Second edition

ofcoursebook

materials

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  How do we select and use coursebook materials?
  

Coursebook materials are all the materials in a coursebook package that: we use in the classroom to present and practise language, and to develop learners' language skills.
A coursebook package usually includes a student's book, a teacher's book and audio and/or video recordings. The teacher's book often includes the tapescript, audio script or transcript, i.e. the written version of exactly what the learners hear on these recordings. Often there is also a workbook or activity book (a book with extra practice material), and there may also be a CD-ROM, material for use with an interactive whiteboard or extra material on a website.
Teachers often base their selection of teaching materials (coursebook or supplementary materials) on a 'needs analysis', i.e. a study of learners' level, language needs and interests, using questionnaires, interviews or diagnostic tests. This information helps to build up a class profile (a description of all the learners in the class) and shows what the learners have in common and how they differ from each other. The teacher's task is then to select the material that best matches this profile.

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  Key concepts
  

■ TVhot questions should we ask when selecting teaching materials?
We may not be able to choose our coursebook, but we can still make choices about what materials in it to use. Decisions about whether - and how - to use the coursebook, or parts of it, will depend on the answers to a number of questions:

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  Is the material visually attractive? Is it visually dear (e.g. using different colours, different fonts, headings, etc.)? Does the visual material help learners to understand context and meaning?
  
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  Is the material well organised? Can you and your learners follow the 'logic' of the material and find your way quickly and easily around the page or the unit?
  

m Is it culturally appropriate? Will the context(s) be familiar to learners?
© Is it suitable for your learners' age and their needs and interests?
® Will the topic(s) be motivating to suit the age, gender, experience and personal interests of your learners?
© Is the material at the right level? Does it provide a dear enough context and/or explanations for learners to understand new language?
® Does it give learners enough opportunities to use the language?
If the answer to any of these questions is 'No', then we have two choices:
© to replace the coursebook material with materials with the same focus/aim from another book or resource, such as a teachers' website or supplementary materials


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