CHAPTER II. TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ON EFL TEXTBOOK
2.1 TEXTBOOKS AND CRITICAL LITERACY
Textbooks have a very old tradition. His research as a unit of analysis dates back a few decades, but few researchers have paid attention to studying the treatment of reading.
The teacher usually organizes, selects, sequences the contents and chooses reading texts based on textbooks (O‘Laughlin,, 2009), which in many cases constitute the guide of his didactic practice in the classroom. Thus, the textbook is conceived as a teaching guide. These manuals contain a set of contents based on cultural and ideological values, almost always transmit the dominant ideas on which the content must be legitimized (Apple, 1992:4-12)
The textbooks are organized in a set of highly polyphonic discourses, because in them they converge diverse texts and authors that have been selected by the author and are organized according to methodological criteria and approaches dominant in the time. Structures vary according to how the textbook is conceived. In fact, changes in focus, curriculum plans and curriculum content have impacted on the development of textbooks and most publishers have been accommodating to these changes.
The importance of textbooks transcends the school environment, as they transmit cultural, social, values and ideological contents. Textbooks, as pointed out by Fitzpatrick and McConnell (2008), almost always explicitly express or underlie the ideology and mentality of the dominant groups that control the school institution through cultural contents and language. For the bourgeois liberal order they are more suitable vehicles for transmitting to the childhood in a uniform way the values with which it is wanted to configure the citizenship.
The textbook and reading are closely related. Each textbook proposes a set of reading texts, usually based on the curriculum or because the authors see a topic appropriate. One points out some criticisms in this regard:
• The textbook separates the school from the social uses of reading and writing; That is to say, it is an artificial object created exclusively for the interior of the educational institution; No adult reads textbooks (adults read novels, newspapers, etc.).
• Textbooks encourage the disuse of reading and writing, promote memorization, response to questions about text, operations and problems. The reading is not pleasant nor is it provoked by the curiosity to discover information; Writing is done by an epistemological need of the text: to use adjectives, punctuation marks, interrogation; Is not written to express situations or authentic feelings.
While the criticism is true, it is not possible to generalize, because it depends on the use made in the classroom; in addition not all textbooks have the same structures or contents. Textbooks have changed since their first presentations; the current ones contain more attractive designs, incorporate multimedia elements with links to the Internet. These variations demand new forms of reading, more multimodal. The didactic unit is composed of texts, activities, drawings, graphics, photographs and evaluation activities. The images are part of the multimodality and constitute a support for the understanding. Knudsen (2006) points out 7 ways of using the image: as mere illustration, as exemplification, exemplifying image, image representing processes, analogies, displaying a concept and graphics, synoptic charts, schemes, among others. So far, there are few specific studies from the socio-cultural approaches of reading that have as object of analysis the textbook. Jennifer Monaghan and Douglas Hartman (2001) have grouped the research into five blocks:
1. The historical approximation of forms of schooling, centred on the acquisition of literacy in various historical epochs.
2. The historians of literacy (intersection between literacy and society).
3. The history of the book and the reading preferences of the population.
4. The history of the book, history of Scholarship book, on history of the audiences.
5. Research on the meaning of literacy in communities.
Working under the principles of a social orientation of reading implies recognizing that all meaning is plural, that students in reading the world understand themselves and others better. Within the learning activities, social justice issues may be included as part of their daily lives or activities to solve real-life problems. There is promoted social justice by allowing students to recognize how language affects and is affected by social relations by recognizing the power relations inherent in the use of language by recognizing that language is not neutral.
Textbooks that are geared towards achieving social competencies, from “critical social literacy,” help learners to assume their identities and roles in society, to distinguish forms of social organization, relationships of domination, and to critically challenge such situation. To accomplish this, as Alderson (2000) suggests, it would be naive to attempt to classify reading comprehension strategies between different levels of reading, when in fact they act simultaneously, interact with each other and have diffuse boundaries. For example, some textbooks, when engaging in critical reading activities, usually ask:
• Recognize the purpose of an author.
• Recognize tone and persuasive elements.
• Recognize bias
All these questions require a literal understanding, require inferences from the evidence in the text:
• Recognizing purpose involves inferring a range of content and language options.
• Recognizing the tone and classifying persuasive elements involves understanding the nature of language.
• Recognizing bias involves evaluating the text.
