Tip Choosing a coursebook doc

 
 
 
 
 
 

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W
HAT DO YOUR LEARNERS NEED FROM A COURSEBOOK
? 
Children want a coursebook to be colourful and interesting. They 
hope the coursebook will contain exciting games and activities. They 
hope the cassettes will contain exciting stories, amusing dialogues 
and entertaining songs and rhymes. 
But what do the children need? We all know that children have short 
memories. They find it difficult to retain ideas and language from 
one lesson to the next. So the children need a coursebook which 
becomes an accessible and understandable record of their work.
A good coursebook gives the children: 
•
a sense of progress, progression and purpose; 
•
a sense of security; 
•
scope for independent and autonomous learning; 
•
a reference for checking and revising. 
T
HE 
P
ERFECT 
C
OURSEBOOK
 
The Perfect Coursebook for every teacher and every class does not 
exist. When selecting a coursebook you always need to make a 
compromise.
There will be things which you don’t like about any coursebook. How 
important are those things? Can you create materials to substitute 
those aspects? Has the coursebook got something missing? Can you 
find or create materials to fill that gap? 
Remember that you work in partnership with your coursebook. 
Never expect the coursebook to do everything for you. You will 
always need to personalise your teaching with your own personality. 
W
HAT CAN YOU CONTRIBUTE TO THE COURSEBOOK
? 
As a teacher you have a collection of skills. There are some things 
which you may be very good at doing. Are you a great artist who 
can draw all the pictures you need? Are you a musician who can 
play and sing any songs you need? Do you know hundreds of simple 
games for your learners to play? Do you have a good competence in 
English? It may not be enough to be a native speaker, you also 
need to be able to analyse and grade the language which you teach 
your learners.