Information sheets

Frequently Asked Questions

Materials and resources

  1. Information Sheets
    Primary | GCSE | Post 16 | Adult & Higher
  2. Selecting the best course
  3. Where to buy materials and resources

Information sheets

The following CILT Information Sheets list currently available resources, both complete courses and supplementary materials. The majority of these resources are held in the CILT resources library. Those within reach of London are welcome to visit the CILT library and to examine all the available materials. The CILT library catalogue is available online.

Beyond London and the South East, local information and services are often available from your nearest Comenius Centre.

Primary Education

52: French for young beginners: teaching materials
53: German for young beginners: teaching materials
54a: ICT materials for early language learning: French
54b: ICT materials for early language learning: German
54c: ICT materials for early language learning: Spanish
54d: ICT materials for early language learning: Italian
54e: ICT materials for early language learning: Multilanguage
93: Italian materials for young beginners
94: Spanish materials for young beginners

The website of The National Advisory Centre on Early Language Learning (NACELL) includes a teaching materials directory. The database contains details of resources included in the NACELL collection - resources designed for, or widely used with, pre-school and primary age learners as well as links to many free online materials.

GCSE and National Curriculum


34: German courses for the National Curriculum (complete courses only)
44: French courses for the National Curriculum (complete courses only)
72: Spanish materials for the National Curriculum & GCSE
73: Italian materials for the National Curriculum & GCSE

Post 16


65: A Level teaching materials: French
66: A Level teaching materials: German
67: A Level teaching materials: Italian
68: A Level teaching materials: Spanish

Adult and Higher Education


58: Teaching materials for adults: French
59: Teaching materials for adults: German
60: Teaching materials for adults: Italian
61: Teaching materials for adults: Spanish

Selecting the best French/German/Spanish etc. course for your Adult/Year 7/GCSE etc. class

It is difficult to recommend a particular coursebook as individual classes, teaching styles and other factors vary. However, when choosing a coursebook, you may find the following guidance useful in aiding your selection.

Guidance on assessing the needs of your class and on teaching learners of mixed ability is available in CILT's publications. CILT also offers a range of in-service training events.

Published guidance for teachers
There is a relatively small amount of literature on the evaluation of textbooks and materials. While checklists exist which can offer a framework for evaluation of a particular resource, local circumstances will need to be factored into the evaluation. Subjective biases, conscious or otherwise, render any evaluation exercise somewhat inexact. The majority of books covering materials evaluation relate to English as a Foreign Language. These will of necessity preclude reference to the needs of the National Curriculum, but the most frequently cited of them set out generic principles that can be used to evaluate resources for Modern Foreign Languages. The following include articles or chapters/modules on textbook or materials evaluation, which summarise the main issues, provide examples of checklists and also offer references for further reading:

Morgan, C. and Neil, P. (2001) Teaching Modern Foreign Languages: a handbook for teachers. Kogan Page (Ch.4, 'Physical and human resources')

Nedkova, M. (2000) 'Evaluation: evaluating materials'. In: Byram, M. (ed) Routledge encyclopedia of language teaching and learning. Routledge.

Sercu, L. (2000) 'Textbooks: textbook analysis and textbook evaluation'. In: Byram, M. (ed) Routledge encyclopedia of language teaching and learning. Routledge.

Tomlinson, B. (2003) Developing materials for language teaching. Continuum. (Part A, 'Evaluation and adaptation of materials')

Ur, P. (1996) A course in language teaching - theory and practice. Cambridge University Press. (Module 13, Unit 2, 'Coursebook assessment')

Reviews
You can find reviews on the TES website by choosing "Advanced search" from the navigation bar at the right of the opening screen and opting to search the "TES Archive" section in the "Reviews" category. Insert the appropriate term under "keyword(s)", e.g. "French" or "Metro".

Reviews may also be published in various journals from the Association of Language Learning, including:
Language Learning Journal; Francophonie; Deutsch: Lehren und Lernen; Vida Hispanica; Tuttitalia; Rusistika

Where to buy materials and resources

CILT Publications can be bought in the CILT Resources Library or through our distributor. For full details please see our how to order pages.

For details of where you can buy or order other teaching materials and resources please see the following CILT information sheets: