COURSEBOOK ASSIGNMENT

By: Claudia Snchez

Class: English as a Foreign
Language Methodology
Professor: Roxanna Correa Prez

November 30th, 2014. Concepcin.

Factual Details
Title: Global English 3
Author(s): Jolanta Polk Reyes
Publisher: Ediciones Cal y Canto

Price: Free

ISBN: 978 956 339 059 9

No. of Pages: 175

Components: SB/TB/WB/Tests/Cassettes/Video/CALL/Other: SB, TB, WB, Tests, CD

Level: 3rd high school level
Length:

Units: 5

Physical size: Rectangular

Lessons/sections: 2

Hours: 115

Target skills: Reading, writing, speaking and listening

Target learners: 3rd high school students
Target teachers: English Teacher
ASSESSMENT (*poor **Fair ***Good ****Excellent)
Factor
Rationale

Availability
User definition

Layout/graphics

Accessibility
Linkage
Selection/grading

Appropiacy

Rating and comments

*** Each unit has two communicative
activities, but they are more or less the most
common ones, roleplay
**** The book is free and the educational
minister gives it to students.
**** The author explains each part of the
book to students. In other words, there are
some signs, titles, colours, charts, images in
the book, so in the second page the author
explains each of those things to the students,
what each of them means.
*** The course book has several pictures and
it is colourful. But, the only part that is
different from the rest of the book is the
workbook. The workbook is in black and white.
**** It is a book that is given by the minister*
mainly to public schools
**** The course book has half a page full of
webpages.
*** Some units that were revised have a very
good sequence, but in my opinion, I do not
believe that I can star the book whatever I
want, I do think that I can start from any
activity within a unit, or from any unit.
*** It is the appropriate book for the target
students in terms of language. However, it is

Authenticity

Sufficiency
Cultural bias

Educational validity
Stimulus/practice/revision
Flexibility

Guidance
Overall value for money

not appropriate in terms of layout, it has too

much images and the book tends to look as a
book made for children.
**** In some units there are extracts taken
from magazines. Also, there is the link of the
webpage that the extract was taken from, so
students can look for the complete article.
**** The course book has a level of English
according to the level.
*** In some units, there are some questions
made for Chilean students, therefore the
course book is contextualized.
**** It is a book given by the educational
minister.
**** The course book has several activities for
practicing what the teacher is teaching.
**** Each of the unit does not have an
strength relation with the previous or the next
one.
****
**** It is free

Conclusion:
In my opinion and according to what the checklist has shown, the course book that I chose is a
very good one. It has the proper language according to the level, which is one of the most
important things at the moment of choosing a book. Furthermore, it is very well contextualized,
which is something that you cannot find in any course book, because most of English course books
are oriented to UK or USA. On the contrary, this book is oriented to our country, Chile. In addition
to this, it is necessary to highlight that the book is totally free, because it is a book given by the
minister, so students do not have to pay for it as in some schools happen with other books. One of
the characteristics that I did not like about the course book is that it has too much images and in
some moment the course book seems to be oriented to children and not to teenagers. As a
conclusion, I would like to point out that the course book that I analysed is a very good one, it is
appropriate and it has a higher level of language than course books given some years ago, so I can
say that each time these kinds of course book, given by the minister, are getting better. Finally, I
have realized that most of teachers think that course book are not good enough and they do not
like to use them, but if we analysed in a deeper way as I did with the chart, maybe that would help
to change some thoughts towards course books and teachers would stop thinking that they only
can use them when there is come time left in a class.

Interview
Question
Do you think
course books
are
important?

Category
Importance
of
course
books

Participant
I do, but I dont think that they are really
necessary, I mean, they serve as a guide but
not really Theyre not, I dont think that
they are obligatory, teachers use them to
know what to do, when to do it and not
really as an obligatory piece of information. I
mean, it is not necessary for children to bring
them to schools, it not necessary for
teachers to know all of the contents that are
revised on each book. So I think they are
important but not really necessary, I think
that we can change them, teachers could
change how to work with course books.

Comments
Referring to the category of importance of course
books, according to the interviewee course books
are a guide for teachers and they can choose if they
will use it or not. Furthermore, the interviewee
claims that teachers can change how to work with
course books. This point of view would be connected
to Ian McGrath (2002). The author claims that even
when some course books have everything their
target users need, some teachers tend to
supplement or to change the course book according
to what they want or their students characteristics.

What
are Criteria for
your criteria choosing a
for choosing course book
a
course
book?

I think that course books should cover

children or students interests, I mean, they
are not only for teachers, so they should
cover both kind of interests, both students
and teachers interests, I mean, things are
constantly changing so we dont really know
what kids want, what they like, what they
dont like. So It is important for us as
teachers to choose books that are
interesting for them, but also that cover all
of the contents that we need, we need, we
need them to know. I dont see myself
choosing a book that for example is in black
and white.

