B. Speaking
Few courses threat speaking as a separate
skill in the same way as listening, reading and writing. Speaking
practice takes place through the oral presentation and practice of new
language items, in dialogue work and in role-play as mentioned above.
The more mechanical aspects of speaking are also covered in
pronunciation practice where these forms part of the course package, and
these elements combined normally ensure that students receive good
spoken models from their teachers and ample opportunity to practice
themselves.
In Pacesetter elementary the aim is to
encourage students to express themselves in a variety of practical
situations. At this early stage it is essential to start developing
students’ confidence in speaking in English and being easily understood.
Many speaking activities in the elementary level are necessarily
controlled with regular dialogues and role-plays being used to provide
support and guidance. However each unit also has freer discussion topics
supported by cue questions and prompts so that students can start to
express their own thoughts from the very beginning of the course.
Thinking about the importance of the
speaking, it is essential to start from the very beginning. In
Pacesetter starter (consolidation 2, pp 73) you can see a good
communication activity. It is about making a dialogue with a partner and
the skeleton of the conversation is given so that students can talk with
each other easily. They only change the words in bold. See appendix 9
Again in the same book (unit 11, pp 77) there is a speaking section,
which is dealing with the students’ opinions about the given statement.
The exercise first gives the statement and then give the cue to talk.
With these exercises students can talk according to the given prompts.
In some exercises there is a constructed
story and exercises want you to join the action. For example in
Pacesetter intermediate (unit 4, pp 27) students assume that they are
prisoners and want to escape from the prison. They are going to tell you
how they can escape from the prison by using given expressions such as
‘there was a change that…’
Coursebooks vary in the amount of
preparation they give at more advance levels. Some simply provide topics
for discussion while others set up more realistic interactions through
the use of communication activities such as those to be found in
Pacesetter intermediate. (consolidation 1, pp 38) This is an example of
the technique, which involves two students, each one looking at only one
set of instruction. See appendix 10
This kind of activity includes an element
of uncertainty and unpredictability which is present in any genuine
conversation or discussion but is lacking in many EFL coursebooks. By
doing activities like this students can gain confidence in participating
in conversation whilst in the relative safety of the classroom and can
develop strategies for coping with the unpredictability involved. These
useful activities replicate situations in which conversations take place
by creating an information gap but they don’t actually teach how to
organize conversation in English.
The presentation stage is immediately
followed by contextualized controlled practice activities, which allow
the students to become confident in using the new language. For example
in Pacesetter intermediate (unit 5, pp 33) there is a
useful English section and it gives expressions that can be used while
talking about something. The expression that can be used by students is
given; than students talk according to these expressions. Also in the
same book (unit 7, pp 49) speaking section is given with useful English
part. In this section students discuss some questions by using given
phrases.
The confidence building stage is followed
by freer practice activities which allow students to use the language
and to experiment with what they have learned. In Pacesetter
intermediate (unit 13, pp 89) there is a confidence building stage
speaking section. In this section students’ opinions are asked about
people’s appearance. Also at the same unit students’ opinion is asked
about the given event.
Many of the practice activities provide
opportunities for students to talk about their own experiences. This
stage is vital for learners to perceive the language as something they
can really use to communicate their ideas. Students like most people
enjoy talking about themselves after all. For example in the coursebook
(unit 1, pp 8) there is a speaking section in which students talk about
their experiences.
In the same book (unit 2, pp 19) there is a
discussion section in which students discuss about their lives.
Teaching of the pronunciation is another
item like vocabulary that tended in the past to be sidelined in many
general courses. However most recent courses include the teaching of
phonology to a greater or lesser extend. Most of them cover the
articulation of individual sounds, word stress, sentence stress and some
aspects of intonation. Weak forms and connected speech are often given
prominence.
A very important question concerns the
cassettes that accompany pronunciation teaching material. It is
essential that the language recorded on them provides a good model for
learners, that weak forms are used where they are supposed to be, that
sentence is natural and that intonation is appropriately used.
In Pacesetter English pronunciation is
practised regularly and there is usually a listen and repeat drill to
provide controlled practice of individual sounds, word and sentence
stress and intonation patterns. The ‘Useful English sections in
particular are designed to develop students’ sensitivity to and use of
natural stress and intonation.
