Use of Course Books in the English Language Teaching - Report Example

Use Of Course Books In ETL The use and application of course books in the learning of the English language has been a key component in the learning process. They provide the basic and guidelines for the teachers in providing the required skills sets. Apart from the teachers input, the textbook has served as the other source of lesson for the students. The textbooks basically offer the teachers and the students the way to plan for lessons and ways to teach the lessons. As much as the textbook has become an integral part of the teaching process, scholars have argued that there should be a restrictive or no use of the textbooks for effective learning. The debate seems to be shifting to the premise that there can never be an ideal textbook for teaching the language hence the reaction and attitude of the teacher is equally important in the effective use of the books. Furthermore, there is also concern of adapting a book to fit the needs of a particular ETL class. The perception of the teacher on the issues discussed on the textbooks and the student’s attitudes towards the same issues influence the practicability and effectiveness of the textbook as a tool in learning. The application of the textbooks also brings about the concern of parents on the applicability of the textbooks in real life of the students (Kumari and Mohammad 2007). The book has been argued to be a sufficient tool while other argues that it can only be used as a tool alongside other tools to ensure proper learning in the English language Teaching (ELT) classroom. Cunningsworth (1984) notes that the textbook should be used as the teacher’s servant and not its master” Theoretically, textbooks are seen as the best and primary means through which students acquire knowledge. Hummel 1998 states that the course books act as “primary vehicles for delivering content knowledge, for determining in large measure what goes on in a class”. The textbooks also offer the learning outcomes of the process: what the student has managed to learn and what gap needs to be filled later. The course book can be used to measure the performance of the student at all and every level of learning. Haycroft (1998) makes the same observation that textbooks give a concrete way in which performance can be measure. The use of textbooks has become indispensable that they are being referred to as the organizing centers of the learning institutions. This is because of the ability of the books to provide the teachers and the students on the outline of “what is to be taught, how it should be taught and when it is taught“(Kumari and Mohammed 2007). Hutchinson and Torres (1994) describe the textbooks as the most efficient way of providing the framework of the teaching and learning process. Therefore the textbook is seen as a tool that provides the content of the English process and the procedures used in the teaching of this content to students throughout the lesson. Cunningsworth (1984) describes a text book as a source of ideas for the teachers in teaching each topic as well as stimulate the creativity of the teacher and coming up with pedagogical activities (Demies 2005). The textbook itself is cost effective tool for both the teacher and the student in the learning tasks: Ur (1996) notes that the course book is an economic and efficient way of acquiring a full learning package without having to source for supplementary materials. Since students are allowed to have their own copies, the books can be used outside the confines of the school hence reducing the amount of time teachers take in teaching. Using textbooks reduces the preparation time for the teacher: there are ready available materials (Demies 2005). This gives the teacher the benefit of engaging in more productive activities other than finding materials for teaching. A teacher using a textbook is always on track of what he/she is teaching considering most teachers teach different subjects to different students. This is mainly because the course book is arranged in a chronological manner and the presentation of the information is carried out in levels. The purchase of books is easier and cheaper compared to the research that the teacher would have to go through in order to come up with the materials to teach the students. Proponents of the use of textbooks in teaching English argue that the books offer great rewards to the teacher student learning process apart from the contents. Cunningsworth (1995) notes these advantages to include resource for presenting material; source of activities; reference source for grammar and vocabulary; source of self-directing and self-access work. The students are able to know what to expect in each lesson and what is expected of them in every lesson. Moreover, the books serve as a toll for revision for the student and can still be used in the learning process in the event that the teacher is not available to engage the students in activities. The course books are also a great source of support for teachers who are starting the teaching practice as well as the teachers whose first language is not English. They therefore serve as tools to train the teacher on the practical means of teaching and standard teaching practices. In essence, the books provide uniformity within the teaching spectrum and put all students on a level playing field. The assumption of a newly developed textbook is that it is based on latest research in terms of content as well as the strategies to be used. The proponents of the use of textbook as a learning and teaching tool cite the availability of new vocabulary and widely research information to give students. Scholars that are against the use of books as a learning tool cite the increased dependency on the book as a toll that the performance and the teaching outcomes for the students are negatively affected. They propose the dogme technique that advocates for the communicative approach in teaching language. The argument that depending course books can be detrimental to the students’ needs supports the idea that books should be adaptable to the interest and needs of the student in their application. The Dogme approach is based on teaching that is cooperation driven, material light and focus on emergent language. The foundation of the approach is putting the student at the center of the learning process. Allwright (1981) advocates for the involving of the student in their learning of the language: whole person involvement Allwright (1981) notes that in the