SlideShare a Scribd company logo
1 of 22
Download to read offline
Tim Dalby 145

A a t gY u o reB o : e o n
d pi
n o rC us o k B c mig
S ie nteA t fMa iuain
kl di h r o
l
np lt
o
Tm D ly
i ab
Jeonju University

A src
bt t
a
In language teaching situations all over the world, course books are
the mainstay of many teachers’ lessons. Whether new or experienced
as a teacher it soon becomes apparent that assigned course books have
advantages and disadvantages for a class at any given time. This paper
attempts to review current thinking on the use of course books for
language teaching and then provide a series of adaptation methods
to help teachers ensure a better fit between the course book materials
and their learners’ needs.
Keywords: course books, curriculum, syllabus, materials, Korea, professional development.

I o reB o sA e ’ l B d
.C us o k rntAl a
Take a random selection of teachers and ask them what they think
of their current course book and you will probably get an overwhelming
sigh and some sporadic grumbling. Ask these same teachers to then
think about the advantages and disadvantages of course books and
you will hopefully get a more circumspect discussion ending with a
fairly evenly balanced list. I have tried this activity during several
course book workshops with over one hundred English language teachers
in Korea from a variety of teaching backgrounds and contexts. The
lists I get are generally similar and the main points are discussed in
more detail below.
146 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled

1.1 Advantages
Course books provide guidance
As is the case in many parts of the world, many teachers in academies
and the public school system in Korea have no formal English-language
teaching qualifications or experience (Maley, 1992; Shin, 2004, p.68).
For these teachers, course books can provide a welcome level of guidance
on how to teach particular language structures or skills (Ur, 1991, p.184).
They can also provide professional development opportunities
(Cunningsworth, 1995; Cunningsworth & Kusel, 1991; Littlejohn, 1992;
Richards, 1993) in addition to those provided by their employers (if
any) or organizations such as Korea TESOL.
Course books save time.
For the busy teacher, a course book means a reduction in the amount
of planning that is required to teach a class (Graves, 2000, p.174).
Materials are (usually) neatly presented along with a series of activities
which takes the leg work out of lesson planning.
Course books provide a starting point for further activities.
The topics that are covered in course books provide teachers with
a jumping off point from which they can delve into deeper areas with
their learners. This could include getting into aspects of culture, looking
at different viewpoints in an argument and doing research. This view
is supported by Harmer (2001, p.8) who talks about course books as
‘...proposals for action, not instructions for use’. It refutes the idea
that teachers slavishly follow a course book. Take the example of communicative language teaching in Vietnam where materials are used in
the classroom in a wholly different way than intended by the materials
developers (Kramsch & Sullivan, 1996, p.202).
Course books provide structure.
In any communicative language classroom there is a level of uncertainty and change that can be both threatening and uncomfortable
for learners. The course book provides a structure so that the level
of unpredictability is reduced for learners and the learning event becomes
more tolerable (Crawford, 2002, p.83). Likewise, the course of study
Tim Dalby 147

is predictable for the teacher who is able to see how a particular lesson
fits into the course of study.
Learners expect a course book
Although a teacher in Korea may believe this to be a particularly
Korean issue, it is more widespread than that. Learners like to have
a course book because it gives them some control over their learning
(Crawford, 2002, p.83). There is also the view of course books providing
both authority and expertise (de Castell, Luke, & Luke 1989), where
teachers’ handouts do not (Harwood, 2005, p.151).

1.2 Disadvantages
Course books are a straitjacket.
For more experienced teachers, a course book can limit the amount
of creativity and freedom allowed for a class. This is especially true
in large programs where the learners are given tests which are based
on the course book. This is a form of negative washback which affects
the teachers and learners alike (Taylor 2005, p.154).
Course books are poorly designed.
Of course this depends on the course book, but it is fair to say
that production standards vary from publisher to publisher in terms
of the quality of the paper used, the layout, and the number of typographical
errors encountered in any given publication. One workshop participant
described a teacher’s book she was assigned as being unusable as it
was written entirely in Korean.
Course book topics are boring and/or irrelevant.
Most teachers would agree that at some stage they have come across
a topic that bears no relevance to themselves or their learners. It could
be that the materials are out of date or feature a celebrity that has
no following in a particular country. Either way, the materials lose
validity for the learners and teachers alike.
Course books are culturally removed.
As many course books hail from British or American roots, it is
148 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled

likely that learners in an EFL situation (i.e. where English is not a
common language), will not be able to relate to the materials presented.
Likewise, books used in Korea that were developed in Japan carry
images and content that is specific to a Japanese context – something
unlikely to be appreciated by many Koreans. Richards similarly suggests
that in course books ‘an idealized white middle-class view of the world
is portrayed as the norm’ (2001, p.255). It is possibly because of this
that the Korean Ministry of Education has tried to instill Korean values
in public sector course books (Yim, 2007, p.45).
Course book language is not authentic.
Although this is beginning to change, course book dialogues are
generally written within a limited list of headwords or to incorporate
and practice specific language points and are therefore not authentic
or realistic (Richards, 2001, p.255). While this can lead to issues of
credibility for some teachers, others see simplified English as a stepping
stone towards being able to cope with authentic English (for more
on the ‘cult of authenticity’, see Day & Bamford, 1998).

1.3 Balance
There are of course many other arguments that can be leveled both
for and against the use of course books (see for example, Crawford,
2002; Graves, 2000; Harwood, 2005; Richards, 2001; Ur, 1991 for
more in-depth analysis). In the end, we need to accept the fact that
course books are not going away anytime soon. Most of us, at some
time, need to use them, so we should try to find the best way to
incorporate them into our program of learning.

I v laig C us o k
I au t
.E
n o reB o s
Before this can be done, there is a need to understand a course
book in a particular context. Course books are necessarily a compromise
between what the authors want to produce using the very latest and
best teaching methodologies, and what publishers know will sell (for
an in-depth analysis of how a course book is produced from conception
Tim Dalby 149

through to publication see Bell & Gower, 1998). Course books are
designed for everyone and for no one (Graves, 2000, p.174), but without
doubt there is a need for the teacher to understand the course book
that is being used. There are several lists of criteria for evaluating
course books currently available (see for example, Breen & Candlin,
1987; Cunningsworth, 1995; Dougill 1987; Hedge, 2000; Hutchinson,
1987; Richards, 2001; Sheldon, 1988; Ur, 1991) and an interesting
research question could be formulated to discover how widely, if at
all, they are used. In the event that formally developed evaluation criteria
are not used, what then is the basis for institutions to choose the course
books they choose? Leaving these questions aside, I would like to
introduce a simple set of course book evaluation criteria that were
used successfully in my workshops by experienced and inexperienced
teachers alike. The criteria were developed by Tanner & Green (1998,
p.121) and are presented in more detail below.

2.1 The MATERIALS Test
Hutchinson describes course book selection as ‘the single most important decision that the language teacher has to make’ (1987, p.37).
However, the majority of teachers are unlikely to find themselves able
to make this decision. More likely a course book has already been
chosen for them, whether by committee or by the course manager.
Regardless of this, the ability to evaluate a course book is important
because it provides a baseline from which to make judgments about
what to adapt and change. Without understanding a particular context
and how the course book is set up, we cannot effectively make changes
that will benefit our learners. The quick evaluation provided by Tanner
and Green (1998) is comprehensive, in that it covers many of the most
important aspects in the more detailed checklists described above, and
it is efficient, in that it focuses on what teachers are likely to find
important in the here and now. In addition, by using the mnemonic
device of MATERIALS, it is easy to remember the steps.
Method
This applies to the teaching method used by the course book. Much
150 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled

of our teaching style is wrapped up in our personality (Hunt & Joyce,
1967) and so it is important that the style of the book and the activities
within match up with our own method of teaching. Does the book
focus on grammar, or does it have lots of fluency activities, group
work and mingling? Are the questions open-ended, or of the yes/no
variety?
Appearance
As discussed in the section above, the appearance of a book can
greatly affect how it is perceived and accepted by teachers and learners
alike. If a book looks very ‘busy’, it can be overwhelming for learners.
If there are a lot of mistakes, the teacher is likely to question the
level of expertise of the course book writer. Clearly laid out activities,
bright colors and adequate amount of white space can go a long way
towards making a book acceptable.
Teacher-friendly
This applies to how easy or difficult it is for the teacher to use.
If the book has teaching ideas, it may actually form part of a teacher’s
professional development (Cunningsworth, 1995; Cunningsworth &
Kusel, 1991; Littlejohn, 1992; Richards, 1993). The book should save
the teacher time, and so information should be easy to find. An index
or table of contents with the skills and/or grammar focus of each unit
should be included along with an answer key to exercises.
Extras
Some books come with a wealth of extras which might include
downloadable listening activities, a DVD, an adaptable workbook, a
student CD, a website, a teacher’s book and supplemental materials.
Other course books come with little more than just the student book.
How many or how few extras a course book comes with will determine
how much lesson planning work a teacher has to do along with how
much searching a teacher will need to do to find materials that are
suitable for her class. Of course, extras need to be easy to use too.
Realistic
Tim Dalby 151

With the advent and increasing use of corpuses and concordances,
the ability for course books to use authentic language has increased
dramatically over the last few years. Some course books, such as the
Touchstone series, now state that they are using corpus data in their
books (McCarthy, McCarten, & Sandiford, 2005). Of course, being
authentic is one thing, being up to date is another. A course book
filled with out of date slang is unlikely to ring true with learners and
teachers alike. Deciding what is authentic and balancing it with words
that will have lasting appeal is a difficult task. Take the example of
‘bovvered’ which was Oxford English Dictionary’s word of 2006 and
now is rarely heard, if at all, especially outside the British Isles. Check
the OED’s website if you are not sure what this word means.
Interesting
By looking at the topics in a course book, a teacher can decide
if they are relevant and interesting to his or her learners. It is also
important to ensure that the topics are relevant and interesting to the
teacher as she has to use the topics as a vehicle for teaching. As well
as the obvious advantages in terms of schema activation that interesting
topics afford, interested learners tend to be more focused in class and
less likely to engage in disruptive behavior (Hidi, 1990).
Affordable
Although this may be outside the realm of either the teacher or
the learner, the cost of a course book should have some level of bearing
on the value a learner places on the book. If the book is too cheap,
it may not be valued by the learner as authoritative. If it is too expensive,
the learner may have unrealistic expectations about how much they
will achieve by using the book. Also, in countries like Korea where
there is a strong expectation to finish any given course book (Carless,
2003, p.492), an expensive book may limit the teacher’s ability to
skip activities or units as learners may feel they didn’t get the full
value out of the book they purchased.
Level
The course book should be aimed at the level of the learners being
152 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled

taught. While there is an onus on institutions to provide leveled classes
where learners in any given class have similar levels of language ability,
it is not always practical or achievable to do this. Whether classes
are leveled or not, the course book should provide for either situation:
flexibility in the multi-level class, and congruence in the leveled class.
Skills
The final section is about what kind of class is being taught. If
it is a multi-skills class, does the course book adequately cover the
skills that are required? If it is a conversation class, does the course
book teach conversation skills, or is it merely a speaking course? Does
a writing book have a process or product approach to writing? Does
a reading book look to develop reading skills into reading strategies,
or does it merely have a reading section followed by comprehension
questions? Whatever the situation, the course book needs to fit the
class syllabus, whether it is imposed or negotiated.