Critical reading is not simply a careful reading; To read critically we must actively analyze and recognize the evidence about the text. It is about recognizing that the world is transformed into words and words transform the world. Even young children can learn to identify and clarify ideological perspectives in books (Boutte, 2002), not necessarily to evaluate, discredit or applaud a writer’s ideology, but simply to see what it is. Teachers and families should help to recognize the author’s ideology, stereotypes and prejudices in books, in school and home reading practices. Apple (1992) described three common reader responses:
• In the dominant reading of a text, each one accepts the messages of their nominal value.
• In a negotiated response, the reader may challenge a particular observation, but accepts general trends or interpretations of the text.
• An oppositional response rejects these dominant tendencies and interpretations. The reader “repositions” to the text and assumes the position of the oppressed.
Of course, these types are just ideal and the answers can be a combination of all three. The situation is linked to power and domination, helps us visualize how power is exercised through textbooks. We understand power as a process of mind control through various forms of discourse, unlike the classical concept that defined power with reference to classes and control of the means of production. It is no coincidence that most of the time the contents of textbooks coincide with the values and interests of the various power groups. The knowledge and attitudes expressed and transmitted by textbooks represent the dominant consensus; as van Dijk (2008) points out, rarely allow them to be controversial, which presupposes that there is a censorship of alternative or critical voices. A study has shown that third world countries and minorities (Black) are often represented as backward compared to white Western culture, which often appears as charitable and philanthropic to help the poor ‘through assistance, beneficence or technological advice (Van Dijk, 2009). We know that textbooks influence the minds of students, so they are the main means of symbolic power, reproduction and ideological legitimating of the ruling classes.
2.2 CULTURAL CONTENT IN TEXTBOOKS: CONTINUOUS DICHOTOMY
Making a thorough revision of some authors who have been dedicated to examine the subject of the insertion of cultural content in the teaching of languages, we find a continuation of the dichotomous categories presented in the previous section. In this section, we will focus on those typologies that have focused on the cultural component in textbooks for the teaching of languages. We begin with Cortazzi and Jin (1999, p. 96) for whom the distinction between cultural content and cultural medium is very important in the analysis of textbooks. These same authors establish a dichotomy between the contents of the one or local culture and the contents of the foreign culture (s) in the textbooks for teaching English as a foreign language. Also under a dichotomous classification is Luke (1989:53), who distinguishes between open texts and closed texts. On the other hand, authors like Skierso (1991:432) and Snow (1996) distinguish the cultural recognition of the cultural production in the textbooks.
Cultural content vs. culture medium
Cortazzi and Jin (1999) argue that for a thorough evaluation of the cultural component of a textbook of English as a foreign language, this analysis should not only be done from checklists, but from Of the cultural context in which such a book is to be put to work1. Cultural content, say these authors, varies, but is affected in different ways when applied in the classroom, because there are preconceived ideas of the language being studied. For these authors, there is also a culture of learning that often differs from the proposal through the contents of the texts in such a way that the cultural content can enter conflicts and disagreements with the cultural environment in which the content has been study.
How to involve learners in cultural processes, according to expectations of what emerges in the culture of learning, is not only a problem of texts but of the interactions proposed by teachers in class. Given this typification, all textbooks used for this investigative exercise would need a much more critical look than is usually done in school contexts, since in our midst textbooks are chosen taking into account other relevant aspects in Checklists such as the level of communicative competence of students, variety in proposed activities, credibility of authors or publishers, price, institutional educational project, etc. However, the cultural aspect is accessory without primary relevance.
In the case of the texts studied, we can establish that the design of cultural information is generally given to an international consumer although this consumer can be divided into subcategories specified as follows: in the first category would be those books designed for an English learner who interacts In the English language with local speakers; That is, that this apprentice lives in the context whose language he is learning. Under this category is Richards’ New Interchange (1997), which designs all activities for foreigners who learn English. This author includes recordings of speakers of the English language from different countries, which implicitly states that the learner should focus his interests on communication rather than imitation of models and accents. However, when speaking of other places other than the United States, there is a curious situation, since in this case the American is presented as a potential tourist and abroad as an immigrant who gives information of his own country and, At the same time, learn about the host country.
A second category comes to be the one that groups texts that are designed with a young adult learner of English as an international language in any part of the world. Under this category we have the New Headway of Soars and Soars (2000), which includes information from various countries, not only from English-speaking countries, and takes into account the inclusion of people of diverse races, genres, ages and nationalities .
