The developing teacher
First Impressions looks at some new methodology books for teachers as well as some new readers and books for Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). Plus, we take a first look at a new online dictionary.
If you ever listen to the Simon Mayo Book Review programme on BBC 5 Live (also available as a podcast), then you’ll know the review panel always starts by describing the cover of each book, even attempting to identify the font the publisher has chosen to use for the title.
The covers of the first two books in this edition of First Impressions have very striking covers. They both feature large, colourful images that occupy most of the space. The first shows a path leading through green bushes towards trees. We could be in the countryside or on London’s Hampstead Heath. The second shows an empty highway stretching into the distance across a somewhat desolate landscape with mountains in the distance under a blue sky dotted with clouds. In this case, we could be in a Coen brothers film. The title of both books are in what we guess to be Helvetica font.
The two books are the first titles in what the publisher calls “... a pioneering new series of books for English Language Teachers with professional development in mind, blending theory, practice and development”. The series is called the Delta Teacher Development Series (or DTDS for short), and each title in the series has three distinctive parts which focus in turn on theory, practice and development.
The Developing Teacher is by Duncan Foord, who many readers will know as the co-author of our very own Language Teacher’s Survival Handbook as well as the Surviving Teaching section in this magazine. Duncan believes that teachers themselves are the most powerful agents of change and development in their own professional career, a point he illustrates vividly in the introduction to the book, where he describes his own professional journey.
The first section of the book is an examination of different aspects and issues in teacher development, and a discussion of how teachers learn and what prevents them from learning. It’s followed by a bank of activities organised into five circles of expanding development, embracing all aspects of the language teacher’s life. The third section looks at further teacher development and longer-term projects.
Readers of iT’s will also be familiar with Scott Thornbury and Dogme ELT. For Teaching Unplugged, Scott has teamed up with Luke Meddings to write the first book to deal comprehensively with Dogme ELT. For those of you who don’t already know, Dogme ELT advocates a materials-light, conversation-driven philosophy of teaching that, above all, focuses on the learner and on emergent language.
Apart from a detailed explanation of the core principles behind Dogme ELT, the book provides a bank of activities that involve little or no preparation, often requiring no more than pen, paper and the people in the room. These are followed by a reflection on questions relating to how Dogme ELT can be applied in different teaching contexts and an examination of the issues and implications of adopting this style of teaching.
The next two titles in the series, to be published this summer, are Culture in Our Classrooms by Mario Rinvolucri and Gill Johnson, and The Company Words Keep: Lexical Chunks in Language Teaching by Paul Davis and Hania Kryszewska.
If lexical chunks are your thing, then you’ll definitely be interested in one of the new titles in Helbling Language’s series of methodology books.
The Resourceful Teacher is a methodology series for teachers, teacher trainers and teacher trainees that explores new developments in various areas, such as linguistics, pedagogy and cognitive psychology, and suggests how to use them effectively in class. As the publisher says, one of the secrets of teaching a foreign language successfully lies in balancing routine classroom work with innovative and creative activities and techniques.
There are two new titles in the series. Teaching Chunks of Language, by Seth Lindstromberg and Frank Boers, is for teachers working with intermediate to advanced students. It shows how to help them work out the origins and reasoning behind the choice of words that occur apparently at random in so many chunks of language in English. This helps the students not only to remember them but also to work out the most likely choice of words in semi-familiar chunks.
The activities are divided into three main sections. The first describes basic procedures to help learners notice chunks. The second describes ways of teaching that make chunks more memorable. The third illustrates techniques of reviewing and quizzing. Most of the activities presented are communicative and involve a lot of speaking and listening as well as intensive reading and some writing.
Activities for Interactive Whiteboards, by Daniel Martin, contains 95 activities to help employ an interactive whiteboard to the full in the English language classroom. These include both traditional and innovative ideas that address multiple intelligence approaches to language teaching, and cater for all language skills and language levels, from elementary to advanced.
The book is divided into three main sections: image-based activities, sound- and video-based activities, and text-based activities. A strong emphasis has been placed on promoting learner interaction and active language practice and communication.
For obvious reasons, Activities for Interactive Whiteboards comes with a multimedia CD-ROM containing a selection of activities from the book to use with your whiteboard.
Apart from these new titles for the developing teacher, there are several other new titles worth mentioning, especially if you have an interest in readers or CLIL.
The Macmillan Readers Literature Collection is a new series of advanced-level readers containing original, unsimplified short stories written by famous classic and modern writers. Each collection comes with support material, including pre-reading vocabulary activities, post-reading language and comprehension exercises, a literary analysis section, and essay questions. They are perfect for students who are ready to make the transition from graded readers to unabridged English literature texts.