In the category of criteria for choosing a course

book, the interviewee named two main criteria for
choosing a course book. The first one is the students
and teachers' interests. On one hand, there are the
students' interests because everything is changing
and with that, their likes are changing too. On the
other hand, there are the teachers' needs. To
contextualize, according to the interviewee, one of
the main needs that teachers have is to teach and
cover the contents that the students need to know.
So, it is important for the interviewee as a teacher,
to choose a book which covers all the contents that
they need students to know. This opinion has some
relation to Ian McGrath (2002). According to this
author, a course book should be carefully selected,
and teachers should take into account both external
requirements and their needs.

Which part Parts of CB

of the course most used
book do you
frequently
use?

I tend to use mostly activities, but not

exactly as they are presented. I think that is
because we need to take in account the
context that were applying our book at. We
dont only work with ideal students, so some
of them dont like to talk; some of them
dont like to listen to music. So, I just take
what I need. I base my activities on the
course book because that is what the
minister wants, and that is, well, minister is
our boss, bosses, so we have to do what they
want, but we can change, we can change to
what we want, so yes, it is a mixture.

In this category, Parts of course book most used, the

interviewee points out that he tends to use mostly
activities. But, it is necessary to highlight that he
does not use the activities as they are presented in
the course books, he just takes what he needs. May
be, he takes an activity and he adapts it according to
the context, learner's style and learner's
characteristics. Also, he claims that he bases his
activities on the course book because that is what
the minister asks. This opinion is strongly connected
to Ian McGrath (2002), because the author agrees
on adapting activities according to learner's
characteristics. Furthermore, the author highlights

some ways of adapting them, such as the

supplementation, which means no more than adding
something new.
Which parts Parts of CB
of the CB do seldom used
you seldom
use ?

I dont really like to use grammar rules and

things like that, because I think they are kind
of old and Students dont really like
structural learning, so I think that, I go for
more fun dynamic activities, listening,
speaking activities or group works, where
they have to create and not only hear or see
and memorize. So, yes, grammar rules for
me are not really, I mean when I have to
teach them, I teach them, I dont express
them, I just internally teach them.

In this category, Parts of course book seldom used,

the interviewee's opinion is that he does not like to
use grammar rules and things related to that. He
thinks that they are "kind of old". This opinion could
be related to Cook (2001), because in one of his
books he mentioned that the explicit explanation of
grammar formed part of the old-style methods. On
the other hand, the interviewee also mentioned that
students do not like structural learning and he prefer
more fun dynamic activities. Maybe, in this opinion
he is following Brown (1995) or Carter & Nunan
(2001), according to them, there are four kinds of
activities, but the interviewee is referring to the
dynamic ones, which are experiential and
exploratory activities. Because, the interviewee also
mentioned speaking activities and group works, so
the experiential and exploratory are the closest to
what he is referring to. What's more, he thinks that
students should create something, not only hear and
memorizing. That opinion could be connected
Littlewood (1981) and the communicative approach.
Those authors believe that there are two kinds of
activities, the pre communicative and the
communicative activities. The interviewee's opinion
is closest to the communicative activities, because
he mentioned that students should create
something, which is more or less functional
communication activities, referring to how to use
the language, how to apply it. Moreover, he
mentioned speaking activities, which are closest to
social interactions activities, because students
should interact with their classmates or maybe with
the teacher at the moment of speaking.

When do you
supplement
the
CB?
Why?

When I find that activities are not really

contextualized, when I think that students
would not understand the instructions, when
I think that they may have problems with the
contents, thats when I try to find something
else, but especially when I supplement the
course book is when activities are not
properly think, in this case thought, when
they are not properly thought, thats when I
try to supplement it with new things or with

In
this
category,
reasons/moments
for
supplementation, the interviewee refers to when he
supplement the course book. He mentions that he
usually supplements the course book when the
activities are not appropriate in terms of context,
instructions, content, etc. This opinion could be
connected to Ian McGrath (2002). It is more or less
the same connection made in the first category,
because this author claims that the course book
should be supplemented whenever the teacher

Reasons/mo
ments
for
supplementa
tion

things that my students will understand.

How do you Procedure or When I, when I think that the listening
supplement
activities to activities might be a little bit too difficult,
the CB?
supplement
when I think that my students would do not
like the subjects or the topics, sorry the
topics, thats when I try to supplement it, so I
try to find songs, they really love songs, I try
to find interviews or videos, videos are really
good, they really like them, because they not
only have to listen but they also have the
possibility to see what the person is talking
about, thats great.

What kind of Help

in
help would teaching GR
you like to
have
from
the CB in
teaching GR?

Well to be honest, I dont really like to teach

grammar, I mean literally. So I try to find
some extra help, but not teaching grammar,
not expressing the structures. I teach them
in a prop, in a different way. They dont
really see the structure but they are
internalizing it, they are understanding it,
they are learning so thats how I work with
grammar, so I really dont use help to teach
grammar, not even from the course book.

What kind of Help

in
help would teaching PR
you like to
have
from
the CB in
teaching PR?

Amm, in this case I would like to have some

phonetic transcriptions, I know that they
might a little bit difficult for, for little
children, but you can teach them, you can
teach the basic suffix, so they will
understand it, they will learn, so thats the
kind of help that I would like to have from
the course book. The spelling, I dont really
like the Spanish, the words, you know, try to
translate them into Spanish, or try to write
them as Spanish, so a little bit of phonetic
transcriptions will be great.

