UNIVERSITY OF EXETERGRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

EFPM 310: DEVELOPING MATERIALS FOR TESOL

Coursebook Evaluation and Adaptation:Weaving It Together 4: Connecting Reading and Writing

Student ID620033084

9 January 2013

Submitted to Susan Riley

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Considerations surrounding the selection, adaptation and use of classroom materials are central

to educators as ‘materials have more and more come to be viewed as “an embodiment of the aims,

values, and methods of the particular teaching learning situation” (Hutchinson, 1987:37). Governments

and education ministries may concern themselves with standards of education, standardization of

education, cultural appropriateness, and other broad factors. Schools and programmes must consider

adherence to education directives while looking at coursebook length, level, correlation to objectives

and aims, and cost. Teachers are likely to consider the practical application of materials with their

students, and to be concerned with topic choice, clarity of instructions, types of guidance and practice

provided, and how activities resound with students.

In this paper, I will seek to combine many of these elements in the process of evaluating the

reading and writing coursebook entitled ‘Weaving It Together 4: Connecting Reading and Writing’

(Broukal, 2010). First I will describe the micro and macro factors considered for the book’s use in higher

education in Kuwait. I will then outline the principles underpinning the evaluation before describing the

specific evaluation criteria used on the book, the rationale for these criteria, and the outcome of the

evaluation. Finally, I will describe two adapted activities and provide a rationale for each.

Context

A number of researchers have pointed out that materials evaluation takes place on a number of

levels. Ellis (1998) and McGrath (2002) use the terms macro and micro contexts to describe

considerations from broader educational and cultural contexts to the specific context of the learners

and classroom while Roberts (1996) lists considerations from cultural factors to course aims and factors

around the learners and teachers. I will use the terms put forth by Ellis (1998) and McGrath (2002) as I

describe the specific context for which I evaluated Weaving It Together (Broukal, 2010).

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Macro Context

The macro context takes a wide lens view at the materials available and their appropriateness in

the cultural and educational context of a specific location. The context under consideration is that of a

private girls’ college in Kuwait where the most important macro context factors relate to the cultural

and religious suitability of the materials.

Though Kuwait is one of the less conservative countries in the Arab Gulf region, the Islamic

government means that the culture is based on and directed primarily by the tenets of the religion.

There are a number of topics then that are considered inappropriate for discussion including religion,

the Kuwaiti government, sex, drugs, alcohol, divorce, pork, wearing of traditional coverings for women,

terrorism, or any other topic that could be construed as a criticism of the Kuwaiti way of life. In this

respect, the government does have coursebook censors in place that may deny or censor a book if all or

part is deemed inappropriate.

Micro Context

The micro context includes factors related to the specific institution and programme, teachers,

and learners with which the materials will be used. In this case, the institution is a private girls’ college

called Box Hill College Kuwait (BHCK) which offers diplomas in a number of topics, and many students

study in the English Foundation Programme prior to beginning their mainstream studies.

The programme is comprised of three levels from Beginner to Advanced, and depending on the

outcome of placement tests, a student could attend up to three 17 week semesters of full-time English

study prior to mainstream studies. However, it is important to note that the level denotations are

somewhat misleading when compared with similar titles at other institutions, and more appropriate

titles would place the levels from basic to intermediate. For each level, students attend reading, writing,

and listening speaking with each class meeting for 1.25 hours every day from Sunday to Thursday.

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BHCK boasts large classrooms equipped with tables and chairs, overhead projectors, speakers,

and whiteboards. There is also a language lab which provides access to the internet and coursebook

specific software and a library which provides the students with graded readers for extensive reading,

study spaces, and computers with access to the internet and printers. Coursebooks and other materials

can be purchased by the students in the campus bookstore, and students are provided with a

government stipend with which to purchase their textbooks.

The next micro factor is the teachers in the BHCK Foundation Programme. The teachers are

primarily expatriates and L1 speakers of English, but there are several expatriates of other L1 languages

and several L1 Arabic teachers. The competence of the teachers also varies widely as the school has not

adhered to initial demands that instructors have a Masters level education or previous experience.

Because of the varied backgrounds of the teachers, there is a wide disparity in the attitudes that the

teachers hold about the roles of teachers and students.

Perhaps the most important micro factor is the learners. The students at BHCK are aged

primarily between 18-20 years, and many of them are from conservative backgrounds. Because the

entry requirements of the college are considerably more lenient than those of other universities in the

country, the college accepts many lower achieving students unable to meet the requirements at other

schools. Most students share similar experiences in their previous learning with high school being based

largely on rote learning with little importance placed on critical thinking, study skill, learning strategies,

or learner autonomy.

Evaluation

This section will look at the principles underlying the evaluation of Weaving It Together outline

the specific evaluation criteria used and an explanation for those criteria, and discuss the specific results

of the evaluation of the book.

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Principles of Evaluation

The literature reveals a wide range of core teaching and learning principles that underpin materials

development and evaluation. These principles are concerned less with specific materials and contextual

factors and more with general beliefs about successful teaching and learning and characteristics of

‘good’ teaching materials. In addition to being numerous, these lists are often very extensive. For

example, Tomlinson provides a list of 16 principles covering ideas from ‘Materials should require and

facilitate leaner self-investment’ (2011:12) to ‘Materials should maximize learning potential by

encouraging intellectual, aesthetic and emotional involvement which stimulates both right and left brain

activities’ (2011:21). However, for the purposes of this paper, I have used Nunan’s list of principles for

materials development as these provide concise but comprehensive explanations which closely match

my own principles (as cited in McGrath, 2002: 154). Nunan states these principles as follows:

1. Materials should be clearly linked to the curriculum they serve.2. Materials should be authentic in terms of text and task.3. Materials should stimulate interaction.4. Materials should allow learners to focus on formal aspects of the language.5. Materials should encourage learners to develop learning skills, and skills in learning.6. Materials should encourage learners to apply their developing language skills to the world

beyond the classroom.

Though, as McGrath points out, many of these are self-explanatory (2002), what follows is a brief

interpretation of each principle and the ways in which they are situated in the context of BHCK.

Principle 1 is particularly important as the Foundation Programme at BHCK is new and seemingly in

constant flux. The curriculum has undergone significant changes at the end of each academic year since

the programme’s inception, and coursebooks have also had to be updated. With input from the

mainstream teachers, the Foundation faculty has examined books to meet a very specific set of criteria

which center on the development of students’ learning strategies and specific writing abilities. Though

Weaving It Together does prove to fall short in some practical aspects discussed in the evaluation

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section, it offers content that very closely matches the published curriculum and aims of the programme

and level in which it was used.

Principle 2 has, to some extent, fallen by the wayside in deference to other principles despite the

importance of exposing students to a number of authentic, academic level readings prior to leaving their

English studies to enable them to follow the language and organization of longer texts. It is also worth

noting that more authentic tasks make it easier for students to visualize the real world context and to

find motivation to actively participate their own learning of strategies. While Weaving It Together

provides a number of interesting readings, it may be that it fails to provide authentic texts of a kind that

are academically oriented enough to prove useful to the students.