I.T eA to
I h r fMa iuain
I
np lt
o
Whatever ratings a course book may receive after being given a
thorough evaluation, at some point it needs to be used in the classroom.
The level of ‘fit’ between the needs of the learners and the resources
available in a course book will vary from course to course and class
to class and so, to be effective, the teacher will need to manipulate
the materials in some way. Graves explains that course book adaptation
can happen at three different levels – the activity level, the unit level
and the syllabus level (2000, p.188). Syllabus level adaptation is taking
a course book and reordering the units and/or adding supplementary
materials to the units to better fit the learners’ needs over a course
of study. At the unit level, the steps in the order of activities in a
unit are changed. In an example of this, Graves gave twelve activities
from a course book unit to groups of teachers and asked them to produce
a unit plan for their students. At the end of the activity, each group
had reordered the units in a totally unique way, and none matched
the original course book order (2000, p.197). For simplicity at this
Tim Dalby 153

level, I will again turn to Tanner & Green’s categories which I have
adapted into the easy-to-remember acronym DEAR (1998, p.122).

3.1 Four Basic Methods of Manipulation at the Unit Level
Delete
In this scenario the materials or activity are simply not covered.
In some situations, whether it is due to a lack of time, the level of
difficulty or the relevance of the materials to an upcoming test, the
teacher can decide to ‘move on’ to the next section.
Edit
By editing we basically take the activity that we have been given
and change it to make it more relevant, interesting, up to date, or
practical. A nice device that I have seen is in the ‘Smart Choice’ series
where the resource book pages are provided on a CD as editable documents
allowing me to change the names of characters to the names of students
in my class (Wilson, 2007). I can also change the photos to use well-known
Korean celebrities – or the students themselves.
Add
In some course books, teachers notice a gap between two adjacent
activities. For instance, a listening activity may contain key vocabulary
that has not previously been covered on the course. In this case, the
teacher could add an activity to introduce this vocabulary to the students.
Similar examples could include a prediction activity before reading,
or a research project before a debate.
Replace
The final option is a combination of the first three where an activity
is provided in the course book, deemed unsuitable by the teacher, and
so replaced with something that will work with a given set of learners.
Teachers familiar with resource books such as ‘Speaking Extra’
(Gammidge, 2004), ‘Vocabulary Games and Activities 1’ (Watcyn-Jones,
2001), or ‘Grammar Games and Activities 1’ (Watcyn-Jones &
Howard-Williams, 2001), for example, have materials to hand which
will neatly replace a course book unit with something more engaging.
154 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled

Replacement of activities also encourages teachers to build up their
own set of resources which can be used at a moment’s notice or to
liven up their classes at the end of the week. This is what Maley
refers to as the ‘wet Friday afternoon effect’ (1998, p. 281).

3.2 Practical Techniques at the Activity Level
At the activity level, there are several resources for the teacher
to refer to including Maley, who provides a comprehensive list of the
ways in which a course book can be manipulated (1998, pp.281-283)
and Ur (1991) who looks at how activities can be adapted to match
the skills taught. The suggestions given below are ideas based largely
on a handout I was given by Paul Michel while working at the Caledonian
School in Prague, Czech Republic along with ideas that I have collected
over the past nine years. They may not all work with all levels of
learners, in all cultures all the time, but are provided as examples of
what can be done with various materials that are generally available
in course books. As Bruton argues, there is a certain ‘sameness’ about
course books (1997, p.276) which should mean that the activities offered
below can be used with most course books most of the time.

3.3 If You Have a Written Text
Course books generally contain texts of varying lengths, whether
they are an integral part of the course book or thrown in as additional
activities in the teacher’s guide. In most cases, course book texts follow
the basic process which has learners reading the text and then answering
comprehension questions. The following adaptations can be used with
texts of all shapes and sizes.
Role play or mime characters from the text or act out the story.
In a text which involves characters, has a story, or is an event,
ask learners to choose a character and mime or act out the character’s
role in the story. They can use a dialogue that is already in the text,
or, more creatively, create a dialogue that fits the story in the text.
This could be done in class or assigned as a video project.
Tim Dalby 155

Create a prequel to the story.
If you have a story, get the learners to write or act out a prequel.
Ask them what they think could have happened before the story got
started, what were the characters doing etc.
Continue the story.
As above except this time the learners figure out what happened
next. Again, they could do this using drama, posted as a video project
on the class website or a group writing assignment.
Discuss or debate the issue. Ask provocative questions.
Discussions and debates are excellent ways of practicing speaking,
and for a text that involves a somewhat controversial topic, learners
can discuss or debate the issues around it. For an added level of difficulty,
have learners that are ‘for’ an issue speak for the ‘against’ team as
this can enhance their skills of persuasion. It also helps learners to
understand that there are two (or more) sides to every issue. To help
learners get started, the teacher can ask provocative questions to invite
reaction. Over time, learners can be encouraged to do the same.
FIGURE 1
Reply to the author (Touchstone Level 2, p. 41)
156 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled

Interview or reply to the author.
As well as helping learners understand that a piece of writing is
a form of communication between the writer and the reader, by interview ing or responding to an author we ensure that a deeper connection
is made to the text. The activity below is from Touchstone Level 2,
and involves students having to ‘fill in the gap’ in the invitations
(McCarthy, McCarten, & Sandiford, 2005). Once this is done, students
could respond to the invitation either by accepting or declining them.
Making predictions, skimming, scanning, semantic mapping and
summaries.
For any reading text of length, the following procedure can be
used in full or by skipping sections that are unnecessary.
1. Using the headline or a photograph, have learners make a prediction
about the contents of the text, the characters, what happens etc.
2. Have learners in groups write down the vocabulary that they
would expect to find in a text with the predicted topic. This
can be developed further into a semantic map – like a mind
map of connections between words.
3. Learners scan the text quickly to find any words from their lists.
The time limit here should be short.
4. Give learners one or two questions based on the overall idea
of the text. Allow only a short time for learners to skim the
text and answer the question(s). Stress that students don’t need
to understand every word, just the main idea(s).
5. Once the course book activities associated with the text have
been covered, learners could write a summary of the text. This
could be done in class or as a group assignment to be posted
on the class website.
Research assignment (in the L1).
If you have a monolingual class (which is generally the case in
Korea, though changing), you could ask learners to prepare for a reading
text by doing a research assignment in their first language. The research
is for learners to have a better understanding of the topic of the reading
Tim Dalby 157

as research consistently shows that readers with background knowledge
of a topic read more effectively (Alderson, 2000, p.44).

3.4 If You Have a Listening Activity
Like reading, listening is generally considered a ‘receptive’ skill,
but, also like reading, is far more interactional than that (Grabe, 1991;
Richards, 1983). Like reading, many course books follow a pattern
of listen and then answer questions – with the questions often being
answered during the listening activity. Unlike reading, learners cannot
control the speed of the input, so other adaptations are offered below
which are more specific to various listening texts.
Predict the answers. Bet on the answers.
Sometimes comprehension questions are written in such a way that
the answers can be fairly easily predicted. Even if not, by having learners
predict the answers to questions, they have more reason to listen. This
can be further enhanced by having learners in groups betting on the
answers in a whole-class team game.
Make the questions easier.
It is not always well understood that pretty much any piece of
listening can be used in a class. What makes an activity easy or difficult
is what you expect learners to do. If you find you have questions
that your learners are finding too difficult, make them easier. You
can do this by giving answer choices or simply making questions closed
rather than open.
Topic prediction, semantic mapping, gist listening and summaries.
As in the reading activity above, by giving learners a title or a
picture that is associated with the listening text, learners can try to
predict the topic and/or the vocabulary that they are likely to hear
in the recording. Then, by asking one or two global questions, learners
can confirm their predictions and listen for gist – without worrying
about understanding all the details. Once done, learners can move on
to the course book comprehension questions and then write a summary
158 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled

of what they heard.
Vocabulary grab.
This is an incredibly enjoyable activity that students of all ages
enjoy. Choose a listening script which has some vocabulary that you
want to target. Put learners into groups and give each group some
slips of paper – the same number of slips as target words. Have each
group write down one target word on one slip of paper until they
have all the target words written down. Groups put all the slips face
up in front of them. As the learners listen to the recording, they have
to grab the correct piece of paper with the word that they hear as
they hear it. The learner with the most pieces of paper in the group
wins. This is, roughly speaking, a scanning activity for listening and
can be used just as effectively when watching a video. In this case,
the words can be things that learners see, rather than hear.

3.5 If You Have a Picture
One of the best and most adaptable resources in a course book
is the pictures which accompany topics, units and skills activities. Images
are often specially commissioned by publishers to fit with whatever
is on the course book page. The activities offered below are quite
extensive and are for various types of image. Of course, not every
suggestion will be for every type of picture.
Describe the people, places, actions and things in the picture.
There are several things that a learner can talk about including
what they know or think about the place, city, or country in the picture.
They can be encouraged to think about the people, the food, the music,
the architecture, forms of dress, the climate, the religion, traditions,
customs, what daily life is like, the leaders, the type of politics, the
history, or the sports that the country enjoys or is well known for.
In the example below from Breakthrough, Level 1, learners could be
encouraged to discuss what they know about each culture (Craven,
2008).
Tim Dalby 159

FIGURE 2
What do you know about each culture?
(Breakthrough Level 1, p. 66)

Compare and contrast.
Learners faced with a picture of a place or a
or contrast them with a place or person they know
If there are two or more pictures on a similar
compared or contrasted. Learners could speculate

person can compare
(such as the teacher).
theme, they can be
on where they woul
160 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled

like to live and why or which person they would like to be and why.
Images of celebrations, traditional ceremonies and festivals could be
compared and contrasted with similar events in Korea. For a more
creative angle, groups of learners could create a ceremony, holiday
or tradition similar to the picture. The picture could encourage learners
to write a story or a newspaper article with the learners as reporters,
again with a comparison or a contrast to what occurs in Korea.
Speculate about the picture.
Getting learners to think outside the box, or picture in this case,
helps to get the creative juices flowing. Ask learners to decide what’s
happening outside the picture and why. They could discuss or write
about why the people are there, who they are, what they are doing,
their relationship, when they arrived, how long they have been there,
when they will leave, how they are feeling and why.
Thinking more about a person, learners could speculate about the
person’s job, age, education, family, lifestyle, nationality, their hobbies,
personal relationships, political opinions and musical tastes. They could
think about the person’s favorites in terms of the food they like, the
types of restaurants they go to, the vacations they take, and sports
they enjoy. Learners could think about what the person or people did
yesterday, what they have done in their lives, what they are doing
later today, what they are going to do next year, a secret they have,
or a crime they have committed.
If the picture shows a group of people, learners could rank the
people in terms of who earns the most money, who is the most educated,
who has the most interesting job, who has the most friends or enemies,
or who is most likely to commit a serious crime. Once done, learners
could compare their rankings and discuss any differences. Learners
could decide who they would most or least like to have dinner with
and why. They could discuss which of these people they would be
and why.
If the picture shows a problem, learners could talk about the problem
being shown, why the problem developed, and possible solutions to
the problem. In a cityscape, learners could discuss everyday life in
the city, the possible advantages and disadvantages of living in the
Tim Dalby 161

city and compare this with living in the country, the sounds, noises
and smells of the city. Thinking more about vocabulary, learners could
figure out how new vocabulary in the course book can be related to
the picture. Ask learners to think about whether they would like to
live in the city and why. They could also think about whether they
would like to visit this place and, if so, who and what they would
take with them and why.
Production.
For more focused production activities, take a picture and have
learners talk non-stop for one minute about the picture without hesitation
or repetition. Have learners look at two pictures then, in pairs or threes,
see how many sentences they can make about the first picture in one
minute. Then do the same for the second picture, but learners have
to try to beat their first score. Learners could be asked to look at
a picture for one minute, close their books and then tell a partner
everything they remember about the picture, as in the example below
from Top Notch Level 1 (Saslow & Ascher, 2006).
FIGURE 3
Remember as much as you can.
(Top Notch Level 1, p. 76)
162 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled

