ELT News Think Tank

This Month's Think Tank Panel

Marc Helgesen

Peter Viney

Setsuko Toyama

Panelists: Marc | Setsuko | Peter
Date: October 2000

Topic: "How do I decide on a textbook for a new class?"

Setsuko Toyama

At this time of the year, I cannot help thinking of this one class I taught a few years ago using a reader on movies with annotations in Japanese.

I had been asked to teach reading. I chose the textbook because I like teaching using movies and the textbook was wonderfully written about all the movies I loved. The changes and growth in the movie industry reflect those in the real world and I had this great image of sharing all these thoughts and insights with my engineering students who would surly welcome such cultural knowledge. I had an LL, a great setting with one built-in monitor for every two students. I purchased all the videos in the States, making sure the Japanese sub-titles would not come between my students and my ambitions. I created extra worksheets and puzzles for speaking and sailed forth.

Did the students enjoy the course? I'm not sure. Assuming that most 20-year-olds would like my kind of movies was rather optimistic and the annotations didn't help, either. One student came up to me and complained that he needed to look up two or three words in every line, and it was taking too much time and "Sensei, this isn't even my major!" My classics were just very old movies to most of the students and when I suggested watching one of the movies that was going to be aired on TV, they watched it in Japanese. I was disappointed, and I tried to shift the lessons toward more listening and speaking to maintain the students' involvement.

What went wrong and why? Well, first of all, I chose the textbook simply because I liked it so much I wanted to use it. I ignored the level and interests of the students. Being student-centered is the first thing I PREACH when I train teachers and here I was carried away by my personal desire to use a particular textbook.

This is one experience that can show you how things can go wrong. (Believe me, it took some guts to write about it.) We did have fun and at the end of the semester the students had been exposed to several great movies they wouldn't have watched otherwise, but they would have been happier with a different textbook.

That being said, here's what I have to say on the topic. When I teach reading, I look for a textbook that has a short human interest story, in each unit, (preferably true stories or real news) followed by vocabulary exercises and activities to develop different reading skills. If your teaching schedule is very tight and you don't have too much time or you're not interested in preparing your own activities, go for a textbook with a detailed Teachers Book. In a good Teachers Book, you have a mentor who guides you through the course. Also read the author's acknowledgment page and see how much of the manuscript has been tested and monitored in actual classes.

If you enjoy creating some activities to go along with the student's reaction to the content, you might do well to choose a textbook that gives you a lot of breathing space. Extra activities such as showing a topic-related scene in a movie, giving a puzzle to extend vocabulary, or bringing in a pop song with clozed lyrics will increase student's involvement, as they welcome a surprise. But, if you skip some activities that are actually on the page and bring in extra activities, students tend to be critical and believe the teacher's not doing justice to the textbook they purchased. Be realistic and don't go for crowded pages.

For listening and speaking, the audio components are vital. The tapes (CDs) have to have different voices, both male and female, natural inflection (not too dramatic) and good sound effects. The students, who are used to finely-arranged pop music have a critical ear for phony footsteps and artificial whooshes of wind etc.

AND the textbooks have to look attractive. The kind of illustrations the teacher likes can go unappreciated by the students. 20-year-olds may be lawfully adults but in choosing textbooks, try to imagine they are not much more mature than 16-year-olds. Don't go for really savvy art. Look for a good balance, a variety of illustrations and photos. As for the print, I was shocked to realize that handwriting type font took my students twice as long to decipher. Avoid handwriting font to save time but give it a chance if you want to expose your students to handwriting.

Now how do you actually do all of the above? The easiest way is to go to one of the book fairs organized by publishers . TEL Book Fair is the biggest and offers presentations by quite a few authors. Don't collect all of the "inspection copies" you can get your hands on, limit yourself to two or three that interest you and are relevant to your teaching situation. Publishers do not give away Teacher's Books so ask them to give you a sample unit. Do the same for the audio. Go over these samples critically, both from a teachers and students point of view.

Happy choosing!

Panelists: Marc | Setsuko | Peter

Setsuko Toyama, Toyama English House

Co-author of Journeys: Listening and Speaking & Development Editor of SuperKids

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