Jan 20, 2020 Classroom Activities, Coursebooks, Lexis, Opinions Beyond word lists: eight ways to get more from the OUTCOMES Vocabulary Builder One of the more innovative add-ons that accompanies the OUTCOMES series of General English coursebooks we wrote for National Geographic Learning is the Vocabulary Builder, which is often just known as the VB. The main idea behind the Vocabulary Builder was to provide both teachers and students with a list of language covered on each […]
Jan 5, 2020 Coursebooks, Grammar, Lexis, Opinions A different kind of Beginner-level book 5: Pronunciation Pronunciation: Really? Do I have to? While the bulk of Beginner coursebooks on the market are pretty uniform when it comes to the way they handle grammar and – to some extent – vocabulary, there seems to be little consistency when it comes to pronunciation and what to teach. Headway Beginner doesn’t have any pron […]
Jun 9, 2019 Coursebooks, Grammar, Lexis, Opinions A different kind of Beginner-level book 4: a spiralling syllabus A spiralling syllabus is NOT just about grammar Hopefully, you’ll have read our previous post on a spiral syllabus. In this short post, I want to add that the spiral syllabus doesn’t only apply to grammar. The same principles also apply to vocabulary and ‘functions’ and indeed to whole exchanges. In the case of vocabulary, […]
May 13, 2019 Coursebooks, Grammar, Lexis, Opinions A different kind of Beginner-level book 3: choosing which vocabulary to teach Making choices about vocabulary: teaching what’s relevant to most students, responding to individuals In our last post, we looked at how we’ve tried to ensure that Outcomes Beginner provides students with just enough grammar to have the kinds of basic conversations they’ll want to have. Today we want to explore another way in which we’ve […]
Apr 28, 2019 Coursebooks, Grammar, Lexis, Opinions A different kind of Beginner-level book 2 Just enough grammar and a spiral syllabus In our last post on teaching beginner-level students, we stated this principle: While there is a value in noticing and practising a particular aspect of grammar or vocabulary, it will not be mastered in that lesson. Accurate production of words or grammar in conversation / writing will be […]
