 
Teachers often have similar concerns about using new materials. Below are seven common concerns with helpful ideas about how you can address them.
1. The course is too difficult for my students.
Teachers often have a good understanding of what level of material their students can handle, especially when they find a course that is too easy or too difficult. Many teachers choose a course whose level feels the safest; however, teachers should have an open mind about using materials that challenge their students. In assessing the level of new materials, consider the difficulty of the reading and/or the listening passages, but at the same time examine the strategies and support the course offers students.
2. There are too many components.
Teachers and students do not want to pay for something they are not going to use. However, many popular EFL/ELT courses feature a wide variety of useful components beyond the traditional student book. These components can include:
- teacher’s guides offering practical teaching support
- audio CDs including the voices of native speakers
- test banks allowing simple test paper generation
- web support giving up-to-date information about the course
Each component is designed to make the teacher’s job easier and student learning more effective. One important point to keep in mind, however, is not what components you are using now, but what you might want to use in the future.
3. The speed of the audio on the CD is too fast.
Most EFL/ELT audio CDs are already slower, more precise than everyday English, but even so some students still find these too fast. Students need to learn strategies to understand normal speed speech. In the classroom, play the recording multiple times and/or perhaps highlight the key language before playing a recording. Also, chunk the material by playing short bits of the CD at a time.
4. The tasks are too demanding / not demanding enough.
Teachers can always adapt exercises to make them more (or less demanding) by changing the nature of the activity and/or the number of people doing the task. For example, if students find a class debate too difficult, it can be changed to a less challenging writing task; additionally, instead of a class activity, an activity could be done in small groups (or pairs). Tasks can also be made more difficult by asking students to do them with their books closed or by giving them less time for preparation.
5. The vocabulary is too simple/complex .
Teachers (like students) can feel threatened by new vocabulary. However, students have different vocabulary sets than their teachers. For example, elementary school students may know long, elaborate names of dinosaurs, while university students may be familiar with obscure multimedia terminology. The important point in dealing with more complex vocabulary is not to assume that the students’ vocabulary is just a subset of our own. Teachers who find vocabulary from a course too simple may want to find ways to make it more challenging. For example, asking students to use a thesaurus to find more complex words to express similar ideas. Students (and teachers!) who find words too difficult to pronounce, benefit from hearing a native speaker saying the words on the audio CD.
6. I can’t find the right course for a class of mixed ability students with varied interests.
Many courses assume that students are of the same ability and have the same interests, but this is seldom the case in a real classroom. A good course needs to offer a lot of internal support for students through language and culture notes and a variety of activity types and tasks (not just those commonly found in tests). Students also need exposure to a wide variety of topics; they may not find all of them interesting, but they should find many interesting.
7. I don’t know how to choose a new course.
There are many considerations in choosing a new course, especially if you have been using another course for several years. The first consideration is whether the new course offers a variety of useful components, such as recordings that use native speakers, a test bank, a website and other resources that support both teachers and students. In particular, does the teacher’s guide offer useful step-by-step teaching notes? As for the content itself, look closely at the scope and sequence to see a summary of the topic and language points covered. Are they likely to interest your students? Also, try the “flip test” by paging through the student book to see if the design, photographs and illustrations catch your interest. When your students are interested in the course, your job of teaching becomes easier.
I am sure you have many other concerns about using new materials, as well as your own ideas about how to address the seven common problems that I have outlined. Why not take a moment to e-mail me, and we can share your ideas with other teachers!
Thanks,
Dr. Ken Beatty
kenbeatty@mac.com
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