Materials Evaluation and Design
It is difficult to imagine a classroom around the world without any kind of ELT material.
The most traditional and wide-spread examples of these materials are coursebooks.
Although there is no one book that contains exactly the content that meets the needs of
students, we will always have the opportunity to take a “little from here and a little from
there”. A good book can help us stay on track within our course, we can see where one
is going and where one has been, as a map does.
Of course, we shouldn´t use a course book as our only resource, I think that a book
allows both teachers and learners to always keep in touch with the language and also, it
can be the first option before designing material (which would be exhausting do it daily)
or it could be the only option in contexts where economic conditions are not so good.
Personally, I think that the use of a textbook in our classrooms has its pros and cons;
opinions about them can be very varied and different, according to the experience of each
teacher. Some experts list some advantages of its implementation, for example:
There are good reasons why many teachers use published coursebooks,
amongst them:

They provide language input for learners.

Well-designed coursebooks can be motivating and provide a logical
organization of content.

They offer a written record of what has been studied and allow students
to review it later.

They reduce the amount of time needed for preparation.

In some L2 teaching contexts, the use of a given coursebook is
compulsory.

Coursebooks are usually organized around an identifiable principle
and follow clear patterns.

They are easily stored. (Carreño, 2018, online).
Textbooks have also been criticized by researchers and some teachers, but I believe
that they are still a useful tool within our teaching practice if we have the creativity to do
so and I also believe that this is why it is very important to share experiences with our
colleagues, because from there, very good and interesting ideas arise.
If in our school we use a compulsory course book, it is important that we previously
analyze the best option, that is, that the material fits, as far as possible, with the
curriculum, our academic goals, but most importantly, that covers as much as possible,
the needs of our students. One of the tools that will facilitate the choice of a textbook is
the needs analysis of our group. The students’ interests should also be a consideration
and the teacher’s preferences should not be forgotten. A needs analysis can be produced
in tabular form to summarize the information. It is suggested that teachers develop our
own checklists based on the criteria we have developed in our learners´ needs analysis.
Most teachers will agree that materials should be attractive, accurate, have clear
instructions, provide an answer booklet, and include useful activities. Specific criteria
relate to the teacher’s own context (McGrath, 2002). Importantly, the selection process
also helps us to identify areas not met by the coursebook and then supplementary
material will need to be identified or produced to support learners in those areas.
It was very interesting to analyze so much information around the textbook, because it
is a good tool in the classroom and because it is important to choose the right one for our
students and for us; let's avoid facing the consequences of choosing a bad book ...