Job Discussion Forums

[it'snotmyfault]

Apart from the books that most of us know about, or should know about (I'm thinking the likes of Scrivener's Learning teaching), have you found any hidden gems that have made your life a little easier?

With my writing classes this year I've made a lot of use out of:

Writing by Tricia Hedge from Oxford University Press

Lots of well thought out practical lesson plans in it that can easily be adapted to classes of 30+ students, and they mostly get the students engaged.

[7969]

Online Writing Labs can be useful for writing classes.

Purdue Online Writing Lab

Writing@CSU

I use A Basic Course in Writing for the writing class. The text is ok, got some useful stuff, but some parts are a bit convoluted, such as the chapter on essay writing. I also have Proofreading Activities by Nancy Lobb (this one gave me lots of ideas), Webster's Business Writing Basics, Business Writing Basics by Jane Weston, and a downloaded copy of the Chicago Manual of Style (the last one mostly for my own use, too detailed for a basic writing class here).

[Denim-Maniac]

The 'gems' for me are my collection of Face2Face books. I have the students books, teachers books and CDs for 4 levels: Pre-Int, Intermediate, Upper-Int and Advanced.

People are always recommending grammar reference books, but I have always found them to be inaccessible. If you look up something at random in a reference book like Swan, you find the definition frequently uses a bunch of words you dont understand ... which renders the definition useless. Even if the definition is easy to understand, a reference book rarely gives you anything that you can use in class. It just gives you a cold definition of a structure or piece of language.

But my students books also feature every piece of target language students are likely to need. And it frames each piece of language in a task or exercise, and I have the teachers books that show me how to present it and how to tackle any common problems that may arise. They also feature easy to understand reference sections too. I say easy, because they are written for students to understand, so are more digestible that a grammar reference book may be.

Its cost me a lot of money to get the complete set ... but really worth their weight in gold. I like books like Learning Teaching, and Ive read a few of the Scott Thornbury books too ... but having a complete set of teaching materials that I can actually USE in a class have served me very well in the last few years.

[lemak]

[Shroob]

[it'snotmyfault]

[maxand]

[lemak]

[it'snotmyfault]

It finished downloading, then when I tried to open it it said "unsupported file type" or something like that.
An iso file, 7969 mentioned

I gave up, I'll try maxands link later. Thanks for that.

[7969]

Here's a random and partial list of books I have:

1. Cambridge English Vocabulary in Use - Elem, Pre Int, Upper Advanced;
2. Better Speaking - A Guide to Improving Your Spoken English (BBC)
3. English Verbs and Essentials of Grammar for ESL Learners;
4. Better Speaking Guide to Improving Your Spoken English;
5. GrammarWork 1, 2, 3, 4 English Exercises in Context;
6. Grammar Practice, Elem, Inter, pre int, Upper Int;
7. Word Origins � Dictionary of English Etymology;
8 Check Your vocabulary for English IELTS Exam;
9. How English Works � Grammar Practice Book;
10. How to Study English � The 20 Step Guide;
11. Longman Press Test Your Vocabulary;
12. Polyglot � How I Learned Languages;
13 1000 Most Common Words in English;
14. Business English, A Complete Guide;
15. Longman Grammar and Vocabulary;
16. 10 Tips to Speak Correct English;
17. Speak English Like an American;
18. Teaching Academic ESL Writing;
19. How Languages are Learned;
20. Learn 100 Phrasal Verbs;
21. English Grammar in Use;
22. Say it Better in English;
23. Dictionary of Idioms;
24. Fun with Grammar;
25. Email English.

A few hundred others on phrasal verbs, idioms, grammar, speaking, vocabulary. I haven't used all of them so won't vouch for them, but even some of the books I found not entirely suitable still contain good ideas you can adapt and utilize. Send me a message if interested in any of these.

[lemak]

[7969]

cut and pasted random titles. came out that way

They're easily downloaded if you find a working torrent, but most are small enough to send by email.

[doogsville]

A very good grammar book for both students and teachers, at least I like it, is Just Enough English Grammar Illustrated.

http://kat.ph/just-enough-english-grammar-illustrated-mantesh-t4287585.html

Lots of pictures make it easier for me to understand the concepts. Using words to explain the rules about words just makes my brain try to run away.

[maxand]

[lionheartuk]

You can download some of the face2face books from http://www.filecrop.com/Face2face-Intermediate-pdf.html