debate of what is available from teaching and what is taught in classroom, the course book cannot predict what the outcome of the classroom will be. Instead, the learning outcomes are usually the results of the events that take place during the learning process and not as predicted by the book. Furthermore, the author argues that the textbook is not sufficient to teach a language: there are other factors that need to be included in the teaching program. Allwright (1982) views textbooks to be limited in their application and restricts student to what is considered as content for the language course. Cunningsworth (1995) outlines the limitations of using a course book in teaching language to include the lack of variety in teaching techniques. Unlike Hutchinson and Torres)1994) that advocated that the inclusion of a course book in the leaning process promoted the innovation of , Cunningsworth(1995) shows that course books reduce the innovation of teaching activities towards the student’s needs. In practice, teachers only use what they are provided with in the books rather that fit them to the needs of the students they are teaching therefore resulting in a lack of creativity in the teaching techniques. When guided by a single book, Cunningsworth (1995) notes that the flexibility and spontaneity of the teacher in delivering the lesson is dramatically reduced: the teachers mind is already tuned to what the book has already outlined. In particular, Cunningsworth(1995) notes that “heavy dependence on course books is far from ideal it reduces the importance of the individual contributions that good teachers make at all levels in the learning process (pg. 10). Implicitly, course books only serve to control the procedures, content of the language teaching and learning. Allwright (1981) notes that books only represent the author’s ideas and bias on how effective the language can be taught therefore are inflexible. As much as the text book content provides a framework for learning, there is possibility that such content is not suitable for all students. Demies (2005) notes that the course book is usually written to fit one class of students and the topics covered could not interest all students in the same measure and some topics nay prove difficult for certain students. This is partly why the outcomes in the course books do not always reflect the actual outcomes in class. Textbooks do not take the background of the students into account when they are produced; instead they represent the author’s bias. The student background is critical in aligning the ideals presented in the book to reality of the student’s culture. Most books present some authors, for the risk of attaining profits, do not take the quality of the content of the course books into account and instead the outcome is ineffective learning. Some of them have been identified to have elements of social and cultural bias and stereotypes and do not take the culture of the learner into consideration. Course Book Evaluation The debate on the use of the textbook or lack thereof for meeting the learning objectives and need of the student has not eliminated the application of the textbooks in the teaching process. On the contrary there are more and more books that are available for the learning of the English language. However, the focus has shifted into making the textbook effective for the students. The effectiveness is established by the evaluation of the best course book to use. The logic behind the evaluation is that there is no ideal book for all sets of programs and learners: although a certain book may be ideal for a given set of students the same results would not be ideal for a different set of students before an evaluation, there need to be taken into consideration the teachers using the textbook, the role of the textbook in the program and the students that are part of the program. Cunningsworth (1995) notes in order to have an informed selection, four criteria for evaluating course books should be met: the n book should respond to the learners needs; the books should facilitate the learning process of the students; the book should be an effective support for learning; they should be applicable in the uses of the language the learner seeks. The evaluation for course book can either be prepublication or post publication, both of which are critical in selection. The main objective of the pre-publication evaluation usually establishes the usability of the main text in learning and how effective it is in the learning outcomes (Zohrabi et al 2012). The evaluation also establishes how practical the book will be in the context of the chosen program, teachers and learners. The evaluation of available books allows both the management and the teachers to be able to familiarize themselves with the content of the books in establishing its usability. This reduces the possibility of the teacher facing any future difficulties arising from the use of the book. Users also identify the weakness and strengths of the book (providing them the opportunity to fill the gaps presented in the books. Moreover, the choice of a course book as a learning material is an expensive investment and therefore, there is need to ensure that the investment is worth its while. There are available three types of evaluations as proposed by Cunningsworth (1995): per-use evaluation, in-use evaluation and post use evaluation. The pre-use stage is done when there is no experience of the use of the book while in-use evaluation establishes the effectiveness of the book in application. The post-use phase gives the assessment of the book retrospectively. The retrospective evaluation provides insight on whether the book was effective, whether the content of the book was worthy to be used and whether or not the activities of the course book resulted in achieving the outcomes of the learning proves. For any kind of evaluation, there are certain criteria that are applicable in the process. Grant (1987) proposed the CATALYST test that gives 8 criteria that are used in evaluation a book. The test suggest that in order to establish if a book is suitable for the classroom it needs to focus on the criteria: Communicative aspect: is the book useful in ensuring that students communicate in that language; Aim: is the book aligned to the objectives of the class and the program?; teachable: is the organization of the book easy to use and teachable to the students?; available add-ons: does the book provide any extra material for its use such as workbooks and tapes?; level: is