In Pacesetter the regular ‘Useful English’
sections do not focus on grammatical structures but rather on functional
English. They bring together phrases and expressions in specific
functional groups. For example the language for agreeing/disagreeing or
for complaining. A valuable benefit of the ‘Useful English’ sections is
that the students learn when to use the language. This focus on register
will teach them if the phrase is, for example formal or informal, polite
or less polite, appropriate for friends, family or adults.
Each expression is recorded so the students
practice saying the language with correct stress and intonation before
using it in the oral task that follows.
C. Reading
In Pacesetter reading material is
sufficient. Each unit has at least two texts for reading. In elementary
and starter levels, reading passages include short sentences: they are
about dialogues among the young people and help learners to use English
in the early days of the course. In the coursebook it is clear that as
the number of unknown lexical items in a reading passage increases the
more difficult it is for students to read it with comprehension.
The degree of difficulty of the vocabulary
of a reading passage is determined by the level of the book. In starter
and elementary levels for example the vocabulary isn’t complex. But in
pre-intermediate and intermediate complex terms are used; the number of
unknown words is increased.
Scanning exercises, which help students to
find the unknown words, are much used in Pacesetter. This will help
teachers determine the lexical knowledge of their learners. How much new
vocabulary is in a reading passage depends at least partly on the type
of reading program extensive and intensive and also objectives. New
lexical items as words and idioms or compound phrases and recommends
that in an extensive reading lesson new lexical items should be less
than three percent of the whole. Generally in this book the number of
unknown lexical items are kept to a maximum of no more than one or two
words per page. At the beginning stages minimum of new vocabulary items
are introduced to learners
Students are taught to scan a text for
specific pieces of information finding answers and possibly making
simple notes in the process. They are introduced to ways of guessing
meanings of unknown words from context or other non-verbal clues such as
pictures. They are taught to understand the way pronouns are used to
make references and to recognize how some words are used as links of
structure and meaning between parts of texts.
These reading sub-skills and others are
introduced gradually and then practiced throughout the whole course with
the aim of teaching students to be efficient readers of English from the
beginning. Skimming, learning how to glance quickly through a text to
find the gist of it, is a useful, basic reading sub-skill which is
introduced in the starter level. This basic skill is essential if
students become efficient readers. So that students will be taught to
use the sub-skill automatically when they come across a text.
Scanning method is much used in Pacesetter.
It helps students to search quickly for the specific information they
wish to get from the material, such as finding the meaning of a word in
a dictionary; finding the heading under which required information
appears in an index; finding statistical information in tables, charts
or graphs; and finding the answers to certain questions from a text.
In this coursebook the student is trained
to think of clues to help him find the specific information. These clues
may be a word or words, pronunciation, alphabetical order, numbers…etc.
students are also trained to move their eyes rapidly looking only for
the clues in order to optain the information quickly. Scanning requires
a great deal of practice therefore students are encouraged to use this
technique throughout the course.
Another important concept relating to
guessing is prediction. When we read we make predictions about meanings
to come. These predictions are essential for comprehension.
The cloze procedure encourages the learner
to make predictions. The systematic blanks provided in a cloze passage
require the student to ask specific questions about the words that might
fill the blanks. In order to answer those questions and supply the
missing words, the student must sample the graphic display, make
educated guesses (predictions) and test and confirm hypotheses. In
Pacesetter the teacher can sequence the cloze passages in such a way
that they become progressively more difficult and are based on
previously studied passages. This permits the students to make use of
prior knowledge in every new cloze exercise.
While using the cloze procedure one can se
that reading is not a passive activity but a very active one in which
the student must make a number of predictions or ask specific questions
for each deletion. Every time he answers these questions correctly the
process of successful comprehension is taking place.
Reading can be linked to other skills work,
particularly listening and writing. In this coursebook there are reading
texts recorded on cassette and ask learners to listen as they read. The
advantages of this include linking written English to its pronunciation,
providing models for stress and intonation and generally bringing the
text to life. Corresponding disadvantages are that learners are unable
to set their own pace, at least at the first reading and that they may
be encouraged to vocalize or sub-vocalize when reading; a habit which if
continued at more advanced levels would reduce reading speed.
