If your students hate classes based on the textbook
… there are six possibilities:
1. The whole concept of using a textbook is wrong
2. Having a textbook is wrong for that class
3. You’re using the textbook too much
4. You’re using the wrong textbook
5. You are influencing your students with your negative feelings (and even comments?) about textbooks in general or that textbook in particular, or it is affecting the way you teach negatively
6. You’re using the textbook the wrong way
The people who make the effort to read and even write TEFL blogs in their free time (!) may well be exceptions, and I still blame my most disastrous class of the last five years on International Express and its endless listenings, but I feel that the sixth is by far the largest group in our profession. Haven’t spent much time looking for evidence to back that up (I am after all writing a TEFL blog is my free time!) but one that springs to mind is Rose M Senior’s observation in The Experience of Language Teaching that teachers with more experience use the textbook more often, not less. Her (also evidence-free) conclusion was that those teachers have simply become demotivated and stuck in the routine, but the way I see it they have simply found a way of making classes based on the textbook work well.
In my own early days, the only way I had of getting students motivated and involved was by getting out my all time favourite communication games, readings, revision games, warmers etc. as a break from the book. As time went on, I managed to link those things in with the book by adapting them and having enough of them to be able to choose something close to the topic on hand. Concurrent with that, I managed to adapt the way students used the book so that the readings became more interesting, the listening teaching rather than testing, the grammar based on the problems they really had and a basis for real communication etc, and so no longer felt the need to stretch out the “fun” supplementary stuff to keep the amount of bookwork down.
And there I still I am, probably the least demotivated and stuck in the routine I’ve ever been, but also using almost everything in the book in some way. Things I do just completely change include:
1. Leaving out the idiotic jokes and cartoons from Natural English
2. Leaving out most of those extra little language points they keep adding to textbooks as one boring gapfill exercise as there is no interesting way of practising them (see Natural English again, but also new editions of almost everything!)
3. Leaving out most of the boring and unrealistic “tasks” from Cutting Edge (although I often make a worksheet based on the same general idea that I can use the same listening or functional language for)
4. Replacing almost all textbook listening for gist and reading and listening lead in tasks
5. Leaving out at least 50% of the book if I have “real ESP” classes, and preferably using no book at all
6. Adding extra classes on telephoning and emailing, ridiculously neglected skills even in Business English textbooks when most of my students use or will use these for 90% of their communication in English
7. Avoiding the book in some classes with one to one students who really don’t want to use the book- rather than ones who seem to be happy to chat but will actually leave when they realise how much money they’ve spent on a book they haven’t used and lessons that are going nowhere! The difficulty in telling the difference between them means I try to use the book for at least homework and to show them how what we talked about links to something in the book with almost everyone.
8. Avoiding “Low level” IELTS books
9. I never look at the teacher’s book for anything other than tapescripts and answer keys
As I haven’t done number 9 since week two of my TEFL course, I do sometimes wonder whether the reason I disagree with so many teachers on so many textbooks is because they are still teaching them the way they were designed. My only evidence to go on this is an observation by my DoS in Spain, who said “So, that’s how you’re supposed to teach Headway! Now I realise why you don’t hate it”
November 13th, 2009 at 2:22 am
I’m hoping to have an article on this in ETP sometime soon (I’m only saying that because I don’t want you to think I ripped you off when you see it!).
There are exceptions, but I generally think there is no such thing as a bad textbook…just one that is inappropriate or being used badly.
I am leaning more and more towards cutitng them out though. Most of the classes I teach are ‘skills’ classes, reading, writing, oral communication. But most textbooks these days, in an effort to add ‘extra value’ and meet the needs of as wide a target market as possible, are packed full of stuff. I don’t mind skipping the odd activity, but when I find myself cutting or adapting whole sections it seems silly to make the students shell out for a book. Give me something spare, a springboard that me and the students can riff on (if you’ll pardon the mixed metaphor) and I’ll be much happier.
November 13th, 2009 at 8:34 am
The books are a useful guide. Most of the activities can be done in more interesting ways though. I mean, why have students identify things in the class or in their bag and then do a listening on the same thing when we can actually look at our own classes and bags and get tons of speaking and listening practice in?
The same goes for much of what is in the book. Why should I do a unit on medicine when I can bring in an interesting article on alternative medicine trends in Turkey, practice the vocab, and then discuss it.
If I don’t have something to supplement, sure, I’ll pull out the book and, with a little touch of my ELT wand (you do have one of those don’t you?:)) I’ll pull out the material and present it more creatively. Aside from giving me a sort of syllabus or helping me out when I’m feeling lazy or uncreative, I just don’t see the use.
Let’s not forget kids’ books. How the hell that 30 dollar book that has pictures in it for 4-year olds helps me as a teacher or my students, I have no idea. I’m pretty sure I can find a picture of a girl playing with a cat on the internet for free.
In the end you’re right though, it’s not the book, but the way you work with it and present it that counts.
November 13th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Some very valid insights there. Textbooks certainly do have their virtues, and these increase if they are appropriate to the students. Even the best materials simply cannot be of use if students cannot make head nor tail of them. (The case, sadly, in many preparatory EAP programmes, especially in emerging nations demanding tertiary study in English).
The art – and it is time-consuming, I fear – is to build a bridge between the students and the materials. Abandoning textbooks altogether leaves students feeling insecure, but the books alone are certainly not enough.
November 14th, 2009 at 10:55 am
In my school, we used locally-produced textbooks (for our specific market). I find them dry and uninspiring, the unit by unit “story” boring and irrelevant to my young learner students. I use the textbook and workbook simply for introducing and practicing grammar, and use other materials for reading, listening and speaking exercises. They practice writing in journals and by exchanging letters with penpals in England.
However, that said, I do understand that there are students and teachers who like this kind of structure. It’s all about getting to know your students and what will inspire them to learn.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Good point about the locally produced textbooks, and then there are the ones that chains of schools make for themselves. I think Darren was exagerrating a little when he said there were no bad textbooks- how about Japanese for Busy People Darren??
November 15th, 2009 at 3:23 am
As I said.. there are exceptions ; P
November 16th, 2009 at 3:38 am
Hi Alex, great article.
I am not sure if you have talked about this in an earlier post, but it would be interesting to find out why we choose the textbooks we do, and what we do when the textbook does not work out as well as we expected. I have had a couple of experiences now, and probably will have more in the future if I continue to use textbooks, where I thought the textbook would be appropriate only to find out upon using it that it didn’t. Last semester, for example, I was teaching an academic English course, my first time actually, and probably the reason why the book did not go over well, and by the end of the course, about the only thing I was using were the introductory reading section and the topic. What I ended up doing was modifying the book, but so much so that I kind of regretted asking students to buy it. Next year, therefore, I will definitely be trying a different book or using my own materials.
I think it depends on the course you teach as well because in my reading course, I prefer to use my own materials, albeit, materials created from ideas obtained from previously used textbooks. However, in my communication courses, I prefer to use textbooks because when I don’t go with a textbook, I find myself lacking adequate listening materials and looking for or making appropriate materials can be quite difficult and time-consuming. Therefore, a textbook with graded listening activities can overcome this challenge. However, honestly, in the end, if it were OK to use a textbook’s listening activity to supplement my own materials, I would prefer to do that, because first, I have yet to find a textbook that completely satisfies me or fits my current class and furthermore, self-made materials will always be more personal and better suited to your students than a textbook. Alas, the all-knowing copyright monster!
November 17th, 2009 at 7:13 am
Now I want to know how you teach Headway!
July 9th, 2010 at 10:02 pm
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