Verónica Carmen Gómez Toro
iii
AUTHORSHIP
The thoughts, ideas, opinions and the information obtained through this research are
the only responsibility of the author.
March 2012
--- Verónica Carmen Gómez Toro
iv
DEDICATION
This thesis is dedicated to my parents Emilda and Santos Gómez who have never
failed to give me financial and moral support, for giving me all my need during the
time I developed my education and for teaching me that even the largest task can be
accomplished if it is done one step at a time.
I also want to dedicate this thesis to my loved husband, Edwar Zambrano, who with
his love and patience, has given me all the support and encouragement; and because
he has shared with me every moment from the time I started studying at the
“Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja” until this moment.
And finally, I want to dedicate this thesis to a very special person, my dear friend
Sandra Rodríguez, who with her immense patience, wisdom and unconditional help
has given me the strength and support I needed during this process of thesis project.
v CONTENTS
CERTIFICATION ... i
CONTRATO DE CESIÓN DE DERECHO ... ii
AUTHORSHIP ... iii
DEDICATION ... iv
ABSTRACT ... 1
INTRODUCTION ... 2
METHODOLOGY ... 5
DISCUSSION ... 7
Literature Review ... 7
Results ... 23
Description, Analysis and Interpretation of results ... 31
Conclusions ... 59
Recommendations ... 61
REFERENCES ... 62
ANNEXES ... 65
1 ABSTRACT
The following investigation is based on the topic “The use of supplementary
materials for teaching children in EFL classes” where the main goal is to determine
and analyze the type of supporting materials used for teaching children in EFL
classes.
The investigation was developed in Quito – Ecuador, taking a small sample of
fourth, fifth, and sixth grades classes of elementary education with a population of 20
students per grade. The materials taken into account to check how supplementary
materials are used in class were visual, audio, audiovisual, realia, and on-line ones. It
was also necessary to observe ten sessions in the three grades.
In order to interpret the results obtained after the process, the qualitative and
quantitative methods were applied. The former was required to describe the way
materials were used in the classes in relation to their appropriateness, quality and
pertinence.
After the results were analyzed and interpreted, the most significant
information obtained from the process was that English teachers used handouts,
whiteboard, and flashcards as their main supplementary materials in the class with an
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INTRODUCTION
Teaching English – as many other jobs – is not an easy task, especially when
working with children. It includes the setting of a goal, planning and choosing the
right materials in order to gain attention and make students learn in a meaningful
way. However, doing this is not as simple as waking up and having the bright idea in
one‟s mind; it requires a careful work. If a teacher does not try to think in every
aspect of teaching when planning and giving a class, maybe the results will not be as
good as the expected ones. On that regard, choosing and suing materials with
appropriateness and pertinence in class is a key factor to succeed and include as
many aspects as possible in the learning process.
In order to know how it works in the Ecuadorian educational environment,
the following investigation, which refers to the use of supplementary materials for
teaching children in EFL classes, tries to identify and analyze supporting materials
used for teaching children. It also attempts to describe and analyze each one of the
supplementary materials used in those classes in terms of pertinence, appropriateness
and quality, and to determine the frequency and variety of the supplementary
materials used in the observed classes; this, with the aim to understand how teachers
in Ecuador are taking advantage of aid materials in English classes. It will also help
further generations – even current ones – to think and value which and how many
aids can be used in class in order to provide as many resources and input as possible.
Likewise, a few studies have been done about the same issue, where the
authors have observed and analyzed how supplementary materials were used and
how it affected the learning process. Seven & Engin (2007) conducted a study about
the importance and effect of aid materials in EFL classes, showed that the materials
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process in a really meaningful way. Another study presented by Aryadoust &
Lashkary (2009), Maniruzzaman (2009), Brent (2009) and Chwo, Jonas & Chuang
(2000) have also evidenced the positive effect that the use of a wide variety of
materials has on students, making them feel more confident and motivated towards
the object of study and showing an increasingly improvement in terms of vocabulary
acquisition, oral and written skills development and interest to deepen individually. It
showed how beneficial is the proper use of materials in class for the near educational
environment.
Moreover, the present investigation will benefit the Ecuadorian educative
population, because it will show how and which materials are used in English
classes, how well teachers are using them and which failures are recently found on
that regards. It will also set off the interest to subsequent researchers to deepen in this
topic, in order to recognize Ecuadorian teachers‟ weaknesses and strengths,
analyzing how to improve the way they can work with aid materials more
effectively. This investigation will also help other English teachers at a worldwide
level because it will provide data related to the issue in Latin America, where there is
a few information about the topic to give researchers ideas about the teaching task.