Principle 3 is considered very carefully in the context of BHCK. As mentioned before, many of the

students at BHCK come from less than successful academic backgrounds and have trouble finding

motivation for learning. Thus it is essential that the materials are able to stimulate and engage them in

order to involve them more readily in their learning. In this respect, Weaving It Together proves

successful by including a wide range of topics allow students to relate to the subject matter and an array

of activities that ask the students to engage communicatively in discussion.

Regarding Principle 4, the specific focus of the formal language must be considered within the

confines of the context. By their final semester in the Foundation programme, the primary language

focus for students is writing output. Though they continue to study reading, listening, and speaking,

their writing skills often seem to be the most difficult to develop. Thus the formal language focus is

most heavily placed on language for specific essay types and language to signal essay organization. In

this respect, Weaving It Together offers clearly described language and organization sections for each

type of essay covered. However, shortcomings in the programme mean that many students still struggle

with formal aspects of grammar at the sentence level, and in this respect responsibility for materials is

left to the instructor.

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Principle 5 has perhaps been the most important during evaluations at BHCK. Because the

programme focuses so strongly on the development of learning strategies for use in mainstream,

coursebooks must provide a chance for students to develop these. In addition, many students were

previously taught using rote methods and given little, if any, learner autonomy. The nature of

mainstream study at BHCK, being at the Bachelors degree level, means that students must, to some

extent, be able to direct their own learning and successfully apply learning strategies in a number of

contexts. In this respect, Weaving It Together both succeeds and fails. Each chapter offers students the

chance to practice a number of important learning strategies like guess vocabulary in context and

drawing inferences, but the lack of explicit instruction on how to best go about using these strategies

means that students remain dependent on the teacher to guide them through the activities.

Principle 6 is interesting as previously it was my belief that teachers, not materials, were responsible

for encouraging students to use their language outside the classroom. However, it is important that

students see the rationale behind their learning, and connecting learning to real use is one of the most

effective means of providing this rationale. Many students at BHCK are frustrated at having to study

English, and are anxious to move quickly into their ‘real’ studies. This coupled with the fact that the

academic focus of their English studies provides little that is of immediate use outside the classroom,

means that it is essential that materials and activities are explicitly connected with future success in the

mainstream programme. Though Weaving It Together is interesting, the topics are far removed from

the academic content that the students will face, and thus may not connect well to their real life

requirements and use of the language.

Overall, the Nunan offers a set of principles that, while initially developed for a specific set of

materials, prove useful as general guiding ideas of materials evaluation. It is easy to see the importance

of the desired characteristics in the context of BHCK, and equally easy to begin evaluating how well

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Weaving It Together will uphold these principles. A closer evaluation of the coursebook and one

selected unit will provide a better understanding of the use of Weaving It Together in practice at BHCK.

Book Evaluation

Though principles of evaluation are important in highlighting the underlying beliefs of the

evaluators, the next practical step in any evaluation is the development of criteria against which the

coursebook will be measured. Like literature on and lists of evaluation principles, evaluation checklists

abound though most, if not all, will require some adaptation for use in specific contexts. I have based

my evaluation on Cunningsworth’s ‘Quick-reference checklist for evaluation and selection’ (1995).

Littlejohn suggests that materials must be evaluated both in terms of objective observations

about the ‘physical aspects of the materials’ and more in depth considering the requirements and needs

of the students, teachers, institution, and larger cultural and philosophical implications of the materials

(1998). I feel that Cunningsworth’s checklist does a thorough job of addressing both of these areas by

including a number of questions about the physical appearance and contents of the coursebook

package, questions about the learners needs, level, and interests, questions about the materials

included for teachers, questions connecting the book to the school and programme objectives,

questions relating to the appropriateness of the material and topics, and questions around the stated

guiding principles of the book’s design.

Cunningsworth’s checklist also offers coverage of many of the important considerations of the

teaching/learning situation laid out by Roberts including the learners, teachers, aims of the course and

learners, and practical factors (1996). In addition, a review of other checklists by Mukundan and Ahour

showed that many are “too demanding of time and expertise to be useful to teacher, too vague to be

answerable, too context bound to be generalisable, [and] too confusing to be useable” (Tomlinson,

2012:148) Overall, Cunningsworth’s list strikes a good balance of being thorough yet relatively

straightforward and concise, though I have adapted it to fit my context and address the following faults.

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Firstly, many of Cunningsworth’s criteria contain multiple questions despite a suggestion by

Tomlinson and Masuhara (2004) that each criterion only ask one question, and I found this difficult to

work with. In order to simplify the list, I broke multipart questions into multiple individual criteria or

combined them into one question. I also found that questions like ‘Does the coursebook cover the main

grammar items…’ and ‘Are all four skills adequately covered....’ (Cunningsworth, 1995) were irrelevant.

Since the coursebook under evaluation is for a dedicated reading class, and an additional book was

provided to students for grammar, neither of these has any bearing on its suitability for use in my

context and thus were unnecessary. Finally, Roberts also lists ‘syllabus and prescribed methods’,

‘exams and tests’, and ‘cultural and related factors’ as aspects of the context that must be considered

(1996), and several questions had to be reworded and added in order to fully address these areas. The

final adapted checklist can be found in Appendix C with detailed responses to each criterion, but below

is an overview of the findings of the evaluation.

When considered in the light of evaluation principles and the more general criteria on the

checklist, Weaving It Together seems a fairly good match as coursebook for the Advanced Reading class

at Box Hill College. The book is attractive and well organized, contains a wealth of interesting reading

material, covers relevant conventions of essay writing, and more specifically caters to the learning

strategies focus of the course syllabus. It is also clearly written for a more advanced student audience

which in theory suits the advanced level. In short, an objective evaluator, evaluating the book using only

programme aims and course syllabus, would be likely to declare the book an excellent match.

Yet a consideration of the book in the context by teachers practicing at the school is likely to call

to light a number of problems with Weaving It Together such as the difficulty of the reading, vocabulary,

and writing structures put forth in the text. Though they are of an appropriate level when seen as

preparing students for their studies in mainstream, the jump in level from the intermediate book is so

great that students are likely to be frustrated by both the length and vocabulary. It is also problematic

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that, prior to the advanced level, students were writing at the short paragraph level and with the

assistance of a dedicated writing book which provided extensive scaffolding for writing activities. The

shift to a combined skills book which requires more complex writing with significantly less scaffolding is

likely to prove a difficult one to make.

Chapter Evaluation

Chapter evaluations can provide a better assessment of specific areas of a coursebook. By

narrowing the focus, the evaluation is able to look carefully at individual activities, and provide a

comprehensive view of how those activities represent the book overall. In this case, I created my own

list of evaluation criteria using the layout of the book and my knowledge of the course syllabus and

objectives as a guide. The list is divided according the sections in the chapter as each section covers a

necessary aspect of the syllabus and needed to be clearly assessed. For each, the questions were

designed to address components of the syllabus that relate to the section. For example, one section of

the chapter is vocabulary, and questions were formed by reviewing the vocabulary requirements

outlined by the course objectives.

The chapter evaluation also allowed for more subdivision of broader criteria from the book

evaluation checklist as suggested by Tomlinson (2003) including addressing the instructions and content-

specific criteria related to reading and writing. The final checklist can be found in Appendix D with

detailed responses to each criterion, but below is an overview of the findings.