Learners could also ask each other their opinions about the picture.
Learners could be encouraged to use the target grammar, vocabulary
or exponents to interview a person, object or animal in the picture.
If it is an event, the learners could interview an eyewitness. If it is
a city, interview someone who lives there.
Have learners brainstorm anything that comes to mind about the
picture. They could give a personal reaction to what they see – as
in the example below from Top Notch Level 1 (Saslow & Ascher,
2006). They could talk about how they feel about a particular person,
event or place shown in the picture. They could talk about which parts
of the picture are most or least important to them and why.
FIGURE 4
Write a personal reaction to the story
(Top Notch Level 1, p. 72)
Tim Dalby 163

I.Fn l h u hs
V ia T o g t
Throughout the world, teachers of English language are thrust into
a classroom, course book in hand and told, ‘Teach that!’ It is neither
ideal, nor pedagogically sound, but it is the reality of an ever-expanding
and diverse industry. No matter how controlled the working environment
is, there is always room for adaptation at the activity level. As a teacher
becomes more proficient, the activities suggested above will become
second nature and lesson planning will become easier with more focus
on what the learners require. A teacher may even start to enjoy using
a course book for the challenge of adapting it to his or her learners!
In a less controlled environment, teachers will have the ability to
adapt course books on the unit level. At this point, course books become
less of a crutch and more of a tool. Teachers have more freedom and,
as they experiment and learn about what works and what does not
work, they will begin to gain an insight into syllabus and curriculum
design.
As a teacher’s experience grows, and as they move into more senior
teaching positions, educators will have both the confidence and experience to adapt course books at the syllabus level. It is worth remembering
though that the teachers who have to work with a syllabus are probably
busy adapting the materials that have been so carefully prepared. My
hope is that senior teachers in course management positions will see
this as a positive step in their staff and so reward and encourage them
for their efforts. After all, if our learners’ needs are being satisfied,
what more do we need to do?
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Paul Michel of the Caledonian School
in Prague for many of the adaptation ideas presented in this paper,
as well as the two anonymous reviewers for their suggestions for
improvements.
164 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled

R frn e
eee c s
Alderson, C. (2000). Assessing reading. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Bell, A. & Gower, R (1998). Writing course materials for the world:
A great compromise. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Materials development
in language teaching (pp. 116-129). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Breen, M. P. & Candlin, C. N. (1987). Which materials?: A consumer’s
and designer’s guide. In L. E. Sheldon (Ed), ELT textbooks and
materials: Problems in evaluation and development (pp. 13-28).
London: Modern English Publications and The British Council.
Bruton, A. (1997). In what ways do we want EFL coursebooks to
differ? System, 25(2), 275-284.
Carless, D. R. (2003). Factors in the implementation of task-based
teaching in primary schools. System, 31, 485-500.
Craven, M. (2008). Breakthrough: Success with English. Student’s Book
1. Tokyo: MacMillan Language House Ltd.
Crawford, J. (2002). The role of materials in the language classroom:
Finding a balance. In J. C. Richards & W. A. Renandya (Eds.),
Methodology in Language Teaching. (pp. 80-91). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Cunningsworth A. (1995). Choosing your coursebook. Oxford:
Heinemann.
Cunningsworth, A., & Kusel, P. (1991). Evaluating teachers’ guides.
ELT Journal, 45(2), 128-139.
Day, R. R. & Bamford, J. (1998). Extensive Reading in the Second
Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
de Castell, S., Luke, A., & Luke, C. (1989). Introduction. In S. de
Castell, A. Luke, & C. Luke (Eds.), Language, authority and
criticism: Readings on the school textbook (pp. 245-260). London:
The Falmer Press.
Dougill, J. (1987). Not so obvious. In L. E. Sheldon (Ed), ELT textbooks
and materials: Problems in evaluation and development (pp. 29-35).
London: Modern English Publications and The British Council.
Gammidge, M. (2004). Speaking Extra. A Resource Book of Multi-level
Tim Dalby 165

Skills Activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Grabe, W. (1991). Current developments in second language reading
research. TESOL Quarterly 25(3), 375-406.
Graves, K. (2000). Designing language courses: A guide for teachers.
Boston, MA: Heinle, Cengage Learning.
Harmer, J. (2001). Coursebooks: A human, cultural and linguistic
disaster? Modern English Teacher, 10(3), 5-10.
Harwood, N. (2005). What do we want EAP teaching materials for?
Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 4, 149-161.
Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and learning in the language classroom.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hidi, S. (1990). Interest and its contribution as a mental resource for
learning. Review of Educational Research, 60(4), 549-571
Hunt, D. E. & Joyce, B. R. (1967). Teacher trainee personality and
initial teaching style. American Educational Research Journal 4(3),
253-259.
Hutchinson, T. (1987). What’s underneath?: An interactive view of
materials evaluation. In L. E. Sheldon (Ed), ELT textbooks and
materials: Problems in evaluation and development (pp. 37-44).
London: Modern English Publications and The British Council
Kramsch, C. & Sullivan, P. (1996). Appropriate pedagogy. ELT Journal
50(3), (pp. 199-212.)
Littlejohn, A. (1992). Why are English language teaching materials
the way they are? Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Lancaster
University, Lancaster.
Maley, A. (1992). An open letter to ‘the profession’. ELT Journal,
46(1), 96-99.
Maley, A. (1998). Squaring the circle – reconciling materials as constraint
with materials as empowerment. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Materials
development in language teaching (pp. 279-294). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
McCarthy, M. McCarten, J. & Sandiford, H. (2005). Touchstone Student’s
Book 2. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Richards, J. C. (1983). Listening comprehension: Approach, design,
procedure. TESOL Quarterly, 17(2), 219-240.
Richards, J. C. (1993). Beyond the textbook: The role of commercial
166 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled

materials in language teaching. RELC Journal, 24(1), 1-14.
Richards, J. C. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Saslow, J. & Ascher, A. (2006). Top notch 1. New York: Pearson.
Sheldon, L. E. (1988). Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials. ELT
Journal, 42, 237-246.
Shin, J.K. (2004). The use of Freirian pedagogy in teaching English
as an international language: Raising the critical consciousness
of EFL teachers in Korea. LLC Review, 4(1), 64-82.
Tanner, R. & Green, C. (1998). Tasks for teacher education: A reflective
approach. Coursebook. Harlow: Pearson.
Taylor, L. (2005). Washback and impact, ELT Journal, 59(2), 154.
Ur, P. (1991). A course in language teaching: Practice and theory.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Watcyn-Jones, P. (2001) Vocabulary games and activities1. Harlow:
Pearson.
Watcyn-Jones, P. & Howard-Williams, D. (2002) Grammar games and
activities1. Harlow: Pearson
Wilson, K. (2007) Smart choice student book 1. Hong Kong: Oxford
University Press
Yim, S. (2007). Globalization and language policy in South Korea.
In A. B. M. Tsui & J. W. Tollefson (Eds.) Language policy, culture,
and identity in Asian contexts (pp. 37-53). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates.

Tim Dalby
Jeonju University
tim_dalby@yahoo.co.uk

Received: 2009.09.11
Peer reviewed: 2009.10.28.
Accepted: 2009.11.06.

More Related Content

What's hot

Materials and methods presentation
Materials and methods presentationMaterials and methods presentation
Materials and methods presentationMustika Shaleha
 
ESP The role of the esp teacher : orientation
ESP The role of the esp teacher : orientationESP The role of the esp teacher : orientation
ESP The role of the esp teacher : orientationSolihatin Iji
 
Factors affecting first language acquisition
Factors affecting first language acquisition Factors affecting first language acquisition
Factors affecting first language acquisition Al Alva
 
Esp chap 4 materials design (finished)
Esp chap 4   materials design (finished)Esp chap 4   materials design (finished)
Esp chap 4 materials design (finished)Nik Nor Nabillah Anis
 
A framework for materials writing
A framework for materials writingA framework for materials writing
A framework for materials writingMohammed Mallah
 
Integrated Curriculum/Program Multimedia Presentation
Integrated Curriculum/Program Multimedia Presentation Integrated Curriculum/Program Multimedia Presentation
Integrated Curriculum/Program Multimedia Presentation kfears123
 
English for Specific Purposes by Tony Dudley Evans
English for Specific Purposes by Tony Dudley EvansEnglish for Specific Purposes by Tony Dudley Evans
English for Specific Purposes by Tony Dudley EvansParth Bhatt
 
ESP (Course Design and skills and strategies)
ESP (Course Design and skills and strategies)ESP (Course Design and skills and strategies)
ESP (Course Design and skills and strategies)Lord Mark Jayson Ilarde
 
Second language acquisition (SLA)
Second language acquisition (SLA)Second language acquisition (SLA)
Second language acquisition (SLA)Mohsin Naqvi
 
Second-Language Acquisition (Cross-Linguistic Influence and Learner Language)
Second-Language Acquisition (Cross-Linguistic Influence and Learner Language)Second-Language Acquisition (Cross-Linguistic Influence and Learner Language)
Second-Language Acquisition (Cross-Linguistic Influence and Learner Language)Satya Permadi
 
Writing Skills in ESP
Writing Skills in ESPWriting Skills in ESP
Writing Skills in ESPFatima Zahra
 
Needs Analysis: A Valuable Tool for Designing and Maintaining Effective ESP C...
Needs Analysis: A Valuable Tool for Designing and Maintaining Effective ESP C...Needs Analysis: A Valuable Tool for Designing and Maintaining Effective ESP C...
Needs Analysis: A Valuable Tool for Designing and Maintaining Effective ESP C...Abdeslam Badre, PhD
 
Principles in Materials Design
Principles in Materials DesignPrinciples in Materials Design
Principles in Materials Designrhona merca
 
Course Planning and Syllabus Design
Course Planning and Syllabus DesignCourse Planning and Syllabus Design
Course Planning and Syllabus DesignAlvy Mayrina
 
needs analysis in course design
needs analysis in course designneeds analysis in course design
needs analysis in course designPalendja Etta
 
Testing Grammar and Vocabulary Skill
Testing Grammar and Vocabulary SkillTesting Grammar and Vocabulary Skill
Testing Grammar and Vocabulary SkillMyno Uddin
 

What's hot (20)

Materials and methods presentation
Materials and methods presentationMaterials and methods presentation
Materials and methods presentation
 