In contrast, even when the topic is interesting and easy to be investigated,
some limitations were present in the process such as the period where the observation
was done, it means, May and June, where the school year is almost getting over and
it will show a different result than if would have been applied at the beginning, it
means between September and October. Another limitation found was the limited
amount of previous research on the topic, which diminished the theoretical
background about materials in class in the Ecuadorian context, it leads to give two
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observation in a different period of the school year and the option to have a wider
access to Ecuadorian investigations. It would also be important to suggest readers to
encourage in the appliance and conduction of researches, which will help finding
5
METHODOLOGY Setting and participants
The current investigation about the use of supplementary materials for
teaching children in EFL classes was held in Quito, Ecuador in a private elementary
school with fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students where only English classes were
observed. The sample population was mostly composed by girls (60%) who were
about 8 to 10 years old, most of them belonging to the medium-high economic strata
and nuclear families.
Procedures
To start developing the investigation, it was mandatory to revise and analyze
the bibliographical sources related to the topic, which studies and theories were
proposed about aid materials and how they were used. To do that, it was necessary to
check the web, go to libraries and ask for written support from other collaborators. In
a few months, the theoretical support was ready and set a base to start applying the
instruments.
After that, the qualitative and quantitative methods were chosen as the two
major ones in order to analyze the results. The qualitative one was necessary to
revise the appropriateness, quality and pertinence of the materials in every observed
class. In contrast, the quantitative method showed the frequency of use of the
materials used in 4th, 5th and 6th grades during 10 English classes.
To collect data, the very first thing to be done was to ask for permission to the
authorities and teachers of the school were the investigation was going to take place;
then, with the help of the instruments, in this case charts, data was collected class
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Students and teachers also received surveys to give the research a clearer idea about
the impact of the materials after the class and how important those ones were for
both members of the sample population.
When the data was collected, two more charts were used in order to
summarize and get the frequency and types of materials used in each class. To
analyze the observations, it was necessary to check the extra data compiled when
observing the class. Then, the analysis of the quality, pertinence and appropriateness
of each material used in every single class was done.
Finally, the results showed that teachers tend to use the same materials, in this
case, handouts, whiteboard, and flashcards in most of the cases. The students found it
7
DISCUSSION
In order to get an idea about the appropriate use and purpose of the
supplementary materials in EFL primary classes, there is a sort of ideas and author‟s
recommendations about the issue that will give the reader the right way towards an
effective use of these aids in the English teaching context. In addition, it will be
necessary to take into account what some studies have pointed out about the use of
visual, audio, realia, and audiovisual aids in English as a Foreign Language classes.
Literature Review
When teaching English, most of the teachers want to attain a significant
English learning process. And to do that, the use of supplementary material is a
good tool to increase the chances to acquire knowledge of a second language; it is
due to the fact that when a person listens to or reads information can retain a
considerable amount of data, but when the same person listens to, touches, reads,
sees, writes and reacts to a given input the possibility to retain it increases
considerably. As a result, the student will get fundamentals in a better way than
without the use of aids, especially when learning a foreign language, which really
needs communicative and interactive activities more than some other subj ects.
For this reason, the following research project will emphasize in the
importance of including teaching aids in an EFL class, the variety of aids a
teacher can include in the learning process, their role and the ways they can be
used successfully. So as to, it will also be important to talk about the factors that
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been applied in order to recognize the experiences other teachers have had when
involving aids in their classes.
Teaching a foreign language
In Ecuador, it is common to observe the highly demand of English
speakers, not only to become teachers, but to apply the language in a wide variety
of situations and settings of the economic fields, so, teaching a second language is
not only another requirement to get a degree at school or at the university, but a
fundamental aspect to interact worldwide. It cannot be learnt in the same way as
the mother tongue was, because of the lack of background and differences
between the two languages. It indicates that some procedures or methods must be
taken into consideration when teaching.
On that regards, Richards (2001) suggests that - as other reformers had
proposed - teaching a foreign language should be emphasized on oral-based
methodologies first, in order to be heard before being produced in a written way;
when presented as sentences, they must be taught in context to avoid the
disconnection of the elements. He also states that grammar ought not to be
introduced single-handedly but as a practice of the contents taught and
inductively, evading also the translation with the aim of leaving out the first
language as much as possible, and using it only when the comprehension of new
words or concepts would be needed. It will lead to the communicate usage of the
language instead of the repetitive appliance of models given by the teacher.
According to that, when teaching a foreign language the teacher must
emphasize on the use of the language, instead of the comparison between L1 and
L2 to give students the opportunity to get a meaningful process of learning. It will
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technique and activities used in class to get higher levels of proficiency (Rixon,
2000). For that, the teacher must include a wide variety of aids to reinforce the
concepts taught in class, especially when teaching young learners.
By the means, teachers must take into account that the material itself will
not provide all of the requisites the students need to acquire a language, but are –
as the word indicates – just a resource. Haycraft (1998, p.12) states THAT as a
teacher “you should always ask yourself why you are choosing certain aids and
adapt them to your class and level – not just use them because you think they
have some intrinsic value of their own”. It will help the teacher choosing not only
the right method or technique to introduce a topic, but to rely on the success of
the process not on the resources, but the way they are used.
Teachers must also be aware of the age group they are working with in
order to plan the activities, choose the right materials and apply the activities that
would be most suitable for the learning group.
