Vol. 4 Issue 21 – Research Paper: ‘Language materials and adaptation strategies with specific reference to Aligarh Muslim University’ by Malika Anwar Siddiqui

The present paper deals with significance of materials in an ESL setting and finding out ways to apply adaptation strategies for effective teaching of ESL in an  ESL setting where ESL is taught by an ESL teacher. It is believed that a person who is not a native speaker of language is not proficient to teach any second language to the second language learner. The scenario has changed now, especially in the second language countries like India where it is spoken and learnt in almost all parts of the country. Learning a language serves a medium to communicate and this eagerness accelerates learning enthusiastically all over the nation. In Indian education system there are several boards that regulate Academic Calendar and produce study materials from primary to senior secondary standards. These Educational Boards prepare books and materials that are very much culture specific. For instance, there are state Boards like Bihar Board, Assam Board, Uttar Pradesh Board and others. There are central boards such as CBSE, ICSE which are run by the central government of India. In AMU schools, books recommended by NCERT and CBSE are followed at Secondary and Senior secondary levels. Depending upon the learners’ profile there is a need to grade textbooks for better learning of students. The focus of the paper is to understand the language materials and implication of adaptation strategies in ESL.

Learning a language is a complex process. It is easier to speak but difficult to learn to read and write. Many readers read fluently in their mother tongue(MT). Reading habits of mother tongue assist/influence reading in second language (SL). It is assumed that the learners who are proficient in reading in MT learn to read in SL much easier as compared to those who do not read in their MT. However, this notion has been criticized by many linguists. It is not only the MT of learners that influence SL learning habits, it is the language he is exposed to at the very beginning stage of language acquisition, it could be language of the country he is residing or the amount of exposure he is getting in the language.

The variables that affect SL developments are the major proponents in learning behavior. Cummins et al. (1993) conducted a study to determine the effects of ‘social and individual factors’ in the development of bilingual proficiency.  It was concluded that attitude is significant in learning SL. The students expressed desire to be fluent speakers of Portuguese, English and French, showed inclination towards Canadian and Portuguese culture and were comfortable with their “dual identity” as Portuguese-Canadians. They favored English and regarded English as the important language to communicate outside their community.  (Cummins et.al 1993)

Considering Cummins et.al (1993) study, similar effects can be seen in teaching reading to SL readers. Reading is not just an ordinary basic skill; it demands knowledge of the world and reference from schema. Reading involves generating mental representation of content and interpretation of the context.

Tickoo (2004) proposes that a mature reader comprehends the text using two types of knowledge to gain meaning from the text. He has added two dimensions to the background knowledge.

1. Knowledge of the language system (KOLS): This comprises of the phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, graphemes and the word –order etc. with KOLS a reader decodes the text recognizing the words and sentences and reads superficially.
2. Knowledge of the world (KOW): Here the text is approached by using the knowledge of the world .The reader’s experience and exposure to the world accounts for comprehension of the text. After recognition of language pattern this knowledge guides in comprehending the text.

Learning requires a medium through which knowledge could be transferred. In today’s world there are plenty of teaching and learning materials that are available  for teachers and learners. Let us first understand what actually ‘materials’ mean.

What does the term ‘materials’ mean in language teaching?

Anything that is used as a means to impart knowledge is categorized as materials. Materials can be in physical form in the shape of Books, Newspapers, Handouts, Photocopied papers, Floppy disk, Compact disk, Flash drives , Memory card ,Audio-visual aids ( CDs), Audio aids ( CDs), Pictures and Cards etc. Materials can also be in the form of lectures where the teacher delivers lectures and students listen to lecture taking down points for later study Materials are the instructional instruments that work as catalysts in learning process. Tomlinson (1998) has defined teaching materials as:

Anything which is used to help to teach language learners. Materials can be in the form of a textbook, a  workbook, a cassette, a CD-Rom, a video, a photocopied handout, a newspaper, a paragraph written on whiteboard: anything which presents and informs about the language being learned. (p. xi)

With the development in applied linguistics there has been a significant prominence in the issues related to teacher education. There is acute need of teacher training program to foster the technical skills essential for teacher development program. It is essential to familiarize them with novel ideas of using the study materials depending upon the requirements of ESL context. Materials in schools or in any learning situation   serve the purpose of bridging the gap that exists between teachers and learner. Learners restore and gain information from the materials they are studying. A teacher teaches with the materials in classroom by adopting different strategies for execution of prescribed materials but sometimes teachers lack the required technical skills to bridge the gap, it is when s/he is unable to utilize the resources.