Chapter 6 (Broukal, 2010:145-173) illustrates the book’s strong points as they relate to topic

selection, opportunities for interaction and critical thinking, recycling of learning strategies, and clear

and concise explanations of essay types and organization. The chapter in question contains two

interesting readings on the topic of Gender, offers a number of clear and thought provoking follow-up

questions, and provides a simple and complete explanation of the compare-and-contrast essay type.

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The chapter also asks students to practice guessing meaning from context, finding main ideas, and

drawing inferences, and these activities recycle the same learning strategies covered in every chapter.

However, the chapter also clearly illustrates weaker points in the materials like explanation of

learning strategies, coverage of appropriate vocabulary, and scaffolding for student writing. Though

students are asked to employ the learning strategies mentioned above, they are offered no guidance on

how to do so. Regarding vocabulary, students are asked to complete activities which highlight a number

of very low frequency words which are unlikely to prove useful in the future. If it is necessary that

students understand words like ‘resounding’ and ‘adversarial’ (Broukal, 2010:150-151), then these are

best included in a glossary. Finally, the writing section, while providing a number of useful explanations

and activities related to specific areas of essay writing and writing analysis, fails to provide any real

scaffolding for production activities outside of a checklist of steps to be completed (Broukal, 2010:170-

171).

Materials Design

To better match the requirements of the syllabus and the students, I chose to adapt the

vocabulary in context section and add a scaffolded writing activity to Chapter 6. Below I have described

these changes and provided an explanation for my choices.

Vocabulary in Context

As mentioned above, the vocabulary covered in this section of the chapter was low frequency

and unlikely to prove useful for students as they moved into academic study. When assessed in light of

Nunan’s principle of design (cited in McGrath, 2002), this section of the chapter failed to meet principles

1, 2, and 6. The aim of the curriculum is to prepare students for their mainstream studies, and this

includes covering vocabulary that is likely to appear frequently in order to help students understand a

larger percent of what they are likely to read. Numerous studies on vocabulary acquisition outline the

connection between vocabulary size and reading comprehension (Alderson, 2000; Anderson &

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Freebody, 1981; Nation, 1990; Nation, 2001; Nation & Coady, 1988; Thorndike, 1974), and it is this

connection that the course aims to strengthen by assisting students in the building of a strong

knowledge of general vocabulary. The use of very low frequency vocabulary also fails to adhere to

principles of authenticity as it places importance on words that L1 speakers of English are unlikely to

use, and the words covered in this section do not promote the use of language outside the classroom as

students are unlikely to see or have need to use them in any real context.

In order to overcome these faults, I designed a Vocabulary in Context task that mimics the task

in the chapter, but with more useful vocabulary that will be useful across a broader range of contexts.

An excerpt of this activity is shown in Figure 1 and the activity in its entirety can be found in Appendix E.

The words covered are found in the first reading in the chapter, but are also found on word frequency

lists including the General Service and Academic Word Lists (Cobb). For each question I also asked

students to identify the part of speech and explain how they decided on their answer to guide students

through the use of learning strategies that they can employ when gathering meaning from context in the

future.

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Figure 1

Writing

The main flaw in the writing section of chapter 6 is the lack of scaffolding for student produced

writing. A number of researcher point out the importance of scaffolding in helping students work

within their Zone of Proximal Development, a theory outlined by Vygotsky in (1978:86). The theory

posits that activities should provide assistance to students to better connect their previous knowledge

with the new knowledge they are seeking to learn to enable students are able to master tasks

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incrementally. Lantolf and Thorne describe scaffolding as “a process [of regulation] whereby the adult

controls those elements of the task that are initially beyond the learner’s capacity, thus allowing the

learner to complete those that are within existing capabilities” (2006:107) and Lantolf and Appel

describe the process of moving students from activities regulated by materials and teachers to activities

where students are able to self-regulate (1994).

In order to help students work with their ZPD, and provide more regulated practice of writing, I

added a scaffolded writing production activity prior to the writing production activity in chapter 6. To do

this, I simply adapted a guided activity from Introduction to Academic Writing (Oshima, Hogue, &

Longman, 1996:198-99) which asks students to organize an essay but provided them with the essay

content. This allows students to focus on organization and writing by removing the need to generate

the essay ideas. To this I added an outline and color coding of essay subjects to assist students in pre-

writing and organization. The activity is shown below in figure 2 and again in Appendix F.

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Figure 2

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Conclusion

The central role that materials play in most language classrooms means that the choice of

appropriate materials is essential to students’ success. Materials must fit a number of requirements

including curriculum aims, student interest and needs, teacher needs, institution aims and facilities and

cultural suitability. By performing materials evaluations, concerned parties are able to identify the best

materials for their context as well as identifying any weak areas that have to be addressed when the

materials are put into use. The process of evaluation is a complex one and involves an assessment of

the teaching/learning context, consideration of principles of teaching and learning, the development of

criteria outlining essential and desired book characteristics, and even in-depth assessments of specific

book units. This paper provides a demonstration of these steps in relation to the evaluation of Weaving

It Together and its suitability for use at Box Hill College Kuwait.

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Bibliography

Alderson, J. (2000). Assessing reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Anderson, R., & Freebody, P. (1981). Vocabulary knowledge. In J. Gutherie (Ed.),

Comprehension and teaching: Research reviews (pp. 77-117). Newark: International Reading Association.

Broukal, M. (2010). Weaving it together 4: Connecting reading and writing (3rd ed.). Boston: Heinle, Cengage Learning.

Cobb, T. (n.d.). Compleat Lexical Tutor. Montreal, Canada. Retrieved December 8, 2012, from http://www.lextutor.ca/

Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing your coursebook. Oxford: Heinemann.Ellis, R. (1998). The evaluation of communicative tasks. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.),

Materials Development in Language Teaching (pp. 217-238). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Hutchinson, T. (1987). What's underneath?: An interactive view of materials evaluation. In L. Sheldon (Ed.), ELT textbooks and materials: Problems in evaluation and development (pp. 37-44). Oxford: Modern English Publications.

Lantolf, J., & Appel, G. (1994). Vygotskian approaches to second language research. Westport: Ablex Publishing Corporation.

Lantolf, J., & Thorne, S. (2006). Sociocultural theory and the genesis of second language development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Littlejohn, A. (1998). The analysis of language teaching materials: inside the Trojan Horse. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Materials Development in Language Teaching (pp. 190-216). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

McGrath, I. (2002). Materials Evaluation and Design for Language Teaching. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Nation, P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary. Rowley: Newbury House.Nation, P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.Nation, P., & Coady, J. (1988). Vocabulary and reading. In R. Carter, & M. McCarthy

(Eds.), Vocabulary and language teaching (pp. 97-110). London: Longman.Oshima, A., Hogue, A., & Longman, A. W. (1996). Introduction to Academic Writing

(2nd ed.). Reading: Addision Wesley Publishing Company.Roberts, J. (1996). Demystifying materials evaluation. System , 24 (3), 275-389.Thorndike, R. (1974). Reading and reasoning. Reading Research Quarterly , 9 (2),

135-147.

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Tomlinson, B. (2012). Materials development for language learning and teaching. Language Teaching , 45 (2), 143-179.