ESP The role of the esp teacher : orientation
ESP The role of the esp teacher : orientationESP The role of the esp teacher : orientation
ESP The role of the esp teacher : orientation
 
Factors affecting first language acquisition
Factors affecting first language acquisition Factors affecting first language acquisition
Factors affecting first language acquisition
 
ESP Materiasl Evaluation
ESP Materiasl EvaluationESP Materiasl Evaluation
ESP Materiasl Evaluation
 
Esp chap 4 materials design (finished)
Esp chap 4   materials design (finished)Esp chap 4   materials design (finished)
Esp chap 4 materials design (finished)
 
A framework for materials writing
A framework for materials writingA framework for materials writing
A framework for materials writing
 
Integrated Curriculum/Program Multimedia Presentation
Integrated Curriculum/Program Multimedia Presentation Integrated Curriculum/Program Multimedia Presentation
Integrated Curriculum/Program Multimedia Presentation
 
English for Specific Purposes by Tony Dudley Evans
English for Specific Purposes by Tony Dudley EvansEnglish for Specific Purposes by Tony Dudley Evans
English for Specific Purposes by Tony Dudley Evans
 
ESP (Course Design and skills and strategies)
ESP (Course Design and skills and strategies)ESP (Course Design and skills and strategies)
ESP (Course Design and skills and strategies)
 
Needs Analysis Part 1
Needs Analysis Part 1Needs Analysis Part 1
Needs Analysis Part 1
 
Second language acquisition (SLA)
Second language acquisition (SLA)Second language acquisition (SLA)
Second language acquisition (SLA)
 
types of syllabus
types of syllabustypes of syllabus
types of syllabus
 
Genre based instruction
Genre based instructionGenre based instruction
Genre based instruction
 
Second-Language Acquisition (Cross-Linguistic Influence and Learner Language)
Second-Language Acquisition (Cross-Linguistic Influence and Learner Language)Second-Language Acquisition (Cross-Linguistic Influence and Learner Language)
Second-Language Acquisition (Cross-Linguistic Influence and Learner Language)
 
Writing Skills in ESP
Writing Skills in ESPWriting Skills in ESP
Writing Skills in ESP
 
Needs Analysis: A Valuable Tool for Designing and Maintaining Effective ESP C...
Needs Analysis: A Valuable Tool for Designing and Maintaining Effective ESP C...Needs Analysis: A Valuable Tool for Designing and Maintaining Effective ESP C...
Needs Analysis: A Valuable Tool for Designing and Maintaining Effective ESP C...
 
Principles in Materials Design
Principles in Materials DesignPrinciples in Materials Design
Principles in Materials Design
 
Course Planning and Syllabus Design
Course Planning and Syllabus DesignCourse Planning and Syllabus Design
Course Planning and Syllabus Design
 
needs analysis in course design
needs analysis in course designneeds analysis in course design
needs analysis in course design
 
Testing Grammar and Vocabulary Skill
Testing Grammar and Vocabulary SkillTesting Grammar and Vocabulary Skill
Testing Grammar and Vocabulary Skill
 

Similar to Adapting Course Books

Material adaptation
Material adaptationMaterial adaptation
Material adaptationmaxyfelix
 
Material adaptation
Material adaptationMaterial adaptation
Material adaptationmaxyfelix
 
Syllabus design and lesson planning (building teaching)
Syllabus design and lesson planning (building teaching)Syllabus design and lesson planning (building teaching)
Syllabus design and lesson planning (building teaching)Carlos Mayora
 
Selectinganddevelopingteaching 120420101822-phpapp01
Selectinganddevelopingteaching 120420101822-phpapp01Selectinganddevelopingteaching 120420101822-phpapp01
Selectinganddevelopingteaching 120420101822-phpapp01Abdelghani Toumache
 
Material development in elt current issues
Material development in elt current issues Material development in elt current issues
Material development in elt current issues Aprilianty Wid
 
What is Special Education 1iStockphotoThinkstockPre-.docx
What is Special Education 1iStockphotoThinkstockPre-.docxWhat is Special Education 1iStockphotoThinkstockPre-.docx
What is Special Education 1iStockphotoThinkstockPre-.docxhelzerpatrina
 
Materials or not
Materials or notMaterials or not
Materials or notThao Le
 
Evaluating ELT Materials; Adapting Materials; Technology in ELT
Evaluating ELT Materials; Adapting Materials; Technology in ELTEvaluating ELT Materials; Adapting Materials; Technology in ELT
Evaluating ELT Materials; Adapting Materials; Technology in ELTRBLmadev Class 2018
 
Knowing Our Textbooks.ppt
Knowing Our Textbooks.pptKnowing Our Textbooks.ppt
Knowing Our Textbooks.pptJaseSun
 
PREPARATION AND EVALUATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
PREPARATION AND EVALUATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALSPREPARATION AND EVALUATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
PREPARATION AND EVALUATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALSJohn Christian Delos Reyes
 
Selecting and developing teaching
Selecting and developing teachingSelecting and developing teaching
Selecting and developing teachingErika Ruiz
 
Session 1 orientation what is curriculum fsm 2017
Session 1   orientation  what is curriculum  fsm 2017Session 1   orientation  what is curriculum  fsm 2017
Session 1 orientation what is curriculum fsm 2017lebogang shakwane
 
Preparation and Evaluation of Instructional Materials (14 of 16)
Preparation and Evaluation of Instructional Materials (14 of 16)Preparation and Evaluation of Instructional Materials (14 of 16)
Preparation and Evaluation of Instructional Materials (14 of 16)Nheru Veraflor
 
Week 4 post method section2
Week 4 post method section2Week 4 post method section2
Week 4 post method section2lisyaseloni
 
On syllabus design tefl32011
On syllabus design tefl32011On syllabus design tefl32011
On syllabus design tefl32011KAthy Cea
 
An Intro(Ed7004)
An Intro(Ed7004)An Intro(Ed7004)
An Intro(Ed7004)ed72
 

Similar to Adapting Course Books (20)

Material adaptation
Material adaptationMaterial adaptation
Material adaptation
 
Material adaptation
Material adaptationMaterial adaptation
Material adaptation
 
Syllabus design and lesson planning (building teaching)
Syllabus design and lesson planning (building teaching)Syllabus design and lesson planning (building teaching)
Syllabus design and lesson planning (building teaching)
 
Selectinganddevelopingteaching 120420101822-phpapp01
Selectinganddevelopingteaching 120420101822-phpapp01Selectinganddevelopingteaching 120420101822-phpapp01
Selectinganddevelopingteaching 120420101822-phpapp01
 
Material development in elt current issues
Material development in elt current issues Material development in elt current issues
Material development in elt current issues
 
Dammar Singh Saud
Dammar Singh SaudDammar Singh Saud
Dammar Singh Saud
 
What is Special Education 1iStockphotoThinkstockPre-.docx
What is Special Education 1iStockphotoThinkstockPre-.docxWhat is Special Education 1iStockphotoThinkstockPre-.docx
What is Special Education 1iStockphotoThinkstockPre-.docx
 
Materials or not
Materials or notMaterials or not
Materials or not
 
Evaluating ELT Materials; Adapting Materials; Technology in ELT
Evaluating ELT Materials; Adapting Materials; Technology in ELTEvaluating ELT Materials; Adapting Materials; Technology in ELT
Evaluating ELT Materials; Adapting Materials; Technology in ELT
 
Knowing Our Textbooks.ppt
Knowing Our Textbooks.pptKnowing Our Textbooks.ppt
Knowing Our Textbooks.ppt
 
PREPARATION AND EVALUATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
PREPARATION AND EVALUATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALSPREPARATION AND EVALUATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
PREPARATION AND EVALUATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
 
Selecting and developing teaching
Selecting and developing teachingSelecting and developing teaching
Selecting and developing teaching
 
Session 1 orientation what is curriculum fsm 2017
Session 1   orientation  what is curriculum  fsm 2017Session 1   orientation  what is curriculum  fsm 2017
Session 1 orientation what is curriculum fsm 2017
 
Preparation and Evaluation of Instructional Materials (14 of 16)
Preparation and Evaluation of Instructional Materials (14 of 16)Preparation and Evaluation of Instructional Materials (14 of 16)
Preparation and Evaluation of Instructional Materials (14 of 16)
 
developing courses.pdf
developing courses.pdfdeveloping courses.pdf
developing courses.pdf
 
Textbook selection in ELT
Textbook selection in ELTTextbook selection in ELT
Textbook selection in ELT
 
Week 4 post method section2
Week 4 post method section2Week 4 post method section2
Week 4 post method section2
 
critical
criticalcritical
critical
 
On syllabus design tefl32011
On syllabus design tefl32011On syllabus design tefl32011
On syllabus design tefl32011
 
An Intro(Ed7004)
An Intro(Ed7004)An Intro(Ed7004)
An Intro(Ed7004)
 

More from Samira Rahmdel

Co-Constructing Representations of Culture in ESL and EFL Classrooms: Discurs...
Co-Constructing Representations of Culture in ESL and EFL Classrooms: Discurs...Co-Constructing Representations of Culture in ESL and EFL Classrooms: Discurs...
Co-Constructing Representations of Culture in ESL and EFL Classrooms: Discurs...Samira Rahmdel
 
The effect of environment on Second Language Learning Grammar
The effect of environment on Second Language Learning GrammarThe effect of environment on Second Language Learning Grammar
The effect of environment on Second Language Learning GrammarSamira Rahmdel
 
Teaching methodology skills ma
Teaching methodology skills maTeaching methodology skills ma
Teaching methodology skills maSamira Rahmdel
 
The sound structure of english
The sound structure of englishThe sound structure of english
The sound structure of englishSamira Rahmdel
 
Grammer translation method1
Grammer translation method1Grammer translation method1
Grammer translation method1Samira Rahmdel
 
Teaching learning method
Teaching learning methodTeaching learning method
Teaching learning methodSamira Rahmdel
 
Post methods era in Language Teaching
Post methods era in Language TeachingPost methods era in Language Teaching
Post methods era in Language TeachingSamira Rahmdel
 
Teaching & developing vocabulary
Teaching & developing vocabularyTeaching & developing vocabulary
Teaching & developing vocabularySamira Rahmdel
 
Parent education and high school achievement
Parent education and high school achievementParent education and high school achievement
Parent education and high school achievementSamira Rahmdel
 
Fairclough et al, critical discourse analysis
Fairclough et al, critical discourse analysisFairclough et al, critical discourse analysis
Fairclough et al, critical discourse analysisSamira Rahmdel
 
Sociolinguistics Intercultural Communication in a Multilingual World
Sociolinguistics Intercultural Communication in a Multilingual WorldSociolinguistics Intercultural Communication in a Multilingual World
Sociolinguistics Intercultural Communication in a Multilingual WorldSamira Rahmdel
 
Critical Overview of Language Teaching Methods: Competency-Based Language Tea...
Critical Overview of Language Teaching Methods: Competency-Based Language Tea...Critical Overview of Language Teaching Methods: Competency-Based Language Tea...
Critical Overview of Language Teaching Methods: Competency-Based Language Tea...Samira Rahmdel
 
Language Learning Strategies
Language Learning StrategiesLanguage Learning Strategies
Language Learning StrategiesSamira Rahmdel
 
Discourse analysis (Schmitt's book chapter 4)
Discourse analysis (Schmitt's book chapter 4)Discourse analysis (Schmitt's book chapter 4)
Discourse analysis (Schmitt's book chapter 4)Samira Rahmdel
 
An Introduction to Applied Linguistics part 2
An Introduction to Applied Linguistics part 2An Introduction to Applied Linguistics part 2
An Introduction to Applied Linguistics part 2Samira Rahmdel
 
An Introduction to Applied Linguistics
An Introduction to Applied LinguisticsAn Introduction to Applied Linguistics
An Introduction to Applied LinguisticsSamira Rahmdel
 
CAP computer Aided Program for pronunciation
CAP computer Aided Program for pronunciationCAP computer Aided Program for pronunciation
CAP computer Aided Program for pronunciationSamira Rahmdel
 

More from Samira Rahmdel (20)

Co-Constructing Representations of Culture in ESL and EFL Classrooms: Discurs...
Co-Constructing Representations of Culture in ESL and EFL Classrooms: Discurs...Co-Constructing Representations of Culture in ESL and EFL Classrooms: Discurs...
Co-Constructing Representations of Culture in ESL and EFL Classrooms: Discurs...
 