Materials in ESL teaching

Materials develop one or the other skill. Study materials have to be designed according to the requirement of  learners .There are various items which are organized in a systematic way to present sequential flow in learning. Moreover they are the source of effective language model and input (Richards: 2001) that are required to be implemented and adapted to develop essential language skills and sub skills. Materials are required to be explored and studied to gain maximum utility of the language items. For this the most significant skills are the study skills which necessitate development of certain sub-skills to attain a degree of assembling different strategies for learning language.  In this age of explosion of knowledge, materials  play pivotal role in life of every ESL learner.

Materials for teaching ESL classroom are:

1. Adapted texts– the texts are adapted for the less advanced learners to teach them particular genre. For instance Shakespeare’s play Macbeth can be adapted in the form of a story to teach the moral of breaching the trust.
2. Slightly abridged texts– Only parts of texts that seem difficult are abridged to simplify the concept.
3. Authentic texts– Newspapers, magazines, brochures could serve as real life materials for teaching language forms.
4. Course books– The books are recommended to teach in schools and colleges. The materials presented are sequenced and graded which means shifting from simple to complex language items.
5. Pictures, Graphs, Tables – Reading is not only done by reading alphabets, it also involves interpretation of the non-print text which convey the meaning in a most economical manner. Advertisements are one of the good examples of such materials. The other example can be Graphs depicting rise and fall in the economy and schedules of train arrival and departure.

Materials used for teaching reading in academics lay emphasis on enhancing skills required for comprehending the text. There are factors like word recognition , reading speed, cultural differences and many in the text that impede in comprehending written materials for learners. Learners are not able to get fine instructions to develop proficiency in reading .There are situations when materials are not utilized and neglected , thus the learners remain poor and unable to get  professional guidance. Therefore the question arises :

What are contexts of the neglect of materials?

1. In the classroom where the teacher is unable to explore the text due to various limitations e.g. lack of interest, time, lack of training and poor rapport between teacher and learners.
2. In the classroom among the learners, it is due to poor interest and lack of positive attitude resulting in lack of motivation.
3. In the classroom when learners do not feel the need of materials or any reference materials due to these factors they lack sense of urgency to collect information and feel satisfied with the limited information they have gained.
4. Outside the classroom where learners do not have command in SL language which de-motivates them.
5. Teacher’s lacking the impetus to teach materials. To exploit materials to the maximum utility, it is required to build ‘reading confidence’ and ‘reading competence’ (Harmer: 1983) among the learners. The teacher is required to have the teaching confidence of reading which demands teacher efficiency in language teaching.

Materials have the substance to teach any skill provided that the techniques and method employed in the pedagogy ought to be aimed to teach specific skill.  Teaching reading in schools is the most neglected skill; on the contrary it is the most widely used skill in academics and professional development. In schools, learners need to read materials, books and materials on internet to gain information and to infer meaning for better comprehension. In most books prescribed by CBSE, certain links are provided for the students as reference materials. The skills of skimming, scanning, browsing are required for locating important information in most economical manner.