Tomlinson, B. (2011). Materials development in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Tomlinson, B. (2003). Materials Evaluation. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Developing materials for language teaching (pp. 15-36). London: Continuum.

Tomlinson, B., & Masuhara, H. (2004). Developing language course materials. Singapore: RELC Portfolio Series.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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Appendix A

Cover and Table of Contents for Weaving It Together (Broukal, 2010)

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Appendix B

Chapter 6 from Weaving It Together (Broukal, 2010)

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Appendix C

Book Evaluation of Weaving It Together (Broukal, 2010)

Aims and Approaches Do the aims of the coursebook correspond closely with the objectives of the

programme, syllabus and level?o Yes. The coursebook has a strong focus on learning strategies which is the

focus of the programme curriculum objectives for the level. For example, each unit asks students to look at vocabulary in context, look for main ideas (synthesizing and summarizing), skim and scan for details, make inferences from the reading, and think critically about what they have read. They are also asked to analyze writing as well as consider writing formats, essay parts, and essay language.

Do the activities in the coursebook clearly assist in test and exam preparation?o Tests are created by instructors for their individual classes, and often not

shared amongst the level teachers. However, the teacher pack does include ExamView software with preloaded test questions, and this makes it easier for teachers to quickly created tests that are related to both the topics of the book and test the skills that the book practices. Exams are created by level teams each semester, and are usually created to fit the material covered in class.

Do the aims of the coursebook correspond with the future needs of the learners?o In theory, yes. The book is written for ‘academically bound’ students which is

the right audience. As mentioned above, the book asks students to practice general language and learning skills that they can than transfer to their diploma studies. However, the book is too difficult so students are often confused by the scaffolding provided and unable to move from objective activities (gathering facts from the reading) to more subjective activities (predicting, making inferences, critical thinking). There is also a major flaw in the choice of vocabulary focus as it looks at rarely used words instead of helping students build a larger bank of vocabulary that is likely to reappear and be useful. Finally, the book falls short in offering authentic texts of the kind that will prove useful in the future. Though the texts are interesting and contain challenging vocabulary, they are much shorter than the readings that are required at the college level and do not provide enough practice with the language of academic writing.

Is the coursebook suited to the learning situation?o The coursebook is slightly too long to be covered in the term, but because of

the repetition of coverage of learning skills, it is not necessary for each teacher to cover all units or indeed even the same units. This allows for some flexibility where teachers can asks students to have some input into the readings covered in class. Because the readings are formatted according to the types of writing that are to be covered in the level, it suits the overall level very well.

Is the coursebook suited to the teaching situation (i.e. does it adhere to prescribed methods)?

o I believe it falls short with the teaching situation as higher level cognitive skills are being addressed but with little guidance to the instructor (more information in ‘Teachers’ Book’ section.) This can be problematic as the education level, teaching experience, and knowledge of learning strategies of teachers varies greatly. This shortcoming is especially detrimental as the programme offers little, if any, prescribed methods, meaning that student experiences in different sections of the same level and skill class vary widely. More guidance on the instruction for activities in the book might help overcome this.

Does the coursebook cover most or all of what is needed?

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o Pre-reading and predicting is needed and is included but is often too short or vague to be of interest/use. Each reading begins with a picture and three questions, some of which are impossible for students to answer based on limited knowledge of the topic, and thus creating frustration before the reading begins.

o Vocabulary and vocabulary in context must be taught explicitly (according to syllabus). This is included but covers vocabulary that is unlikely to be useful to learners and little advice is given on guessing meaning from context. Some vocabulary building and vocabulary in new context offer useful information about word forms, etc. but many ask learners to create collocations, etc. with words beyond their level.

o Reading comprehension is needed addressed in a number of activities. First, main ideas are well covered through multiple choice and allow students to summarize sections of the reading. Inferencing is covered but with little guidance which is difficult for students with little experience of learner autonomy or ‘guessing’. The activities relating to discussion and critical thinking is useful for expanding ideas gathered from the reading.

o The writing includes a section on organization which is brief and may benefit from the use of visuals to demonstrate organization. Useful language is addressed, and students are asked to analyze a sample piece of writing. However, the book lacks sufficient scaffolding for the actual writing process.

Is it a good resource for students? (for teacher’s resource, see Teachers’ Book section)

o The coursebook does provide some useful writing resources for students. These can be found in each unit’s writing section which provides a concise explanation of an essay type which can be used by students in the future to direct their writing. It also includes a writing resource section which provides students with guidance for pre-writing, revising and editing, quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing. It falls short in providing resources related to reading and reading strategies as students do not have access to answer keys, and are not offered explanations of different learning strategies and how to employ them.

Is the coursebook flexible? o As mentioned above, the coursebook is flexible in length, allowing teachers to

give students some choice over the readings covered in class. This is due largely to the fact that each unit covers the same learning skills. Though teachers are required to cover some of the units to align the reading and writing classes, students may ‘vote’ on the others to be used. With some imagination by the teacher, the coursebook activities can be made more flexible, though they are fairly traditional and basic. (multiple choice, short answer, etc.) However, the coursebook is not organized with increasingly difficult readings, so units may be taken in any order.

Does it allow different teaching styles?o As mentioned above, teachers can be quite flexible in how they use the

activities in the book, and the readings themselves are good starting points for any number of teacher created activities, projects, writings, and discussions. The teachers’ manual does give some suggestions for discussion questions which can help prompt teachers, but teachers can easily make the activities more oral, visual, etc. as suits them.

Does it allow different learning styles?o The book is not written to cater to different learning styles. It follows a very

basic set of traditionally slanted activities, which are repeated exactly in each unit. With this book, it will be the teacher’s responsibility to adapt activities to different learning styles.

Design and Organization

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What components make up the total course package (eg students’ books, teachers’ books, workbooks, cassettes, etc)?

o students’ book with audio CD of readingso teachers’ book with audio CD of readings, Exam View testing software, and

teachers’ manual How is the content organized (eg according to structures, functions, topics, skills,

etc)? o The content is organized by topic and writing structure (compare/contrast

essay, process essay, etc.). There are two readings (which both exhibit the same writing structure) per unit with one writing section.

Is the organization right for learners and teachers?o As mentioned above, the organization does allow for some flexibility and

student choice of topic after certain writing structures are covered. One flaw is that, according to the syllabus, each unit, and therefore each writing structure, is only covered for two weeks. Students may need longer to practice these structures and therefore there is either some delay in the reading class or some rushing in the writing class. It is difficult to keep the two in line with each other.

Is there adequate recycling and revision?o There is adequate recycling and revision of learning strategies as students are

asked to practice the same learning strategies with each reading. However, vocabulary is not taught extensively, and words that are taught are not recycled at all. The writing sections move from structure to structure with each unit and therefore there is little revision of writing and little scaffolding for students.

Is some of the material suitable for individual study?o Students could listen to the readings individually. The activities are unlikely

to be of much use for individual study as students do not have access to the answers. Each unit also includes a ‘Connecting to the Internet’ activity which students could work on independently to practice researching for essays. However, it is likely that even on these, students would want teacher feedback on their work.

