Relevant parts of newspapers can easily be multiplied by stenciling or photocopying and made available to the class. Newspapers are cheap and so both instructors and students can afford to buy them, quite unlike books, which tend to be prohibitively expensive when they are available. Learning materials are more relevant, interesting and motivating if they are structured within the experience, culture and environment of the learner. Newspapers in Sierra Leone fulfill these qualities. For example, editorials, feature articles and gossip columns are normally based on local issues which readily arrest the attention of readers.
Sophisticated tools are often difficult to repair when they break down.
Properly handled and stored, newspapers can endure long periods of use, and the longer the period they are preserved and used, the more cost-effective they become. The use of the radio in language teaching cannot be overstated. The BBC and VOA language teaching programs have enjoyed worldwide appreciation for years. The School Broadcasting Unit of the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service has taught French and English for years, and the radio is going to be the major channel of instruction for proposed Distance Education Programs. The greatest advantage about the radio as a language teaching tool is that large numbers of learners can assemble around one receiver.