Materials for General English

ENGLISH LANGUAGE

LEARNING MATERIALSBrian Tomlinson

(Chapter 2)

Group 4: Nguyễn Trần Hoài Phương

Phạm Phúc Khánh Minh

1. Introduction

General English (GE)

• In English-speaking countries

English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

• In non-English-speaking countries

2. Similarities and differences of GE and

EFL contexts

2.1. Similarities

- Teachers tend to be native speakers

from English-speaking countries.

- Teaching has mainly taken place in

language schools, colleges, and

universities in which courses focus on

developing the four language skills for

communication.

- Contents of the coursebooks are good

for both teachers and learners.

2.2. Differences

General EnglishEnglish as a Foreign

Language

Needs and

wants

• English for everyday

interaction

• English for jobs/

many purposes

• Language skills

improvement

• English for no

immediate and

specific purposes

• Vague wish for

acquiring a lingua

franca (a language

used to make

communication

possible between

persons not sharing

a native language)

Class size Small classes (about

10 – 15)

Large classes (about

15 – 100)

General EnglishEnglish as a Foreign

Language

Environment

outside

classroom

English speaking Surrounded by local

people

Level and amount of

English input outside

classroom varies

Urgency Immediate needs for

everyday

communication

No immediate

communicative needs

outside classroom

Length of

course

General short (2 – 4

weeks)

Term (10 weeks)

Semester (14 weeks)

Academic year (35

weeks)

Exam pressure Not expected Exams expected at the

end

3. Teachers and students’ opinions about coursebooks in two contexts

Teachers Learners

GE context - Too many dry and dull texts

- Many of the texts are not

authentic or real

- Texts and activities are not

preparing students for real life

situations;

- do not engage the interest of

foreign students;

- seem to be culturally biased

to white middle-class British

- Grammar exercises are not

related to the texts

- So many activities to get

through

- Formats are repetitive

- Help them more to manage

everyday interactions in

English speaking environment

- Want more connection

between activities in class

and real life situations

- Knowledge related to culture

needs to be more

environment-specific and

concrete, not general and

abstract

Teachers Learners

EFL

context

- Texts which focus on everyday interaction in the UK or USA to

be interesting but not relevant enough

- More topics related to their lives

- More interesting texts that stimulate their thinking

- Desire for coursebooks catering for different learning styles

and offering more flexibility “owners of learning, not slaves

of textbooks”

- No matter how good the materials may be,

they could never manage to satisfy the

different needs and wants that come from the

different learning contexts and styles, cultural

standards and experiences of individuals.

- Cannot expect global materials to satisfy all the

needs and wants of learners

• Cater more to various needs and wants

Curriculum developers and

materials writers

• More readily and confidently adapt materials for their specific learners

Teachers

• are encouraged and helped to make more decisions for themselves

Learners

4. Suggestions for more effective learning

5. Evaluation of seven materials used in

the UK

- 7 coursebooks were randomly selected.

- Evaluated based on 14 criteria (SLA

principles)

- There are 3 conditions for the selection:

+ The authors have not used the books

themselves.

+ Samples should represent a range of

different UK publishers.

+ Samples should spread across all the

levels.

- Apart from the above three conditions, they should stress

that these courses were selected at random and that no

claim is being made about their typicality.

- There are seven materials in their evaluations:

+ Material 1(Beginner) Reach Book 1 – Oxford

University

+ Material 2 (Elementary) Language to Go –

Longman Pearson Educational

+ Material 3 (Low Intermediate) Touchstone Book 3

– Cambridge University Press

+ Material 4 (Intermediate) Just right

+ Material 5 (Upper Intermediate) Move – Macmillan

+ Material 6 (Upper Intermediate) New opportunities

– Pearson Longman

+ Material 7 (Advanced) Changing skies – Swan

Summary of the main strengths and

weaknesses of the sample

Various contemporary

Provides an up-to-date flavour of

authentic language

Using mainly trivial topics and idealizing pictures of English-speaking countries

Encouraging to find some affectively and cognitively engaging

texts

TOPICS

Contain redundancy, recycling and gradual build-up

allow a rich exposure to language in real life use

Contain short and snappy succession of activities

give learners and teachers an impression of “too many activities to go through”

LO

NG

TE

XT

SS

HO

RT

TE

XT

SThe effectiveness of the brevity of the texts

The appropriateness of the contents of

coursebooks and the learners’ language levels

More engaging and challenging

materials to young adults/adult

learners with low language levels

Higher-level

books

Low-level books

The exposure of materials to learners

Materials writers

focus more on

providing pre-

determined input

rather than on

facilitating

intake, language

acquisition and

development.

Materials feature far

more language

practice exercises

than language use

activities.

Exercises tend to be exam oriented

Inhibit the cognitive and affective

engagement of learners

Satisfy “market demands”

Application of the language used

in coursebooks in real life

Apart from the English environment

that materials provide, learners can

also make use of the language

through television, radio, the press,

the cinema, the web or face-to-face

interaction with English speakers.

Grammar

No evidence that such an approach facilitates language acquisition and development

Production

Practice

Presentation

Approaches to language teaching

Traditional way: levels of language are considered to be separate

Language Awareness Approach: more exploration of language in use in social and cultural contexts

6. Conclusion

COURSEBOOKS

Satisfy learning

principles

Incorporate user

flexibility

Provide attractive materials

Developers, administrators and teachers

Focus on how to maximize

intake

Consider user feedback

Evaluate current

provision against major

principles

Thank you for your listening