The collections currently available are American Stories, Horror Stories, Love Stories, and Science Fiction Stories. As an example, this last collection brings together five stories that explore a range of perspectives within the genre of science fiction; the authors are Philip K. Dick, Ray Bradbury, Stanley Weinbaum, Arthur C. Clark and Jack London. From space travel to time travel, scientific experiments and teleportation, this is obviously a must for science-fiction fans in your class.
Cambridge Discovery Readers is a new series of original fiction, adapted fiction and fact books especially written for teenagers. There are seven levels, from Starter to Advanced, and all the books feature original illustrations and photographs to guide students. Activities throughout the books help consolidate new vocabulary and encourage independent learning.
Each title is available in either British or American English and comes with a CD-ROM that contains vocabulary games and complete audio recordings. Free online resources include competitions, teaching tips and articles, worksheets and lesson plans, sample chapters, and audio clips.
Titles include Amazing Young Sports People, A Little Trouble in Amsterdam, Killer Bees, Tales of Terror, and the intriguingly titled A Little Trouble in the Yorkshire Dales.
There are three new titles in the Black Cat Reading & Training series. The books in this series for teenagers and adults consist mostly of adapted classics, but there are also some original stories and the occasional non-fiction reader. The new titles include an example of each: The Age of Innocence is adapted from Edith Wharton’s famous novel. Set in New York in the 1870s, it tells the story of Countess Ellen Olenska who causes scandal and embarrassment when she decides to divorce her husband. Alien Alert in Seattle is an original story by Gina D. B. Clemen about what happens when a high school teacher starts acting strangely, and American Cities looks at some of the country’s most distinctive and exciting cities.
As with all Black Cat titles, these books are visually appealing and informative, with cross-curricular dossiers that explore the historical and cultural background of the text.
Also new from Black Cat/Vicens Vives is Going for CLIL. This book is designed for young teenagers at elementary level. It can be used in the language classroom as a supplement to a coursebook, or at suitable moments in the academic subject classroom.
The book is divided into three graded sections (A1, A1-A2, A2) and provides a selection of cross-curricular texts and activities. There are 18 full-colour units, each dealing with one topic of the content subjects: geography, history and science. Topics have been selected according to the interests of the age group and to the syllabus of the academic subjects for the corresponding years.
The book looks great – it’s got clear and simple texts supported by illustrations, photographs and graphs. Apart from the texts and activities in the book, there are also numerous Internet projects to encourage students to explore the topics further. The book comes with an audio CD.
Primary Curriculum Box (Cambridge) is a resource book of photocopiable materials and activities for children aged between 6 and 12. It can be used with pupils from beginner to pre-intermediate level. The book is divided into five sections which correspond to five curriculum subjects: science, the environment, maths, the arts (art and drama) and literacy. The book includes more than 50 photocopiable activities to help teachers develop students’ knowledge of content and language. Meaningful communication is one of the main aims of content-based teaching, and in Primary Curriculum Box each activity gives ideas to encourage learners to talk. The five sections are divided so there are materials for three age ranges: 6 to 8, 8 to 10 and 10 to 12. All the activities have teachers’ notes with ideas for follow-up activities.
The activities are suitable for use with students who are learning other curriculum subjects in English. They can also be used for cross-curricular topic work with learners following traditional ELT courses. The activities can supplement coursebooks or provide stand-alone curriculum lessons.
Footprints (Macmillan) is a new six-level primary course designed to meet the needs of teachers and learners who are working at a higher level of English than traditional courses, providing a strong emphasis on cross-curricular content with clearly identified language aims that acknowledge the increasing trend towards content-based learning. Written by Carol Read, the fully illustrated books in levels 1 and 2 take students on a magical journey, meeting well-known fairy tale characters on the way to find the treasure at the end of the rainbow. The idea of a quest is continued in levels 3 and 4, but the context moves away from the world of fairy tales to one of mystery and adventure, working with the children’s growing maturity and awareness of the world around them.
Finally, April saw the launch of the Online Macmillan English Dictionary. This online edition of the award-winning dictionary is a very complete resource that provides extensive examples with comparisons between American and British usage. Every word also has an audio pronunciation guide and each meaning has its own thesaurus entry with a list of synonyms or related words. Help boxes accompany dictionary definitions, showing different word forms and metaphors. The 7,500 words which native English speakers use 90 per cent of the time are marked in red and graded with stars to indicate their frequency.
Alongside the dictionary is the mPulse resource. This provides insights into current language trends by the Macmillan Dictionary team of lexicographers. It’s also open to contributions from visitors to the site. Seen a new word in the press? You can submit it to the Open Dictionary. Users can also read stories from the Web about English today in Web Pulses or check out the Macmillan lexicographers’ musings about current language trends in the blog. You can find the dictionary at www.macmillandictionary.com.
Links to Web sites
Black Cat
Cambridge University Press
Delta Publishing
Helbling Languages
Macmillan ELT
Vicens Vives