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bje
Joined: 19 Jun 2005
Posts: 527
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 Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 12:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Having read most of the posts I must come to the conclusion that very few of the posters are experienced teachers who either know the market nor keep up to date with materials (coursebooks) that are appropriate to the region. |
I haven't drawn that conclusion myself- but if you can offer examples of coursebooks appropriate to the region I'd be interested!
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| The fact that management or educational institutes chose inappropriate coursebooks in the first place is no fault of the publisher. The 'Headway' series were never intended for the Middle east and yet it has been chosen and then used as a scapegoat for all those who say that coursebooks can not do the job. |
WD40, I haven't seen anyone blaming the publishers on this thread, nor 'scapegoating' Headway. The Headway Middle East version is more 'acceptable' than usual because contentious/offensive content has been removed or replaced. However as I mentioned before, the socio-cultural context doesn't lend itself well to a Gulf context.
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| If you look hard and near there is such a huge resource of materials totally approriate, with the advent of interactive coursebooks which can be adapted to suit the market as well as a growing number of titles being produced for the gulf including headway (academic skills for example) |
Well, believe me I have looked hard and near, and for the life of me I can't find much of use. It's true that one can always 'adapt' the coursebook, but I now think it's easier to start from scratch. But again, if you think there's 'a huge resource of materials totally appropriate', please point me in the right direction!
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| Bje, if you are going to start writing decent, piloted materials and you have on average 10 hours per worksheet, then it will be a valuable resource to refer to. Good luck |
Thanks WD40- but you've set me a hard task!!! Must I have on average 10 hours per worksheet? |
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WD40
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 104
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| Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 6:59 pm Post subject: |
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Just some of the wealth of resources available
Garnet Press (90% of all their books are written for the Middle East)
Quest (Middle East Edition)
Interactions (Middle East Edition)
Headway Academic Skills
Facts and Figures Reading series
ESOL Skills for Life |
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bje
Joined: 19 Jun 2005
Posts: 527
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| Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 1:25 am Post subject: |
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I've seen most of the above, either in our library or on display at TESOL Arabia. Very little of the abovementioned does anything for me, but I admit I'm right over it when it comes to using coursebooks- particularly in the ME- even when 'amended' so as not to overtly offend.
However if they work for you, why not? In some ways it's a hell of a lot easier to rely more rather than less on coursebooks, and some teachers are very skilled at selecting and adapting. By the same token, some students in some contexts don't relate well to published materials no matter what- hence a pressing need to develop- or learn to develop- materials. |
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fweewodewick
Joined: 14 Apr 2007
Posts: 8
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| Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 6:57 am Post subject: |
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| WD40 wrote: |
If you look hard and near there is such a huge resource of materials totally approriate, with the advent of interactive coursebooks which can be adapted to suit the market as well as a growing number of titles being produced for the gulf including headway (academic skills for example) |
I looked very long and hard for a long time in my College�s library, on Amazon and in many other places. I did not find a �huge resource of materials totally appropriate� for the Gulf. In fact, quite the opposite. I really only found New Headway Plus � a sterile solution to the �needs� of the Middle East containing content that is largely irrelevant to students� needs/lives/experiences...
The point about �the advent of interactive coursebooks which can be adapted to suit the market� misses the point. It seems what BJE wants to do is create materials that do not need to be adapted by us busy teachers. Who wants or has time to filter out Anglocentric absurdities to adapt it to suit any market?
I�m also uncertain at what you mean by �interactive� coursebooks � does this mean turning pages?
Your examples from the �wealth� of available materials did not bear up to scrutiny:
Garnet Press indeed produces a lot of books for the Middle East; unfortunately for those of us in ESL, these books are mainly novels.
Quest (Middle East Edition) � unfound on Amazon.
Interactions (Middle East Edition) � OK if you like really outdated content.
Headway Academic Skills � Totally Anglocentric
Facts and Figures Reading series � Stunning � a whole unit on the date palm.
I may not be looking in the right places, or indeed even on the right pages, but it seems to me that BJE and his/her pals have a good idea of creating materials that are relevant, do not need adapting, and hopefully are not about date palms. |
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WD40
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 104
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| Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 3:48 pm Post subject: |
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Very sad fweewodewick
If the only way you can discover materials is by looking at Amazon, you need to find a new profession. If you are a seasoned teacher and have taken the time to keep up to date with materials development in all its forms you might learn about what is out there. Pray tell me what novels Garnet publish as they produce a very large collection of materials for the UAE, Libya, Oman, Qatar and are developing other markets.