In this sense, when teaching a foreign language the teachers of a second
language must emphasize on oral and communicative aspects of the L2 as much
as the type of activities and aids he/she will use in order to teach. That will
guarantee a meaningful process for the learner taking also into accoun t the
reasons to learn a language or the needs behind it.
Learners
Even when the subject is the same, the needs the students have when
learning are not similar: they could need to reinforce knowledge of the language,
require it for academic purposes, and communicate for international trade or
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understand the learners, the differences among them and the ways they get
attached to the learning process.
About age, many considerations have been established, some authors
emphasize in the need to learn a second language in the earlier stages to have
better results, and others assume that adolescence is also a critical period to get
engaged with a L2. All of them may be right if the teacher identifies the positive
factors in each age group. The stages which are going to be discussed are
childhood, adolescence and adulthood and how English is learnt in each stage .
Harmer (1997) indicates that something that can help or difficult th e
process in children is their instinctive curiosity, their need of approval and the
quick lack of attention, that is characteristic of their age. They need to receive
constant reinforcement from the teacher, who is an important character for them,
and change activities, which must also be attracting and stimulating. If they are
well encouraged, the process will be more productive and less struggling, not
only for the current stage, but for further ones.
Talking about another stage, the next one would be adolescence, which
tends to be the most encouraging one for some teachers. About this “period”,
Harmer (1997) points out that a teenagers‟ main need is recognition by their
equals. If they are well stimulated, and involved in the process, their intelligen ce
and dedication will flourish, but if they are ashamed in public, any good result
will be obtained. The emphasis must be put on the setting of suitable challenges
with a high level of contribution from them. Even if they have had shocking
experiences with the language learning process, their attitude and vision towards
it may change radically. The attitudes towards the process indicate how much the
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Instead of adolescents and children, who are highly motivated by the
environment around them and need a lot of encouragement and care, when
working with adults. Harmer (1997) indicates that the job will be easier than with
the other two ones because they are already motivated and involved into the
learning process. Some negative factors they face are their previous experiences
and more complex brain structures. The teacher must remind to the adult learner
that even when there is a lot to be learnt, setting realistic goals will be essential to
be successful when learning a foreign language, without being interested or
stressing the initial purpose of study.
Through the analysis of the changes of learner‟s points of views and
attitude towards the language learning process gives us an idea about how the
interests change and become more practical. Even when it is necessary for all the
age groups to learn a foreign language, the way they see the whole process
changes according to the needs the age group faces.
Learning about age groups needs also leads us to conclude that age is not
the only factor that affects learners‟ processes, but also some others that will
generate advantages and disadvantages while learning and can lead to success or
failure, even to abandon the process at early stages.
In relation to the learner‟s differences, many factors must influence on the
foreign language learning process. On that sense, Woolfolk (2004) affirms that
those factors, that may include character, skills, enthusiasm, interests, age,
gender, learning styles, or traits must be recognized and taken into account by the
teacher when planning work and choosing strategies and materials for the class. It
12
famous cartoon of the year. Teacher must also be familiar with the activities and
techniques that they like the most or feel more comfortable.
Another factor to be considered is the attitude the student shows towards
the activity proposed for the class. Jonassen (1993, p.3) states that “learner traits
interact with learning outcomes and the thinking requirements entailed by them.
Different learners will have varying aptitudes for different learning outcomes”.
Even when a teacher thinks that the activity would result challenging for the
students, only the practice will evidence it.
In addition, stimulation plays a significant role in the learning process.
External and internal factors can change the manner how a teacher plans the class,
but a good attitude and engagement towards it, will allow the strategies to be
meaningful for the student. In that way, a person who teaches a foreign language
must be really conscious about the importance of giving student the right input to
get a good result. There is where motivation gets into the process.
When teachers hear about motivation, they sometimes think of a funny
activity or a permanent smile on their faces, it involves more than that.
Motivation is defined as the attitudes, effort and desire to achieve a goal or learn
the language (Elyildirim, 2006), so it implies the external or internal enthusiasm a
learner has when learning. When a student is motivated to do something, he/she
will make as much as possible to perform activities in the greatest way and give
his/her best. But motivation does not only depend on the external conditions that
will make a student work better or harder, they should also have an internal need
to learn and gain their aims by their own.
Likewise, Huitt (2001) suggests that in order to get a positive response
13
students in the class, and achieve their total motivation, but to try as much as
possible to gain their attention, interest and excitement. When doing this a student
can perform activities with better results for both of the participants in the
learning process. However, the same motivational issue will not have the same
impact on a group.
As told before, not all the students can be motivated in the same way,
because it is a fact that there are different styles to learn, something which can
also redirect the use of materials and the planning of the activities in the class. In
order to know how to take all of those details into the teaching process, it will be
necessary to define and clarify what a learning style is, which types of learning
styles are the most common in the class and how those styles differ and affect
planning or choosing an aid to teach a specific topic.
Learning styles
Learner‟s differences are evident when teaching a class. Some students
feel attracted by sounds, others by images or videos, the majority may feel more
comfortable when physically reacting to orders, but, this is not caused by
motivational reasons. It is, as Giles (2003) defines it, a learning style, which is
the way a learner gathers and handles new data through their senses.