Reading text is used as a model for written
work. Learners are usually asked to write something based on the model
but using different intonation or giving information in a different
form.
At a more advanced level coursebook include
more demanding tasks to link reading with writing, such as summarizing
and note-taking which require both selective processing of the written
text and expressing the information selected in a different written
format and style.
In Pacesetter we can see a lot of texts
which force students to improve their English. We can see lots of texts
including different skills. For example in the elementary book there is
a reading passage. Before reading the text there are pre-reading
questions. After reading it there are also questions. It requires
reading skill. There is also another text named ‘Bad News’ requires
reading while listening it. In Pacesetter some texts like this one
include both reading and listening while others include only reading.
The length of the passage affects its
readability. In starter and elementary levels of the coursebook texts
are not very long but pre-intermediate and intermediate levels include
long texts. The objectives of the reading lesson determine the
appropriate length of the passage. For example if the focus of the
lesson is on skimming students are given a rather lengthy article and a
time limit to get from start to finish. On the other hand if the focus
is on reading for main ideas a much shorter article would be
appropriate.
The texts are introduced with a warm-up
activity, which encourages students to make predictions about the
subject, or to say something about their own experiences of it. The
topics of the texts are carefully selected to provide natural context
for language presentation and to be of real interest to learners. With
two related topics in each unit a good range of vocabulary from the
overall topic area can be introduced and recycled. A further important
aim is to built on student’s own interests and experience and to develop
their understanding of the world around them.
The effective learning that is triggered by
emotions in reading takes place when the reader’s emotions are aroused
by the interesting subjects. Joy delight, excitement act as satisfiers
to quicken the learning process. In Pacesetter a wide variety of topics
would be helpful to maintain student’s interest and motivation.
Certainly having learners more on a subject
would facilitate comprehension as they would become familiar with
comprehension and the author’s style and the vocabulary concepts and
background information which are important to subject. It is recommended
therefore whenever possible reading teachers explore three or four
themes or topics during the reading course as an aid in facilitating
reading comprehension and building background knowledge.
In Pacesetter there is an anthology built
around a particular theme or themes; dividing longer texts into shorter
selections, introducing the topic from different sources and using ‘the
running story’ a series of stories on the same topic. This can be done
by using current new stories. As the story progresses and the students
more and more about it, they become more familiar with it and with the
details in it.
The most important factor in selecting a
reading article is interest. In starter and elementary levels materials
which students are interested in are used, including materials
self-selected by the students. Suitability of the content interests
learners more than the linguistic level of the text or its
exploitability. Interest is important because of its relation to
motivation. When the topic of a passage is not of interest to students,
their motivation to read is decreased.
In Pacesetter texts tell the students
things they don’t already know introduce them to new and relevant roles,
make them think about things they haven’t thought about before, help
them to understand the way other people feel or think (for example
people with different backgrounds, problems or attitudes from their own)
and make them want to read themselves to continue a story, find out more
about a subject.
An efficient reader is able to recognize
and use the organization if a passage. Understanding the organization
provides the reader with a rough mental outline, which he then completes
by reading. It gives him a basis for anticipating what follows and thus
establishes the appropriate mental set for understanding and
assimilating new material. In starter and elementary levels included
materials and exercises designed to use basic forms of organization;
chronological order, process, comparison and contrast, generalizations
and examples.
In Pacesetter there is a good comprehension
means recognizing and understanding general ideas and specific facts are
organized and developed. Several kinds of exercises are introduced to
students from this aspect and these exercises were used with a variety
of reading selections. The more readers know about a particular topic,
the more quickly and accurately they can read it. Background knowledge
plays a key role in the comprehension of reading passage by intermediate
learners. In the coursebook a passage is on a topic that is known and
familiar to the students.
In Pacesetter comprehension questions help
students to concentrate on finding an answer rather than centring their
attention on vocabulary or structure. As a result their rate of reading
increases.
The comprehension questions in Pacesetter
are:
1.
Questions answerable by Yes or No; or True or False
Example: Did Mary eat a hamburger?
2.
Information questions (who, what, where, when, how, how much, how
many, how long) answerable by directly quoting from the passage.
3.
