Evaluation of Book

Adapted from Cunningsworth’s ‘Quick-reference checklist for evaluation and selection’ (1995)

Aims and Approaches

Do the aims of the coursebook correspond closely with theobjectives of the programme, syllabus and level?

  • Yes. The coursebook has a strong focus on learning strategies which is the focus of the programme curriculum objectives for the level. For example, each unit asks students to look at vocabulary in context, look for main ideas (synthesizing and summarizing), skim and scan for details, make inferences from the reading, and think critically about what they have read. They are also asked to analyze writing as well as consider writing formats, essay parts, and essay language.

Do the activities in the coursebook clearly assist in test and exam preparation?

  • Tests are created by instructors for their individual classes, and often not shared amongst the level teachers. However, the teacher pack does include ExamView software with preloaded test questions, and this makes it easier for teachers to quickly created tests that are related to both the topics of the book and test the skills that the book practices. Exams are created by level teams each semester, and are usually created to fit the material covered in class.

Do the aims of the coursebook correspond with the future needs of the learners?

  • In theory, yes. The book is written for ‘academically bound’ students which is the right audience. As mentioned above, the book asks students to practice general language and learning skills that they can than transfer to their diploma studies. However, the book is too difficult so students are often confused by the scaffolding provided and unable to move from objective activities (gathering facts from the reading) to more subjective activities (predicting, making inferences, critical thinking). There is also a major flaw in the choice of vocabulary focus as it looks at rarely used words instead of helping students build a larger bank of vocabulary that is likely to reappear and be useful. Finally, the book falls short in offering authentic texts of the kind that will prove useful in the future. Though the texts are interesting and contain challenging vocabulary, they are much shorter than the readings that are required at the college level and do not provide enough practice with the language of academic writing.

Is the coursebook suited to the learning situation?

  • The coursebook is slightly too long to be covered in the term, but because of the repetition of coverage of learning skills, it is not necessary for each teacher to cover all units or indeed even the same units. This allows for some flexibility where teachers can asks students to have some input into the readings covered in class. Because the readings are formatted according to the types of writing that are to be covered in the level, it suits the overall level very well.

Is the coursebook suited to the teaching situation (i.e. does it adhere to prescribed methods)?

  • I believe it falls short with the teaching situation as higher level cognitive skills are being addressed but with little guidance to the instructor (more information in ‘Teachers’ Book’ section.) This can be problematic as the education level, teaching experience, and knowledge of learning strategies of teachers varies greatly. This shortcoming is especially detrimental as the programme offers little, if any, prescribed methods, meaning that student experiences in different sections of the same level and skill class vary widely. More guidance on the instruction for activities in the book might help overcome this.

Does the coursebook cover most or all of what is needed?

  • Pre-reading and predicting is needed and is included but is often too short or vague to be of interest/use. Each reading begins with a picture and three questions, some of which are impossible for students to answer based on limited knowledge of the topic, and thus creating frustration before the reading begins.
  • Vocabulary and vocabulary in context must be taught explicitly (according to syllabus). This is included but covers vocabulary that is unlikely to be useful to learners and little advice is given on guessing meaning from context. Some vocabulary building and vocabulary in new context offer useful information about word forms, etc. but many ask learners to create collocations, etc. with words beyond their level.
  • Reading comprehension is needed addressed in a number of activities. First, main ideas are well covered through multiple choice and allow students to summarize sections of the reading. Inferencing is covered but with little guidance which is difficult for students with little experience of learner autonomy or ‘guessing’. The activities relating to discussion and critical thinking is useful for expanding ideas gathered from the reading.
  • The writing includes a section on organization which is brief and may benefit from the use of visuals to demonstrate organization. Useful language is addressed, and students are asked to analyze a sample piece of writing. However, the book lacks sufficient scaffolding for the actual writing process.

Is it a good resource for students? (for teacher’s resource, see Teachers’ Book section)

  • The coursebook does provide some useful writing resources for students. These can be found in each unit’s writing section which provides a concise explanation of an essay type which can be used by students in the future to direct their writing. It also includes a writing resource section which provides students with guidance for pre-writing, revising and editing, quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing. It falls short in providing resources related to reading and reading strategies as students do not have access to answer keys, and are not offered explanations of different learning strategies and how to employ them.

