THE ROLE OF MATERIALS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING (Pages 29-38) by Ms. S. Rajeswari in THE ENGLISH RESEARCH EXPRESS / ISSN:2321-1164 (Online); 2347-2642 (Print)

Materials in English language teaching develop and test the language skills-listening, speaking, reading and writing. Cognitive strategies involve specific conscious ways of tackling learning tasks. Materials could offer various interpretations to different classroom phenomena. Many textbooks are indigestible. By working through some constructive exercises and tasks you may turn what might have been an hour’s passive reading into an hour’s productive learning. The outcome from materials illustrates the relative achievement of learners. Materials help the students to learn a great deal directly from exposure to language through reading and listening. And also expose the students to examples taken from real life situations. Audio materials like talks, discussions, interviews, plays etc. motivate students for an exercise on listening comprehension. Interactive handouts like diagrams, photographs, charts, which the audio talked them through make students use their eyes as well as ears. Magazines are a rich source of authentic materials and can be very motivating and inspire a wide range of activities Key words: Materials, language skills, cognitive strategies, constructive exercises, productive learning, real life situations