Why or How questions requiring the student to pull together
several ideas from the passage.
4.
Inference questions: these require the student to understand what
the selection implies.
Example: How do you think the parents of the bride
felt?
5.
Questions that require the student to make a value judgement or
form an opinion.
Students can be encouraged to acquire
effective reading strategies such as prediction techniques, skim reading
and dealing with unfamiliar vocabulary.
The activities that we might expect to find
in a course material include pre-reading questions or focusing
activities, post-reading comprehension questions, exercises for
extracting specific information from texts and pre-teaching of
unfamiliar key vocabulary items.
D. Writing
In this book, we can see controlled or
guided writing where a model is given and the students’ task is to
produce something similar, usually based on additional information
given. The types of writing task can be quite varied and include writing
factual accounts such as writing a paster to advertise a school trip,
writing a diary, writing a letter, writing a horoscope, writing a
description of a process, writing a film review and many others.
In Pacesetter we can see all types of
writing. On page 11 there is an activity about writing a diary. The
first paragraph is given and students are expected to produce the
following of the paragraph. Guessing and predictions become important.
It is a guided writing.
In the coursebook writing activities are
handled in the following ways:
a)
the first sentence is given and students are expected to write
the following
b)
first paragraph is given and the reader is expected to write the
other one
c)
free writing: subject is given and students try to write about
it.
There is an activity about writing an
anti-litter poster. Some points are given and students are expected to
write according to examples given. It is a kind of semi-free writing. It
is directed but each student is free to write whatever he wants.
The topic of writing is related to the
subject. For example, there is a dialogue among students in a school
canteen. After reading the text there is a writing activity about this
subject called ‘writing a diary about meeting in the school canteen’.
(pp 18) In the semi-free writing activities an example and the topic is
always given. By this way students are aware of the frame of the task.
They aren’t worried about the task they are going to do.
Writing a letter is a kind of free
activity. There is a kind of activity about letter writing. The example
and the topic is given so the only thing that the students are going to
do is producing something like that. (pp 23)
There is an emphasis on the communicative
purpose so students are encouraged to think about their reader while
they are writing. The writing activities help students to built
confidence to write a variety of types of text in accurate English. For
example, notices, letters, posters, articles stories and diary entires.
In narrative writing for example unit comes from a sequence of events
set out in chronological order. In expository writing unit is achieved
through the words and phrases the writer employs to connect the ideas in
sentences, paragraphs and larger segments.
It is useful in Pacesetter to distinguish
between the terms composition and essay. The writing of a composition is
a task which involves the student in manipulating words in grammatically
correct sentences and in linking those sentences to form a piece of
continuos writing, which successfully communicates the writer’s thoughts
and ideas on a certain topic. Composition writing frequently takes the
form of letters, reports and extracts from diaries. Essay writing
involves grammatically correct sentences and it demands creativity and
originality. In beginner and elementary levels short articles
instructions and accounts of experiments will probably form the main
body of writing.
The writing task should be meaningful. It
ensures that students have something to say and purpose in saying it. In
Pacesetter meaningful situations are given. For example a brief
description of a real life situation is given when requiring students to
write a letter.
a)
Grammatical skills: the ability of writing correct sentences.
b)
Stylistic: the ability to manipulate sentences and use language
effectively.
c)
Mechanical: the ability to use correctly those conventions
peculiar to the written language. (e.g. punctuation, spelling)
d)
Judgement: the ability to write in an appropriate manner for a
particular purpose with a particular audience in mind, together with an
ability to select, organize and order relevant information.
Pacesetter has projects in the
consolidation units at the end of every five units. These projects are
carefully structured to revise the language and skills taught in the
earlier units, while giving students motivating opportunities for more
extended, personalized, creative pieces of writing. Projects play a
special role in activating the skills of organizing, planning drafting,
editing and final representation.
Every book has got three consolidation
units. In these units students have a chance of reviewing and editing
their written works. In starter and elementary levels students are
encouraged to write sentences and to form
paragraphs. In pre-intermediate and intermediate
levels students are encouraged to write compositions such as writing a
short adventure story summarizing a life history, writing a film review
and writing a report about hopes and ambitions.
