Tefl.NET Forums

Hi, I'm new to the forum and was wondering if anyone has advice for me teaching a group of mature students.

I have been teaching ESL in Switzerland for around 4 months having completed my CELTA earlier this year.

I have just taken on 2 groups of senior students, senior meaning 50+ years old, although I expect most of them will be retired so 65+. The levels will be one beginner group so A1/A2 and one intermediate group B1/B2. There will be approximately 10 students in each group. The problem I am having is finding suitable course books for the groups, as most of the books I have used in the past are aimed at a younger language learner and I feel most of the topics are probably not going to be of much interest to people in this age range, perhaps with exception of the Life series from National Geographic/Cengage which I have used in the past. Unfortunately i think Life will be a bit 'grammar heavy' for this group. I would like a book more of a functional approach as it is aimed at senior citizens who intend to use English while travelling post-retirement (very popular amongst the Swiss!)

Anyway, if anyone has any experience or recommendations I would be grateful.

Thanks

David

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Why don't you wait to meet them before you decide what topics they are interested in? Many senior people are interested in a wide range of topics. I wouldn't disregards a book for the reason you give without knowing the students.

Good question, I have been teaching a group of 70+ seniors for a few years now and have cherry picked my way through several books. I found that Headway (B1 and B1+) was the most appropriate for them, I'm looking at Innovations and Global as possible next options.

Its good to know that Headway has been a good choice for you. I have to look into that.

I finally decided to go with Empower for my next class. I took in a selection of possible books and they thought it looked the most suitable.