Job Discussion Forums

[stinkytofu]

I was wondering what textbooks everyone likes. Thanks.

[Sashadroogie]

Cutting Edge Starter, and English File Beginner. Both get the job done

[sparks]

I've only used the upper level versions but I would also say Total English or Speak Out.

[coledavis]

New Headway. Challenges.

[MotherF]

Touchstone, Face2Face, New English File.

But of course the answer is really--it depends.

You will never find a commercial text book that was written for the students you are teaching, so you will never find the perfect one. Which one comes closest depends on you teaching situation, the age and interests of your students, the amount of time they have available to dedicate to learning English, their general education level, motivational factors, and cultural background.

[coledavis]

And each has its faults, often contradictory ones.

Let's take Total English, as recommended by Sparks. It is highly accessible, with lots of celebrity stuff, but as a teacher I found the references to Madonna et al to be rather wearing. I also found the books to be littered with basic errors.

New English File has a reputation for always being right and it has bucketloads of supporting activities. Some teachers think that it is too good a thing, there being so many activities that using it has been described as 'teaching by numbers', i.e. that it can be used to the detriment of teacher autonomy. So I guess it makes it ideal for those who are starting with a great big workload and don't want to have to think to hard.

Inside Out is rather the opposite. It assumes grammatical expertise on the part of the teacher, so newer teachers hate it while (especially foreign) grammar lovers find it challenging and interesting to use.

[DebMer]

[Sashadroogie]

I don't know the American version, how or if it differs from the standard version. In general, I'd just stick to the main Student's Book in the main. The learners tend to need as much visual support as they can get, and the book, any book, provides this.

The Teacher's Book is handy, but not essential, as most of the lessons are fairly self-explanatory - to the teacher if not the learners : ) There are plenty of extra photocopiables there, though, which is what most teachers seem to use the Teacher's Book for. So if you are just looking for easily accessed materials and activities that stand alone in order to supplement another course book, then the TB is the one to get.

Work book is fine for homework. I don't know anything about Multipack options.

Hope that helps.

[coledavis]

Re Total English: I forgot to say that it's workbook is really useful as are teacher's book resources.

On the whole however, I find teacher's books to be unnecessary. Typically the new teacher hugs it to his or her person for two or three weeks, rarely if ever uses it and it sits gathering dust or accumulating beer stains.

[DebMer]

Thanks very much for your replies.

Extra actual materials in the teacher's book sounds like a plus. I'll have to see if I can get a peek inside before making the decision about it. Of course, the TE is the priciest piece of the set.

[MotherF]

English file teacher's book kind of changed the game when it comes to teachers books, now some of the other courses, such as Face2Face have similiar teachers books.

English file teacher's book as alluded to above, is great for very busy or under trained teachers. It provides two warmer options for each unit, in addition to the answers it gives background information that non-native speakers might not know for many of the activities. It also sign posts warning signs for things like speakers of romance languages might be lead astray by some false cognate. It gives ideas for extention activities for teachers with longer classes or groups who need additional practice. And It has a lot of good photocopiable communication activities that I continue to use even though I haven't taught from that course book for nearly ten years. The things some other courses (such as Headway) try to sell in an additonal activitiy pack.

As for supplementing your classes Debmer, the workbook would be the most useful. The CD that comes with the student's book is not the "class" CD so you would need to buy that as well too if you bought the student's book. The publishers generally give this to schools for free, because they count on the school's students to buy many copies of the student book.

[Cool Teacher]

Hi there I researched this earlier before and here in my thread about it:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=100511

Have fun!

[DebMer]

I appreciate the specifics here, MotherF. It sounds like very practical material. I'm definitely busy, and very likely under trained, too.

[stinkytofu]

Has anyone used these textbooks before? If so, which if any do you recommend? Thanks.

http://www.scribd.com/ttmenglish/documents