In a third category would be those books that include information that seems to be designed to prepare the English-speaking learner for tourism. This category includes Opportunities by Harris, Mauer and Sikorzynska (page 14), as it includes information from other countries but in tourist contexts such as a Himalayan excursion, ecotourism in Turkey, safari in Africa, Arctic adventure, holiday description. Similar instances appear on other pages of the same text. Click On (One) by Evans and O’Sullivan (2000) would also fall into this category. In this book frequent comparisons are made between curious ways of doing things in different cultures.
Opened Texts vs. Closed texts
For Luke (1989), quoted by Cortazzi and Jin (1999), the cultural contents of school texts of foreign languages can be analyzed under two categories: open textbooks and closed textbooks. A textbook with closed cultural contents shows cultural groups without problems, confirming or reinforcing in this way the views of the apprentices and their beliefs. The closed text presents problems completely solved. An open text, on the contrary, invites a wide range of interpretations, understands the learner as a culturally active subject and responds whether or not the textbook motivates to interact with it. If the teacher asks the students to present alternative solutions to the problems presented in the books, in this way the text becomes an open text, even if without the intervention of the teacher this book would be a closed text. Open texts offer much more complex versions of the cultures in question. The typology presented by Luke (1989) may be comparable to Damen’s checklist (1987), which calls into question ways of dealing with realities that are uncomfortable, such as forced displacement, unemployment, poverty, racism, etc.
Analyzing the relevance of this category with respect to the set of selected textbooks leads to the conclusion that all of these, without exception, correspond to a class of closed texts because they do not include, in any way, social problems to be discussed or reworked and to look for alternatives Of solution in the classroom. Not even the most advanced level books offer activities open to discussion about social problems, even though at these levels students are expected to be able to find alternatives to conflict resolution and discuss them in class.
However, Elsworth and Rose (2005) present some options that, depending on the teacher, can become open categories to be worked in the classroom. On page 31 is a situation experienced by the book’s family, who lives in Wales and whose children attend regularly to a youth entertainment centre that local authorities have decided to close, against the will of its regular users. The book poses a closed context in the sense that it exposes a problem but does not propose to the apprentices work alternatives conducive to the solution or discussion of the problem. We move immediately to a grammatical theme in which the problem is not taken into account. In fact, in this text, most of the topics revolve around grammar, without connection with social issues. The same is true on page 46, where Elsworth and Rose (2005) present a contemporary problem about the anxiety generated by the current pressures on British young people, as they do not offer additional open-labour alternatives around a subject that can promise Countless possibilities for interesting discussions in the classroom.
In New Interchange, Richards (1997) shows another example similar to the previous ones. To begin a thematic unit, the author chooses information from a US economy newspaper that says that almost 100 percent of people in the United States condition the choice of housing to the crime rate of the area in which one House is located. This implies that there are dangerous residential areas in the United States, as in many urban areas of the world. However, this information does not transcend to give way to an interesting topic in class, but the choice of topic is subject to the presentation of a grammatical theme on which to work in the thematic unit, making it impossible to state that these texts are in the category of Luke (1989) of open texts.
2.3 ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS – A PEDAGOGICAL RESOURCE
In the last four decades, the textbook as a pedagogical resource has continued to play a hegemonic role among the different materials for second language teaching / learning (hereinafter L2), that is, the exercise book, dictionaries, cassettes , Videos, CD, CD-ROM, graduated readings and so on (O’Neill 1982:104), (Matthews 1985).
One of the fundamental reasons why the textbook has become very important can be found in the fact that in many situations (L2 teaching centres and programs) the textbooks used represent the curricular program of the centre . According to Richards (1998), the textbook along with other pedagogical materials form the program of many courses for teaching L2, that is, the objectives, contents, skills to be worked and the methodology used coincide with those that appear In the textbook. From the student’s perspective, the book is not only a measure of progress, but also a source of study material at home, reference and practice, as well as offering the opportunity to see in advance the material to be to treat. Another reason for the supremacy of the textbook is the fact that books are agents of change. The idea of change has become endemic in L2 teaching. The textbooks reflect not only the technological advances, but also different areas of interest (for example, the teaching of English for specific purposes) that have emerged as well as new methodological approaches (Allwright, 1981: 6).
