Unit 8 chapter 9

[tom]

1. "I think it is impossible to find the perfect book; each one has good and bad features."
I agree with this statement. Coursebooks should be a tool to use in the proces of teaching. The teacher is the professional to adapt the coursebook to his/her reality.
2. "A good coursebook should have themes which relate to the children, lots of recycling and lots of pictures."
I agree. Learning another language is an effort, anything that can lighten up this process is very motivating for all learners. Pictures, recycling(feeling of success) and themes that relate to children are a must for a good coursebook.
3. "It isn't enough to have a Students' Book, Teacher's Book and Workbook; a teacher needs other things, like flash cards and supplementary components."
I partly agree. It depends on the situation. Imagine your school can offer children a personal computer, lots of these materials could be replaced by technology, and complemented with handouts.
4. "My school chooses the coursebook. I don't have any say in the matter."
I don’t agree. I think teachers are specialists and should have a say in what kind of materials and coursebooks the school decides to use.
5. "I like coursebooks with central characters and a story."
I agree. It motivates children and keeps their curiosity and attention. They look forward to the next chapters.
6. "If the workbook has an answer key, the children just copy the answers."
I agree. Especially with older children this can happen. In the coursebook I use, the I-pack contains the correction, so no answer key is needed as you can display the answer on the screen.
7. "We don't use coursebooks for very young learners at my school. I make all my own materials."
I disagree. We use the same coursebook from 1st of primary to 6th of primary and the advantage is that children are used to it and that it has a logical structure over these 6 years. I think the job of we teachers is to teach, not to design coursebooks, however, our job is also to look for extension and reinforcement where necessary, and this means creating extra activities, that the coursebook might not have covered.

Up to now I only used Surprise Oxford University press, and I'm very satisfied with it.

[Admin]

I agree with everything you say Tom. Except maybe the issue of extra materials: when I was teaching kids I never used even half the stuff that was included in the package - listenings and videos and flashcards and posters etc etc. If you followed the publishers recommendations there'd be no time for any creativity at all, or even time to talk about real things...