If you are studying English on your own, you may not have access to many English language textbooks. However, with a little imagination, it is possible to use the textbook in ways which will give you lots of language practice.
In this extract from Going Global, presenter Susan Fearn gives you some advice on making the most of an English language coursebook.
Before you read the extract If you have a textbook, look at the contents page.What different topics does it cover? Make a list of the different subjects which the book helps you to discuss.
In a monolingual class, all the students share the same language and obviously all the students are familiar with their own society.This can sometimes have an advantage – for example, it makes it easier for the teacher to provide explanations of difficult vocabulary – but it can sometimes seem that the students have no need to speak in English, since everyone speaks the same language and shares the same culture. So one activity which can encourage students to have a greater awareness of their own society in relation to others is to consider what international visitors would need to know. But the students must go into detail, explaining exactly what the visitor needs to do. For example, if the topic of the textbook unit is ‘travel’ they might consider what a visitor would need to take to be able to travel round their country or region.This sort of thing can start with a conversation or a roleplay and go on to be a project involving writing.
In this extract from Going Global, presenter Susan Fearn gives you some advice on making the most of an English language coursebook.
Before you read the extract If you have a textbook, look at the contents page.What different topics does it cover? Make a list of the different subjects which the book helps you to discuss.
In a monolingual class, all the students share the same language and obviously all the students are familiar with their own society.This can sometimes have an advantage – for example, it makes it easier for the teacher to provide explanations of difficult vocabulary – but it can sometimes seem that the students have no need to speak in English, since everyone speaks the same language and shares the same culture. So one activity which can encourage students to have a greater awareness of their own society in relation to others is to consider what international visitors would need to know. But the students must go into detail, explaining exactly what the visitor needs to do. For example, if the topic of the textbook unit is ‘travel’ they might consider what a visitor would need to take to be able to travel round their country or region.This sort of thing can start with a conversation or a roleplay and go on to be a project involving writing.
- Susan identifies one main advantage and one main disadvantage of monolingual classes. Can you find them?
- She gives one main suggestion for adapting material in the coursebook.What is it?
Answer
- Advantage: It is easier for the teacher to explain things if everyone shares the same first language. Disadvantage: Because everyone speaks the same first language, they do not need to speak English to each other.
- The students should look at the theme of the textbook unit – for example, ‘travel’ – and
consider what an international visitor would need to know about travel in the students’ country.
So, one idea for making the most of your textbook is to imagine you have to tell someone from another country about your own country, using the topic and the vocabulary in the book. Here are some more ideas.
Use the pictures before you read the text Many textbooks have pictures to illustrate the ideas and vocabulary in each unit. Before you look at the explanations and exercises, try to describe the pictures. If you do not know the exact words for the things in the pictures, can you describe them in another way?
Teach yourself then test yourself If your textbook contains exercises, don’t write your answers in the book. Instead, write your answers on a piece of paper. After a few weeks, go back and try the exercise again. How much can you remember?
Use BBC World Service BBC World Service broadcasts programmes on many different topics.Why not look for programmes which discuss the same topics as those in your textbook? For example, if the topic of work appears in your textbook, why not listen to Get That Job to test your vocabulary and understanding? Try to record programmes which match your textbook.That way, you can have a listening and a reading library.
TASK
Look at the BBC World Service schedule showing programmes for the next few months.Which programmes match the topics in your coursebook?
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