The effect of environment on Second Language Learning Grammar
The effect of environment on Second Language Learning GrammarThe effect of environment on Second Language Learning Grammar
The effect of environment on Second Language Learning Grammar
 
Discourse analysis
Discourse analysisDiscourse analysis
Discourse analysis
 
Teaching methodology skills ma
Teaching methodology skills maTeaching methodology skills ma
Teaching methodology skills ma
 
The sound structure of english
The sound structure of englishThe sound structure of english
The sound structure of english
 
Grammer translation method1
Grammer translation method1Grammer translation method1
Grammer translation method1
 
Teaching learning method
Teaching learning methodTeaching learning method
Teaching learning method
 
Post methods era in Language Teaching
Post methods era in Language TeachingPost methods era in Language Teaching
Post methods era in Language Teaching
 
Teaching & developing vocabulary
Teaching & developing vocabularyTeaching & developing vocabulary
Teaching & developing vocabulary
 
Parent education and high school achievement
Parent education and high school achievementParent education and high school achievement
Parent education and high school achievement
 
Fairclough et al, critical discourse analysis
Fairclough et al, critical discourse analysisFairclough et al, critical discourse analysis
Fairclough et al, critical discourse analysis
 
Teaching reading
Teaching readingTeaching reading
Teaching reading
 
Teaching Listening
Teaching ListeningTeaching Listening
Teaching Listening
 
Sociolinguistics Intercultural Communication in a Multilingual World
Sociolinguistics Intercultural Communication in a Multilingual WorldSociolinguistics Intercultural Communication in a Multilingual World
Sociolinguistics Intercultural Communication in a Multilingual World
 
Critical Overview of Language Teaching Methods: Competency-Based Language Tea...
Critical Overview of Language Teaching Methods: Competency-Based Language Tea...Critical Overview of Language Teaching Methods: Competency-Based Language Tea...
Critical Overview of Language Teaching Methods: Competency-Based Language Tea...
 
Language Learning Strategies
Language Learning StrategiesLanguage Learning Strategies
Language Learning Strategies
 
Discourse analysis (Schmitt's book chapter 4)
Discourse analysis (Schmitt's book chapter 4)Discourse analysis (Schmitt's book chapter 4)
Discourse analysis (Schmitt's book chapter 4)
 
An Introduction to Applied Linguistics part 2
An Introduction to Applied Linguistics part 2An Introduction to Applied Linguistics part 2
An Introduction to Applied Linguistics part 2
 
An Introduction to Applied Linguistics
An Introduction to Applied LinguisticsAn Introduction to Applied Linguistics
An Introduction to Applied Linguistics
 
CAP computer Aided Program for pronunciation
CAP computer Aided Program for pronunciationCAP computer Aided Program for pronunciation
CAP computer Aided Program for pronunciation
 

Recently uploaded

ENGLISH 7_Q4_LESSON 2_ Employing a Variety of Strategies for Effective Interp...
ENGLISH 7_Q4_LESSON 2_ Employing a Variety of Strategies for Effective Interp...ENGLISH 7_Q4_LESSON 2_ Employing a Variety of Strategies for Effective Interp...
ENGLISH 7_Q4_LESSON 2_ Employing a Variety of Strategies for Effective Interp...JhezDiaz1
 
INTRODUCTION TO CATHOLIC CHRISTOLOGY.pptx
INTRODUCTION TO CATHOLIC CHRISTOLOGY.pptxINTRODUCTION TO CATHOLIC CHRISTOLOGY.pptx
INTRODUCTION TO CATHOLIC CHRISTOLOGY.pptxHumphrey A Beña
 
Proudly South Africa powerpoint Thorisha.pptx
Proudly South Africa powerpoint Thorisha.pptxProudly South Africa powerpoint Thorisha.pptx
Proudly South Africa powerpoint Thorisha.pptxthorishapillay1
 
GRADE 4 - SUMMATIVE TEST QUARTER 4 ALL SUBJECTS
GRADE 4 - SUMMATIVE TEST QUARTER 4 ALL SUBJECTSGRADE 4 - SUMMATIVE TEST QUARTER 4 ALL SUBJECTS
GRADE 4 - SUMMATIVE TEST QUARTER 4 ALL SUBJECTSJoshuaGantuangco2
 
Virtual-Orientation-on-the-Administration-of-NATG12-NATG6-and-ELLNA.pdf
Virtual-Orientation-on-the-Administration-of-NATG12-NATG6-and-ELLNA.pdfVirtual-Orientation-on-the-Administration-of-NATG12-NATG6-and-ELLNA.pdf
Virtual-Orientation-on-the-Administration-of-NATG12-NATG6-and-ELLNA.pdfErwinPantujan2
 
ECONOMIC CONTEXT - PAPER 1 Q3: NEWSPAPERS.pptx
ECONOMIC CONTEXT - PAPER 1 Q3: NEWSPAPERS.pptxECONOMIC CONTEXT - PAPER 1 Q3: NEWSPAPERS.pptx
ECONOMIC CONTEXT - PAPER 1 Q3: NEWSPAPERS.pptxiammrhaywood
 
Concurrency Control in Database Management system
Concurrency Control in Database Management systemConcurrency Control in Database Management system
Concurrency Control in Database Management systemChristalin Nelson
 
USPS® Forced Meter Migration - How to Know if Your Postage Meter Will Soon be...
USPS® Forced Meter Migration - How to Know if Your Postage Meter Will Soon be...USPS® Forced Meter Migration - How to Know if Your Postage Meter Will Soon be...
USPS® Forced Meter Migration - How to Know if Your Postage Meter Will Soon be...Postal Advocate Inc.
 
call girls in Kamla Market (DELHI) 🔝 >༒9953330565🔝 genuine Escort Service 🔝✔️✔️
call girls in Kamla Market (DELHI) 🔝 >༒9953330565🔝 genuine Escort Service 🔝✔️✔️call girls in Kamla Market (DELHI) 🔝 >༒9953330565🔝 genuine Escort Service 🔝✔️✔️
call girls in Kamla Market (DELHI) 🔝 >༒9953330565🔝 genuine Escort Service 🔝✔️✔️9953056974 Low Rate Call Girls In Saket, Delhi NCR
 
Student Profile Sample - We help schools to connect the data they have, with ...
Student Profile Sample - We help schools to connect the data they have, with ...Student Profile Sample - We help schools to connect the data they have, with ...
Student Profile Sample - We help schools to connect the data they have, with ...Seán Kennedy
 
Keynote by Prof. Wurzer at Nordex about IP-design
Keynote by Prof. Wurzer at Nordex about IP-designKeynote by Prof. Wurzer at Nordex about IP-design
Keynote by Prof. Wurzer at Nordex about IP-designMIPLM
 
MULTIDISCIPLINRY NATURE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES.pptx
MULTIDISCIPLINRY NATURE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES.pptxMULTIDISCIPLINRY NATURE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES.pptx
MULTIDISCIPLINRY NATURE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES.pptxAnupkumar Sharma
 
THEORIES OF ORGANIZATION-PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
THEORIES OF ORGANIZATION-PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONTHEORIES OF ORGANIZATION-PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
THEORIES OF ORGANIZATION-PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONHumphrey A Beña
 
4.16.24 21st Century Movements for Black Lives.pptx
4.16.24 21st Century Movements for Black Lives.pptx4.16.24 21st Century Movements for Black Lives.pptx
4.16.24 21st Century Movements for Black Lives.pptxmary850239
 
Inclusivity Essentials_ Creating Accessible Websites for Nonprofits .pdf
Inclusivity Essentials_ Creating Accessible Websites for Nonprofits .pdfInclusivity Essentials_ Creating Accessible Websites for Nonprofits .pdf
Inclusivity Essentials_ Creating Accessible Websites for Nonprofits .pdfTechSoup
 
Culture Uniformity or Diversity IN SOCIOLOGY.pptx
Culture Uniformity or Diversity IN SOCIOLOGY.pptxCulture Uniformity or Diversity IN SOCIOLOGY.pptx
Culture Uniformity or Diversity IN SOCIOLOGY.pptxPoojaSen20
 

Recently uploaded (20)

ENGLISH 7_Q4_LESSON 2_ Employing a Variety of Strategies for Effective Interp...
ENGLISH 7_Q4_LESSON 2_ Employing a Variety of Strategies for Effective Interp...ENGLISH 7_Q4_LESSON 2_ Employing a Variety of Strategies for Effective Interp...
ENGLISH 7_Q4_LESSON 2_ Employing a Variety of Strategies for Effective Interp...
 