Materials and Adaptation

Materials are a central element in teaching-learning encounters, not only in school settings but at higher educational contexts. Teaching requires a medium to transfer new items that are to be learnt by learners. English Language Teaching (ELT) has a range of different types of syllabi which are integrated with language skills. The books contain different materials and exercises to develop skills of learners. There are entities that could be restored by learners when the instructors are not with them. Materials tend to dictate what is taught, in what sequence and, to what extent. While one factor is their effectiveness for the classroom context, another will be how the teachers perceive the materials in terms of learners’ profile. It is when they feel the need of self prepared material for learners.  It is not uncommon that several times a teacher finds a content of the text not suitable for a particular group and hence it requires certain modification to bring its clear meaning for better comprehension. These modifications are done to achieve a sense of similarity between the text and the learner. Any modification in the textbooks or in any learning material is called Adaptation.

Adaptation is often required to increase motivation for learning by making the language more real, the situations more relevant, the illustration more vivid and interesting. It is sometimes required to ensure greater ease of acquisition by providing sufficient practice, logical explanation giving  examples or exercises that are on the level of the learner .It is done to ensure appropriate, accurate and effective communication which aims to set up a bridge between the learner and the materials. Madsen and Bowen (1978) describe adaptation takes place on three levels:

1. The individualizing of materials.
2. Modifying a text for purpose not intended or anticipated by the author.
3. Compensating for defects in textbooks.

Effecting adaptation is a matter of achieving “Congruence”. The principle of congruence has an infinite variety of application. The text modified develops similarity with the learners’ demands and makes it compatible with his needs. Teacher often do not have time to develop all of their materials from scratch. Adaptation involves taking an existing resource and revising it to fit particular needs. It is essential to provide such materials to student that is conducive to learning and understanding of the text in a better way. By its application in classroom the class becomes more efficient and result oriented.

Adaptation in language teaching could not possibly meet all the required modifications but do provide relief from many aspects. Moreover adaptation develops materials and magnify scope of its use in various settings.. The materials are adapted to develop the language skills for instance; Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. The major areas where the materials need adaptation are –

• The academic institutions, where a centralized body that governs the entire education system recommends the textbooks.
• Material designers who are unaware of the local needs of the learners design the books. In view of the fact that the materials designers are not aware of the learners who would be using the materials (textbooks), the recommended textbooks require localization to create a sense of similarity between the learners’ present level of proficiency.
• It fortifies the situation where there are disparate group of learners in the classroom.

Adaptation of the textbooks is significant to:

• Develop command of language skills in order to continue education and take part in everyday affair.
• Develop fruitful understanding and work with the new and novel versions of the text.
• Bring effective language instruction.

The text that is adapted and localized according to the needs of the learners reinforces confidence and motivation. Every simplified text is easier to study than the original version which contains vocabulary beyond learners’ level of understanding .The resultant dissatisfaction from the text due to difficulty in getting meaning demotivates learners. Materials used in academic institutions have certain objectives; therefore, materials require adaptation vis-à-vis skill. When teaching any language, reading skill plays pivotal role to reiterate all language learning, Reading skill is one of the most significant skill that has been in use largely. It is a medium and a mode that the learners use while studying, they receive information from printed text/resources, transcribe the information and retain information in their memory. In recent years, materials in language teaching have undergone gradual development, with so many researches going around the world in language teaching, material developers have begun to produce materials after needs analysis. The materials thus produced are effective and informative. In the present or any time in the past, teachers do not or rarely prepared course materials for schools and colleges. Now-a-days a classroom is a heterogeneous community; eventually it has resulted in learning problems. Adaptation in general is one of the good escapes from many of the problems in class.

Need of  Adaptation

In AMU the class usually consists of culturally and linguistically diverse learners. The teachers face great difficulty in class management. Adaptation is the best strategy to work with such group .It is usually adopted to achieve maximum utility of available materials. Yet it should be called for only when it is needed and applied in the class in accordance with the level of learners. Not every method of adaptation can be applied at every stage of learning, and it need not be applied every time or in every context. The level of learners and the extent of adaptation required in the materials is the essential question to be looked for. The text books recommended at the secondary level in AMU aim to teach language skills to make learners proficient in language. The focus of textbooks is largely to develop extensive reading skills among learners. The students at AMU secondary schools are learning English for the past 8-10 years, which implies that by the time they enter the secondary classes they should be able to read and write proficiently. Speaking skill is not expected to be developed because they usually do not communicate in English and the environment of the school does not encourage students to speak English language. Skills of reading and writing that are expected to be developed by the middle school are not satisfactory.

