Teaching English Toolbox - OPEN ACCESS SANDBOX

Working "with" the Coursebooks

Canva: a cute teacher cat who is trying to make the textbook come alive

How can coursebooks ever be relevant and interesting if they take 10 years to develop and then are used for 20 years? Think about the following questions.

  • There are certainly reasons to NOT use a coursebook in English lessons as you are responsible for getting your learners to a certain CEFR level, not for completing a coursebook. If you choose to NOT use the books, what systems do you have in place to make your life easy (because tthat is essentially what coursebooks try to do)? How do you ensure that you are getting your learners to the levels they should be at?
  • If you decide to use the coursebooks, are there ways of making them better, e.g., starting with the end-of-unit test as a diagnostic test, focusing on a task instead of exercises, turning the book into stations or a choiceboard?
  • Do you have ideas for making a specific exercise more exciting and relevant, e.g. having learners write quiz questions instead of giving comprehension questions, having learners copy their five favorite words into their personal glossaries and adding sample sentences and images, etc...?
  • Language changes. How can you adapt the book linguistically to reflect these changes?
  • Do you know of any coursebooks that you think you WOULD like to use? Perhaps take a peek at the page on large publishers.
  • Cambridge has many videos on the topic.
  • Try searching for making coursebook materials more interesting, fun, relevant or humanizing your coursebook.