INTRODUCTION TO CATHOLIC CHRISTOLOGY.pptx
INTRODUCTION TO CATHOLIC CHRISTOLOGY.pptxINTRODUCTION TO CATHOLIC CHRISTOLOGY.pptx
INTRODUCTION TO CATHOLIC CHRISTOLOGY.pptx
 
Proudly South Africa powerpoint Thorisha.pptx
Proudly South Africa powerpoint Thorisha.pptxProudly South Africa powerpoint Thorisha.pptx
Proudly South Africa powerpoint Thorisha.pptx
 
GRADE 4 - SUMMATIVE TEST QUARTER 4 ALL SUBJECTS
GRADE 4 - SUMMATIVE TEST QUARTER 4 ALL SUBJECTSGRADE 4 - SUMMATIVE TEST QUARTER 4 ALL SUBJECTS
GRADE 4 - SUMMATIVE TEST QUARTER 4 ALL SUBJECTS
 
Virtual-Orientation-on-the-Administration-of-NATG12-NATG6-and-ELLNA.pdf
Virtual-Orientation-on-the-Administration-of-NATG12-NATG6-and-ELLNA.pdfVirtual-Orientation-on-the-Administration-of-NATG12-NATG6-and-ELLNA.pdf
Virtual-Orientation-on-the-Administration-of-NATG12-NATG6-and-ELLNA.pdf
 
ECONOMIC CONTEXT - PAPER 1 Q3: NEWSPAPERS.pptx
ECONOMIC CONTEXT - PAPER 1 Q3: NEWSPAPERS.pptxECONOMIC CONTEXT - PAPER 1 Q3: NEWSPAPERS.pptx
ECONOMIC CONTEXT - PAPER 1 Q3: NEWSPAPERS.pptx
 
Concurrency Control in Database Management system
Concurrency Control in Database Management systemConcurrency Control in Database Management system
Concurrency Control in Database Management system
 
USPS® Forced Meter Migration - How to Know if Your Postage Meter Will Soon be...
USPS® Forced Meter Migration - How to Know if Your Postage Meter Will Soon be...USPS® Forced Meter Migration - How to Know if Your Postage Meter Will Soon be...
USPS® Forced Meter Migration - How to Know if Your Postage Meter Will Soon be...
 
call girls in Kamla Market (DELHI) 🔝 >༒9953330565🔝 genuine Escort Service 🔝✔️✔️
call girls in Kamla Market (DELHI) 🔝 >༒9953330565🔝 genuine Escort Service 🔝✔️✔️call girls in Kamla Market (DELHI) 🔝 >༒9953330565🔝 genuine Escort Service 🔝✔️✔️
call girls in Kamla Market (DELHI) 🔝 >༒9953330565🔝 genuine Escort Service 🔝✔️✔️
 
Raw materials used in Herbal Cosmetics.pptx
Raw materials used in Herbal Cosmetics.pptxRaw materials used in Herbal Cosmetics.pptx
Raw materials used in Herbal Cosmetics.pptx
 
YOUVE GOT EMAIL_FINALS_EL_DORADO_2024.pptx
YOUVE GOT EMAIL_FINALS_EL_DORADO_2024.pptxYOUVE GOT EMAIL_FINALS_EL_DORADO_2024.pptx
YOUVE GOT EMAIL_FINALS_EL_DORADO_2024.pptx
 
Student Profile Sample - We help schools to connect the data they have, with ...
Student Profile Sample - We help schools to connect the data they have, with ...Student Profile Sample - We help schools to connect the data they have, with ...
Student Profile Sample - We help schools to connect the data they have, with ...
 
Keynote by Prof. Wurzer at Nordex about IP-design
Keynote by Prof. Wurzer at Nordex about IP-designKeynote by Prof. Wurzer at Nordex about IP-design
Keynote by Prof. Wurzer at Nordex about IP-design
 
MULTIDISCIPLINRY NATURE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES.pptx
MULTIDISCIPLINRY NATURE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES.pptxMULTIDISCIPLINRY NATURE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES.pptx
MULTIDISCIPLINRY NATURE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES.pptx
 
THEORIES OF ORGANIZATION-PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
THEORIES OF ORGANIZATION-PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONTHEORIES OF ORGANIZATION-PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
THEORIES OF ORGANIZATION-PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
 
4.16.24 21st Century Movements for Black Lives.pptx
4.16.24 21st Century Movements for Black Lives.pptx4.16.24 21st Century Movements for Black Lives.pptx
4.16.24 21st Century Movements for Black Lives.pptx
 
Inclusivity Essentials_ Creating Accessible Websites for Nonprofits .pdf
Inclusivity Essentials_ Creating Accessible Websites for Nonprofits .pdfInclusivity Essentials_ Creating Accessible Websites for Nonprofits .pdf
Inclusivity Essentials_ Creating Accessible Websites for Nonprofits .pdf
 
Culture Uniformity or Diversity IN SOCIOLOGY.pptx
Culture Uniformity or Diversity IN SOCIOLOGY.pptxCulture Uniformity or Diversity IN SOCIOLOGY.pptx
Culture Uniformity or Diversity IN SOCIOLOGY.pptx
 
LEFT_ON_C'N_ PRELIMS_EL_DORADO_2024.pptx
LEFT_ON_C'N_ PRELIMS_EL_DORADO_2024.pptxLEFT_ON_C'N_ PRELIMS_EL_DORADO_2024.pptx
LEFT_ON_C'N_ PRELIMS_EL_DORADO_2024.pptx
 
Model Call Girl in Tilak Nagar Delhi reach out to us at 🔝9953056974🔝
Model Call Girl in Tilak Nagar Delhi reach out to us at 🔝9953056974🔝Model Call Girl in Tilak Nagar Delhi reach out to us at 🔝9953056974🔝
Model Call Girl in Tilak Nagar Delhi reach out to us at 🔝9953056974🔝
 