To make the lessons interesting, lively and significant, students may be recommended other reference materials to read. Textbooks meant for Urdu medium sections cover all the necessary items that are relevant for low proficiency learners. It aims to develop extensive reading. There are sections of speaking, writing; grammar practice and comprehension check questions: cloze exercises, long and short answer questions, matching information; the text is supported with exercise that makes use of dictionary work to expand learners’ vocabulary stock. The textbook could be supplemented by engaging learners with task-based teaching where they could use language to perform activities given in the form of tasks.

As language learning is a complex process and needs to be taught in a skilled manner, there are number of approaches, methods, techniques and strategies a teacher applies when he teaches in a language classroom with a hope that ESL learners could make maximum use of their textbooks and learn various skills  of the target language.

Adaptation maximizes utility of the materials it could be applied at any part of the textbook and the lesson. It may be at the pre-teaching phase, while-teaching phase or it may be at the post-teaching phase. Adaptation may be done at any part of the text which is considered beyond  comprehension of  learners. A teacher may resort to any method to adapt the text keeping the usability and effectiveness of the method which it will serve. The teacher may alter the comprehension questions and develop other questions such as writing précis or summary, asking true/ false questions. Stevick (1978) cited in Mc Donough and Shaw (1993) stated:

The teacher must satisfy the demands of the textbook, but in ways that will be satisfying to those  who learn from it.    (p.83)

In line with the similar discussion Becher Costa (1998) explains:

Adapted material would be any text or part of a text where some original characteristics have been altered, such as substituting lexical items or changing verb tenses or even simplifying syntactic structures, or where difficult parts have been eliminated for the sake of facilitating the student’s task. (p.10)

Robert O’ Neill (1982) maintains:

A great deal of the most important work in the class may start with the textbook but end outside it, in improvisation and adaptation, in spontaneous interaction in the class, and development from that interaction. (p.110)

Need of adapting a text emerges from the fact that learning materials are not always in congruence with the learners’ needs and societal requirements; they usually do not contain all the necessary information which is expected. Sometimes the materials grow old, theories on which they have been designed change,  syllabus and curriculum needs to be revised (Madsen and Bowen1978).New technologies introduced in the courses encourages need based changing of the content structure.Adaptation occurs on three levels-

1. The individualizing of materials:

The teacher adapts according to his perception and competence of text.

2. Modifying a text for purpose not intended or anticipated by the author:

It suggests that changing a text by simplifying, using MT or rewriting to match learners level. As mentioned by Campbell(1987), if the text being modified is a literary piece then the flavor of literariness is lessened or if it presented in narration ,its  narrative techniques is lost .

3. Compensating for the textbook :

Usually textbook or any learning material is not foolproof. Adaptation strengthens weakness of materials by supplementing the deficiencies at the lower level of language. It allows learners access to the information in the materials.

In AMU secondary schools where English is taught as a SL. The aim of the teaching is to enable the learners to use English competently and efficiently. The textbooks that are taught in Classes IX – X are recommended and prepared by the CBSE board and NCERT New Delhi.

India is a multilingual country, each of its state has its own State Board of Secondary Education, where the medium of instruction is usually the regional language. The learners of these backgrounds have low proficiency in English language, they are slow to adapt with language items . To maintain harmony, curriculum designers at AMU have adapted English course in advance. The course is divided in to two sections Course A and Course B to suit the level and the requirement of the disparate group. It is done to make slow learners to acquaint themselves easily with English language; both the courses Course A and Course B are taught at AMU. The names of the books taught at AMU secondary classes are:

1. Course A  

Class IX                                                                     Class X

1. Literature Reader.                                    1. Literature Reader.

2. Main Course book.                                   2. Main Course book.

3. Workbook.                                                  3. Workbook.

2. Course B

Class IX                                                                  Class X

1. Beehive                                                   1.First Flight

2. Moments                                                2.Footprints without Feet

Course-A: It follows Communicative Approach and has well arranged sections for development of four language skills .The teachers are supported with the Teacher’s Book ,which  extensively includes  tips to teach the lessons in a more learner-centered way. The names of books mention in this sectioned are recommended for the students at AMU who receive instruction in English in class IX and class X.

