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stoth1972 · Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2003 12:03 pm Post subject: Coursebook Suggestions

I'm teaching an rather intensive course in for university level students and I'm looking for feedback on the coursebooks New Interchange and Cutting Edge. Anyone who has used these (or others) and can comment on how effective they were? Thanks very much.

dduck · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 422 Location: In the middle

khmerhit · Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2003 3:22 pm Post subject:

New Interchange is ok in my opinion. It's not too difficult or intricate, covers the basics, and the units are brief and varied. I taught it to adolescents and adults.

I'm not too sure how it would work as an intensive course however, since it could get boring and samey. Lots of supplementary materials were necessary to avoid this when i was teaching kids. with adults it was a different story, since they were following the usual intensive folderol where they have to move on to the next unit before the time is ripe-- if ya know what i mean... Very Happy

In any case, i think it's a good solid pedestrian text that needs supplementaries.

I don't know the books that dduck recommends, but i wouldnt be surprised if they were better than new interchange.

jud · Joined: 25 May 2003 Posts: 127 Location: Italy

I've used New Interchange but only for beginners and elementary students.

I'm a big fan of Cutting Edge, though I think some of their books are stronger than others (Starter and Elementary are great, but that's not what you'll be looking for, I imagine). The material is generally interesting and relevant, and they have good activities and resource materials. I would get the workbook as well, as it's got great exercises and expansion of some of the more skimpily covered concepts.

Cleopatra · Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2003 5:54 am Post subject:

My favourite course books are the "English File" series. They go from Elementary to Intermediate, adn they cover most of the basics and are fairly entertaining without being too patronizing.

Also, they are much less Anglocentric than the annying Headway books. I get fed up of how they assume that everyone is an Italian teenager spending time at IH in London, or that everyone in the world has a massive interest in the duller aspects of everyday British life.

Celeste · Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:21 am Post subject:

I do not like New Interchange because it tends to teach a smattering of everything without ever going in depth enough for the students to really master the concept being taught. (Sort of a conversation school survey course.) When I worked at a language school that used this series, we had to supplement it heavily with other materials.

I quite liked teaching from a book that was intended as preparation for the Cambridge first certificate test. It was titled Focus on First Certificate and it was a really good integrated skills book for upper intermediate students.

richard ame · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 319 Location: Republic of Turkey

Hi folks I'm back

Go for the Cutting Edge series we used it the last two years with a fair amount of success from starter level up to upper intermediate ,the prep classes lapped it up and there were plenty of supplementry material plus a workbook ,cassettes and even a web site and the mini dictionary was useful too we intend to use it again this year so most people think its pretty good . The interchange was passed under my nose a few years back and apart from the points already raised it was rejected cos we are brits and the language woz a bit yankish like no wot I mean???

Kereru · Joined: 24 May 2003 Posts: 32 Location: Christchurch NZ

I used Cutting Edge on my CELTA course and would have thought it too elementary for University Level students (assuming you mean studying in English at an English-speaking University). We use a variety of books with "Academic" in the title - eg English for Academic Purposes by R Jordan, a mini-series called variously "Writing", "Reading" etc by MacKay & Trziak (sp?).