Short courses
We asked publishers to send us sample course books for short courses that they have published in the past 12 months. These are our first impressions of the books we looked at.
This article appears in our summer 2006 issue of the magazine, so we thought it would be a good idea to look at course books created specifically for short intensive courses, especially courses that run over the summer months.
During our research, it quickly became apparent that there are very few titles available for this specific market, and it was a struggle to find any titles at all that had been published in the past year or two.
So
what do schools in the United Kingdom and elsewhere use for their summer
courses? We thought we should get in touch with a few centres to find
out. Cathy Morand, director of studies at the Hampstead School of English
in London told us:
"In the summer and for our short courses throughout the year we
tend to make up our own programmes, loosely basing them around course
books but using lots of authentic materials. The main books we favour
for the shorter courses are Landmark (OUP) and Language to
Go (Longman). The main reason is that they are not used on our other
courses, the units are very short, and we feel they are slightly aimed
at the younger adult market, making them suitable for the summer. For
teenage courses we use Energy (Longman) and All Stars
(OUP). To be honest I agree that there is a definite shortage of materials
aimed at shorter courses, and if there were more available we would
definitely be interested in using them."
Jo Whittick, course director for English-in-Chester, said:
"Having used Language to Go myself, I like the short units
and the variety of language and topics. There are practice materials
in the back, so there's no need for a workbook and the teacher's book
is both a teacher's book and a resource book. I feel that we need more
books with this kind of format and, as so many short courses take place
here in the UK, that everyday survival English should be included -
dealing with money, language for shopping, ordering in restaurants,
for example."
Pamela Bruce Lockhart, EFL consultant for the British Association of
Boarding School Summer Courses (BABSSCo) and the person in charge of
resources for Harrow School's summer school courses, wrote:
"I must say I was delighted to receive your email as I have been
agitating for ages for more material that is suitable for short courses
for all ages and all levels. I know the money is on books that are exam-orientated,
but the summer school market must be increasing all the time, and I
am sure I am not the only person constantly looking for more materials.
"For 13- to 17-year-olds we have been using English in Mind
(CUP), which is generally liked by teachers. We also use Opportunities
(Longman) and Natural English (OUP). However, none of these are
short-course books."
A majority of the schools we contacted told us that they use books written for year-long courses rather than short intensives. This doesn't sound like an ideal situation. The needs of students on a short summer course in the United Kingdom are very different from those of a student attending English classes throughout the year in their own country. The summer-course student needs survival skills to help them cope with the new environment and get the most out of their stay in an English-speaking country. The focus needs to be on functional language with lots of speaking and listening activities.
A student going on a summer course will also want to use a book that is different from the type of book they use in their own country. There is even the risk that they will end up using the same book. Many schools get around this by creating their own materials. In fact, one member of the "First Impressions" reading group was told she had to provide all the materials for her summer courses when she worked at one centre in the United Kingdom.
Simon Hayward, director of Junior Courses at St. Giles International
told us:
"There is a general feeling at our school, and others, that there
is not enough short-course young-adult material at the higher levels."
One of the books that St. Giles expects to use this summer is Move (Macmillan), which is one that we looked at for "First Impressions".
Move
is a five-level course for adults and young adults. Each level consists
of three four-unit modules. Each module contains 15 hours of core teaching
material and is self-contained, with its own contents page at the beginning
and a review section at the end. The review section features extra practice,
a grammar reference, listening transcripts, a word list and communication
activities. This division means that each module has the feel of a complete
book so students who study only one module can feel they've completed
something.
This is important on short courses where students can often feel cheated when they have to buy a book but then use only part of it. The extra practice pages in each module of Move also means that there is no need for a separate workbook, making it an attractive all-in-one course book and workbook. This is both convenient for short courses and cheaper for students.
Visually the book is very clean, and the cover, according to one of our readers, is cool! The images and topics seem appropriate for young adults and include friends, finding the ideal job, music and advertising, mobile phone mania, and how to shop. The topics aren't given wildly innovative angles, but neither are they threatening. Don't forget that a short-course book needs to cater for a multicultural mix and not risk offending anyone. Here the topics are also dealt with in a lighthearted way, making the book ideal for students who are more interested in having fun than digging into serious, controversial issues.
The emphasis is on spoken English, as it should be, and there is plenty of work on vocabulary and expressions. The word list includes reference to word frequency, so students can see which words and expressions are most commonly used.
Our only doubts were that texts felt overly long in places and that the unifying theme of each module might lead to topic fatigue. That is, if a student covers only one module during the course, then all the lessons will focus on the main theme of the module rather than covering a variety of themes.
The
other title we looked at (yes, we could find only two recent titles)
was World Link (Thomson). This is what the publishers call a
"combo edition" of the standard World Link course.
It's called a "combo" because each book includes half of the
normal student's book and half of the workbook. In its standard format
World Link is a six-level series for young adults and adults. It has
got video and Web support for both teachers and students. Every level
is available in split editions for short courses.
Split editions of existing courses are common. As the name suggests, they are standard course books that have been split into two halves, designed to make the books more attractive for short courses. You'll find split editions for many popular course books. However, it's not always the best solution. At the end of the day, all you are getting is half of a course that was designed for another use rather than something that has been specifically created for the needs of your short-course students.
For these reasons, we approached World Link with caution. However, we were all surprised at how much we liked it. It has a light, down-to-earth, no-fuss approach that somehow makes it ideal for short courses.
The design is simple but effective. Labelling and flagging is very clear throughout with good use of colours, symbols, and speech bubbles providing models for speaking activities. There are lots of nice mini features that mean there is always something new to do on the page and no theme or activity goes on too long. Having the workbook at the back of the book is another nice feature
As the book's subheading, "Developing English fluency", indicates, there is special emphasis on speaking in the form of a short "ask and answer" feature, many dialogues, and speaking strategy sections that include useful expressions. Communication pages contain extended tasks, and there's quite a lot of emphasis on pronunciation.
The topics and visuals in World Link are aimed at mixed nationalities and a variety of ages. There are lots of references to countries around the world, so there's no particular European bias.
The teacher's book is another surprise. Although today's teacher's books are often crammed with such extras as teaching tips and articles on methodology, they often overlook the fact that teachers are people too. World Link goes out of its way to provide teachers with background information that is interesting to read, fun teaching tips, and additional extras that are both useful and entertaining to read. The teacher's book also includes a picture of each spread in the student's book, which helps in making the book easy to use.
The introduction to the teacher's book gives extensive advice on how to use the course, as well as a very complete professional development section. According to the writers, "although teachers often do not think of their English language textbooks as part of their professional development, we believe that the World Link series can be." In short, this is a course that wants to care for its teachers as well as its students.
Although the design of World Link is clear and the book is easy to use, it isn't very modern or particularly attractive, and the cover is definitely not "cool". We also thought that the language summaries at the back of the book weren't always clear, especially the grammar notes.
At present World Link is available only in American English. We hope that Thomson will consider creating a British English version of the book or produce a true combo edition that is half American and half British English!
"First Impressions" is rather like an ELT book group. We meet as a group, go off and read the same titles, and then meet to discuss what we thought of them. The process gives us an interesting insight into what types of materials various publishers produce and how they cater for the different markets. In this particular case it has been a surprise to discover how little is available for the short-course or summer-course market even though there is obviously a demand. It is estimated that 700,000 students take a course in the U.K. each year. The long list of components that accompany most courses these days isn't necessary, and a combined course book and workbook can reduce production costs even more. It will be interesting to see how successful Move and World Link will be and whether publishers will start producing more titles for a market in need.
You will find links to publishers mentioned in this article below.