Course-B: It follows Communicative Approach .It emphasizes more on Extensive Reading to make learners develop the habit of reading in English. The course content includes lessons from Indian and foreign writers as well .The lessons aim to familiarize learners with foreign culture, which enables them to understand the text in interesting way.  Language used is simple, content includes various genres of writing, stories and incidents from various walks of life to expand learner’ vocabulary. Poems are simple in language and thought, each text ends with a number of comprehension test exercises. The books mentioned in course –B are recommended for students at AMU who receive instructions in Urdu.

Types of materials

Materials are the key components in every teaching / learning contexts. There are various types of materials being used to teach L1 and L2.These materials include all the essential components of language that is to be learnt. Materials can be broadly categorized as Teacher’s materials and Learners’ materials.

Learners’ Materials

 1.Text book

Teaching of every subject requires a textbook that contains all the information which is to be taught to the learners. Textbook develops skills required for development and progress, these are graded and present language items in a sequence. Tomlinson (1998) defines textbook as

A textbook which provides the core materials for a course. It aims to provide as much as possible in one book and is designed so that it could serve as the only book which the learners necessarily use during a course. Such a book usually includes work on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, functions and skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking.(p.ix)

2.   Workbook

This book mainly checks comprehension of the learnt items. There are various activities and exercises meant for developing language skills Tomlinson (1998) defines workbook:

A book which contains extra practice activities for learners to work on their own. Usually the book is designed so that learners can write in it and often there is an answer key provided at the back of the book to give feedback to the learners. (Ibid:xiii)

3.  Supplementary Materials

These materials are meant for independent study/reading. Supplementary materials develop study habits among learners. Usually consists of simple short stories and abridged texts that aim to inculcate assimilation of study skills. Tomlinson (1998) advises that supplementary materials are

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.    (Ibid)

4. Reference Materials

Most of the textbooks contain a section at the end of the lesson, which suggest books for further reading on the related topic. These books are the reference books that extend comprehension level of learners; the learners can opt for these books if they find difficulty in the text they are studying. Usually there is a section in almost every subject textbook e.g. History Textbooks and Science Textbooks that suggest articles based on the topic of study which can be explored by learners to overcome difficulty.

5. ESP Materials

Materials are also designed for specific fields. Courses that are taught for specific fields such as EHM (English for Hotel management), EST (English for Science and technology) etc are ESP courses. These are intensive courses designed for specific group of learners to meet their needs of learning. These materials have specific registers and style that is taught to fulfill their professional requirements.

6. Authentic Materials

The term authentic means ‘real’  in terms of language materials it means language used by native speakers of that language. Authentic materials actually presents real life language , authentic materials such as newspapers, speech , dialogues ,travel brochures, invitation cards  .These materials enable learners to listen, read, write and produce L2 as it is used in L2 environment. Teachers may engage learners in real world task which may be termed as ‘authentic tasks’ such as ‘Buying dresses’, ‘Giving directions’, ‘Interview sessions’ etc. which would thus involve learners to do real world authentic activities for actual practice of communicative needs for real world application. It is certainly true that many authentic  tasks may be difficult for low proficiency level learners but the fact is it takes then out of the classroom which the actual place where the language is used.