Is it easy to find your way around the coursebook? o The layout is very clear. Pages are well displayed without being overcrowded.

The book offers a table of contents outlining the topic, readings, writing skills, and writing practice covered in each unit. This is followed by a description of the text organization which outlines each type of activity in the book. Reading lines are clearly numbered, and each new activity is clearly marked.

Language Content Is material for vocabulary teaching adequate in terms of quantity and range of

vocabulary, emphasis placed on vocabulary development, strategies for individual learning?

o The vocabulary section is not particularly useful for the level of student. Students are asked to guess meanings of ten words from each reading using the context. The number of words is sufficient, but students are offered no guidance on how to use the context to guess meaning. The words chosen are rarely used words, and most are not found on any of the frequent vocabulary lists (1-2000 most frequent words, or Academic Word List). Each unit does offer a vocabulary building section, but again, students are asked to created collocations, group nouns and adjectives, or create compound words, often with little or no guidance. For many students, this will be beyond their grasp of vocabulary. Vocabulary is not recycled at any point, so students are likely to forget words that have been covered, or fail to see the rationale for learning words in the first place. There is little/no guidance for vocabulary acquisition, practice, discovery, etc.

39

Does the coursebook deal with the structuring and conventions of language use above sentence level, eg how to take part in conversations, how to structure a piece of extended writing, how to identify the main points in a reading passage? (More relevant at intermediate and advanced levels)

o The coursebook does not cover how to take part in a conversation as this is covered in the Listening and Speaking class. However, there are discussion sections which do allow students to converse on prompts, and this provides fluency practice without pressuring students with issues of accuracy.

o The book does explicitly cover the structuring of extended writing as each unit covers a different essay structure. The book offers a description of the essay type, a section on organizing the essay, useful vocabulary unique to specific essay types, exercises using the reading passages which combine the writing guidance with previously covered readings, a model essay and questions, and writing practice. However, writing practice is not well scaffolded, and this is needed for longer pieces of writing.

o The book does ask students to answer questions around the main ideas of the readings, but offers no guidance on how to spot main ideas. Teachers may find it useful to cover the reading in sections with discussion to help students find main ideas. It may also be useful to ask students to clearly explain HOW they found the main ideas.

Skills Is there material for integrated skills work?

o As the title suggests, the book integrates reading and writing. Students read certain essay types around at topic, and are then introduced to that essay type. They use the readings to explore examples of the writing they will be asked to do. There is an audio CD with the book which can be used to integrate listening into the class, or for students to practice listening on their own at home. There is also a discussion section in each unit which allows students the chance to practice speaking in a discussion situation in groups or as a class. Thus the listening and speaking skills are connected only as much as the teacher wishes, and would not be necessary.

Are reading passages and associate activities suitable for your students’ levels, interests, age, etc?

o The readings do offer interesting topics, and students are likely to be able to identify to some extent but also challenge their thinking to some extent. Topics are not likely to be culturally taboo but will offer students a chance to consider a number of other cultures and customs. The readings are significantly above the level of the students’, but this was chosen in order to bridge the gap between level two (which students have come from) and their mainstream classes (which immediately follow this level).

o The activities are likely to appeal to students as they do not require extensive amounts of writing. However, as each unit repeats the same activities in the same order, students may become bored. The activities appear to be suitable in level as they are multiple choice and short answer. However, the difficult nature of the readings may lead to guessing from students.

Is there sufficient reading material?o There is sufficient reading material. Each unit offers two readings of adequate

length, and a model essay which can also be used for reading practice. Are writing activities suitable in terms of amount of guidance/control, organization of

longer pieces of writing (eg paragraphing)?o As mentioned above, the writing section clearly lays out the types of essays,

organization of essays, useful essay language, and provides a model essay. However, writing practice is not sufficiently scaffolded, so students are asked to move from short answer questions about a model straight into writing an essay. The book also fails to offer sufficient coverage of quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing which are necessary skills at this level and

40

often needed for the essays the students are writing. These concepts are quickly covered in the resources section at the back, but could use more extensive coverage.

Topic Is there sufficient material of genuine interest to learners?

o The topics are general, but applicable in many contexts so students are likely to be able to connect with most topics in some way. Some of the topics (nutrition, gender, psychology) are likely to be of great interest, which others (artists, groups, issues for debate) are less likely to be interesting as students are less likely to personally connect with the readings in these units. (See Appendix A for Table of Contents)

Will the topics help expand students’ awareness and enrich their experience?o The best opportunities to expand awareness will be in the units where

students already have some connection to the topics, and this connection can be stretched to consider new ideas and cultures. This will be more difficult for students to do with other topics as they are so far removed from their daily lives. However, the readings to a good job of talking about a number of historical contexts, cultures, and new ideas. Teachers should proceed with some caution and let the readings and students guide the direction of topics. This is related to the delicacy of some topics in the region. (Ex: teachers should be careful about discussions relating to gender roles and ensure that they are not indicating any personal feelings about gender roles in Kuwait)

Are the topics sophisticated enough in content, yet within the learners’ language level?

o The topics are presented in a sufficiently sophisticated way. The topics themselves are fairly general, but the approach and level of the reading are appropriate for the age of the students. As mentioned above, the level may be too difficult, but this is deliberately to push the students.

Will your students be able to relate to the social and cultural contexts presented in the coursebook?

o As mentioned above, they will be able to relate to some of the topics like gender, nutrition, psychology, etc. Though their culture may not be presented, this allows students the chance to share their perspective with the teacher on topics with which they are comfortable. A wide variety of cultural and social contexts are presented, and these are likely to be met with mixed results of interest, understanding, etc.

Are women portrayed and represented equally with men?o The book covers a number of topics that remove the need to discuss men or

women by discussing things, ideas, whole societies, animals, and groups of people. It also offers a historic perspective on many of the topics. However, when gender figures into the equation, men and women are represented fairly equally. For example, the chapter on gender discusses differences between men and women and then discusses the view of men and women with regards to societies. The book even does a good job of mentioning stereotypes but pointing out that they ARE stereotypes.

Are other groups represented, with reference to ethnic origin, occupation, disability, etc?

o As discussed, many of the topics take a general and historic approach to topics thereby bypassing the fault of focusing too much on one culture. When discussing human interest topics, the book does a good job of relating to a number of different cultures, jobs, and ways of life.

Methodology

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Is the coursebook’s approach/es to language learning appropriate to the learning/teaching situation?

o The coursebook covers reading and writing, and the connection of these two is vital to the learning/teaching situation as students are in the same group with the same teacher for these two skills. One of the focuses of the book is on reading strategies which fits perfectly with the objectives of the course and helps move students beyond the language and into the arena of learning to learn. The other focus is on higher level writing structures which fits the course syllabus and is important in preparing students for their mainstream classes.

Does the level of active learner involvement that can be expected match your students’ learning styles and expectations?

o As mentioned above, the book does not necessarily cater to various learning styles, and it is therefore left to the teacher to adapt activities to different learning styles. There is some safety offered by the repetition of activity types in the book, and this could either cause boredom for students, or a sense of security. However, the use of so many multiple choice activities does not promote a high level of learner involvement, and indeed lends itself to guessing. The inclusion of discussion questions does allow for a different approach and the use of critical thinking skills, and as discussions can be done in partners/groups/and whole class, teachers can provide different learning experiences and require different levels of interaction from students.

