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    Lecture9 - Nistor Petronela-Elena Lma Eng-Ger

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    Petronela Nistor
    The document discusses options for using coursebooks in teaching, including omitting, replacing, adding to, or adapting lessons from the coursebook as needed. It outlines both advantages and disadvantages of coursebook use, such as their provision of structured material but also potential lack of variety or appropriateness. The document concludes that teachers should view coursebooks as proposals rather than instruction manuals, and choose books by analyzing options, piloting material, consulting others, and gathering student opinions to identify the best fit.

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    Lecture9 - Nistor Petronela-Elena Lma Eng-Ger

    Uploaded by

    Petronela Nistor
    16 views2 pages
    The document discusses options for using coursebooks in teaching, including omitting, replacing, adding to, or adapting lessons from the coursebook as needed. It outlines both advantages and disadvantages of coursebook use, such as their provision of structured material but also potential lack of variety or appropriateness. The document concludes that teachers should view coursebooks as proposals rather than instruction manuals, and choose books by analyzing options, piloting material, consulting others, and gathering student opinions to identify the best fit.

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    Lecture9- Nistor Petronela-elena Lma Eng-ger

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    The document discusses options for using coursebooks in teaching, including omitting, replacing, adding to, or adapting lessons from the coursebook as needed. It outlines both advantages and disadvantages of coursebook use, such as their provision of structured material but also potential lack of variety or appropriateness. The document concludes that teachers should view coursebooks as proposals rather than instruction manuals, and choose books by analyzing options, piloting material, consulting others, and gathering student opinions to identify the best fit.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    16 views2 pages

    Lecture9 - Nistor Petronela-Elena Lma Eng-Ger

    Uploaded by

    Petronela Nistor
    The document discusses options for using coursebooks in teaching, including omitting, replacing, adding to, or adapting lessons from the coursebook as needed. It outlines both advantages and disadvantages of coursebook use, such as their provision of structured material but also potential lack of variety or appropriateness. The document concludes that teachers should view coursebooks as proposals rather than instruction manuals, and choose books by analyzing options, piloting material, consulting others, and gathering student opinions to identify the best fit.

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    11Using coursebooks

    Options for coursebook use


    Using coursebooks creatively is one of the teacher’s premier skills. The way in which we get
    students to look at reading texts, do exercises or solve puzzles in the book is extremely
    important.
    There are four alternatives to consider if we decide that part of a coursebook is not appropriate:
    1. omit the lesson (Teachers do it all the time, developing a kind of‘pick and choose’
    approach to what’s in front of them)
    2. replace the coursebook lesson with one of our own (our own material probably interests
    us more than the coursebook and it may well be more appropriate for our students)
    3. add to what is in the book (We are using the coursebooks strengths but marrying them
    with our own skills and perceptions of the class in front of us)
    4. adapt what is in the book ( rewriting parts of it, replacing some of the activities (but not
    all), reordering activities or reducing the number of activities in the sequence)

    Reasons for (and against) coursebook use

     Some teachers have a very poor opinion of coursebooks. They say they are boring, stifling (for
    both teacher and students) and often inappropriate for the class in front of them.
     Other teachers feel much more positive about coursebooks. For them, coursebooks provide
    good teaching material which is often attractively presented. The coursebook has been carefully
    researched and has a consistent grammar syllabus as well as providing appropriate vocabulary
    exposure and practice, together with pronunciation work and writing tasks.

    ADVANTAGES:

    - a range of reading and listening material;

    -workbooks;

    - have a teacher’s guide (to help teachers with procedure and give them extra ideas)

    !!!! Even teachers who are enthusiastic coursebook users, however, need to see them as proposals
    for action, rather than instructions for action.

    Choosing coursebooks
    1. analyse the books under consideration to see how they compare with each other( e.g. layout
    and design, methodology, topics, etc)
    2. pilot it - or parts of it - with a class so that we can assess its strengths and weaknesses;
    3. consult colleagues, and indeed anyone who has an opinion about the book(s) in question;
    4. let our students have a look at the two or three books we are considering and ask their opinion
    on what looks best to them.

    Possible areas for consideration

    a) Price and availability


    b) Add-ons and extras (Are there Internet sites with extra material -exercises, texts, etc. )
    c) Layout and design (attractive, appropriate for students and teacher)
    d) Instructions (clear and unambiguous instructions; written in language that the students will
    understand)
    e) Methodology ( good balance between study and activation)
    f) Syllabus
    g) Language skills
    h) Topics ( variety of topics)
    i) Cultural appropriacy
    j) Teacher’s guide

    Conclusions:

    ■ looked at four different options - omit, replace, add and adapt - for coursebook use when, for
    some reason, the teacher decides that (the lesson in) the coursebook is not appropriate for the
    class.
    ■ said that creative coursebook use is one of a teacher’s main skills.
    ■ looked at examples of adding, adapting and replacing coursebook material.
    ■ discussed the criticisms often levelled at coursebooks: that they are boring, inappropriate and
    lacking in variety, for example. But we have said that their advantages (clarity, solid
    progression, attractiveness) often outweigh these disadvantages, and that it is precisely because
    of some of their perceived defects that teachers need to use them creatively - provided they realise
    that coursebooks are proposals for action rather than obligatory instruction manuals.
    ■ suggested that teachers should make decisions about which coursebook to use based on
    analysis, piloting, consultation and the gathering of opinions from students and colleagues -
    and that one way of doing this is to prepare a checklist of questions.

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