IV. Topic and Methodology
A. Topic
In a coursebook subject matter which is
selected by the author and the way of it is treated is crucial. Since
language is taught by means of topic, they must show effectiveness and
appropriateness in some terms. So, in this paper topic management is
dealt with in terms of reality of the topic, its effects on the students
awareness and experience, its relation to the students’ knowledge of the
world, its suitability for the age and interest, its relation with other
subjects, social and cultural context, social relationship and the
characters in the topic.
Pacesetter as a whole includes various of
topics, a photo story and different stories. Each one is studied in
terms of different aspects of topic examination, which are mentioned
above.
The topics of Pacesetter are not focused
on a certain area of interest; they are varied. Topics which are thought
to be the part of the students’ real life are chosen from different
areas: science, sport, music, travel films, animals, lives of famous
people, natural disasters such as disappearing rain forests, El Nino,
volcanoes and so on.
The topics are varied and show progress
from most known to less known. So, increasing the warm step by step,
learners are helped to motivate on what is taught. For instance, the
topics of Pacesetter starter start with ‘English in Class – English You
Know’ then you see ‘Families’ in unit 3, ‘At Home – Clothes’ in unit 4,
‘Food’ in unit 5 and so on. So as it is seen the topics are varied from
the most known and common areas to the specific ones.
Including real topics helps learners to
feel themselves in a realistic context. As language exist in real life
language learning should also take place in real life situation.
Otherwise with non-existent, imaginary constructs, language learning
won’t be meaningful to the learners.
In the coursebook, the real story of
Titanic and the process of how it was filmed are taken as a topic. So,
it will easily keep the learners’ attention as it is a combination of a
real and famous event known by almost all over the world and a tragic
love which the students may find themselves in. On the other hand it is
a realistic context for those who have already seen the film. Another
topic, which is taken from a very realistic context, is ‘Alcatraz’ which
is a famous prison on an island in California. See appendix 11
The history of the prison and how hard life is for the prisoners in the
prison is mentioned. So, the students are allowed to recognize the
difficulties of life and life is not as easy as it is seen. What is more
important is that the students are dealing with the realities of the
life.
When the topic provides the students with
some information, they learn better as they don’t only concentrate on
the target language. So, they enrich their experience.
In Pacesetter, the topics expand the
students’ awareness and enrich their experience providing information to
help them to recognize the world facts. For instance, giving information
about famous internal charities such as UNICEF, WWF…etc. a feel of pity
is arousen and they recognize the importance of helping the poor. This
may also lead them to join such institutions in their own country. In
that sense, it expands the students’ awareness. In addition to this,
this topic also relates to and engages the students’ knowledge of the
world, since charity is also given importance in our country. So, the
students may relate for example Kýzýlay to Red Cross and Red Crescents
Societies in Christian countries.
Topic should be presented by considering
the students’ knowledge of the world. In language learning topic is a
means of transferring the knowledge about the language to language
learning. If topic means nothing to students that is, if it is something
that the students neither seen nor heard about, they can’t concentrate
on what is taught.
In Pacesetter, there isn’t any topic that
the Turkish students may feel themselves completely stranger to topic.
Generally addressing the students’ knowledge of the world is done well.
Topics are tried to be purified from the things that Turkish students
aren’t familiar with. For example, in the topic given under the title of
the best of British, the main subject wanted to be taught is ‘food’. At
first glance the title of the topic may make you think that Turkish
students may not like to learn ‘food’ by focusing on ‘British food’
since Turkish eating habits and British eating habits are totally
different from each other. However that is something important that the
authors consider too. That’s why, on purpose, the subject is swifted to
‘Indian cooking’ which is nearly the same with Turkish cooking in some
ways and how British people like eating the food of different cultures
is told. See appendix 12 In this way, the topic is both related
to something the students are familiar with and the students’ awareness
is expanded about different cultures
In language teaching age and interest of
the students are important factors that have an important role to help
the learners to motivate on what is teaching. If the topic is not
suitable to the learners’ age and interest, it can be too easy or too
hard to bore the students.
The age of the students who have been
studying Pacesetter is mostly between 14 and 15. Considering the age and
interest of this age, topics are tried to be chosen with a special care.