`What kind Help

in
of
help teaching LX
would you
like to have
from the CB
in teaching
LX?

Ok, this one is really good one. I dont think

that course book really teach structures, so
revision about connectors, interesting
exercises
about
punctuation,
about
connecting ideas, which would be excellent.

thinks that it is necessary to do it.

In this category, procedure or activities to
supplement, the interviewee mentions some
activities that he uses to supplement the course
book, mostly visual aims. As McGrath (2002)
mentions in his book, there are two ways of
supplement the course book. One is to supplement
it looking for activities that are in another course
book for example. The second one is to supplement
the course book looking for authentic visual or
textual items. Despite the fact that the interviewee
does not mention the word authentic, there can
be a link between his opinion and Ian McGraths
opinion.
In this category, help in teaching grammar, the
interviewee strongly believe on not teaching
grammar literally. Moreover, he expresses his dislike
on teaching grammar, despite of that, he believes
that grammar could be taught, but in a different
way. Maybe he is following Cook (2001), because
this author comments that grammar could be
practices through drills or incorporated within
communicative exercises, but should not be
explained. Clearly, there is a connection between
the two opinions.
In this category, the speaker refers to what kind of
help he would like to have from the course book in
teaching pronunciation. His opinion was that he
would like to have phonetic transcriptions. Maybe,
this opinion could be connected to Littlewood (1981)
and the communicative approach. There would be a
connection between them, because maybe the
interviewee sees the phonetic transcription as a
connector to speaking activities or speaking skills.
Therefore, it is universally known that trough
practicing phonetic transcriptions the learner may
practice the speaking skill too.
In this category, help in teaching lexis, the
interviewee remarks that course book does not
teach structure; therefore he would like to have
more exercises about punctuation, connectors,
among others. It seems that he would like that,
because most of the time students do not know how
to express themselves, mainly because of the lack of
vocabulary and not because of the lack of
knowledge. Following McGrath (2002) and the ways

What kind of Help

help would teaching
you like to SKILLS
have
from
the CB in
teaching
SKILLS?

in I would really like to have interesting fun

activities for children, I mean not only talk
about the weather, or read about, no. I
would really have, I would really like to have
some new activities, some different things,
not the things that students are used to.
That would be different, I think thats it, I
mean only interesting activities for them, not
the boring ones, not the classic ones, but
new things, new ideas.

of supplementation, it can be found the same

opinion and reason of why it is important to teach
vocabulary.
In this category, help in teaching skills, the
interviewee concludes that communicative and
interesting activities are the missing ones. Also, it
can be inferred from his opinion, that course books
always have the same activities and they are lack of
new things. This comment can be connected to
Brown (1995) or Carter & Nunan (2001), following
the idea of types of activities, such as instructional,
experiential, elicitative and exploratory. The most
common activities are instructional and elicitative,
therefore teachers are the one in charge on looking
for new things to catch the attention of their
students. It is a good idea to modeling the activities,
such as doing experiential activities or making
webquest, which are very interesting and
entertaining for students, also they have the
possibility of search ways of looking information,
internet and books, among others.

Conclusion:
The chart has shown a short interview made to a school teacher. All the questions were focused to
course books and what the teacher thought about them. The interview were analysed depending
on different categories and also the interviewees opinions were connected to some authors. This
analysing has shown me what the opinion of only one teacher towards course books is, also if the
teacher supplements them or not. Maybe, there are some things that I disagree with, but always is
good to read or listen different opinions about a certain topic.
Furthermore, this analysing has been a help for me, because at the moment of connecting the
opinions to an author, I have realized all that I have learned until now. Also, this assignment has
changed my mind towards course books. When I was at school, I remember that I never used the
course book and that interfered in my way of thinking about course books. Before analysing the
course book and the interview, I used to think that using course book was a waste of time,
because there are several prejudices about them. In contrast, as the moment of thinking about
them, about the contents, the language, the units and even the layout, you realize that course
books are a helpful tool.
To sum up, it is not necessary to do everything that the course book suggests; today teachers have
the chance of supplementing it. There are several webpages when teachers can find interesting
activities to supplement some materials according to the students needs and interests. From my
point of view, this interview and the analysis of it has helped me a lot in different aspects, even
when I disagree with some teachers opinions.

References

Cook, V. (2001). Second Language Learning and Teaching.(Third edition ed., pp. 3-6).
London, Hodder Headline Group.
Correa, R. & Daz, C. Materials: a challenging world. [PowertPoint slides].
Hu, H. & Wu, J. (2005, 09). Applying Communicative Teaching Method in English-teaching Classroom.
11, 2014. Retrieved from
https://uvirtual2.ucsc.cl/pluginfile.php/117729/mod_resource/content/1/LITTLE%20WOOD.pdf

MacGrath, I. (2002). Materials Evaluation and Design for Language Teaching. Edinburgh
University Press Ltd.: Edinburgh.