How are communicative abilities developed?o The book asks students to discuss topics at a number of stages in each lesson.

Students discuss topics prior to reading, and then discuss topics and use critical thinking after reading. This allows students to use language for fluency purposes to express ideas, but does not burden them with accuracy. With a number of small adaptations (i.e. breaking the reading into chunks with discussion after each) the book can be made to promote even more communicative abilities. Students also develop communicative writing abilities by using the outlines provided to discuss topics of their choosing. Thus they are asked to use the language in a structured way to express their own ideas and interests.

Does the material include any advice/help to students on study skills and learning strategies?

o The material focuses on the development of learning strategies through the types of activities included. However, little/no guidance is given on how to actually complete these activities. Thus, a high level of teacher explanation and support is needed initially to aid students in understanding these learning strategies and feeling comfortable utilizing them. The book does include a resource section for writing which helps students with pre-writing activities, editing, quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing.

Are students expected to take a degree of responsibility for their own learning (eg by setting their own individual learning targets)?

o Not particularly. Each unit does begin by asking students a series of questions on the unit topic. The questions are then repeated at the end of the unit so that students can mark their progress with the topic. However, students are not asked to set any targets or goals. The resources section at the back does provide students with a revision and editing checklist which can help students take responsibility for editing their own writing and can be used for peer editing activities.

Teachers’ Book Is there adequate guidance for the teachers who will be using the coursebook and its

supporting materials?o The teachers’ manual does offer sample lesson plans which show how the

book units can be broken down into three hour lessons. This may be useful 42

for providing general explanations of the parts of each unit, but the syllabus for this class allows two weeks for each chapter (10 hours), and this is probably more realistic with the amount of time needed for writing practice. The sample lesson plan can also be supplemented with extensive reading and the reading drills book provided for the level. The manual also provides a grading rubric for writing, a list of correction symbols, and example of a corrected essay which can be useful for norming grading standards across teachers. Finally, it offers a step-by-step outline of each reading which provides additional warm-up questions, focus questions, extension activities, additional discussion questions, journal writing prompts, and the answer key. This can help teachers exploit the readings to their fullest and allow students plenty of time to digest and think about new topics.

Does the teachers’ book adequately cover teaching techniques, language items such as grammar rules and culture-specific information?

o The teachers’ manual does not cover grammar or other language items as this is not the focus of the book. It would be helpful if the manual covered some more information on how to guide students in the use of the learning strategies that the book asks students to engage in. As it stands, there is no explanation for teachers or students. There is also no culture specific information beyond that provided in the actual readings. This is likely because this is an international book and not specific to any one culture. The manual does provide a brief blurb of information on the unit topic. These are usually historical or of general interest.

Do the writers set out and justify the basic premises and principles underlying the material?

o Pages vi-viii include a message from the author in which she explains the central premise of the book, lays out the book’s objectives, and describes the types of activities and their purpose.

Are keys to exercises given?o Yes.

Practical Considerations What does the whole package cost? Does this represent good value for money?

o The whole package costs approximately £40. This is fairly good value, but this particular consideration is not important in this context as students are given a stipend from the government in order to purchase their materials.

Are the books strong and long-lasting? o The books are paperback and therefore likely to suffer some wear and tear.

However, they appear to be well made overall with thick pages and a heavy cover.

Are they attractive in appearance?o The book is attractive overall. The front is colorful but abstract so that it

doesn’t come across as childish. The book does contain some visuals (usually as part of the pre-reading activities) which make the appearance more engaging. Though the book contains a lot of type, it is clearly laid out and well divided.

Are they easy to obtain? Can further supplies be obtained at short notice?o The books are easy to obtain from the publisher, and are provided to students

through the campus bookstore. Because the school is aware of the number of students entering each level each semester, sufficient numbers are ordered well in advance. It is unlikely that additional supplies would be needed at short notice, but they could be obtained from the regional representative if they were required. However, due to mail systems in the country, it is not always possible to receive materials quickly.

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Do any parts of the package require particular equipment, such as language laboratory, listening centre, or video player? If so, do you have the equipment available for use and is it reliable?

o The book includes an audio CD which requires a CD player or laptop computer and speakers. However, the CD is simply audio of the readings which could alternatively be provided by the teacher, the students, or indeed not used at all. However ,all teachers are issued a laptop, and each classroom has speakers installed.

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Appendix D

Evaluation of Chapter 6 (Broukal, 2010:145-173)

Evaluation of Chapter 6

General Information and Layout of the ChapterTopic Reading Writing Skills Writing PracticeGender Reading 1-Males and

Females: What’s the Difference?

The Comparison-and-Contrast Essay

block point by point

Comparison-and-Contrast Indicators

Writing a Comparison-and-Contrast Essay

Reading 2-Society and the Sexes

Topic Is the topic likely to be of interest to the students?

o The topic is likely to be of interest as the students will be able to relate. Because they are all girls, they should feel comfortable discussing issues of gender. It is important to maintain control of discussions as talks about gender could lead to conversations that are considered culturally inappropriate.

Are both readings likely to be of interest?o The first reading is likely to be of more interest to the students because it

discusses general differences. It also contains some surprising information that the students should find interesting. The second is less likely to be of interest as it relates to a number of different societies, some of which the students are unlikely to relate to.

Are students likely to relate to the topic?o Students will definitely be able to relate to the topic. As teenage girls, they

are acutely aware of, and have shown interest in discussing, the topic of men and women. They should be able to relate it to their own experiences, compare those with the experiences of family members, and broaden the topic by discussing the portrayal of men and women in television shows from abroad.

Is the topic appropriate in terms of sophistication and culture?o The topic does discuss some historical views of men and women, means of

communication, and language use. These are sophisticated enough for the level of the students and provide topics that the students will be able to discuss. It is also culturally appropriate as it is fairly general. There may be some issues with the second reading as it discusses men and women in different cultures, but again it is a non-judgmental piece and therefore should be fine with direction from the teacher.

Pre-reading In what way are the students asked to engage prior to reading?

o The chapter begins with five Yes/No questions about men and women and students are asked to guess the correct answer. These questions are repeated at the end of the chapter so that students can check what they have learned. This is followed by discussion questions and a categorizing activity. Students are asked to both retrieve prior knowledge and make guesses about what they will learn. The discussion questions require more critical thinking and lend themselves to debate.

Is the pre-reading offered in the book sufficient to engage students with the topic?o Because this is a topic that the students are likely to find quite fun, it might be

nice to have a lighter pre-reading just to get them excited. The pre-reading

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provided will engage them on a more academic level, but teachers may want to use a short video to get students interested.

Readings Are the readings an appropriate length?

o The readings are considerably longer than readings the students did in the previous level. However, they are appropriate to prepare the students for the reading demands of the mainstream program. Because of the length, it should be noted that students may feel overwhelmed, and it may serve them well to divide the readings into chunks.

Does the language of the readings match the level of the students?o Like the length, then language is considerably more difficult than the previous

level but appropriate for preparing students for mainstream. The book does provide some glossary terms, but it will be important for students to be reminded that they do not need to understand every single word. Again, breaking the reading into chunks with discussions around meaning can help overcome frustrations that the students may experience with the language.