the level of understanding relevant to the program and the students?; your impression: what is the overall impression of the course?; student interest: will the students find the book interesting; tried and tested: has the course been tested before and what were the results of the use of the program? Sheldon (1988) suggest fact that reviewers as well as teachers should consider in establishing the suitability of a book. These factors include: the rationale, layout, and accessibility of exercises, originality, and the activities available and their sufficiency, the flexibility of the course book, the cultural and social bias of the book, the validity of the content and the value for money. Cunningsworth (1995) also provides a checklist that can be used in evaluating a course book for teaching English as a second language. He suggests that the evaluation should focus on: aims and approach of the program should be in line with the aim of the books; the content of the book should be organized well in terms of complexity, functional d topics; language content with regard to the vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar; skills such as reading, writing and listening that are teachable; topics and whether they are interesting or not; the methodology applied to the study; and the practical aspect of the book. The book chosen for evaluation is the World English book series. The series is a set of books that range from the introductory level of the English language to the more advanced level of the language. The World English, second edition includes the TED readings and Talks along with videos from National Geographic. The book has further included the technology aspect in the outline. At each level of the series there is available an e-book, CD-ROM, online workbook and the student book for the complete study. The evaluation of the book would take on the checklist approach suggested by Cunningsworth (1995). The evaluation will therefore follow this checklist scheme in developing the questionnaires for both the students and the teachers. The questionnaires will focus on some aspects of the criteria depending on the applicability and will evaluate the theoretical considerations; the organizational structure; the content; skills; vocabulary; structure; activities. The results from the questionnaires from the teachers and the students will then be used to evaluate the course book. Unit 3 of the World English second edition has four goals to be achieved: identify places in a home; describe your house; identify household objects and compare houses. The chapter also includes imagery and several activities that help the student to identify and learn the vocabulary and grammar based on the goals. The universal use of the world English series requires that the teacher adapts the lessons and activities of the book and the units to the needs of the leaners. Adapting textbooks to meets learners needs may take the forms: modifying the content to suit the learners; adding or deleting content, reorganizing content; modifying tasks or extending tasks. The assumption that is taken here is that the world English book is being used by adults who want to use the English language as a foreign language. The learners therefore are adults, most of who are employed persons and are taking English as a foreign language. The contents of unit 3 require that the leaner acquire new vocabulary and grammar from the houses and apartments. Since the learners also form part of the working class it would only be effective to include the office as part of the vocabulary learning instruments. The first activity requires that students identify the pictures of the houses and compare the houses to those they live in. this will be what the beginner would use to familiarizes themselves with the topic but it would be inappropriate to the adult learner. Therefore, this activity will have to be modified. Instead, the activity would require that the learners identify the places shown in the picture as homes, offices, factories etc. Further activities involve the identification of items in the homes and apartments and filling them in the provided gaps. The exercise is suitable for the learners because as much as it gives the new vocabulary to work with, it includes the use of grammar as well. The need of the leaner is to know the language and therefore since they already know it in their maternal language, the use of pictorials for study provides the best way to acquire the new terms in English. A critical part of the learning of a new language is the skills set that come with the knowledge of a language: writing, speaking and listening. Unit 3 includes listening exercises that allows for the learners to not only practicing what they have learned thus far but acquires new vocabulary in the process. The listening aspect of learning is critical in developing the speaking skills, more especially the pronunciation of the words. The unit exercises however do not provide enough exercises for speaking practice of the language. Since the main objective of the learners is to speak the language as a foreign language, adapting the topic would include exercise where the learner’s actually engage in conversations with either each other or with the teacher using the vocabulary and grammar that have been learned during the class. The topic further includes information that is not part of the learning objectives. The second edition includes a series of TED talk videos that not only seek to impact on knowledge to the learners but help them in understanding the language through the world. Therefore this activity will be adapted without changes to it. References Allwright R L 1981 what do we want teaching materials for? ELT Journal vol 36(1) pp 5-18 Cunningsworth A 1995 Choosing Your Course Book oxford McMillan Heinemann Demies Y 2005 THE USE OF PRESCRIBED ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTBOOK FOR CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION: A CASE STUDY IN SMK TUNG HUA, SIBU, and SARAWAK Grant N 1987 Making the Most of Your Textbook London: Longman Hutchinson T and Torres E 1994 the textbook as agent of change ELT Journal vol 48(4) pp 315-328 Kumari R and Mohammad R F September 2007 Effective Use of Textbooks: A Neglected Aspect of Education in Pakistan journal of education for international development 3:1 Sheldon L 1988 Evaluating ELT Textbooks and Material ELT Journal vol 42(4) pp237-246 Ur P 1996 A Courses in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge university press Read More