Despite the relevance of the textbook in teaching an L2, it has not been without criticism. From the student’s point of view, there is widespread discontent in the academic world about the lack of answers to the needs and interests of students in textbooks. Richards (1993) argues that individual needs are neglected as the book is aimed at an extensive and heterogeneous audience from both the cultural and geographic as well as the linguistic. Referring to the global situation, certain researchers clarified that this handicap presented by the manuals, due to the lack of attention to the reality of the student, having its origin in monetary matters, since it is more productive since the Economic perspective edit a same book that can be used in many countries to design it taking into account the reality of each country. Also, the globalization of sales in the publishing market leads to a trivialization in the content. According to Tomlinson (2008:3-13), the content of most materials is devoid of aspects pertaining to the world around us such as sex, violence, drugs, etc., which renders materials bland and present a world that does not respond to reality. From the teacher’s point of view, the dominant position of the textbook negatively impacts on the role of the teacher, reducing its functions and abilities. The teacher becomes a technician who executes the book so that teaching is not seen as an interactive process but as something planned by others.
Finally, the textbook has been accused of ignoring the theories and results of research carried out in the field of applied Linguistics. Sheldon (1988:238) notes that the selection and presentation of vocabulary in textbooks are often carried out without systematicity. Tomlinson (2008) emphasizes the fact that materials for teaching English as L2 do not reflect the process of learning an L2 since most activities do not go beyond rote learning, repetition, substitution and transformation. In other words, they focus on the practice of linguistic aspects and not on the transmission of the message itself.
While the importance of the textbook as a pedagogical resource in teaching an L2 persists, the same is not true of the components of language that appear in the manuals. Lewis (1993: 89) clarifies the following: “Lexis is the core or the heart of language but in language teaching it has always been the Cinderella”. It will not be until the 1980s that numerous studies focusing on the teaching / learning of the lexicon in an L2 begin to appear . It is in the 1990s that one goes from a generalized skepticism about the role of lexicon in an L2 to a growing interest in pedagogical issues, such as deciding which vocabulary to teach and how to teach it. Within this context, research focused on the learning of lexical placements has emerged in the last twenty years, in particular those that revolve around the precision with which apprentices of different L1 use placements in English (Nizonkiza, 2013:181), (Sonbul and Schmitt, 2013: 121-159) and those that are related to the development of the knowledge of placement. The conclusions of these studies indicate that:
(a) there is a lack of knowledge about placements by English learners such as L2;
(b) it is necessary to teach the placements explicitly, especially those combinations that are different in the student’s L1 and L2 to avoid errors caused by L1 transfer;
(c) knowledge about such combinations does not evolve in parallel with the rest of the lexicon; (d) factors such as the idiominess, frequency and degree of formality of placement in the knowledge about placements;
(e) part of the lack of collocation knowledge is due to an overemphasis on the part of the authors of textbooks in traditional grammar and in the free selection of vocabulary in L2 to the detriment of the principle of idiomity. However, the reader should be warned that these conclusions should be taken with caution, as part of the authors of these studies do not specify the criterion of selection of the lexical presentations in the researches and do not offer a methodological proposal for the teaching of these combinations in an L2 based on theoretical principles of the field of the Acquisition of second languages (ASL) . Likewise, most of the studies carried out so far focus on the production / recognition of lexical placements at the written level, leaving aside the oral production of placements.
With regard to the analysis of vocabulary from materials for teaching / learning L2, there is hardly any research. Nesselhauf and Tschichold (2002:251) review seven computer programs for vocabulary learning, concluding that the placement aspect has been left out. Nicholls (2003:11-26) argues that in both training books for teachers of English as a foreign language and in the supplementary material for students to learn the lexicon in English is often the concept of placement. However, and following this author, the monographs for the training of teachers of Spanish as a foreign language hardly appear and in specific books for the learning of the lexicon in Spanish is almost never present. Finally, in a more recent study, Liu (2010:4-30) points out that there is a lack of critical analysis of the definition and nature of placements, as well as the methodology for teaching them.
2.4 DIDACTIC RESOURCES FROM TEACHERS’ POINT OF VIEW
The didactic resources, also called “pedagogical materials”, are the means or instruments used to help the teacher to introduce the contents in the classroom, while facilitating the learning of the students in the foreign language. There are many resources that can be used in the class, but we will only make a brief description of the most relevant, to focus on the songs, which is the resource that we advocate in this work.
