Choose your coursebook

By Alan Cunningworth

(Chapter 12)

Group 4: Nguyễn Trần Hoài Phương

Phạm Phúc Khánh Minh

Adapting published

materials

1. Why adapt coursebooks?Learners

needs and course

requirements

What the coursebook

contains

Factors that affect learning/teaching

situations

The dynamics of the classroom and the personalities involved

• Ex: YL (kids, teens), or adults (reserved, shy, active, passive,…)

The constraints imposed by syllabuses

• Ex: obligation from the course, or the institution, etc.

The availability of resources

• Ex: reference books, online resources,…

The expectations and motivation of the learners

• Depends on the level of the learners

2. When to adapt

Areas to adapt

coursebooks:

- Methods

- Language

content

- Subject

matter

- Balance of

skills

- Progression

and grading

- Cultural

content

- Image

Teachers need:

- To be sensitive

- To be aware of what

the learners find

difficult/ easy

- To have a good

understanding of the

nature of the

materials; experience

of working in the

learning/ teaching

situation.

Students get more

challenging

3. How to adapt3.1. Leaving out some parts of the materials

Example: parts that don’t need doing/discussing in class,

they can be assigned as homework.

3.2. Adding (published or your own) and replacing

materials with something more suitable- The commonest components that need supplementing and

some suggestions:

+ reading (Effective reading, trusted online

newspapers/articles,…)

+ listening (CD, video lessons, practice tests,…)

+ pronunciation (Ship or sheep, Tree or three,…)

+ vocabulary (Wordpower, Vocabulary in Use,…)

+ grammar (English Grammar in Use,…)

- Some other coursebook packages: Boost (Listening,

Reading, Writing, Grammar), for YLs: Primary (Grammar,

Pronunciation, Vocabulary, Writing)

3.3. Changing the published material to make it more

suitable for your use

4. A new role for the coursebook:

inspiration and creativity

A source of practical examples of ideas for teaching

An inspiration stimulating teachers’ creative potential

5. Some examples of adapting materials

5.1. Personalizing drills to make them more relevant

Give replies like the ones:

1.Do you get up at 5 o’clock?

2.Do you chat with your friends everyday?

3.Do you help your mother after school?

4.Do you water the flowers in the afternoon?

5.Do you tidy up your bedroom every evening?

Formal, extensive

Repetitive use of “Do you”, which is a form

of Present simple tense

No situation given, quite mechanical

Another way of doing this activity:

• Ask the class about habits, routines and write

them on the board as a list

• Work in pairs or small groups asking and

answering questions

• Introduce the Present simple tense: forms,

question words, and adverbs of frequency (if the

level is appropriate)

• Students extend their responses to apply the

tense

• If students are able, develop into more complex

sentences:

Ex: I usually help my mother after I finish

school. I always cook rice and wash the dishes

after dinner.

Students give their own experiences in real life.

They communicate with others through English.

Teachers focus on using a particular structure.

5.2. Using authentic content

Another way of doing this activity:• Choose a recent shown movie that receives good comments

from the public.

• Collect information about the movie (online, newspaper,

others’ opinions..)

• Select short pieces of texts about the movie (introduction from

the website of the movie, reviews of some writers,…) and

give each a heading.

• Prepare an introduction for setting the scene by asking

general questions and watch a short trailer.

• Set questions about the movie for students to answer after

they are given the texts.

• Introduce some new vocabulary (genres, contemporary words

used in the texts)

• Design discussion (What you learn from the movie, Your

suggestion for the movie producers about the ending…)

• Extra task (can be assigned as homework): write about

his/her own favourite movie (genres, setting, characters,…)

and then present in front of the class another time.

5.3. Making dialogues communicative

Another way of doing this activity:

6. Adapting outdated

coursebooks

The choices

are somehow

sophisticated,

Require

considerable

insight into the

use of

vocabulary

The subject

matter of the

exercise is

trivial, illogical,

not producing

clear outcome.

Another way of doing this activity:

• Select a suitable article from a topical

newspaper or magazine.

• Choose new words that the teacher

want to explain further.

• Delete these words, creating a gap text.

• Give the original and alternative

vocabulary options.

• Ask students to work in small groups.

• Give instructions for the task. Discuss

the choices and give their reasons.

• Present their answers in front of the

class.

Thank you for your listening