Is the organization of the readings easy to follow?o The organization of the readings is very clear. The type is sufficiently large

and well-spaced. The paragraphs are indented and the lines are clearly numbered. Glossaries are clearly provided with some of the most difficult vocabulary.

Do the readings provide clear examples of the writing structure introduced in the chapter?

o The writing organization follows the essay organization guide in the writing section of the chapter, but the writing is not overly formulaic which will help challenge students to understand organization in a more authentic context.

Vocabulary Activities How are students asked to engage with the vocabulary?

o For both readings, students are asked to guess the meaning of certain words and phrases by using the context. These are likely to be difficult for the students. Furthermore, with Reading 1, the students are given information on the collocations of the word ‘status’, read about and find compound adjectives, and then write sentences using compound adjectives. Reading 2 asks them to find and then make adjective noun pairings and then use those for a gap fill. These activities, while providing some information on the language, really just require students to return to the reading and skim for the answers.

Does the chapter cover appropriate vocabulary?o This is one of the books major downfalls. The vocabulary covered in the

‘Vocabulary in Context’ sections is not particularly useful as much of it is rarely used words and expressions. Because this section is multiple choice, it is important for the teacher to talk the students through the answers, how they could be found, and what strategies can be employed in the future. It would be more useful to use the readings to demonstrate words from the frequently used and academic word lists, and to then recycle these through class activities.

Does the chapter adequately cover vocabulary strategies?o No guidance is given for vocabulary in context. It is important then that the

teachers devise ways to guide the students in these activities and help build strategies for guessing. The vocabulary building activity on compound adjectives with Reading 1 does provide a brief description of how compound adjectives are formed, but no guidance is provided with Reading 2 when students are asked to create adjective noun pairings. This is a high level

46

book, and it is unknown if these skills are guided more sufficiently in previous levels of the book as the series is not used in any other level.

Does the chapter provide guidance for the continued use of vocabulary strategies?o No. As stated above, the chapter provides little guidance in the use of

strategies for the purposes of the activities, and no guidance for use of strategies in a different context.

Is vocabulary recycled?o No. The teachers’ manual does provide some guidance to reviewing

vocabulary in the lesson following the vocabulary activities, including keeping a record of new vocabulary. However, as stated above, the vocabulary that is pointed out in the chapter is likely to be of little use to the students and therefore recycling of those particular expressions does not have much use.

Reading Comprehension How are students asked to engage with the reading and show comprehension?

o Looking for Main Ideas: In Reading 1, students answer a series of 4 questions about main ides of certain paragraphs. In Reading 2, students categorize a series of statements as either being a main idea or a supporting idea.

o Skimming and Scanning for Detail: In Reading 1, students complete 10 multiple choice questions about the reading. In Reading 2, this activity takes the form of a gap fill.

o Making Inferences and Drawing Conclusions: In Reading 1, students are given a series of statements and asked to circle the ones that can be inferred from the reading. In Reading 2, students categorize a series of statements as either a fact or an inference.

Does the chapter adequately cover reading comprehension strategies?o No guidance is given on finding main ideas. The chapter does remind

students to read quickly for the skimming and scanning activity, but then left largely on their own for the inferencing activity. This is a high level book, and it is unknown if these skills are guided more sufficiently in previous levels of the book as the series is not used in any other level.

Are students asked to explain cognitive processes relating to comprehension? (i.e.-how they arrive at their answers)

o Students are not asked to do this in the chapter, so it is the responsibility of the teacher to lead students in that discussion. It is important that this type of discussion is included as it is likely to help students better understand the learning strategies and employ them.

Does the chapter provide guidance for the continued use of reading comprehension strategies?

o No. As stated above, the chapter provides little guidance in the use of strategies for the purposes of the activities, and no guidance for use of strategies in a different context.

Discussion Are discussion questions clearly stated?

o Some of the discussion questions are overly long and contain a number of individual questions. It might make it clearer for the students if the questions were shorter or broken down into individual questions. However, the language of the questions themselves is appropriate.

Do discussion questions provide adequate opportunities for students to interact?o Some of the questions will work better than others. Many of the questions do

not refer directly back to facts from the readings, and this is useful because students are relying more on their own synthesis of the information and their own knowledge to answer questions. This promotes more thinking and discussion. Those that refer back to facts from the reading are likely to send the students back to the readings looking for answers rather than thinking things through. However, the questions are broad enough to provide room for

47

multiple interpretations and ideas while being specific enough to guide the students thinking.

Are discussion questions clearly related to the readings?o Yes. The topics of the discussion questions relate directly to the topic of the

readings. As mentioned above, this is often just a connection of topic, but at times the questions relate back to specific facts from the readings.

Critical Thinking Are critical thinking questions clearly stated?

o As with the discussion questions, some of the critical thinking questions seem overly long and are made of multiple questions. The language itself is appropriate but the format might benefit from simplification.

Do critical thinking questions provide adequate opportunities for students to interact?o Yes. Unlike the discussion questions which ask fairly general questions

relating to broad ideas about the topic, the critical thinking questions push students to take those general ideas and apply them in a number of different contexts. This provides solid starting points for students to push their thinking outside the immediate confines of the readings and classroom. Some of these questions are also a bit more controversial and thus useful in sparking debate.

Do critical thinking questions provide appropriate prompts in terms of sophistication and culture?

o As they stand, the questions are appropriate in terms of level. They are also culturally appropriate, but it should be noted that some refer to more controversial topics and thus the teacher should be prepared to direct the discussion in the most appropriate direction.

Writing Skills Does the chapter provide a clear explanation and description of the essay type?

o Yes. This chapter covers comparison-and-contrast essays. The chapter provides an explanation of the essay type, how to find comparable items, how to direct the comparison, and how to write the thesis. It provides a table of an example comparison between universities and connects this to the description of the thesis.

Does the chapter provide a clear explanation and description of the essay organization?

o Yes. The book outlines two methods of organizing a comparison-and-contrast essay: block and point-by-point. It describes each and then provides an example outline. This is useful as it contains actual information for a proposed essay rather than just headings. However, it might be useful to provide the students with a more visual representation of the outline or perhaps even a color coded one.

Does the chapter provide guidance for appropriate essay language?o The chapter does a good job of providing some specific language that is

useful/necessary to writing a comparison-and-contrast essay. A table of indicators is included, and this is a useful reference for students to use later when writing.

Does the chapter provide sufficient recycling of writing concepts through activities?o There are several activities in the writing section offer recycling of writing

concepts. The first asks students to find comparison and contrast indicators in the reading. This is useful both for recycling the indicators provided and in connecting the writing section to the organization of the readings (with which the students would be familiar at this point). The second activity simply asks students to think of two comparable items for a number of categories. This activity may be useful if these categories are to be used in future writing, and can assist in directing a discussion about how to choose the subjects being compared (as this can be a difficult thing for students to grasp initially). The final activity asks students to use the comparison and contrast indicators to

48

connect two sentences. Though this activity IS useful to showing students the structure associated with the use of these expressions, the activity is NOT authentic and thus the skill being practiced may not translate well into student produced writing.