Adapting Course Books

  • 1. Tim Dalby 145 A a t gY u o reB o : e o n d pi n o rC us o k B c mig S ie nteA t fMa iuain kl di h r o l np lt o Tm D ly i ab Jeonju University A src bt t a In language teaching situations all over the world, course books are the mainstay of many teachers’ lessons. Whether new or experienced as a teacher it soon becomes apparent that assigned course books have advantages and disadvantages for a class at any given time. This paper attempts to review current thinking on the use of course books for language teaching and then provide a series of adaptation methods to help teachers ensure a better fit between the course book materials and their learners’ needs. Keywords: course books, curriculum, syllabus, materials, Korea, professional development. I o reB o sA e ’ l B d .C us o k rntAl a Take a random selection of teachers and ask them what they think of their current course book and you will probably get an overwhelming sigh and some sporadic grumbling. Ask these same teachers to then think about the advantages and disadvantages of course books and you will hopefully get a more circumspect discussion ending with a fairly evenly balanced list. I have tried this activity during several course book workshops with over one hundred English language teachers in Korea from a variety of teaching backgrounds and contexts. The lists I get are generally similar and the main points are discussed in more detail below.
  • 2. 146 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled 1.1 Advantages Course books provide guidance As is the case in many parts of the world, many teachers in academies and the public school system in Korea have no formal English-language teaching qualifications or experience (Maley, 1992; Shin, 2004, p.68). For these teachers, course books can provide a welcome level of guidance on how to teach particular language structures or skills (Ur, 1991, p.184). They can also provide professional development opportunities (Cunningsworth, 1995; Cunningsworth & Kusel, 1991; Littlejohn, 1992; Richards, 1993) in addition to those provided by their employers (if any) or organizations such as Korea TESOL. Course books save time. For the busy teacher, a course book means a reduction in the amount of planning that is required to teach a class (Graves, 2000, p.174). Materials are (usually) neatly presented along with a series of activities which takes the leg work out of lesson planning. Course books provide a starting point for further activities. The topics that are covered in course books provide teachers with a jumping off point from which they can delve into deeper areas with their learners. This could include getting into aspects of culture, looking at different viewpoints in an argument and doing research. This view is supported by Harmer (2001, p.8) who talks about course books as ‘...proposals for action, not instructions for use’. It refutes the idea that teachers slavishly follow a course book. Take the example of communicative language teaching in Vietnam where materials are used in the classroom in a wholly different way than intended by the materials developers (Kramsch & Sullivan, 1996, p.202). Course books provide structure. In any communicative language classroom there is a level of uncertainty and change that can be both threatening and uncomfortable for learners. The course book provides a structure so that the level of unpredictability is reduced for learners and the learning event becomes more tolerable (Crawford, 2002, p.83). Likewise, the course of study
  • 3. Tim Dalby 147 is predictable for the teacher who is able to see how a particular lesson fits into the course of study. Learners expect a course book Although a teacher in Korea may believe this to be a particularly Korean issue, it is more widespread than that. Learners like to have a course book because it gives them some control over their learning (Crawford, 2002, p.83). There is also the view of course books providing both authority and expertise (de Castell, Luke, & Luke 1989), where teachers’ handouts do not (Harwood, 2005, p.151). 1.2 Disadvantages Course books are a straitjacket. For more experienced teachers, a course book can limit the amount of creativity and freedom allowed for a class. This is especially true in large programs where the learners are given tests which are based on the course book. This is a form of negative washback which affects the teachers and learners alike (Taylor 2005, p.154). Course books are poorly designed. Of course this depends on the course book, but it is fair to say that production standards vary from publisher to publisher in terms of the quality of the paper used, the layout, and the number of typographical errors encountered in any given publication. One workshop participant described a teacher’s book she was assigned as being unusable as it was written entirely in Korean. Course book topics are boring and/or irrelevant. Most teachers would agree that at some stage they have come across a topic that bears no relevance to themselves or their learners. It could be that the materials are out of date or feature a celebrity that has no following in a particular country. Either way, the materials lose validity for the learners and teachers alike. Course books are culturally removed. As many course books hail from British or American roots, it is
  • 4. 148 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled likely that learners in an EFL situation (i.e. where English is not a common language), will not be able to relate to the materials presented. Likewise, books used in Korea that were developed in Japan carry images and content that is specific to a Japanese context – something unlikely to be appreciated by many Koreans. Richards similarly suggests that in course books ‘an idealized white middle-class view of the world is portrayed as the norm’ (2001, p.255). It is possibly because of this that the Korean Ministry of Education has tried to instill Korean values in public sector course books (Yim, 2007, p.45). Course book language is not authentic. Although this is beginning to change, course book dialogues are generally written within a limited list of headwords or to incorporate and practice specific language points and are therefore not authentic or realistic (Richards, 2001, p.255). While this can lead to issues of credibility for some teachers, others see simplified English as a stepping stone towards being able to cope with authentic English (for more on the ‘cult of authenticity’, see Day & Bamford, 1998). 1.3 Balance There are of course many other arguments that can be leveled both for and against the use of course books (see for example, Crawford, 2002; Graves, 2000; Harwood, 2005; Richards, 2001; Ur, 1991 for more in-depth analysis). In the end, we need to accept the fact that course books are not going away anytime soon. Most of us, at some time, need to use them, so we should try to find the best way to incorporate them into our program of learning. I v laig C us o k I au t .E n o reB o s Before this can be done, there is a need to understand a course book in a particular context. Course books are necessarily a compromise between what the authors want to produce using the very latest and best teaching methodologies, and what publishers know will sell (for an in-depth analysis of how a course book is produced from conception
  • 5. Tim Dalby 149 through to publication see Bell & Gower, 1998). Course books are designed for everyone and for no one (Graves, 2000, p.174), but without doubt there is a need for the teacher to understand the course book that is being used. There are several lists of criteria for evaluating course books currently available (see for example, Breen & Candlin, 1987; Cunningsworth, 1995; Dougill 1987; Hedge, 2000; Hutchinson, 1987; Richards, 2001; Sheldon, 1988; Ur, 1991) and an interesting research question could be formulated to discover how widely, if at all, they are used. In the event that formally developed evaluation criteria are not used, what then is the basis for institutions to choose the course books they choose? Leaving these questions aside, I would like to introduce a simple set of course book evaluation criteria that were used successfully in my workshops by experienced and inexperienced teachers alike. The criteria were developed by Tanner & Green (1998, p.121) and are presented in more detail below. 2.1 The MATERIALS Test Hutchinson describes course book selection as ‘the single most important decision that the language teacher has to make’ (1987, p.37). However, the majority of teachers are unlikely to find themselves able to make this decision. More likely a course book has already been chosen for them, whether by committee or by the course manager. Regardless of this, the ability to evaluate a course book is important because it provides a baseline from which to make judgments about what to adapt and change. Without understanding a particular context and how the course book is set up, we cannot effectively make changes that will benefit our learners. The quick evaluation provided by Tanner and Green (1998) is comprehensive, in that it covers many of the most important aspects in the more detailed checklists described above, and it is efficient, in that it focuses on what teachers are likely to find important in the here and now. In addition, by using the mnemonic device of MATERIALS, it is easy to remember the steps. Method This applies to the teaching method used by the course book. Much
  • 6. 150 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled of our teaching style is wrapped up in our personality (Hunt & Joyce, 1967) and so it is important that the style of the book and the activities within match up with our own method of teaching. Does the book focus on grammar, or does it have lots of fluency activities, group work and mingling? Are the questions open-ended, or of the yes/no variety? Appearance As discussed in the section above, the appearance of a book can greatly affect how it is perceived and accepted by teachers and learners alike. If a book looks very ‘busy’, it can be overwhelming for learners. If there are a lot of mistakes, the teacher is likely to question the level of expertise of the course book writer. Clearly laid out activities, bright colors and adequate amount of white space can go a long way towards making a book acceptable. Teacher-friendly This applies to how easy or difficult it is for the teacher to use. If the book has teaching ideas, it may actually form part of a teacher’s professional development (Cunningsworth, 1995; Cunningsworth & Kusel, 1991; Littlejohn, 1992; Richards, 1993). The book should save the teacher time, and so information should be easy to find. An index or table of contents with the skills and/or grammar focus of each unit should be included along with an answer key to exercises. Extras Some books come with a wealth of extras which might include downloadable listening activities, a DVD, an adaptable workbook, a student CD, a website, a teacher’s book and supplemental materials. Other course books come with little more than just the student book. How many or how few extras a course book comes with will determine how much lesson planning work a teacher has to do along with how much searching a teacher will need to do to find materials that are suitable for her class. Of course, extras need to be easy to use too. Realistic
  • 7. Tim Dalby 151 With the advent and increasing use of corpuses and concordances, the ability for course books to use authentic language has increased dramatically over the last few years. Some course books, such as the Touchstone series, now state that they are using corpus data in their books (McCarthy, McCarten, & Sandiford, 2005). Of course, being authentic is one thing, being up to date is another. A course book filled with out of date slang is unlikely to ring true with learners and teachers alike. Deciding what is authentic and balancing it with words that will have lasting appeal is a difficult task. Take the example of ‘bovvered’ which was Oxford English Dictionary’s word of 2006 and now is rarely heard, if at all, especially outside the British Isles. Check the OED’s website if you are not sure what this word means. Interesting By looking at the topics in a course book, a teacher can decide if they are relevant and interesting to his or her learners. It is also important to ensure that the topics are relevant and interesting to the teacher as she has to use the topics as a vehicle for teaching. As well as the obvious advantages in terms of schema activation that interesting topics afford, interested learners tend to be more focused in class and less likely to engage in disruptive behavior (Hidi, 1990). Affordable Although this may be outside the realm of either the teacher or the learner, the cost of a course book should have some level of bearing on the value a learner places on the book. If the book is too cheap, it may not be valued by the learner as authoritative. If it is too expensive, the learner may have unrealistic expectations about how much they will achieve by using the book. Also, in countries like Korea where there is a strong expectation to finish any given course book (Carless, 2003, p.492), an expensive book may limit the teacher’s ability to skip activities or units as learners may feel they didn’t get the full value out of the book they purchased. Level The course book should be aimed at the level of the learners being
  • 8. 152 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled taught. While there is an onus on institutions to provide leveled classes where learners in any given class have similar levels of language ability, it is not always practical or achievable to do this. Whether classes are leveled or not, the course book should provide for either situation: flexibility in the multi-level class, and congruence in the leveled class. Skills The final section is about what kind of class is being taught. If it is a multi-skills class, does the course book adequately cover the skills that are required? If it is a conversation class, does the course book teach conversation skills, or is it merely a speaking course? Does a writing book have a process or product approach to writing? Does a reading book look to develop reading skills into reading strategies, or does it merely have a reading section followed by comprehension questions? Whatever the situation, the course book needs to fit the class syllabus, whether it is imposed or negotiated. I.T eA to I h r fMa iuain I np lt o Whatever ratings a course book may receive after being given a thorough evaluation, at some point it needs to be used in the classroom. The level of ‘fit’ between the needs of the learners and the resources available in a course book will vary from course to course and class to class and so, to be effective, the teacher will need to manipulate the materials in some way. Graves explains that course book adaptation can happen at three different levels – the activity level, the unit level and the syllabus level (2000, p.188). Syllabus level adaptation is taking a course book and reordering the units and/or adding supplementary materials to the units to better fit the learners’ needs over a course of study. At the unit level, the steps in the order of activities in a unit are changed. In an example of this, Graves gave twelve activities from a course book unit to groups of teachers and asked them to produce a unit plan for their students. At the end of the activity, each group had reordered the units in a totally unique way, and none matched the original course book order (2000, p.197). For simplicity at this
  • 9. Tim Dalby 153 level, I will again turn to Tanner & Green’s categories which I have adapted into the easy-to-remember acronym DEAR (1998, p.122). 3.1 Four Basic Methods of Manipulation at the Unit Level Delete In this scenario the materials or activity are simply not covered. In some situations, whether it is due to a lack of time, the level of difficulty or the relevance of the materials to an upcoming test, the teacher can decide to ‘move on’ to the next section. Edit By editing we basically take the activity that we have been given and change it to make it more relevant, interesting, up to date, or practical. A nice device that I have seen is in the ‘Smart Choice’ series where the resource book pages are provided on a CD as editable documents allowing me to change the names of characters to the names of students in my class (Wilson, 2007). I can also change the photos to use well-known Korean celebrities – or the students themselves. Add In some course books, teachers notice a gap between two adjacent activities. For instance, a listening activity may contain key vocabulary that has not previously been covered on the course. In this case, the teacher could add an activity to introduce this vocabulary to the students. Similar examples could include a prediction activity before reading, or a research project before a debate. Replace The final option is a combination of the first three where an activity is provided in the course book, deemed unsuitable by the teacher, and so replaced with something that will work with a given set of learners. Teachers familiar with resource books such as ‘Speaking Extra’ (Gammidge, 2004), ‘Vocabulary Games and Activities 1’ (Watcyn-Jones, 2001), or ‘Grammar Games and Activities 1’ (Watcyn-Jones & Howard-Williams, 2001), for example, have materials to hand which will neatly replace a course book unit with something more engaging.
  • 10. 154 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled Replacement of activities also encourages teachers to build up their own set of resources which can be used at a moment’s notice or to liven up their classes at the end of the week. This is what Maley refers to as the ‘wet Friday afternoon effect’ (1998, p. 281). 3.2 Practical Techniques at the Activity Level At the activity level, there are several resources for the teacher to refer to including Maley, who provides a comprehensive list of the ways in which a course book can be manipulated (1998, pp.281-283) and Ur (1991) who looks at how activities can be adapted to match the skills taught. The suggestions given below are ideas based largely on a handout I was given by Paul Michel while working at the Caledonian School in Prague, Czech Republic along with ideas that I have collected over the past nine years. They may not all work with all levels of learners, in all cultures all the time, but are provided as examples of what can be done with various materials that are generally available in course books. As Bruton argues, there is a certain ‘sameness’ about course books (1997, p.276) which should mean that the activities offered below can be used with most course books most of the time. 3.3 If You Have a Written Text Course books generally contain texts of varying lengths, whether they are an integral part of the course book or thrown in as additional activities in the teacher’s guide. In most cases, course book texts follow the basic process which has learners reading the text and then answering comprehension questions. The following adaptations can be used with texts of all shapes and sizes. Role play or mime characters from the text or act out the story. In a text which involves characters, has a story, or is an event, ask learners to choose a character and mime or act out the character’s role in the story. They can use a dialogue that is already in the text, or, more creatively, create a dialogue that fits the story in the text. This could be done in class or assigned as a video project.
