New Haven, Indiana TESOL Online & Teaching English Jobs

The topic of this unit is books and materials we use when teaching English. 1. Course books Course books usually come as a set including a student’s book, a workbook, CD / DVD, teacher’s book. Other published materials may include reading books, test books, learners dictionaries and vocabulary flash cards. Advantages of using a course book: - Expected by students - Considerably easier and less time consuming than creating a syllabus and all necessary materials - Provides a syllabus suitable for the students’ level - Provides security - Continuity and progression - Provides a balanced mix of grammar, vocabulary and skills work - Usually tried and tested before publication - Attractive and appealing to the eye - It continually practices language items previously introduced - The teacher’s book offers good ideas for the inexperienced teacher. Disadvantages of using a course book: - It does not always fit specific needs and interests of all the students - Students might not like the book and might be reluctant to use it - Exclusive use of a course book can become predictable and boring for students - It can make teacher’s lazy and stop them from being creative - It is almost always a compromise - Designed for all languages and might not cover language problems specific to the nationality the teacher is teaching - Teachers rarely get to choose the course book - Course books dictate what is to be taught. This might stop teachers from analysing specific problems that their students have and may prevent the lessons from being student centred. Best use of course books: - If you have the choice, which is most suitable for your group - Do not use the course book the whole lesson - When planning a lesson think which items will motivate your students and which do not and therefore need to be supplemented, adapted or replaced - How much time is needed for every task and create a balanced lesson - Explore ways to match the course book to the needs of students - Approach the book critically - Don’t base all lesson around the course book. - Don’t regard the course book as the solution to everything. Four different options for course book use: - Omit If certain lessons are not beneficial or relevant to students, they may be omitted. Do not omit too much or student will wonder why the book is being used at all. - Replace Replace not suitable materials with similar but more appropriate ones. - Supplement Add extra material to reinforce a language point or the extend the students’ engagement with the language. - Adapt The teacher will use the same basic materials but in his/her own way and style. Analysing a course book: - Price - Availability - Design - Methodology - Skills - Difficulty - Syllabus - Topic - Teacher’s guide - Ancillary materials The most useful part of this unit to me personally, was the list of advantages and disadvantages for the use of course books. With some of my private students I use almost exclusively the course book, with others I barely use it and my school created its own syllabus and all materials are made by myself and my fellow teachers. Especially with my private students that use a course book I should maybe omit, replace, supplement or adapt it more often to fit the needs of my students even more and create more interesting lessons.