Does the chapter provide sufficient models of the writing to be done?o As mentioned previously, both readings provide models of the writing to be

done. The writing section also provides a model essay which is accompanied by questions about the parts of the essay and the essay specific language covered previously. The writing model is less authentic than the readings, and it may be useful to have the students answer a series of similar questions about the readings as well. It may also be useful to have the students create essay outlines of the readings and model essay to help them better understand the process from outline to essay.

Is there a clear process and connection between the analysis of writing samples and the requirement of students producing writing?

o The chapter is not as successful at this stage. After analyzing models, students are given a two page set of directions to write their own essays. Many of the steps refer to the writing resource guide at the back of the book, and this is useful in reminding students of the resource and encouraging them to use it. They are also directed back to the outlines provided for the two types of essay organization. However, the gap between looking at completed model essays and writing a new essay is still fairly wide and may be difficult for students to bridge.

Does the chapter provide sufficiently scaffolding for production activities?o No. As mentioned above, the only production activity students are given is

that of writing an entire essay. This includes choosing a topic, brainstorming ideas, pre-writing, writing drafts, editing, and creating a final draft. It would be more useful for students to move into production is a more structured and scaffolded manner. Perhaps students are given the topic and information and allowed to focus on outlining and essay organization. Or the class brainstorms ideas as a whole. It could also work to have students provide the information and then have the class work on outlining and organizing in groups or all together.

Does the chapter provide sufficient guidance through the writing process?o The chapter does refer students to the writing resources at the back of the

book to aid them with draft writing and editing. This is a skill that is likely to require a high level of guidance from the teacher, and it is likely that in this particular culture, the teacher will have to be involved in the editing process. Peer editing is unlikely to work as these students are hesitant to critique each other, and self-editing is unlikely to work as students still struggle with sentence level grammar.

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Appendix E

Adapted Vocabulary in Context Activity

Vocabulary in Context

For each number below:1. Write the part of speech (POS) of the bold word or phrase in the space provided at

the end of the sentence.2. Next, select the letter of the answer that is closest in meaning to the bold word or

phrase. 3. Finally, make note of WHY you chose your answer. What clues did you use?

**Remember**NO DICTIONARIES!!Clues can be found ANYWHERE. Check before and after the word. If you’re still not sure, look further!

1. However, after decades of study, scientists and researchers have concluded that

there are important differences in the way males and females think, speak, and act. (POS: _Verb_)

a. answered c. wonderedb. guessed d. determined

Clues: ____after decades of study, there ARE (not might be)____________________________

2. And they know that these differences are true across countries, cultures, ages, and other factors. (POS: _________)

a. aspects c. namesb. numbers d. stories

Clues: _________________________________________________________________________

3. Over the years, there have been varying opinions on this subject. (POS: _________)

a. facts c. beliefsb. answers d. lists

Clues: _________________________________________________________________________

4. And society certainly does affect our thinking and behavior. (POS: _________)

a. influence c. ignoreb. upset d. dislike

Clues: _________________________________________________________________________

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5. And society certainly does affect our thinking and behavior. (POS: _________)

a. appearance c. attitudeb. actions d. goals

Clues: _________________________________________________________________________

6. At play, little girls naturally practice carrying infants. (POS: _________)

a. don’t like c. prepare forb. exercise d. read about

Clues: _________________________________________________________________________

7. And while a woman talks to create a relationship with the listener, men on the other hand try to influence the listener. (POS: _________)

a. understand c. destroyb. change d. make

Clues: _________________________________________________________________________

8. And while a woman talks to create a relationship with the listener, men on the other hand try to influence the listener. (POS: _________)

a. contract c. businessb. connection d. conversation

Clues: _________________________________________________________________________

9. Furthermore, they believe that the different ways in which men and women use language in e-mails is a result of their different goals. (POS: _________)

a. description c. causeb. worry d. outcome

Clues: _________________________________________________________________________

10. Language is used for competition. (POS: _________)

a. friendship c. rivalry b. understanding d. laughing

Clues: _________________________________________________________________________

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Appendix F

Added Writing Production Activity

Where would YOU go?

You are a travel agent, and a customer is trying to decide where to take his family for a winter vacation. He is interested in traveling to either London or New York and needs help deciding. He has asked you to research the two places and give him your opinion on which is a better place to visit. You are going to prepare a report comparing and contrasting these two places to help the customer decide which is better.

1. Study the list of information about London and Dubai. Use your dictionary to look up any unfamiliar vocabulary.

2. The information is not in any order. Organize the information by filling in the chart. Begin by assigning the items to one of the following main topics: accommodations, climate, or tourist attractions.

3. Put the information in the appropriate box.

1. 2.3. There are many great hotels in Dubai.4. It often rains in London in the winter.5. It stays warm in Dubai all winter.6. Accommodations in Dubai range from

basic to luxurious.7. There are several interesting museums in

London.8. London has many famous attractions like

the London Eye and Big Ben.

9. Dubai has world-class shopping malls with thousands of stores.

10. There is a wide selection of hotels in London to fit any budget.

11. Dubai has beautiful buildings like Khalifa Tower.

12. It rarely rains in Dubai in the winter.13. It is usually cold in London in the

winter.14. London has thousands of nice hotels.

Main Topics Subject A-Dubai Subject B-London

accommodations

climate

tourist attractions

Dubai has world-class shopping malls with thousands of stores.

Now you are going to outline and write your report.

1. Choose the organization pattern you want to use. (block or point by point)2. Use the correct outline below.3. Complete the outline.4. Write your report.

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Block Organization Outline

Topic:_______________________________________Thesis: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Paragraph 1-Subject A: ______________________________________________________________________________Main Point 1:______________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Main Point 2:______________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Main Point 3:______________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Paragraph 2-Subject B: _____________________________________________________________________________Main Point 1:______________________________________________________________________________________

Does this point compare to or contrast with MP1 for Subject A?: _____________________________________

Choose an appropriate indicator (pg. 166): _______________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Main Point 2:______________________________________________________________________________________

Does this point compare to or contrast with MP2 for Subject A?: _____________________________________

Choose an appropriate indicator (pg. 166): _______________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Main Point 3:______________________________________________________________________________________

Does this point compare to or contrast with MP3 for Subject A?: _____________________________________

Choose an appropriate indicator (pg. 166): _______________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion (Remember to include your opinion!! Where would YOU go? Why?)

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_________________________________________________________________________________________________

5.Point-by-Point Organization Outline

Topic:_______________________________________Thesis: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Paragraph 1-Main Point 1: ___________________________________________________________________________Are the subjects similar or different for Main Point 1? How will your topic sentence show this?: __________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Subject A:________________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Subject B:_________________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Paragraph 2-Main Topic 2: ___________________________________________________________________________Are the subjects similar or different for Main Point 2? How will your topic sentence show this?: __________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Subject A:________________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Subject B:________________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Paragraph 3-Main Topic 3: ___________________________________________________________________________Are the subjects similar or different for Main Point 3? How will your topic sentence show this?: __________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Subject A:________________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Subject B:________________________________________________________________________________________

Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

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Example: __________________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion (Remember to include your opinion!! Where would YOU go? Why?)

_______________________________________________________________________________________

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