As learning styles are related to the senses, they are classified according to
the organ they stimulate. That is the reason to find different types of learners in a
single environment. In a class, a teacher may find visual, kinesthetic,
reading/writing, or aural learners, which are the most common classifications of
learning styles. Giles (2003) explains that all of them may share some
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information, it means, for a visual learner, looking at charts, presentations,
videos, posters or flash cards will lead to understand a topic better; for a
kinesthetic learner, a topic would be understood if reinforced with physical
response exercises. On the other hand, a reading/writing learner will prefer
written information formats for receiving and processing data while an aural
learner will like to listen to or speak about something in order to retain more
knowledge. Among them, many other learning styles can be found in class, even a
mixture of them which can make the teacher‟s job a little more difficult, and
makes one think in planning a wide variety of different activities for just one
class.
Regarding this, Giles (2003) mentions that even when a person is born
with a particular inclination towards a particular learning style, factors such as
culture, experience or development may influence. As a result, the teacher is
called to use a mixture of input elements for the class, trying to reach all the
learning styles, as Feldere (2005) recommends. That will help them, not only to
gather more information, but to know how to strengthen the weak styles in order
to function really well in future stages.
Teaching techniques
With the purpose of planning an effective class, the teacher must take into
account the age, gender, group size, learning styles, motivation, and many other
aspects that will affect the development of a session and guarantee the
accomplishment of the proposed goal in it. For that reason, it will be mandatory
to first clarify what a teaching technique is and which ones can be used
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Dhand (2008, p. xiv) defines a teaching technique as “the day to day
activities which the teacher may design for a particular lesson”, so, when a teacher
plans his/her class it is important to choose and apply the right assignment with a
high sense of responsibility towards the consequence a bad decision may have in the
learning process and the student itself.
Some teachers, as Dhand (2008) affirms, are concerned about the
eagerness their pupils show towards the class and the subject and try to change
and adapt different techniques to get excellent results; on the other side, there are
educators who don‟t worry about it and repeat systematically the same methods
day after day without realizing if it is still effective or not, and losing intrinsic
and extrinsic motivation from their pupils. It makes a committed professional to
carefully choose the right strategy to be applied in class, including student‟s
limitations, characteristics, possibilities, environment and strong points.
When working with children, the concern about finding and changing the
technique to be applied in class increases considerably. As mentioned before,
they need to be constantly stimulated with the purpose to keep their attention on
the subject of study. For this age group, the appliance of games during classes
will be much meaningful than showing a video or flashcards. Vernon (2006) tells
about the high rate of retention a young learner can achieve, that can be, in some
cases an 80% of the lesson taught, because it can be highly meaningful and
relevant for them.
In addition, even if a technique such as gaming is highly effective in most
of the cases, it cannot be the only source of teaching. Dhand (2008) advises that a
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may sometimes practice and develop activities by their own or be totally guided
by the teacher. Variety and surprise effect may be the key to succeed.
Different contexts for teaching
Even though the techniques, motivation and planning could help to
improve the learning process in second language acquisition, there is another
relevant factor that will also increase or decrease a student‟s performance: the
context where the process is performed.
Contexts are defined by Downes (2004) as not only the setting where
educational processes occur (classroom, digital environment, etc.), but also the
internal spaces where the language is used by the pupil. That interaction may be
direct, it means from one to another, or indirect, that is, from an object to pupil to
another object. It can also have the same characteristics of a setting.
According to Harmer (1997), the characteristics of an appropriate context
for teaching a second language should include:
“It should show what the new language means and how it
is used, for example. That is why many useful contexts
have the new language being used in a written text or a
dialogue. A good context should be interesting for the
students. This doesn‟t mean that all the subject matter we
use for presentation should be wildly funny or inventive all
of the time. But the students should at least want to see or
hear the information. Lastly, a good context will provide
the background for a lot of language use so that the
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of model sentences but also for making their own
sentences. (Harmer 1997, p. 57)
It indicates that the context itself should provide a good environment for
the good development of the process. If a class is well planned, it has to be really
interesting and meaningful, it must try to make students get involved into the
procedures and set the basis to use the language in other different contexts of real
life.
As a result, when the teacher plans, takes into account the learner‟s
individual and group characteristics, sets an appropriate context and chooses
motivating and challenging strategies and techniques, the use and selection of
aids will be easier and will supply the process with significance.
Supplementary material
Most of the teachers have great ideas when planning a class, and want to
make them as motivating and meaningful as possible. By using aids, teachers
have the option to include variety, learning styles and attention to especial needs
in an easy way, but first, it will be necessary to define and characterize the term
in order to understand how to use them effectively.
Tomlinson (1997, p.13) defines supplementary materials as “Materials
designed to be used in addition to the core materials of a course. They are usually
related to the development of skills of reading, writing, listening or speaking
rather than to the learning of language items”. It indicates that those are not the
center of the learning process but a tool to make it more effective when teaching.