Is the coursebook flexible?

  • As mentioned above, the coursebook is flexible in length, allowing teachers to give students some choice over the readings covered in class. This is due largely to the fact that each unit covers the same learning skills. Though teachers are required to cover some of the units to align the reading and writing classes, students may ‘vote’ on the others to be used. With some imagination by the teacher, the coursebook activities can be made more flexible, though they are fairly traditional and basic. (multiple choice, short answer, etc.) However, the coursebook is not organized with increasingly difficult readings, so units may be taken in any order.

Does it allow different teaching styles?

  • As mentioned above, teachers can be quite flexible in how they use the activities in the book, and the readings themselves are good starting points for any number of teacher created activities, projects, writings, and discussions. The teachers’ manual does give some suggestions for discussion questions which can help prompt teachers, but teachers can easily make the activities more oral, visual, etc. as suits them.

Does it allow different learning styles?

  • The book is not written to cater to different learning styles. It follows a very basic set of traditionally slanted activities, which are repeated exactly in each unit. With this book, it will be the teacher’s responsibility to adapt activities to different learning styles.

Design and Organization

What components make up the total course package (eg students’ books, teachers’ books, workbooks, cassettes, etc)?

  • students’ book with audio CD of readings
  • teachers’ book with audio CD of readings, Exam View testing software, and teachers’ manual

How is the content organized (eg according to structures, functions, topics, skills, etc)?

  • The content is organized by topic and writing structure (compare/contrast essay, process essay, etc.). There are two readings (which both exhibit the same writing structure) per unit with one writing section.

Is the organization right for learners and teachers?

  • As mentioned above, the organization does allow for some flexibility and student choice of topic after certain writing structures are covered. One flaw is that, according to the syllabus, each unit, and therefore each writing structure, is only covered for two weeks. Students may need longer to practice these structures and therefore there is either some delay in the reading class or some rushing in the writing class. It is difficult to keep the two in line with each other.

Is there adequate recycling and revision?

  • There is adequate recycling and revision of learning strategies as students are asked to practice the same learning strategies with each reading. However, vocabulary is not taught extensively, and words that are taught are not recycled at all. The writing sections move from structure to structure with each unit and therefore there is little revision of writing and little scaffolding for students.

Is some of the material suitable for individual study?

  • Students could listen to the readings individually. The activities are unlikely to be of much use for individual study as students do not have access to the answers. Each unit also includes a ‘Connecting to the Internet’ activity which students could work on independently to practice researching for essays. However, it is likely that even on these, students would want teacher feedback on their work.

Is it easy to find your way around the coursebook?

  • The layout is very clear. Pages are well displayed without being overcrowded. The book offers a table of contents outlining the topic, readings, writing skills, and writing practice covered in each unit. This is followed by a description of the text organization which outlines each type of activity in the book. Reading lines are clearly numbered, and each new activity is clearly marked.

Language Content

Is material for vocabulary teaching adequate in terms of quantity and range of vocabulary, emphasis placed on vocabulary development, strategies for individual learning?

  • The vocabulary section is not particularly useful for the level of student. Students are asked to guess meanings of ten words from each reading using the context. The number of words is sufficient, but students are offered no guidance on how to use the context to guess meaning. The words chosen are rarely used words, and most are not found on any of the frequent vocabulary lists (1-2000 most frequent words, or Academic Word List). Each unit does offer a vocabulary building section, but again, students are asked to created collocations, group nouns and adjectives, or create compound words, often with little or no guidance. For many students, this will be beyond their grasp of vocabulary. Vocabulary is not recycled at any point, so students are likely to forget words that have been covered, or fail to see the rationale for learning words in the first place. There is little/no guidance for vocabulary acquisition, practice, discovery, etc.

