UNIVERSIDAD DISTRITAL FRANCISCO JOSE DE CALDAS

Juan David Cruz Tovar

Código: 20112165106

Selecting materials. Teacher´s role

Secondary book analysis

Book: interacting in English, third edition (1990)

Target populations: Teenager

Grade: Eight-nine

Author: Ruth Pappenheim M.-Margarita Ruiz R.

Editorial: Educar editores

1. What sort of approach does the book appear to adopt?

Rta/

- Linguistic approach: Grammar (spelling, phonetic and phonology).

- Communicative: listening, reading, writing and speaking.

2. Does one approach predominate? Which? Support your answer.

Rta/ Linguistic and communicative approach because in whole of its lesson start with speaking and dramatize activities and then phonetic and phonology-grammar charts depending on the topic.

3. How are new teaching points graded?

Rta/

- Grammar: answer question, tenses organization

- Reading: underline verbs form and unknown vocabulary

- Speaking: Discussion using the grammar structure provide in the grammar chart and a specific topic.

- Writing: Compositions, replace words (italics, expressions)

- Listening: fill gads according to the recording.

4. Is the organization of the course book linear or cyclical?

Rta/ linear because present the topic depending on the image or texts introduction such as lesson seven: reading about tournaments with simple present grammar chart and regular verb pronunciation.

5. Are there any special pages of units for revision, self testing or reference?

Rta/ Just present at the end of the lessons a glossary page with a phonetic transcription (international phonemic alphabet), translations mother tongue.

6. What are the art work and layout like? Are they attractive? Are they useful or only decorative?

Rta/ it just use images to introduces a topic and little icon is the activities are speaking, listening, writing or reading.

7. Does the book induce examples of authentic language and material? Give examples.

Rta/ No, it does not.

8. Does the book include workbooks, tests, tapes, videos, on line sources etc…? Are they useful? Give examples.

Rta/ the book use a lot tapes.

E.g. Lesson two- Commenting on a film, page 11

Activity 9

While you listen to the teacher or the recording, write down in your notebook all the words that end in the following sounds:

a. /ns/

b. /ts/

c. /nt/

d. /nd/

e. /st/

f. /rld/

g. /rt/

9. Is the book easy to follow? Why? Does it contain an index?

Rta/ the index is divided by lesson with the corresponding activities pages, and indicate to the students when is a listening, writing, speaking or reading activity with a color icon.

10. Does the material have a specific cultural setting or is it non culture –specific?

Rta/ the book uses ordinary life activities, but those activities does not contextualized (the book is designing from Colombian students).

11. Can you spot any notable omissions? Will you have to supplement the book in any way?

Rta/ Contextualize the book with Colombian culture because the book is for Colombian`s students, the uses or more images and pictures.

12. How is each unit titled? Is it clear? Functional?

Rta/ the tittle of each lesson is about life experience. E.g. Lesson two: Commenting on a film and this lesson working about grammar structure (present participles and adjectives). Is functional as soon as the dialogue uses adjectives and present participles and the activities the students must identify both grammar structure and uses both writing a story of conversation (three and four activities).

13. How is new language presented?

Rta/ Is presenting with ordinary life activities in dialogues, readings and recordings. After that, present the grammar structure and then how is used grammar in the readings and dialogues.

14. Does the presentation of new activities force the teacher to follow the unit sequence of the book?

Rta/ yes, because the book was design take into a count a sequence of the ordinary life activities such as the lesson one (talking about TV programs)and two ( commenting on a film).

15. How new language is presented in each unit? Is it appropriate for your children?

Rta/ is presented with ordinary life experiences with the use of dialogues, readings, images and recording to contextualize the student with grammar. Is appropriate for teenager because do not present the grammar in the first time. Is presented the grammar after work in several activities to identify witch grammar topic are learnt the students.

16. What kind of practice activities are there? Are they motivating and meaningful?

Rta/

- Underling grammar structure in readings

- True or false questions

- Asking questions in peers

- Rewrite paragraph inserting or changing words

- Spelling

- Recordings (listening stress and listening comprehension)

- Writing dialogues and short paragraphs.

17. How much variety of activities is there?

Rta/ Present activities for input (listening and reading) an output (speaking a writing).

Whole the lesson start with a reading and listening, then reading-listening comprehension, asking questions and finally a writing activity.

18. How is the vocabulary presented?

Rta/ Is present at the end of the lesson in a chart that contain the word, pronunciation, if the word is a noun, adjective, preposition, expression and the meaning in the mother tongue.

19. Is there an opportunity for reviewing at the end of each unit?

Rta/ No, it is not.

20. How are the different skills treated? Are they integrated?

Rta/ the book always start with listening and reading activities with dialogues and recordings then speaking with discussions in peers and writing activities such as rewrite a paragraph or write stories.

General suggestions: Is important that when we adopt, adapt or apply a book consider the target populations, contextualized activities with the culture, likes, and folk of our students and always have a part of self- evaluation to determinate if the student understanding and practices the topic or topic teachings.

	Created by Juan Cruz almost 10 years ago

Book analisys