In addition, Alvarado (1997), defines a supplementary material as “an
object, an instructional resource that provides the student an indirect experience
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communicated, and the technical equipment necessary to do it”. It clarifies the
idea that these aids are additional resources that help developing skill s in class
and depend on the strategies and the way a teacher plans to use them into the
teaching context. Both authors agree with the idea of describing them as sources
included into the planning process not techniques or “savers” when including a
new topic.
In that sense, these materials become important when a teacher makes a good use of them. If the material is nice, well presented but does not give a
meaningful though to the pupil will not have any purpose in the class. To support
this idea, Alvarado (2007) indicates that to be significant in the process it must be
inspiring, remarkable, easy to be understood and trouble-free. It also has to
encourage originality and interaction with their peers.
For that reason and with the intention of recognizing if a material has a
positive impact on students, Tomlinson (1997) advices that the inquisitiveness,
awareness, and concentration are gained towards the process when the material
has been effectively used and applied to a specific topic. It validates t he
conclusion that when well applied and planned as an extra resource, a teaching
aid may have a really good effect on students.
As told before, the supplementary material is just an extra source the
teacher has to impact on the process and get the attention of the student toward
the given topic. However, in some cases, teachers tend to change the center of
instruction from the students to the aid they use. Kitao (1997) recommends them
to take a time in order to select appropriate materials for the class. He also
suggests that making and adapting aids should also be a good option in order to
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meaningful and suitable for individual, group, external o internal work, always
remembering that auxiliary materials are just an aid, not the only focus when
planning a class.
Furthermore, the aid will play a significant role when is not the only
resource a teacher uses, it must be complemented with other activities as
Alvarado (2007) states. She also recommends adapting the materials not only
with the needs a pupil may have, but its cultural context and reality.
Additionally, the use of the material depends on the type of aid a teacher
uses. So, an explanation of the advantages of a certain resource will be explain in
the following lines.
There are many types of materials that are categorized according to the
learning style they focus on. The most popular and used in the class are the
visual, audio, audiovisual, realia and online ones. Those materials, as Kitao
(1997) affirms, can be found neither as educational resources nor in natural
environments, such as TV, magazines, photographs, home video tapes, audio
record tapes, radio or newspapers. The good use of a material will also depend on
the aim a teacher previously proposed when choosing it. Subsequently,
advantages of each type of material will be given in order to take that into
account when deciding on a certain aid.
Audio materials include all the sounds registered in phonographic records
such as tapes, CDs, etc. Alvarado (2007) expresses that audio aids would help
improving reading levels, working with groups and letting the student manage
his/her own guideline of instruction.
On the other hand, Alvarado (2007) proposes to use visual material at
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improves retention and interest in the given subject by the use of graphics,
diagrams, schemes through printed messages.
Audiovisual materials, which are a mixture of the two last aids, can be
used to present explicit models, illustrate movement, processes and skills in real
time and specially, shorten time when giving an instruction, also reducing
distraction as Alvarado (2007) confirms.
On the other hand, Heaton (1979) emphasizes on the use of realia, which
helps making the target language more comprehensible because of the passage it
creates between the real world and the class. While online materials help students
getting into a different environment that will make them improve their use of a
foreign language.
In concordance with the application that some authors establish about the
use of supplementary materials, some studies show how those have influenced in
EFL classes in a positive way either for students and the process itself.
Regarding to the use of supplementary materials, there are few meaningful
and conscious studies that have been developed in EFL classes. The first study to
be discussed is the one directed by Seven & Engin which was done in 2007, had
the purpose of recognizing the points of view of EFL teachers about the use of
audio and visual materials and its importance in the second language acquisition
process. They applied a 20 items questionnaire with 15 positive and 5 negative
questions to a population of 36 students, evaluating the results with a SPSS
computer data analysis statistical program. They found out that students agreed
with the use of audio and visual materials, which became essential instruments to
involve pupils in the learning process, having a higher impact on the activities
21
Another study, which was guided by Chwo, Jonas and Chuang in 2000 had
the purpose to prove if adopting supplementary material could improve strategies
use of Taiwanese EFL college learners‟ listening and speaking proficiency could
be enhanced. To test their hypothesis, they applied pre and post-tests during
English major classes randomly chosen at a Taiwanese college, dividing them
into two groups: a controlled and an experimental one. After doing that, they
found out that it was necessary to include supplementary materials in order to
enhance strategy and facilitate learning results, because when included in a class,
the level increased in the experimental group. It proved, in agreement with the
previous study, that aids help improving learning process.
Moreover, a study directed by Brent in 2009 which had as a main goal to
explore the used of YouTube in an EFL situation by surveying students‟ attitudes
towards it when studying English, was applied as a questionnaire to sixty nine
students. It proved that even when at the beginning the students had the idea of
the YouTube as an entertainment tool; it was really relevant, beneficial,
interesting and motivating in English classes. Brent (2009) also concluded that it
could also be used inside and outside the class, helping developing the learner‟s
autonomy. In addition, he suggested including this aid in creative ways, providing
a positive classroom atmosphere. It also proves that when applying a
supplementary material correctly, a helpful tool is shifted into the class.
