The Course and the Coursebook

The Course and The Coursebook

The Importance of Supplementing, Adapting and Rejecting

How can you move from passively teaching the book you’re assigned to active teaching and active learning?

Use Your Student

In, ESP students may come from various level and background, make sure to utilize their stories.

Luke Medding’s Paper Conversation

If a student has done something interesting over the weekend for example, instead of having a quick chat about it and moving on, mine and refine

Luke Medding’s Paper Conversation

• Search the conversation for problematic language• Get the students to write some questions down to

ask him. • Ask the student to answer the questions and have

everyone else take notes.• Students should write summary of the story

which you can use to mine for errors or language that you will be working on in class that day.

Prioritise• Think about what

your main learning objective is for the class and what activities are absolutely essential to get you there.

• Fostering learner autonomy.

Plan from the heart

Duncan Ford suggests ‘planning

from the heart’

Createa Spidergram with the ‘heart of the lesson’ in the middle of the board.

AdaptUse your own warmers, fillers etc.

AdaptShare your ideas with colleagues and get ideas from

them

AdaptUse supplementary materials from teacher’s book and

teacher’s resource book

AdaptUse online materials

AdaptDifferentiate the homework

Adapt

Use your students’ ideas and interests

Rejecting the CoursebookSTAGE 1:• How many students will

there be in the class?• What age will they be• The student’s level• Their purpose of learning

the language• If there is a SYLLABUS to

follow• If there is a specific

topic/skills to cover

Rejecting the Coursebook

STAGE 2:Find out which titles are SUITABLE and WITHIN YOUR BUDGET

Rejecting the Coursebook

Rejecting the Coursebook

Example criteria:

Rejecting the Coursebook

STAGE 4:Evaluate its over-all impact with the student Does it meet the student’s needs?Do they like it?Does it live up to its claims?Does it really meet the criteria?Can you continue using the book for the next class or must you change it?

“Teachers open the door, students enter

by themselves.”