7. Audio- Visual Materials:

Language learners are often provided with non print materials in the form of CDs and cassettes such materials help  learners to develop listening and speaking skills. Tomlinson (1998) has defined these materials as ‘multi-media materials’ he says that

….these materials are interactive and enable the learners to receive feedback on the written or spoken language which they produce. (p.xi)

Online study courses and tests provide learners with immediate feedback. There are various software packages available in language teaching institutes such as Lingua phone, Dynamic Education (DynEd) in Hero Mind mine and many more that enable learners to learn soft skills and essential language expressions for better intelligibility which are necessary to communicate in L2

8. Class notes / Handouts

In class learners are provided with notes by the teachers, in the form of handouts or lectures. These materials are of great significance in learning because the teacher himself provides the required information to the learners and thus the notes/ lectures/ handouts are prepared by the teachers in line with learners’ proficiency, requirements and needs.

9. Set of Tests (Test papers)

Learning necessitates evaluation, teachers assess learners periodically to check their follow up of instruction. Evaluation could be oral or written. Teachers often ask questions as a while-teaching and post-teaching activity. By conducting set of tests, learners’ strength and weakness can be assessed. Eventually assessment reinforces learning.

10. Assigning Language task ( language activity)

Materials could be anything that aids in learning , contextually grounding and promoting language. Activity based learning assists learners in discovering about the language by using it. It promotes cooperative learning where the learners get chance to explore the language and interact with fellow pupils by using the language.

11.  Homework (Preparing assignments etc)   

Homework is usually assigned to give the learners practice in preparing the language items and train in study skills. For instance, writing answers to the lesson taught in class, Reading lesson in advance for the class and Listening to news for gathering information of around the world. Home work is meant to train learners to cultivate habit of learning outside classroom environment, which is a place where actual learning takes place.

Teachers’ Materials

1. Teacher’s Manual:

It is a handbook for teachers which contain teaching tips, strategies and lesson plans for teaching the prescribed text books. For instance, the CBSE educational body produces instructional materials for secondary schools and also prepares teacher’s help book simultaneously based on learners’ books. Tickoo (2004) defines teachers’ manual by saying that teachers’ manual:

….is capable of guiding the teacher , to understand the important ways in which her class (room) may be strengthened ( e. g: in its size , furniture , learners behavior and beliefs , social expectations ) and of helping her put to use additional sources of support ( e.g. : the mother tongue , interlingual translation , the skills learnt in the mother tongue and how they can be put to use in the FL classroom.  (p.263)

It is a resource book for teachers which ultimately benefits learners.

2. Teachers Resource books:

Teachers are facilitators in learning. In foreign language teaching one of the major problems had been how to manage, large classroom  and student’s varied learning styles within the class. The resource books for teacher provide guidelines for developing teacher efficiency, with researched techniques that may be applied into the classroom for learning in an environment that is conducive.

Adaptation strategies

There are various strategies that are adopted to ‘adapt’ a text for better learning. Madsen and Bowen (1978) suggest effective adaptation is a matter to achieve ‘Congruence’ with learner’s needs and levels. Adaptation is implemented to attain a degree of fitness between learners and their learning materials. Adaptation is required to develop and expand learner’s attention, interest and motivation. It is further said:

Adaptation is often required in order to increase motivation for learning- by making the language more real, the situations more relevant, the illustration more vivid and interesting. It is sometimes required to ensure greater ease of acquisition by providing sufficient practice, logical explanations, plus examples or exercises that are on the level of the learners. (Madsen and Bowen 1978: viii)

Any language material is not always without flaws, sometimes the language is too difficult or it might have disorganized presentation, and it may not relate to contemporary issues. The claim is that a good teacher is constantly adapting applying various strategies by adding, paraphrasing, translating and relating the content to previous knowledge, or supplementing by using a picture, song  or realia.   The strategies for adaptation are:

1. Adding:

Materials are supplemented by putting into them information that strengthens while taking into account the practical effect on time allocation. Alternative term used for adding can be ‘extending’ and ‘expanding’. Expanding is distinct from extending while the former adds to the methodology by moving outside it and developing it in new directions it is done to expand in terms of quality, for instance by putting in a different skill or a new component, latter adds information restricted to the classroom teaching i.e. it is done to ensure quantity. It is not necessary that addition in a text be made in the end rather it can be introduced at the beginning. It can be done at ‘warm – up’ exercise. In teaching, adding can act as a conscious raising to stimulate learners attention.