  • 11. Tim Dalby 155 Create a prequel to the story. If you have a story, get the learners to write or act out a prequel. Ask them what they think could have happened before the story got started, what were the characters doing etc. Continue the story. As above except this time the learners figure out what happened next. Again, they could do this using drama, posted as a video project on the class website or a group writing assignment. Discuss or debate the issue. Ask provocative questions. Discussions and debates are excellent ways of practicing speaking, and for a text that involves a somewhat controversial topic, learners can discuss or debate the issues around it. For an added level of difficulty, have learners that are ‘for’ an issue speak for the ‘against’ team as this can enhance their skills of persuasion. It also helps learners to understand that there are two (or more) sides to every issue. To help learners get started, the teacher can ask provocative questions to invite reaction. Over time, learners can be encouraged to do the same. FIGURE 1 Reply to the author (Touchstone Level 2, p. 41)
  • 12. 156 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled Interview or reply to the author. As well as helping learners understand that a piece of writing is a form of communication between the writer and the reader, by interview ing or responding to an author we ensure that a deeper connection is made to the text. The activity below is from Touchstone Level 2, and involves students having to ‘fill in the gap’ in the invitations (McCarthy, McCarten, & Sandiford, 2005). Once this is done, students could respond to the invitation either by accepting or declining them. Making predictions, skimming, scanning, semantic mapping and summaries. For any reading text of length, the following procedure can be used in full or by skipping sections that are unnecessary. 1. Using the headline or a photograph, have learners make a prediction about the contents of the text, the characters, what happens etc. 2. Have learners in groups write down the vocabulary that they would expect to find in a text with the predicted topic. This can be developed further into a semantic map – like a mind map of connections between words. 3. Learners scan the text quickly to find any words from their lists. The time limit here should be short. 4. Give learners one or two questions based on the overall idea of the text. Allow only a short time for learners to skim the text and answer the question(s). Stress that students don’t need to understand every word, just the main idea(s). 5. Once the course book activities associated with the text have been covered, learners could write a summary of the text. This could be done in class or as a group assignment to be posted on the class website. Research assignment (in the L1). If you have a monolingual class (which is generally the case in Korea, though changing), you could ask learners to prepare for a reading text by doing a research assignment in their first language. The research is for learners to have a better understanding of the topic of the reading
  • 13. Tim Dalby 157 as research consistently shows that readers with background knowledge of a topic read more effectively (Alderson, 2000, p.44). 3.4 If You Have a Listening Activity Like reading, listening is generally considered a ‘receptive’ skill, but, also like reading, is far more interactional than that (Grabe, 1991; Richards, 1983). Like reading, many course books follow a pattern of listen and then answer questions – with the questions often being answered during the listening activity. Unlike reading, learners cannot control the speed of the input, so other adaptations are offered below which are more specific to various listening texts. Predict the answers. Bet on the answers. Sometimes comprehension questions are written in such a way that the answers can be fairly easily predicted. Even if not, by having learners predict the answers to questions, they have more reason to listen. This can be further enhanced by having learners in groups betting on the answers in a whole-class team game. Make the questions easier. It is not always well understood that pretty much any piece of listening can be used in a class. What makes an activity easy or difficult is what you expect learners to do. If you find you have questions that your learners are finding too difficult, make them easier. You can do this by giving answer choices or simply making questions closed rather than open. Topic prediction, semantic mapping, gist listening and summaries. As in the reading activity above, by giving learners a title or a picture that is associated with the listening text, learners can try to predict the topic and/or the vocabulary that they are likely to hear in the recording. Then, by asking one or two global questions, learners can confirm their predictions and listen for gist – without worrying about understanding all the details. Once done, learners can move on to the course book comprehension questions and then write a summary
  • 14. 158 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled of what they heard. Vocabulary grab. This is an incredibly enjoyable activity that students of all ages enjoy. Choose a listening script which has some vocabulary that you want to target. Put learners into groups and give each group some slips of paper – the same number of slips as target words. Have each group write down one target word on one slip of paper until they have all the target words written down. Groups put all the slips face up in front of them. As the learners listen to the recording, they have to grab the correct piece of paper with the word that they hear as they hear it. The learner with the most pieces of paper in the group wins. This is, roughly speaking, a scanning activity for listening and can be used just as effectively when watching a video. In this case, the words can be things that learners see, rather than hear. 3.5 If You Have a Picture One of the best and most adaptable resources in a course book is the pictures which accompany topics, units and skills activities. Images are often specially commissioned by publishers to fit with whatever is on the course book page. The activities offered below are quite extensive and are for various types of image. Of course, not every suggestion will be for every type of picture. Describe the people, places, actions and things in the picture. There are several things that a learner can talk about including what they know or think about the place, city, or country in the picture. They can be encouraged to think about the people, the food, the music, the architecture, forms of dress, the climate, the religion, traditions, customs, what daily life is like, the leaders, the type of politics, the history, or the sports that the country enjoys or is well known for. In the example below from Breakthrough, Level 1, learners could be encouraged to discuss what they know about each culture (Craven, 2008).
  • 15. Tim Dalby 159 FIGURE 2 What do you know about each culture? (Breakthrough Level 1, p. 66) Compare and contrast. Learners faced with a picture of a place or a or contrast them with a place or person they know If there are two or more pictures on a similar compared or contrasted. Learners could speculate person can compare (such as the teacher). theme, they can be on where they woul
  • 16. 160 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled like to live and why or which person they would like to be and why. Images of celebrations, traditional ceremonies and festivals could be compared and contrasted with similar events in Korea. For a more creative angle, groups of learners could create a ceremony, holiday or tradition similar to the picture. The picture could encourage learners to write a story or a newspaper article with the learners as reporters, again with a comparison or a contrast to what occurs in Korea. Speculate about the picture. Getting learners to think outside the box, or picture in this case, helps to get the creative juices flowing. Ask learners to decide what’s happening outside the picture and why. They could discuss or write about why the people are there, who they are, what they are doing, their relationship, when they arrived, how long they have been there, when they will leave, how they are feeling and why. Thinking more about a person, learners could speculate about the person’s job, age, education, family, lifestyle, nationality, their hobbies, personal relationships, political opinions and musical tastes. They could think about the person’s favorites in terms of the food they like, the types of restaurants they go to, the vacations they take, and sports they enjoy. Learners could think about what the person or people did yesterday, what they have done in their lives, what they are doing later today, what they are going to do next year, a secret they have, or a crime they have committed. If the picture shows a group of people, learners could rank the people in terms of who earns the most money, who is the most educated, who has the most interesting job, who has the most friends or enemies, or who is most likely to commit a serious crime. Once done, learners could compare their rankings and discuss any differences. Learners could decide who they would most or least like to have dinner with and why. They could discuss which of these people they would be and why. If the picture shows a problem, learners could talk about the problem being shown, why the problem developed, and possible solutions to the problem. In a cityscape, learners could discuss everyday life in the city, the possible advantages and disadvantages of living in the
  • 17. Tim Dalby 161 city and compare this with living in the country, the sounds, noises and smells of the city. Thinking more about vocabulary, learners could figure out how new vocabulary in the course book can be related to the picture. Ask learners to think about whether they would like to live in the city and why. They could also think about whether they would like to visit this place and, if so, who and what they would take with them and why. Production. For more focused production activities, take a picture and have learners talk non-stop for one minute about the picture without hesitation or repetition. Have learners look at two pictures then, in pairs or threes, see how many sentences they can make about the first picture in one minute. Then do the same for the second picture, but learners have to try to beat their first score. Learners could be asked to look at a picture for one minute, close their books and then tell a partner everything they remember about the picture, as in the example below from Top Notch Level 1 (Saslow & Ascher, 2006). FIGURE 3 Remember as much as you can. (Top Notch Level 1, p. 76)
  • 18. 162 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled Learners could also ask each other their opinions about the picture. Learners could be encouraged to use the target grammar, vocabulary or exponents to interview a person, object or animal in the picture. If it is an event, the learners could interview an eyewitness. If it is a city, interview someone who lives there. Have learners brainstorm anything that comes to mind about the picture. They could give a personal reaction to what they see – as in the example below from Top Notch Level 1 (Saslow & Ascher, 2006). They could talk about how they feel about a particular person, event or place shown in the picture. They could talk about which parts of the picture are most or least important to them and why. FIGURE 4 Write a personal reaction to the story (Top Notch Level 1, p. 72)
  • 19. Tim Dalby 163 I.Fn l h u hs V ia T o g t Throughout the world, teachers of English language are thrust into a classroom, course book in hand and told, ‘Teach that!’ It is neither ideal, nor pedagogically sound, but it is the reality of an ever-expanding and diverse industry. No matter how controlled the working environment is, there is always room for adaptation at the activity level. As a teacher becomes more proficient, the activities suggested above will become second nature and lesson planning will become easier with more focus on what the learners require. A teacher may even start to enjoy using a course book for the challenge of adapting it to his or her learners! In a less controlled environment, teachers will have the ability to adapt course books on the unit level. At this point, course books become less of a crutch and more of a tool. Teachers have more freedom and, as they experiment and learn about what works and what does not work, they will begin to gain an insight into syllabus and curriculum design. As a teacher’s experience grows, and as they move into more senior teaching positions, educators will have both the confidence and experience to adapt course books at the syllabus level. It is worth remembering though that the teachers who have to work with a syllabus are probably busy adapting the materials that have been so carefully prepared. My hope is that senior teachers in course management positions will see this as a positive step in their staff and so reward and encourage them for their efforts. After all, if our learners’ needs are being satisfied, what more do we need to do? Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Paul Michel of the Caledonian School in Prague for many of the adaptation ideas presented in this paper, as well as the two anonymous reviewers for their suggestions for improvements.
  • 20. 164 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled R frn e eee c s Alderson, C. (2000). Assessing reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bell, A. & Gower, R (1998). Writing course materials for the world: A great compromise. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Materials development in language teaching (pp. 116-129). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Breen, M. P. & Candlin, C. N. (1987). Which materials?: A consumer’s and designer’s guide. In L. E. Sheldon (Ed), ELT textbooks and materials: Problems in evaluation and development (pp. 13-28). London: Modern English Publications and The British Council. Bruton, A. (1997). In what ways do we want EFL coursebooks to differ? System, 25(2), 275-284. Carless, D. R. (2003). Factors in the implementation of task-based teaching in primary schools. System, 31, 485-500. Craven, M. (2008). Breakthrough: Success with English. Student’s Book 1. Tokyo: MacMillan Language House Ltd. Crawford, J. (2002). The role of materials in the language classroom: Finding a balance. In J. C. Richards & W. A. Renandya (Eds.), Methodology in Language Teaching. (pp. 80-91). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cunningsworth A. (1995). Choosing your coursebook. Oxford: Heinemann. Cunningsworth, A., & Kusel, P. (1991). Evaluating teachers’ guides. ELT Journal, 45(2), 128-139. Day, R. R. & Bamford, J. (1998). Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. de Castell, S., Luke, A., & Luke, C. (1989). Introduction. In S. de Castell, A. Luke, & C. Luke (Eds.), Language, authority and criticism: Readings on the school textbook (pp. 245-260). London: The Falmer Press. Dougill, J. (1987). Not so obvious. In L. E. Sheldon (Ed), ELT textbooks and materials: Problems in evaluation and development (pp. 29-35). London: Modern English Publications and The British Council. Gammidge, M. (2004). Speaking Extra. A Resource Book of Multi-level
  • 21. Tim Dalby 165 Skills Activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Grabe, W. (1991). Current developments in second language reading research. TESOL Quarterly 25(3), 375-406. Graves, K. (2000). Designing language courses: A guide for teachers. Boston, MA: Heinle, Cengage Learning. Harmer, J. (2001). Coursebooks: A human, cultural and linguistic disaster? Modern English Teacher, 10(3), 5-10. Harwood, N. (2005). What do we want EAP teaching materials for? Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 4, 149-161. Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and learning in the language classroom. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hidi, S. (1990). Interest and its contribution as a mental resource for learning. Review of Educational Research, 60(4), 549-571 Hunt, D. E. & Joyce, B. R. (1967). Teacher trainee personality and initial teaching style. American Educational Research Journal 4(3), 253-259. Hutchinson, T. (1987). What’s underneath?: An interactive view of materials evaluation. In L. E. Sheldon (Ed), ELT textbooks and materials: Problems in evaluation and development (pp. 37-44). London: Modern English Publications and The British Council Kramsch, C. & Sullivan, P. (1996). Appropriate pedagogy. ELT Journal 50(3), (pp. 199-212.) Littlejohn, A. (1992). Why are English language teaching materials the way they are? Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Lancaster University, Lancaster. Maley, A. (1992). An open letter to ‘the profession’. ELT Journal, 46(1), 96-99. Maley, A. (1998). Squaring the circle – reconciling materials as constraint with materials as empowerment. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Materials development in language teaching (pp. 279-294). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. McCarthy, M. McCarten, J. & Sandiford, H. (2005). Touchstone Student’s Book 2. New York: Cambridge University Press. Richards, J. C. (1983). Listening comprehension: Approach, design, procedure. TESOL Quarterly, 17(2), 219-240. Richards, J. C. (1993). Beyond the textbook: The role of commercial
  • 22. 166 Adapting Your Course Book: Becoming Skilled materials in language teaching. RELC Journal, 24(1), 1-14. Richards, J. C. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Saslow, J. & Ascher, A. (2006). Top notch 1. New York: Pearson. Sheldon, L. E. (1988). Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials. ELT Journal, 42, 237-246. Shin, J.K. (2004). The use of Freirian pedagogy in teaching English as an international language: Raising the critical consciousness of EFL teachers in Korea. LLC Review, 4(1), 64-82. Tanner, R. & Green, C. (1998). Tasks for teacher education: A reflective approach. Coursebook. Harlow: Pearson. Taylor, L. (2005). Washback and impact, ELT Journal, 59(2), 154. Ur, P. (1991). A course in language teaching: Practice and theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Watcyn-Jones, P. (2001) Vocabulary games and activities1. Harlow: Pearson. Watcyn-Jones, P. & Howard-Williams, D. (2002) Grammar games and activities1. Harlow: Pearson Wilson, K. (2007) Smart choice student book 1. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press Yim, S. (2007). Globalization and language policy in South Korea. In A. B. M. Tsui & J. W. Tollefson (Eds.) Language policy, culture, and identity in Asian contexts (pp. 37-53). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Tim Dalby Jeonju University tim_dalby@yahoo.co.uk Received: 2009.09.11 Peer reviewed: 2009.10.28. Accepted: 2009.11.06.