The point about facts and figures and the three other books in the series is that they are culturally appropriate and can therefore be used in the Middle East.
The Acadmic Series just published by Headway is geared toward an international market sympathetic to muslims. Quest has been around for years and a new edition just published along with a new Middle Edition for Interactions.
Bje wants to start a website with materilals especially written for the ME - if the materials are going to serve the region realistically then they need to be well written and researched. I wish Bje all the respect he/she deserves. I wish him/her well in the project.
I like to use published materials which have been specially written for international markets
The interactive coursebooks use smartboard or IWB technology so that a coursebook like Cutting Edge or International Express (business English) can be manipulated to serve the students and teachers - once you are anexpert at using IWB's materials are unlimited. Teachers who spend hours on interactive materilas benefit both PD and learners. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 7:58 pm Post subject: |
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| WD40 wrote: |
| I like to use published materials which have been specially written for international markets |
That seems to presume that all "international markets" are equal. But what works in Japan or China doesn't work in Saudi... and vice versa. And neither of them will probably work in Chile... nor France.
A second perhaps even more important issue that I saw was that most of the material was NOT directed to the learning of Academic English, but something vaguely general.
I see that the new buzzword is 'interactive materials' plus the use of 'smart boards'... (no criticism WD40... just the skepticism of experience... so many panaceas over the years with so little obvious progress...)
VS |
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WD40
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 104
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| Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 7:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Though they are not necessary in classrooms, smartboards and IWB's are becoming common place in all sectors of the market. There are very few organizations that have not embraced the technology and if given the right and continuous training, the benefits of these boards adds greatly to teaching and learning from k-12 to university. They are just tools, just the same as worksheets and materials produced in the future by bje or from published sources. The crux of the learning and teaching will still rely on the interaction between the teacher and students. |
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fweewodewick
Joined: 14 Apr 2007
Posts: 8
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| Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 9:39 pm Post subject: |
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| WD40 wrote: |
Very sad fweewodewick
If the only way you can discover materials is by looking at Amazon, you need to find a new profession. |
I went to Amazon to try and find WD40's wealth of materials that are culturally attuned to the Middle East. They weren't there. I usually rely on the experience and know-how of my colleagues, having foregone published materials (and thus Amazon) a decade back. Together, we seem to be able to create materials that students are really interested in and that are relevant to their lives. They prefer our materials to the puerile international course books. These books always contain cultural inappropriacies likely to offend Gulf Arabs and other Muslims - units (and pics) on dating, references to cohabitation, drugs, alcohol, etc.
| WD40 wrote: |
| Pray tell me what novels Garnet publish as they produce a very large collection of materials for the UAE, Libya, Oman, Qatar and are developing other markets. |
Look at their website: garnet publishing.co.uk and you'll find lots of very interesting books totally unrelated to ESL. Pray tell, provide a list of their ESL publications to flesh out your wealth of resources.
| WD40 wrote: |
| The Acadmic Series just published by Headway is geared toward an international market sympathetic to muslims. |
This is one of the most bizarre comments I have ever seen on these forums. Just what is "an international market sympathetic to muslims"? Is this what it says on the back cover blurb? Could you provide us with examples of this "sympathy"? To me, the Academic Series is more of the same generic pap the major publishers seem to love to churn out and regurgitate - Shakespeare, Chopin and the English countryside.
WD40 likes to use materials "specially written for international markets". It might be nice to focus, henceforth, on the original point of this thread - how might materials be specially written for the Middle East/Gulf. |
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bje
Joined: 19 Jun 2005
Posts: 527
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| Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 12:57 am Post subject: |
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WD40 wrote:
The Acadmic Series just published by Headway is geared toward an international market sympathetic to muslims.
fweewodewick wrote:
This is one of the most bizarre comments I have ever seen on these forums. Just what is "an international market sympathetic to muslims"? Is this what it says on the back cover blurb? Could you provide us with examples of this "sympathy"? To me, the Academic Series is more of the same generic pap the major publishers seem to love to churn out and regurgitate - Shakespeare, Chopin and the English countryside. |
Indeed...whenever, at the beginning of last year, I exhorted students to open up to a 'safe' part of Headway (for argument's sake, a nice reading on Joanna and Anthony Trollope), there was visible sighing. Who in the hell are they? students were thinking, as they read valiantly, myself labouring away to 'make it interesting'- when it wasn't even interesting to me, a lover of English literature. Later, thanks to a colleague who was a prolific materials writer, I gradually learned how to write my own stuff. What a difference it made to everyone.