On the other hand, the activities are – within the didactic model – those that allow to reach the marked objectives, developing the contents established for each level. Thus, activities are the ones that ultimately lead to learning, involving the participation of the students in an interactive and creative way. Teachers indicate the following characteristics of the activities:
1) Authenticity: activities should expose students to real situations.
2) Use of skills: distinguishes between activities aimed at acquiring a skill and activities that involve using a specific skill.
3) Grammatical Accuracy and Fluency: Activities that focus on grammatical accuracy have greater teacher control, while those focused on fluency are those that control learners and are therefore more creative.
In the beginning, the only material available for the foreign language class at the university level was the textbook and, at most, exercise books and reference works. With progress, cassette tapes were introduced for listening comprehension exercises. At present, thanks to the technology we have the most advanced computer programs and audiovisual material. Krashen (1989: 22, 27) also points out language laboratories and even songs, which is our proposal. In fact, the new teaching methodologies, under the linguistic paradigm of Pragmatics, leave aside the language as an object of knowledge to focus on its use and functionality.
Consequently, resources could be classified into two groups: print and audiovisual. Obviously, the vast majority of the first group developed along traditional Linguistics and Structuralism. Beginning with Generativism, audiovisual resources were widely used.
There are many printed resources that can be used in teaching a language, especially in the English language. Therefore, we stop at the most relevant ones such as textbooks and English materials for specific purposes.
The earliest textbooks or manuals for teaching English as a foreign language date from the late 16th century, when French refugees needed to learn the language to communicate (Howatt 1984: 6). Nevertheless, the proliferation of this type of publications takes place in the twentieth century, from World War II, since English would become the international language of business, science, diplomacy, etc. For Fowler (1995: 193) “the textbook for teaching a language is a description of part of that language. It is necessarily a selection of the language as a set made according to what the author believes will be most appropriate to teach students who have reached a certain level. When selecting a textbook, several factors have to be taken into account, such as whether it is accompanied by an introduction, explanatory notes for teachers, whether your organization is appropriate for the level in question, etc. However, the textbook can not be the only material used in the process of teaching the new language, since each student has specific and different needs, necessities that do not always cover the manuals. Therefore, it is advisable to complement them with other materials, thus adapting the contents to the interests of the students.
The exercise books usually accompany and complement the textbook. Most focus on the grammatical practice of the language, although some also include activities of vocabulary, pronunciation or idiomatic use. Almost all publishers now publish these notebooks, also called “Workbooks”. This type of material is focused on the students to work on their own, as activities for the home, so they sometimes include solutions.
Reference works, such as dictionaries, encyclopaedias and grammars, are an indispensable resource for advancing the learning process. The grammars help to solve morphological and syntax doubts, while dictionaries solve problems of pronunciation and lexicon, as well as contain information on sociolinguistic questions (dialect varieties, registers, etc.). Dictionaries can be bilingual or monolingual; although at the beginning of the learning process the use of bilinguals is justified, at the most advanced levels it is advisable for students to become accustomed to using monolinguals. In general, reference works are a good resource, since they guide students to expand their knowledge of the new language independently.
Teaching sheets are large color posters that introduce specific themes. They help develop oral and written expression, activating visual memory. They are very useful to contextualize the contents or to review the lexicon, giving rise to different types of activities: descriptions, narratives and even interactive activities to promote communication (for example, dialogues), in which students can talk about content the same ones (Wright, 1976).
An advantage of press cuttings (newspapers, magazines, advertising leaflets, etc.) is its easy procurement and low economic cost. However, it will have to take into account their suitability for the purposes of teaching. There are several work options presented by this type of material (Vivier,1994: 363).
From the 1960s English for Specific Purposes acquires great relevance, since the English language becomes the language of business, science and technology. Apart from the appearance of the English for Specific Purposes, a great increase of specific materials took place to reach the objectives set. This material is made up of graduated texts, and other original documents (articles of specialized publications, scientific conferences, telephone conversations, etc.). The use of authentic material has a greater motivation on the part of the students (Peterson 1999, Edwards 2000).
