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HOW TO CHOOSE A TEXTBOOK
What textbook should I choose for my students?
Shall I consider the psychology of the age group?
Who can help me to choose a course book for my students?
Sound familiar? Read on!
Teach English with a British course book
ELT is big business. There are hundreds of publishers, thousands of course books (and millions of learners!!). So which one do you choose?
If you were a foreigner and wanted to learn Ukrainian, would you choose a book by Russian or British author? Do you agree that a Ukrainian course book is the most appropriate in this case? Isn't it the same with English?
British authors and teachers offer you a helping and friendly hand in your teaching. British course books provide appropriate, modern methodology.
Use a trusted methodology
Any British textbook is not just a book, but a complete set of materials: Student's Book, Workbook, Teacher's Book, cassettes, CDs, tests, plus free Internet resources. In addition, there are dictionaries, grammar books, readers, audio readers and much more.
Supporting all of this is vast network of professionals - authors, linguists and lexicographers, methodologists, designers, proofreaders and editors, even computational linguists, psychologists and statisticians.
British authors use teaching methodologies that have been developed, tried and tested over decades. All professional European institutions now base their English language studies on British textbooks. Their efficiency has been proven over time.
Consider the psychology of the age group
First, find out what age the textbook is designed for. Books for teenagers are not (always) suitable for adults. We don't really need a psychologist to tell us that when teaching it's necessary to consider the age of the class or group. Obviously, people of different ages have different interests and different priorities. For example, the availability of songs, verses, games in a textbook for children is a must. A language is interesting for learners only if the methodology corresponds to psychology of the age group.
Although Cutting Edge is an excellent book for learners of English we do not recommend it for teenagers; Opportunities is much more suitable for this age group.
Another common error is to orientate a class exclusively on one level (Elementary, Intermediate, etc.) However, Elementary level textbooks such as Friends, Opportunities, Cutting Edge and Market Leader cater for completely different age and interest groups.
Assess the features of the textbook
Now, let us look at a textbook in more detail.
Firstly, find out how many hours of instruction the course book has been designed for. Has the course book been designed for 6 hours or 2 hours per week, is the course for 60 or 120 hours of instruction? Is the book orientated towards specialized or ordinary schools, and hence, of a different structure or methodology?
Secondly, are all four language skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking) studied equally? Sometimes in textbooks by Russian and Ukrainian authors, and in old British textbooks, the grammar is over emphasized, and the development of communicative skills is almost completely overlooked.
Find out when the textbook was written. Was it before or after the turn of the 21st century? The 1990s were a period of enormous changes in the methods of teaching. Instead of a thematic orientation ('My family', 'Work', 'Travel', etc.), now the complex approach is applied in which all 4 skills are interwoven into one topic; the skills, grammar and vocabulary being recycled at regular intervals to reinforce the materials studied. Speaking activities are given much more emphasis than before.
Do not forget also to find out how many cassettes or CDs are includes in a course.
When looking through a textbook or coursebook, pay attention not so much to its content, as to how a lesson (or a module) is constructed: what it begins with and what the aims are. Imagine how a lesson will progress with the book. In addition, don't be deceived by the wide range of activities and materials within a course. There are textbooks where each lesson contains huge amounts of materials, for example, four pages of grammar. Ask yourself whether it's possible to cover all of it during one or two lessons? If not, then you had better select a textbook with a more effective and balanced structure.
Browse the Teacher's Book
A Teacher's Book should be a great help for a teacher. Each lesson, each activity should be explained in detail. Therefore, you won't to need reinvent the wheel. The teacher should be provided with ready-to-use modern methodology that she has only to use properly. Browse through the Teacher's Book and evaluate its suitability.
Refer to the Experts!
Last but not least. As we mentioned at the very beginning, an extremely wide range of textbooks are available to those studying English today; for different ages, for different business spheres, professional work, etc. Sometimes it's hard to choose.
Remember, our team of consultants at Dinternal will be too pleased to assist you with any query you may have. Please drop in or call.
Teach English with a British course book
Use a trusted methodology
Consider the psychology of the age group
Assess the features of the textbook
Browse the Teacher's Book
Refer to the Experts!
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