WD40, I had an inoperative interactive whiteboard in one of my classrooms, but I know how to use them and can see benefits. However whiteboards aside, I've come to see the enormous benefits of collaborating on materials writing for one's own classes/programme.
True it can be a bit time-consuming at first, but this is more than made up for by an increased student-interest level, enhancing the experience for all concerned. Moreover, one initial adapted text can expand into many integrated skills lessons if students like the theme.
Isn't everyone away on holiday yet? Two more days... |
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Stephen Jones
Joined: 21 Feb 2003
Posts: 4124
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| Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:11 am Post subject: |
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'Headway' was written for the Spanish market, which explains all the nuns and other Catholic references (they were hoping to get adopted by Catholic schools).
I've found Saudi students quite liked it (and not just the first lesson when they were giving black marker pens whilst we wrote on the board the pages to be blacked out). |
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bje
Joined: 19 Jun 2005
Posts: 527
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| Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:47 pm Post subject: |
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'Headway' was written for the Spanish market, which explains all the nuns and other Catholic references (they were hoping to get adopted by Catholic schools).
I've found Saudi students quite liked it (and not just the first lesson when they were giving black marker pens whilst we wrote on the board the pages to be blacked out). |
This is good news indeed. It would seem that Kuwaiti and UAE students are annoyingly recalcitrant. To complicate matters, my own tastes are definitely far from 'catholic'.
If one likes the coursebook, it's surprising how one's students tend to 'like' it too, and vice versa. I would love to be able to open up the coursebook, as do you, presumably, and enjoy our mutual engagement with Shakespeare and Sister Wendy. What the hell's wrong with my students and I? How do you do it, SJ? |
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WD40
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 104
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| Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 7:00 pm Post subject: |
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bje and all
You all refer to the other Headway Series of books. I keep harping on about the NEW ACADEMIC SERIES
Check the website and sample pages and see for yourself
http://www.oup.com/elt/catalogue/isbn/3635?cc=gb
These books are written for students who are international and you will notice from the sample pages there are references to the Middle East, Islam and that there are no inappropriate pictures, nor references to relationships or Haram food, issues with revealing clothing or Western habits etc..
The authors were well advised by the Middle East director for OUP to ensure all amterials were published sympathetic to the Middle East. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:01 pm Post subject: |
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From the 2 chapters shown, they look very acceptable for the foundation levels. It is certainly a HUGE improvement over the texts we have all learned to hate through the years.
One can only wonder why it took them soooo long!! Why did we have to beg and plead for 15 years?? 
Now... is there anyone here who has had these show up in their departments?
VS |
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007
Joined: 30 Oct 2006
Posts: 2684
Location: UK/Veteran of the Magic Kingdom
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 10:52 am Post subject: |
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Interesting web site!
I like the Mobile Madness Game, I think this will be most useful for the ME students when they are in their coffee break.  .
THX 4 THE MOB MSG
I M VRI HPY END LK 4 WORD TO SE U. |
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fweewodewick
Joined: 14 Apr 2007
Posts: 8
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| Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:42 am Post subject: |
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| WD40 wrote: |
These books are written for students who are international and you will notice from the sample pages there are references to the Middle East, Islam and that there are no inappropriate pictures, nor references to relationships or Haram food, issues with revealing clothing or Western habits etc.. |
But the books are still largely Anglocentric - a few references to the Middle East will hardly cause great classroom excitement or allow students to use their schemata to any great degree.
What this thread is about is the creation of materials especially for Gulf students. All materials so far discussed do not fit this bill, regardless of how "international" Gulf students may be. My students have rarely ventured beyond their own towns and have no idea who the Beatles are (they're not so international). My classes are much more absorbed and engaged by content they are familiar with (Gulf and Arab issues) than anything in books that are (supposedly) "sympathetic" to the Middle East such as the Headway Academic Series. |
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