For example the topic ‘Youth Culture’ is given with the picture of some
objects like jeans, posters, a mobile phone, sunglasses…etc. that the
young people mostly use. In the same unit ‘jeans and the story of them’
is told. This is a very interesting topic for the Turkish teenagers who
are very keen on wearing jeans as the most preferable cloth.
See appendix 13
In Pacesetter intermediate, Paul Mc
Cartney’s life and ‘the Beatles’ are told. It is also enough interesting
to attract the teenagers’ attention as he has been still listened by
people since 1960’s. Moreover the students will be happy to learn about
a famous pop singer’s life in details.
On the other hand there are rare topics
which are not of real interest to Turkish students. The headline
‘British Children are Getting Fat’ from a newspaper is not really an
interesting topic, because Turkish students may not be interested in why
British children are getting fat. Also they may not relate the topic to
their own experience in terms of learning about health as the title
refers to a certain group of children. More general report about health
can be given instead.
The way the topic is presented effects its
attractiveness and readability. A topic with bare presentation will make
the coursebook boring. So, topics can be given a different sort of taste
by linking to other subjects such as science, music, history, sport and
so on.
In the coursebook the first four pages of
every unit are kept for two linked aspects of a topic. For example, in
Pacesetter starter in unit 7 ‘imagine this’ which is about a space
station is linked to another topic ‘clever inventions’ are mentioned in
the next page.
In Pacesetter intermediate the students are
informed about the volcanoes and how volcanoes work is showed with a
drawing and told in details. So, the topic is linked to science.
Another example of the linking the topic to
other subject can be seen under the title of ‘Music Making’. Here the
students are allowed to know the names of the different musical
instruments and the type of music like classical, jazz, pop…etc. by
listening to their sounds. Linking the topics with other subjects makes
the coursebook more enjoyable and increases the learnability, as there
is no strict focus on target language.
Social and cultural context in the
coursebook must be comprehensible to the learners. Otherwise it will be
difficult for the learners to motivate on the target language and to
develop the necessary habits and attitudes of the cultures in which the
target language is spoken.
Pacesetter generally reflects a
comprehensible, social and cultural context. Enough cultural and social
information is given. There is no unnecessary focus on the culture in
which the target language is spoken. It can be seen that balance is set
and the book is purified from the stranger context that the Turkish
students have difficulty in understanding.
In Pacesetter starter/elementary every unit is
devoted to a photo-story with the aim of providing natural context for
language presentation. The relationship between some young people in a
club is reflected in the photo-story. It is given in speech bubbles or
in conversation, so it looks real life like. However, some negative
sides keep it far from the realities of life. Reality is killed by
uninteresting topic, incomprehensible social setting and lack of
students’ interest.
During the coursebook the young characters
try to find a cheap way to paint their club that was in fire
accidentally. So, very simple and uninteresting topic, which is not
suitable for the interest of the students, is included. Besides in
Turkey there isn’t any club that is established independently by a group
of some young people. Turkish young people don’t have such
opportunities, so it doesn’t much engage the Turkish students’ knowledge
of the world.
Since it is about some young people’s life,
it is suitable for the age of the students as Turkish students who are
taught this book are nearly at the same age with the coursebook
characters. In accordance with this, their feelings and moods are nearly
the same. So, they may feel themselves in the same situation, which the
characters are in. See appendix 14
The characters are reflected free from
their families, so they exist in a social and cultural setting, which is
not comprehensible to Turkish learners. As a result, it can’t be said
that the photo-story is valuable to expand students’ experience and
knowledge of the world.
In Pacesetter (pre-intermediate,
intermediate) the topic is given in accordance with three different
stories in chapters and another various kinds of topics. The plot of the
stories in Pacesetter reflects real events, which we live in daily life.
They usually include a crime and series of events that try to find out
the guilty person. Very common events like kidnapping, accident,
burglary…etc. that everybody can normally live are given.
The stories have a moral. The students can
come to a conclusion that they should do something or not. In that sense
they expand students’ awareness and enrich their experience.
Because of interesting and adventured
plots, the stories are also suitable for the age and interest of the
students. Besides, they engage the students’ knowledge of the world
since common used technological things are included like mobile phone,
laptop, computer, e-mail as very important parts of people’s life
nowadays. See appendix 15