2.5 CRITERIA REGARDING TEXTBOOKS ANALYSIS AND A GOOD LEARNING IN TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ OPINION
This part of the analysis consisted of examining eight criteria to be met by texts to create a learning process similar to what is “recommended” in all teacher-training institutes (but rarely implemented), from teachers and students point of view. Again it is worth remembering that a good teacher can meet these criteria without the need for texts, but that when used, they must also meet at least eight criteria:
1. Stimulate free writing, since only a systematic thinking process is completed when it is put into writing. The text should clearly indicate, in each activity or module, the moments of free writing in which the student must necessarily think in a systematic way (for which may include pertinent questions). This requires that the teacher devote his time to reviewing the students’ work rather than dictating subjects;
2. Facilitate the socialization of personal work. Students can prepare, in groups of four or five, a version that integrates the work of several of them (for example, a written version of an observation), so that the teacher only revises a more elaborate one Which, in turn, allows self-evaluation of work in each). Therefore, the texts must ensure that each activity includes both personal and group work.
3. Give opportunities to make a decision within well-defined alternatives. Every time a student makes a decision he must think, and therefore acquires a greater commitment / interest with what he decides to carry out. That is why the text should offer you the opportunity to choose the specific situations that allow you to learn the same educational goal;
4. Achieve local adaptation through instructions that lead the student to identify the alternatives that exist in the local situation. The text should indicate to the student how to identify the examples-situations that exist in their reality, related to types of work, mobilization, health, production, history, geography, stories, legends, flora, fauna, minerals and other topics that includes The national curriculum. Once identified, each group can select a situation on which it will work;
5. Provide a method to learn from the context and develop a permanent ability to systematize observations. Local adaptation of each activity requires including observation, oral and written description, integration with peer observations, but should also include self-assessment with respect to a model (and corresponding revision of the entire sequence of stages) so that the final version can Be reviewed later by the teacher. In this way, the essential elements of the scientific method and of technology are integrated, which will, in later stages (perhaps in the middle level), become familiar with other methods;
6. Create community participation through the process of identifying and selecting local context examples used in the learning process. An important part of learning experiences should use everyday information about health, remedies, work, family, food, plants, seeds, animals, crafts, stones, maps, games, songs, anecdotes, local history, cardinal points, radio and TV . Much of this information requires the collaboration of parents and, in that process, they discover the vital contribution that their culture makes to the school;
7. Inducing a modular assessment that allows students to move at their own pace. Each sequence of activities should include, at the end, the description of a similar activity (even if it corresponds to a situation that is very different from the local context) with which students can compare the results of their work to identify ways to complete or improve their own work . This self-assessment also reduces the amount of time the teacher must spend to correct, since you do not have to review everything that students write. In any case, evaluating objectives in short periods (from one to two weeks) allows students to systematically complete each sequence (module) before moving on to the next, or the teacher decides if other activities are necessary before continuing With the following module
8. Finally, avoid extra work to the teacher that oblige him to sacrifice his family life or his rest time. The text should include all instructions necessary for the student-group to participate in the learning situation, even if the teacher can modify them at any time. The teacher should not create new learning situations at each opportunity, but use the best experiences accumulated until that time, without prejudice to improvise when circumstances require.
There are many other aspects and questions that we must ask ourselves when designing materials or we limit ourselves to selecting and adapting existing ones. Breen and Candlin (1987: 14-28) offer us a very useful and complete guide. Its frame of reference and key aspects includes the following categories.
1. Objectives and contents of the curricular material: objectives of instruction that are proposed, what gives the apprentices and what they omit.
2. Tasks that they propose for the learning: sequence of work that they establish, type of tasks that suggest: variety, clarity, adequacy.
3. Requirements of the materials to the teacher who carries them out: identification of the teacher with the lines of work proposed, degree of professional competence required by the tasks.
4. Variety of resources and didactic materials: adaptation of the materials to the needs and interests and expectations of the students.
5. Adequacy of materials for learning English at the desired level: sequencing, structure and continuity.
6. Adequacy of materials to generate the desired learning processes: autonomous learning, discovery learning, learning construction, content-based learning, cooperative learning.
The relationship of criteria proposed by Breen and Candlin (1987) is useful and can help us, but it is not enough. We must deepen in other aspects related to the type of learning that we want to facilitate and to propitiate through the materials. In this sense, it is advisable to explore other areas and consider to what extent certain materials can contribute to its development. Littlejohn and Windeatt propose the following (Littlejohn and Windeatt, 1989: 156-175):
1) knowledge of general facts or related to specific academic disciplines (general and / or specialized training);
2) our vision of what knowledge is and how it develops;