Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

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Many students sign up for classes at an [url= http://www.englishlci.com/esl-school-1.html/]ESL School[/url] and expect to work through their textbooks without missing anything. It could be because they want to make sure they are investing their money wisely or because they trust the textbook more than the teacher. However, most teachers won�t follow the textbook literally, and there are 11 good reasons they don�t do so:

1. Too easy
Textbooks are designed to be used by a range of students with somewhat different levels, strengths, weaknesses, and backgrounds, thus, some exercises may be too easy for a certain class and the teacher may decide to use time more productively in other ways.

2. Too difficult
In the same way, some exercises may be too hard for a specific class, and thus, it is not constructive to complete them at the moment.

3. Complex instructions
Some exercises just take too much time to understand and thus, you are not able to concentrate on what you should really be learning.

4. Repetition
Some exercises are very similar to the current lesson, the homework, or the previous lesson, making them less effective than learning the same thing but in a different way or through a new activity.

5. Incorrect
It may be that the exercise is plain incorrect in the grammar explanation, the information it provides, or the stereotypes in regards to nationality or other groups of people.

6. Not accepted
Maybe previous students have not liked the exercise, thus, the teacher knows it won�t work.

7. Best for homework
Many exercises are better done as homework in order to use class time to reinforce speaking, pronunciation, and grammar theory.

8. Timing
Sometimes, time won�t allow for every exercise to be done if the teacher wants to finish the lesson or course fully.

9. Sticking to the program
The course�s program may differ from the book�s content.

10. Changes
The English information, language, or format may have changed since the textbook was first published.

11. Bad staging
The exercise may be right, but by using it, the teacher could be stopping the next stages of the class from running smoothly.


Rachel Clarkson
Rachel Clarkson is an English teacher at LCI English ESL Programs and blogger at the ESL Blog.
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LCI offers the best ESL classes through experienced teachers and high quality programs in Denver, Colorado. Check out great ESL resources and articles at www.englishlci.com/blog