Most teachers recognise the need to make learners aware of the potential relevance and utility of the language and skills they are teaching. Perception of relevance and utility can

Most teachers recognise the need to make learners aware of the potential relevance and utility of the language and skills they are teaching.

Perception of relevance and utility can be achieved by relating teaching points to interesting and challenging classroom tasks and by presenting them in ways which could facilitate the achievement of the outcomes desired by the learners. The ‘new’ learning points will be relevant if they can help the learners to achieve short-term task objectives now. Of course, this only works if the tasks are begun first and the teaching is then provided in response to discovered needs. This is much more difficult than the conventional approach of presenting a predetermined point first and then getting the learners to practise and produce it.

Perception of relevance and utility can also be achieved, for example, by getting learners to choose from (or add to) a list of project tasks and then to decide on strategies for achieving their project targets. So, for example, those learners who decide to research local documents could be referred to a section in the book which provides advice on scanning, whereas those learners who decide to use questionnaires could go to a section which deals with writing questions.

(TOMLINSON, B. (ed). Material Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP. 1998/2011. Adaptado)

An example of a potentially relevant and useful short-term English language goal for high school students would be the learning of specific vocabulary to