To reinforce this theory, the study directed by Maniruzzaman in 2008, had
the purpose to recognize the use and perspective students have towards a udio
materials in university classes. In order to get information about it, he applied two
questionnaires to teachers and students with eight questions related to audio aids.
22
by teachers, can reinforce learning, through the stimulation and motivation of the
learner by the retention of the attention during the process; the problem when
applying these aids was associated with the fact that the teachers did not have
sufficient training to use audio aids, which diminished the effectiveness of
supplementary materials.
Lastly, a study which was conducted by Aryadust and Lashkary in 2009,
and was highly related to the last ones, tried to confirm if students that were more
in contact with educational aids, had better achievement in vocabulary acquisition
as shown by vocabulary knowledge tests. In order to do that, they observed two
groups as the previous study (control, experimental) and applied a final test. The
information they collected, was in agreement with the previous studies, stating
that using educational aids becomes a positive factor in EFL classes, helping
improving retention of knowledge. They also concluded that it also contributed to
gain interest, attention and motivation towards the subject, making it more
pleasant for pupils.
As the studies and the theories have shown, when students receive
instruction with aids, they will improve their interest, motivation, attention and
perspective towards the subject. It also means that they will have a clearer goal
when learning and will like to increase their knowledge instead of just
accomplishing an educational requirement. As teachers, the aim is not only to
oversupply the students, but to plan, adapt and contextualize aids befor e using
them in class, in order to give it a meaning and purpose, not only to the simple
23 RESULTS Qualitative Tabulation
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/black board
Audio
Songs
Dialogues
Stories
Tales
Audiovisual
Videos
Movies
Documentaries
Realia Objects (toys, plants, fruits)
Online Websites
Author: Verónica Gómez T.
24
Chart two: Pertinence and Appropriateness of the supplementary material used to teach children V a ri a b le Indicators 1 st cla ss 2 nd cla ss 3 rd cla ss 4 th c la ss 5 th c la ss 6 th c la ss 7 th c la ss 8 th c la ss 9 th c la ss 1 0 th c la ss Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p Pe rt . A p p ro p . V isu a l
flash cards power point presentations Maps Pictures charts Handouts
posters word cards white/black board A u d io Songs dialogues
stories
Tales A u d io v isu a
l videos Movies documentaries R ea li a Objects (toys, plants, fruits) On li n e Websites
Author: Verónica Gómez T.
25
Chart three: Pertinence and Appropriateness of the supplementary material used to teach children V a ri a b le Indicators 1 st cla ss 2 nd cla ss 3 rd cla ss 4 th c la ss 5 th c la ss 6 th c la ss 7 th c la ss 8 th c la ss 9 th c la ss 1 0 th c la ss Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p Pe rt . A p p ro p . V isu a l
flash cards
power point presentations Maps Pictures charts
Handouts
posters word cards white/black board Workbook A u d io Songs
dialogues stories Tales A u d io v isu a l videos Movies documentaries R ea li a Objects (toys, plants, fruits) On li n e Websites
Author: Verónica Gómez T.
26
Chart four: Pertinence and Appropriateness of the supplementary material used to teach children V a ri a b le Indicators 1 st cla ss 2 nd cla ss 3 rd cla ss 4 th c la ss 5 th c la ss 6 th c la ss 7 th c la ss 8 th c la ss 9 th c la ss 1 0 th c la ss Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p . Pe rt . A p p ro p Pe rt . A p p ro p . V isu a l
flash cards
power point presentations Maps Pictures charts
Handouts posters word cards white/black board Workbook A u d io Songs
dialogues
stories Tales A u d io v isu a l
videos
Movies documentaries R ea li a Objects (toys, plants, fruits) On li n e Websites
Author: Verónica Gómez T.
27
Quantitative Tabulation Chart Five: Frequency of use of supplementary material
Variable Indicators
4th grade (8 years old approx.) 5th grade (9 years old approx.) 6th grade (10 years old approx.)
Total Percentage
f f f f %
Visual
Flash cards 2 1 2 5 11.11
Power Point presentations
Maps
Pictures
Charts
Handouts 8 3 10 21 46,67
Posters
Word cards
White/black board 6 7 13 28,89
Audio
Songs
Dialogues 1 3 4 8,89
Stories 1 1 2,22
Tales
Audiovisual
Videos 1 1 2,22
Movies
Documentaries
Realia Objects (toys, plants, fruits)
Online Websites
TOTAL 45 100%
Author: Verónica Gómez T.
28
DESCRIPTION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS Qualitative Analysis
The following part of the investigation is the most important one of the
whole paper, because it indicates how the supplementary material was used in all
of the classes observed during the research process. To do that, the analysis is
divided in two sections: the qualitative and quantitative analysis, where it will be
explained how each variable was used in class.
First, every single material will be analyzed in terms of pertinence,
appropriateness and quality in every single year observed (4th, 5th and 6th grades) and a revision of the attention to the learning styles; this is done with the
intention to know how effectively the material is used in class. Then, based on
graphics and averages taken from the quantitative results of the research, there
will appear an analysis of the frequency of use of the supplementary material in
each observed school year in order to determine how many times the materials
were used.
4th grade/8 years old Flash cards
In the second class the discussed topic was the Present Progressive vs.
Present Simple, which objective was to identify present progressive and present
simple within sentences.
The material was used to make students observe the position of the
grammar categories in the sentences of both tenses. The flashcards had the names
of the categories of the tenses studied in the class, in this case, the present simple
and progressive. The material was related to the goal set for the class and good to
29
applied in terms of age and English level of the students, so the aid showed
appropriateness and pertinence according to the age group and level of English.
In terms of quality, the flashcard had a basic format, was hand-made and
simple, which gave the idea of have been done at a very last time.
In the fifth class, flashcards made part of the supplementary material again.
The topic was the future tense, having as a main goal the identification of the
modal verb shall.
The material was composed by cards with the names of the categories
included in the future tense with shall. The material was applicable for the topic
but was not right for the level of English and age of the sample population,
because it was too easy for the stage and knowledge of the students, becoming an
inappropriate one for the learners of the subject.
Referring to quality, this time, the material was more carefully designed; it
was prepared in computer, printed appropriately and showed a better quality than
the other ones presented previously. It evidenced a poor use of the material which
was really not good in both classes it was included.
Handouts
In the first class, in the case of the observed classes of this grade, the
topics were the present progressive and present simple tenses, and the objective
of the lesson was to check simple present and present progressive tenses.
The material consisted of exercises where the students had to write
affirmative and negative sentences based on models. The material was well
presented and highly related to the main topic, it was also appropriate for the age
30
sentences in the structures mentioned before and this was something the students
of that age were able to do at that stage of the learning process.
In terms of quality, the paper was well designed, neat and evidently
correctly prepared before the classes in computer and without spelling, syntactic
or grammatical mistakes.
In the second class, the handouts were used to reinforce the topic and
objectives from the last class. The topics were the present progressive and present
simple tenses, and the objective of the lesson was to check simple present and
present progressive tenses and revise if the students knew how to arrange words
in present simple and present progressive sentences.
The material included fill-in the gaps and unscrambling the sentences
exercises. In this case even when the material was connected to the topic, it was
not appropriated for the age of the students, it was a little confusing for them
because of the level of difficulty, turning the activity boring and mean ingless,
which led to fail in the consecution of the proposed goal for the class.
On the other side, the quality of the material was good because the papers
were well designed and prepared; the letter was clear and the graphics
understandable, which evidenced a good quality paper.
In the third class, the class had as topics the simple present and present
progressive tenses. The objective was to check simple present and present
progressive tenses.
The material included unscrambling sentences exercises. This time, the
papers were well designed for the proposed goal and were suitable for the English
level of the students turning the activity easier and motivating, because they able
31
the students. The vocabulary and the instructions given to develop the activity
also helped to develop the activity as planned.
In terms of quality and as the material of the last class, this material was
well presented and designed in terms of calligraphy, spelling and distribution in
the paper.
In the fourth class, the topics were the same as in the other classes, which
were the present progressive and present simple, and the objective was to
differentiate the present progressive from the simple present tense
The material was a quiz that included identification of structures in
written texts. The use of the handout evidenced the same problem as in the
second class were these materials were used: even when the paper had a good
design, preparation and quality, showing planning into it, and it also had activities
appropriated for the topic, it was not appropriated for the English level, turning
the activity kind of difficult and frustrating for students because it was very
difficult for them. That lack of preparation in terms of appropriateness did not
allow the teacher to fulfill the goal for the class.
In terms of quality and as said in the last paragraph, the material was
prepared with anticipation and evidenced good spelling, distribution of the paper
and especially appropriate size and calligraphy for children.
In the seventh class, this situation changed because the handouts were a
part of all of the supplementary materials of the class, not the only one used as it
happened in previous sessions. The topic was the future tense and the objective to
identify the modal verb shall.
The material used for this class was a challenging and motivating quiz that
32
situation is similar to the third one, were the material is well prepared, designed
and fitting both for the age, level, planned time and activities of the class. This
result evidenced that the material was appropriated and pertinent both for the
group, objective and English level.
In terms of quality, the paper includes a lot of care on its design. The
graphics and text are well chosen and appropriate and the distribution of the paper
is excellent. The paper also included well explained instructions.
Unfortunately, in the eighth class the situation went back to the last
periods‟ experiences. The topic was the future again, but the objective was to
recognize new vocabulary words in context.
The material was a paper that included just a list of new words that the
students had to learn in order to get more vocabulary. The activities of the paper
were useful for the objective of the class but not appropriate for the level of
English of the students, this time, it was too easy and the students finished the
planned activities before the expected time. It showed the emphasis on the quality
of the paper instead of the challenging level of the task.
