locally produced textbooks
Your locally produced textbooks | Jake Kimball | March 6th, 2005
Hi everyone,
I'm in the midst of CMD and am now working on the materials evaluation part of the module. Today I went on a field trip to some bookstores to find out what's out there (I'm in Korea). I wasn't looking for major ELT book publishers like Pearson, OUP, CUP, etc. I went specifically to check out local materials.
Although I'm not evaluating the books with a rubric like Sheldon's or those found in McDonough & Shaw, I would like to write about what I found and ask if anyone else has investigated their locally produced English books. What did you find? I'm about how other countries' local publishers are handling English learning materials.
I found a radical difference in the two kinds of publications. While too many books were crammed with decontextualized information to the point of giving me blurred vision, there were a more than a few that were visually appealing. Oddly, the majority of books have a design / lay out quite similar to Korean websites. The lesson learned, buyers have a particular preference for visuals, and to go against expectations may throw off a majority of readers.
Another noteworthy find is that there's little English used in the study of English. In particular, instructions and directions are entirely in L1. I think English instructions would be helpful in the long run, and would be the only genuine task in the books available to students. On the other hand, I don't see tests as being fair or even valid if test takers don't understand instructions. One solution would be to offer instructions in both L1 and L2.
I was especially interested in what public schools (middle and high schools) offer their students. Only a small number of textbook publishers are granted government permission make school textbooks. One thing they all have in common is that illustrations and cartoons flood each page, and the artwork is all the same, and uniquely Korean.
Now I'm curious to find out my students impressions of local books vs. international publishers.
Jake
Re: your locally produced textbooks | Paul Raper | March 7th, 2005
One noticeable difference I find is that books published by the mainstream publishers are monolingual, whereas those published by local publishers tend to be in both L1 and L2.
Many learners appreciate it since it usually means that translations are in the context being explained. However, a downside that I detect is that often the cultural understanding of those writing such books seems to be based more on a British stereotype rather than on real authentic situations, thus students will tend to be culturally misled. A positive aspect to this though is that it leads to some interesting in-class discussions.
Paul
Re: your locally produced textbooks | Dawn Grant-Skiba | March 7th, 2005
Here in Poland, I seem to have the same experience as Paul; see the quote below:
"One noticeable difference I find is that books published by the main stream publishers are mono-lingual, whereas those published by local publishers tend to be in both L1 and L2."
Personally, I totally avoid books written with instructions in L1 as I aim at giving my students as much practice in L2 as possible, including instructions. After all, in the real world they would most likely not have the luxury and ease of being asked a question in Polish to which they are expected to reply in English. What I do instead is try to simplify the instructions if they are too difficult. If the task was given for homework, the use of a dictionary usually helps out during my absence and they know they can always call me, send an sms or email and I'll get back to them.
As it concerns the following from Jake:
"I found a radical difference in the two kinds of publications. While too many books were crammed with decontextualized information to the point of giving me blurred vision, there were a more than a few that were visually appealing. Oddly, the majority of books have a design / lay out quite similar to Korean websites. The lesson learned, buyers have a particular preference for visuals, and to go against expectations may throw off a majority of readers.'
Well, the textbooks that are used in government primary, gymnasium and high schools are mostly written by Poles themselves. The general attitude seems to be that they are too easy, too reliant on Polish (funnily enough), contain too many grammatical exercises and thus are not preferred. One year I made the 'mistake' of recommending one such book and was promptly told off by my young students (in a mannerly but firm way). On the other hand, OUP recently revised the Headway Pre-Intermediate level workbook with an insert geared at Polish 'matura' or school leavers' exam pupils and this seems to be highly welcomed. What is also on the increase here is a number of support materials such as additional exercises and games, which may contain some L1. As for me, I quite like it when some local pictures or stories are thrown in (see Headway Pre-Int. p.35) about the local environment, as it's always a basis for conversation. There's just so much fun in trying to prove the writers wrong or right in terms of facts - and then we can always find a similar place, let's say, in London or another English speaking country. Children are more widely traveled these days so it's worth moving out of the typical Big Ben or Buckingham Palace stories.
By the way, Jake: I'm just beginning the CMD. Any advice?
Dawn
Poland
CMD and coursebook culture | Robert Haines | March 7th, 2005
Paul, Jake, and Dawn (or anyone else interested in coursebook culture), you might check out www.teaching-unplugged.com for an interesting discussion of materials in ELT. You'll also find ideas for student-generated mats, links to Guardian articles about course books, postings from coursebook writers, and... Okay, this is starting to sound like a promo, so I'll let you discover the rest on your own.
Best of luck with the work ahead of you.
Rob
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