tbl textbooks

TBL textbook | Simon Humphries | April 26th, 2005

Hi Everyone,

I've read quite a bit about the theories behind task-based-learning (TBL) and I've tended to make my own TBL courses and materials. However, can anyone recommend a good textbook for high-school "false beginnners" that is full of tasks?

All the best,

Simon

Re: TBL textbook | Jerry Talandis Jr. | April 26, 2005

Hi Simon,

I can't think of any TBL books off-hand for high-schoolers, but I do have a contact for you at MacMillan Language house:

Robert Habbick
ELT Sales and Marketing Manager
habbick@mlh.co.jp

Rob's a very good Pinkie, and I'm sure he'd be able to tell you of some good stuff that MacMillian has. He also used to work at OUP, so his knowledge is pretty vast. He's a "JALT buddy" of mine, someone I always meet and chat with at that conference.

Good luck,

Jerry

PS: OH! I've just thought of a book you may want to check out: "Discover Debate", by Lubetsky, LeBeau, and Harrington. Language Solutions.

It's a book on how to debate topics in English, but it's VERY easy to use and does a great job of breaking down the process of arguing a point.

Re: TBL textbook | Rita Balbi | April 29th, 2005

I don't think there are commercial books really using TBL according to the meaning of this term in the Aston literature. The one closer is by Nunan (see his site) I cannot remember the title but he showed a chapter when he gave a presentation here three years ago.

Rita Balbi

Re: TBL textbook | Mike McDonald | April 30, 2005

I talked to Jane Willis about this a couple of years ago, and she also said that there weren't any thoroughgoing TBL textbooks on the market. Apparently she and her husband tried to get one published, but were told that there was not enough demand. She told me the only way to get things moving was to nag the publishers.

TBL's been around for quite a while, so it seems surprising that the publishers have been so reluctant to pick up the ball.

Mike McDonald

Re: TBL textbook | Jake Kimball | April 30, 2005

I've heard good reports from teachers using "Tell me More" and "Now You're Talking." These are TBL books that are free for downloading at this site. (The other books are also useful. Not all the tasks are TBL, but you can adapt as you need. I haven't adopted the book for use, but I do sometimes print up pages for supplemental class work. You can also access units and teachers notes here.

Jake

Re: TBL textbook | Tisa | April 30, 2005

Hi Simon and the rest of you out there,

I believe the new-ish INSIDE OUT SERIES follows a TBL approach.   I'm not 100% sure if they have an elementary level book, but their Intermediate and above texts are lots of fun. I can imagine teenagers quite enjoying them.   Also, do you know about the ENGLISH FILE series?   You might want to look into their Level 2 book.

Enjoy the weekend!

Tisa

Lack of innovation, fear of change | Jake Kimball | April 30, 2005

The TESL EJ Forum discussed the topic of textbook innovation and a lot of interesting ideas and experiences came up. The general consensus was that publishers have an aversion risk and thus prefer traditionally safe sellers to innovative texts--no matter how solid they may be pedagogically. I don't know the full cost of developing and marketing a new textbook series, but I'm sure it's a lot. I think run-of-the-mill textbooks don't require much teacher training, whereas an innovative TBL series would require too much teacher training to get off the ground. Also, traditional textbooks are comfortable and familiar, which stifles change. And change is a scary thing. Remember when the new MSc program and staff were announced? I think a lot of us were nervous about change.

Jake

Re: TBL textbook | Robert Haines | May 1, 2005

Would it be possible for students to create their own collection of tasks which had emerged from the interests and learning of their local context and call it a TBL textbook instead of relying on strangers (people who've never met them) to publish one?

I understand that for teachers who haven't inherited English, or those who don't have access to 'authentic' materials, a textbook sometimes provides a source of text, however.

Rob

Re: TBL Textbooks | Simon Humphries | May 1st, 2005

Thank you everyone for all of your ideas, I'll try and grab some samples of some of the books suggested. I want to get a few together that I can then show to the Japanese teachers of English in my department, they could then adopt a few of the tasks from some of the books. In this way, more books are better so I'm very thankful for all the ideas.

If there is anyone else out there on the list that uses a good practical textbook that the students enjoy, but you're not entirely sure if it is TBL- it doesn't matter, please post a quick email to the list.

Many thanks again,

Simon

Re: TBL Textbook | Jerry Talandis Jr. | May 2, 2005

On May 1, 2005, at 12:08 AM, Robert M. Haines wrote:

Would it be possible for students to create their own collection of tasks which had emerged from the interests and learning of their local context and call it a TBL textbook instead of relying on strangers (people who've never met them) to publish one?

That's a great idea, Rob! Sounds like a good project to me. Are you thinking of doing this? Someone taking the CSD module could also do this. We have the "negotiated syllabus", so why not a "negotiated textbook"?

Jerry

Japan

 

 

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