Teacher Discussion Forums

[arly]

I'm using American Headway beginning level texts, with univ. students in an EFL setting. I would like to hear comments from other teachers familiar with using them. What is the purpose of having non-native English speakers for the dialogues, and why is there a section for translation into their native language in the workbooks? If I were learning French, I would want to hear native speakers' French not non-native examples. Just curious to know what is the teaching theory behind this. Also does this continue beyond the intermediate levels?

[abigail]

The idea behind the Headway and Headstart series is that it is intended for classes made up of speakers of all different languages. Though it is decidedly Euro-centric (if not UK-centric); the point of having non-natives in the dialogues is so that people in the class will have someone to relate to. And naturally, the vocabulary list section leaves space for students to keep track of each new word they learn along with space for them to write its definition in their native language (since the book is not written in each students' native language). I am familiar with Headstart and Headway Beginner, Headway Elementary, Headway Pre-Intermediate, and Headway Intermediate, but I'm not aware of anything beyond that level. Hope this helps a little.