2. Deleting / Omitting:

Mc Donough and Shaw (1993) explain

…..although material is taken out rather than supplemented, as a technique it can be   thought of as ‘the other side of the same coin’.(p.90)

Addition and deletion often work at the same point when some grammatical item is omitted it is replaced with some other item to compensate it for the deletion.

3. Modifying:

This strategy can be applied to any part of the content of the text. It can be applied at any part such as order of words, sentence structure, using alternative vocabulary for unfamiliar words etc. It can be further divided into two sections:

a) Rewriting:

It can be used to relate activities to learners’ own linguistic backgrounds and interests, introduce models of authentic language, or set more purposeful, problem solving tasks where the answers are not always known before the teacher asks question. (Mc Donough and Shaw 1993:92)

It is usually adopted when some of the linguistic content needs modification

b)  Restructuring:

A change in the sequencing and structuring of the textbooks is required where the need to control classroom becomes significant in order to maintain discipline, develop interest and motivation. In other words it deals with classroom management.

4. Simplifying / Easifying:

Simplifying means making language items easy for learners to understand by providing simplified version of a difficult item. Tomlinson (1998) suggests that simplified texts are made easy by:

Reduction in length of the text, shortening of sentences, omission or replacement of difficult words or structures, omission of qualifying clauses and non-essential details.  (p.xii)

He suggested simplifying a text by using examples, repetition and paraphrasing and ‘by increasing redundant information’.

5. Using MT or Translation:

Using MT in ESL classroom helps in every aspect of learning, but over use of MT should be avoided. Translating unfamiliar words in MT encourages learners’ interest in reading comprehension. Using MT supports learners to focus on all the element of the text. They carefully begin to look for main ideas and inferences in the text. Translating a text as a post reading activity works well in L2 context where L1 reliance is in great amount. Abdulmomein (2006) agrees by saying:

L2 learners customarily rely on their L1, especially in acquisition-poor environments where exposure to the L2 is confined to a few hours per week of formal classroom instructions.(p.31)

In AMU school, the students are also taught in Urdu medium, their L1 (Urdu) is medium of instruction. They study all the subjects in Urdu medium, receive instructions and write examinations in Urdu. The medium of instruction can be used as a support to explain difficult concepts. It can be used as a comprehension check strategy which could reveal a good measure of their understanding of vocabulary, perception and interpretation. However , it is advised that in the classroom where there is ample use of MT while teaching at least in teaching English reliance on MT should be avoided to a minimal use.

6. Using Task based approaches: 

Task based teaching helps learners learn language in authentic manner. When the text does not support real life language using task based approaches ascertain language learning. Corder(1967, 1981) cited in Tomlinson (1998) claims:

Learners have their own ‘built-in syllabus’ which is ‘in some way more efficient than the instructor generated sequence. (p.226)

Task based learning promotes language acquisition in a meaningful situations, like giving instructions, asking for the cost of an item, sharing experience etc. Exercises may contain insufficient practices and additional practical tasks may need to be added.

Conclusion

It is desperately required to focus on the area of material writing and to find the researched methods that are applicable and valid in the field of language teaching. The material writers should prepare the materials that fulfill local needs of  learners i.e. the materials are required to be produced according to the needs of the learners. Requirements of learners vary with time and space; it is the duty of the teacher to make ( adapt) materials in concomitant to the needs of learners. Teachers can do this by applying different strategies of adaptation that encourages learner interest and confidence in learning materials.

Adaptation not only benefits learners but it also helps the teachers. They can use the same materials in different classroom with different level of learners by adopting  different methods of modification with the learners’ proficiency. The materials (course books) that are recommended to the learners ought to be adapted to suit the level of learners. t is required to produce such materials that persuade learners to develop speaking as well as reading apart from gaining maximum information from course materials.

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