Does the coursebook deal with the structuring and conventions of language use above sentence level, eg how to take part in conversations, how to structure a piece of extended writing, how to identify the main points in a reading passage? (More relevant at intermediate and advanced levels)

  • The coursebook does not cover how to take part in a conversation as this is covered in the Listening and Speaking class. However, there are discussion sections which do allow students to converse on prompts, and this provides fluency practice without pressuring students with issues of accuracy.
  • The book does explicitly cover the structuring of extended writing as each unit covers a different essay structure. The book offers a description of the essay type, a section on organizing the essay, useful vocabulary unique to specific essay types, exercises using the reading passages which combine the writing guidance with previously covered readings, a model essay and questions, and writing practice. However, writing practice is not well scaffolded, and this is needed for longer pieces of writing.
  • The book does ask students to answer questions around the main ideas of the readings, but offers no guidance on how to spot main ideas. Teachers may find it useful to cover the reading in sections with discussion to help students find main ideas. It may also be useful to ask students to clearly explain HOW they found the main ideas.

Skills

Is there material for integrated skills work?

  • As the title suggests, the book integrates reading and writing. Students read certain essay types around at topic, and are then introduced to that essay type. They use the readings to explore examples of the writing they will be asked to do. There is an audio CD with the book which can be used to integrate listening into the class, or for students to practice listening on their own at home. There is also a discussion section in each unit which allows students the chance to practice speaking in a discussion situation in groups or as a class. Thus the listening and speaking skills are connected only as much as the teacher wishes, and would not be necessary.

Are reading passages and associate activities suitable for your students’ levels, interests, age, etc?

  • The readings do offer interesting topics, and students are likely to be able to identify to some extent but also challenge their thinking to some extent. Topics are not likely to be culturally taboo but will offer students a chance to consider a number of other cultures and customs. The readings are significantly above the level of the students’, but this was chosen in order to bridge the gap between level two (which students have come from) and their mainstream classes (which immediately follow this level).
  • The activities are likely to appeal to students as they do not require extensive amounts of writing. However, as each unit repeats the same activities in the same order, students may become bored. The activities appear to be suitable in level as they are multiple choice and short answer. However, the difficult nature of the readings may lead to guessing from students.

Is there sufficient reading material?

  • There is sufficient reading material. Each unit offers two readings of adequate length, and a model essay which can also be used for reading practice.

Are writing activities suitable in terms of amount of guidance/control, organization of longer pieces of writing (eg paragraphing)?

  • As mentioned above, the writing section clearly lays out the types of essays, organization of essays, useful essay language, and provides a model essay. However, writing practice is not sufficiently scaffolded, so students are asked to move from short answer questions about a model straight into writing an essay. The book also fails to offer sufficient coverage of quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing which are necessary skills at this level and often needed for the essays the students are writing. These concepts are quickly covered in the resources section at the back, but could use more extensive coverage.

Topic

Is there sufficient material of genuine interest to learners?

  • The topics are general, but applicable in many contexts so students are likely to be able to connect with most topics in some way. Some of the topics (nutrition, gender, psychology) are likely to be of great interest, which others (artists, groups, issues for debate) are less likely to be interesting as students are less likely to personally connect with the readings in these units. (See Appendix C for TOC)

Will the topics help expand students’ awareness and enrich their experience?

  • The best opportunities to expand awareness will be in the units where students already have some connection to the topics, and this connection can be stretched to consider new ideas and cultures. This will be more difficult for students to do with other topics as they are so far removed from their daily lives. However, the readings to a good job of talking about a number of historical contexts, cultures, and new ideas. Teachers should proceed with some caution and let the readings and students guide the direction of topics. This is related to the delicacy of some topics in the region. (Ex: teachers should be careful about discussions relating to gender roles and ensure that they are not indicating any personal feelings about gender roles in Kuwait)

Are the topics sophisticated enough in content, yet within the learners’ language level?

  • The topics are presented in a sufficiently sophisticated way. The topics themselves are fairly general, but the approach and level of the reading are appropriate for the age of the students. As mentioned above, the level may be too difficult, but this is deliberately to push the students.

Will your students be able to relate to the social and cultural contexts presented in the coursebook?

  • As mentioned above, they will be able to relate to some of the topics like gender, nutrition, psychology, etc. Though their culture may not be presented, this allows students the chance to share their perspective with the teacher on topics with which they are comfortable. A wide variety of cultural and social contexts are presented, and these are likely to be met with mixed results of interest, understanding, etc.

Are women portrayed and represented equally with men?