Treffer: Materials Development Process from the Perspective of ELT Students

Language teacher candidates should be competent both in language use and teaching to be able to guide their future students to learn the foreign language. ELT students are expected to be aware of the necessity for materials use in their classes and make their lesson plans including using their own materials. To find and design an appropriate material requires autonomy and creativity. The materials development course enables them to see their own potential and the improvements they have made. Besides, the feedback from their peers and the course lecturer helps them gain insight into their teaching careers. In this study, the materials development process as an important part of the ELT programme was examined from the perspective of ELT students. A questionnaire prepared by the researchers was given to 114 senior ELT students who had taken the materials development course to learn their ideas about the process. Besides, six volunteer students among the participants were interviewed deeply on materials development and how this course changed their ideas and feelings. Quantitative data were presented through frequency and percentage. Ideas of male and female students were compared with the chi-square test. Qualitative data were examined through content analysis. As a result of the study, most of the students accept the importance of the process. Although they found the materials development process challenging at the beginning, they reported that the course helped them recognise their own potential and improvement in foreign language teaching.

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