Module 7: Lesson 3 - Coursebooks Flashcards
What types of coursebooks can you find?
There are coursebooks:
- at all levels from complete beginner up to proficiency;
- for young learners/ teenagers/ adults;
- for General English, Business English, Exam English;
- for grammar, vocabulary & lexis, study skills;
- which are for self-study and taught;
- which are physical books and interactive eBooks.
What are the typical schemes of work (curriculums)?
Elementary (A1)
Pre-intermediate (A2)
Intermediate (B1)
Upper-Intermediate (B2)
Advanced (C1)
Proficiency (C2) - not as common
How can a coursebook be integrated into a curriculum?
- A school curriculum may follow a coursebook and its contents closely.
- A school curriculum may partially follow a coursebook.
- A school curriculum may not follow a specific coursebook at all.
How would you analyze a coursebook?
it is important to select an appropriate one. The coursebook should meet the needs of your learners.
Sometimes, your school will have a fixed coursebook / set of coursebooks that they want you to use in any given course
What are some of the needs learners have as it relates to coursebooks.
Visual: like to have lots of visual clues.
Auditory: like learning by listening, and enjoy listening activities.
Kinesthetic: enjoy learning by “doing.” They like activities where they can do it themselves.
NEEDS include:
- Improve their pronunciation and lose their accent.
- Learn specific vocabulary sets.
- Learn various writing styles such as formal or academic writing.
- Improve their grammar.
- Study authentic texts.
- Pass an English language examination.
- Achieve a certain CEFR level.
What are some pros of using a digital coursebook?
The teacher can use the annotation tools to highlight, underline and make notes on the page.
Learners can also be more involved by annotating and collaborating on a digital coursebook.
Many coursebooks come with extra digital features.
This option can be cheaper for schools and teachers as digital coursebooks might be sold at a cheaper price.
Teachers and learners can use phones and tablets to refer to a textbook.
What are some cons of using a digital coursebook?
Many people still prefer the look and feel of a real, physical coursebook in their hands
Although digital coursebooks come with an impressive range of features, there is a certain amount of hardware that is necessary to have in order for it to work.
Some people find that reading for long periods of time on a device can cause them eye strain.
Lastly, if you’re not familiar with the technology, it can be a little daunting to use at first which may put some people off.
What are some pros of using a physical coursebook?
When activities are completed in the students’ coursebooks, the teacher doesn’t have direct access to this to correct and monitor the students.
Many teachers prefer to use a traditional coursebook as they can quickly flip to reference and answer pages if they need to.
Lots of teachers prefer to make their own notes on their coursebook
It’s much easier for learners to use their own version of a coursebook even if they’re studying online.
What are some cons of using a physical coursebook?
Physical coursebooks can be much more expensive than digital ones because they need to be physically manufactured and distributed.
They are large and bulky.
The quality of physical coursebooks naturally degrade over time as they get used.
When teaching online, it’s very hard to teach from a physical coursebook.