The material was –as in most of the classes - very well prepared and
organized, because it was designed and printed with anticipation and the graphics
and text were neat.
In the ninth class, the situation was the same seen in the eighth one. The
topics were the future and present tenses and the objective was to apply new
vocabulary in context.
The material was crossword that included the vocabulary words learned in
the last class. This aid was also appropriated for the proposed goal because the
33
crossword. However, as in the last class, it was too easy for the level and age of
the students and did not challenge students at all. They finished it quickly and
forced the teacher to pan a different activity by making them use the notebook in
order to write sentences to avoid discipline problems.
In terms of quality, the material was well created and original, with
attractive graphics and a normal-sized text with no spelling or grammatical
mistakes.
The tenth class faced the same situation as the two last ones. The topics
were the future and present tenses and the objective was to recognize new
vocabulary in context.
The material was an easy quiz where the students had to give the meaning
of the vocabulary word. The material was appropriated for the topic but the
problem was related –as in previous cases- to the English level, which was too
low for the target population that was going to use the material. Even when it was
a quiz, most of the students solved it quickly and the teacher had to plan a new
activity at that time. It showed the importance the teacher gave to the appearance
of the handout instead of the real purpose of the class: to make recognize new
vocabulary words.
In terms of quality, the product had a high level, because it showed
excellence in presentation and quality due to the preparation for the design and
printing and also for the graphics, text, calligraphy, spelling and use of the space
in the paper.
White/Black board
In the first class, the topics were the present progressive and present
34
The material was used to show the students how to write affirmative and
negative sentences in simple and present progressive. The use of the white board
was good and appropriate, because it helped to give examples of the result the
teacher was expecting from the proposed activity. It was evidenced in the way
students got the idea after being presented by the teacher on the board.
In terms of quality, the calligraphy and quality of writing on the board
was poor, the teacher wrote medium-sized words and without distributing the
space carefully. It showed a bad use of the material and a bad presentation of it to
the target population.
In the third class, the topic and the objective were the same than the one
worked last class. The objective was to check simple and progressive tenses and
the topic were the simple and progressive tenses.
The whiteboard was used to show the students how to unscramble the
sentences given in the handouts. The use of the whiteboard was similar to the last
one: to explain how to develop the activity. As in the last time, the use of it was
appropriated and pertinent for the level, students, topic and activities. It was
evident because after using this aid, the population felt encouraged and motivated
to develop the activity and the explanation given on the board helped them to
solve the exercises appropriately.
The use of the space of the board, as in the last class, was limited and the
calligraphy was poor, the teacher wrote without taking care of the details or the
size to make the words understandable for the pupils.
In the fifth class, the session where the material was used had as a topic
35
The material was used as an aid of another material, because the teacher
drew on the board the ideal product she expected to get after finishing the
activity: cards with words in order to arrange logical sentences. The use of the
board was relevant in regards to the topic and allowed the students to get an idea
about what to do in the class. The use was also appropriated and it was clear the
attention paid to the English level and age of the students.
When referring to quality, this aspect shows a negative result. Then again,
the teacher just wrote the words without checking the use of the space, the size of
the letters or the direction of the writing.
In the sixth class, the topic and the objective were the same as in the last
period. The topic was the new vocabulary and the objective to learn new word s in
context.
The board was used to write the correct words of the activity the students
had developed in the workbook. The way the board was used and the language
were suitable for the target population and evidenced appropriateness but in terms
of pertinence, it is necessary to state that the teacher could use a more motivating
or amusing material for the students. This kind of use did not help students
getting engaged with the class nor the content.
In addition, as in the other cases, the quality in the use of the board was
poor and did not show any concern from the teacher. She did not aware of the
space, calligraphy or size of the words on the board, making it necessary from her
to re-write words in order to be understood by the students.
In the eighth class, the topic was the future tense and the objective was to
recognize new vocabulary words in context. It was similar to the ones worked in
36
As in the sixth class, the use of the board was reduced to write the right
answers, and even when it was appropriate in terms of level and age, it was not
the best option when giving a correction to an oral exercise. I would be better to
recite the words in order to reinforce the pronunciation. As the teacher wanted to
save time, the use of the board did not show any care and was poor.
In terms of quality, the use of the board was not good and did not show
any care from the teacher, so, students had to ask repeatedly about the words
written on the board.
In the ninth class, the material was used for the last time by the teacher. It
had as a topic the future and present tenses and as objective to apply new
vocabulary in context.
As in the other exercises in classes, the board was used to show the right
answers to a given exercise, in this case, a crossword. This usage shows that it
was not pertinent because in order to do that, the teacher could use a more
suitable aid. In terms of appropriateness, it is convenient to point out that the
material helped the teacher to make students understand and learn concepts
related to the topic of the class.
As in all of the moments where the material was used, the quality was
poor and did not evidence any care from the teacher. In this class, the teacher
gave a poor use of the material and did not pay attention to the arrangement or
size of the words, letters or graphics.
Stories
This material was used just once in 4th grade, in the sixth class where the topic was the future tense and the objective to identify the modal verb shall. It
