Cuttingedge Coursebook

Cutting Edge Upper intermediate is a course book aimed for young adults studying general English in upper intermediate level. It is published by Longman Corporation and it is written by Sarah Cunningham and Peter Moor. Being published in1999 it has been used for a really short period. What is best about the book is that, it is a representative of many new experiments about language teaching process. It is a complete package containing a main course book and workbook. Inside the back cover of the student’s book, a mini dictionary containing definitions and examples for more than 2000 words and phrases from the Student’s book which are expected to present difficulty to the students.

It is organized according to the monolingual or multilingual classroom situations. Student’s Book is divided into twelve modules every of which consists of two parts Part A and Part B. In Part A tasks are given importance whereas in Part B language is taken as a unit. In Part A mainly vocabulary and skills-based activities leads up to a communicative tasks. Typically it consists of: reading and listening: and vocabulary which introduce the topic of the module and incorporates speaking.

. Preparation for a task; a stimulus or a model for the task

. Task; extended speaking sometimes followed by listening

In Part B this is based round discrete language areas and includes some of the following:

. Grammar input (revision usually in two-language focus: sections with practice exercises and integrated pronunciation work

. Vocabulary: usually word-spot sections based round a common word such as have, mind or up

. Real life: language needed in more complex real life situations, usually including listening and speaking

. Writing skills

Also it has a multi-layered syllabus, incorporating systematic work on listening, speaking, reading and writing. It takes on integrated approach pronunciation and includes learning, training and revision.

However it has three distinctive features:

. It has a task-based element

. It places particular emphasis on lexis

. It employs a ‘discovery’ approach to the teachings of grammar

It is an extended oral activity in which the primary goal is to achieve a particular outcome or product. They generally consist of interviews, story telling, mini talks, problem solving and discussions.

Suitability Of The Book To Level Of The Students

From general point of view it seems that the organization of the coursebook is designed so that it suits to the level of the students. All the units in the book are given from simple to complex as it is stated by Cunningsworth[1] that;

‘As a basic principle of learning is to move from the familiar to the new and to relate new items to those already known; recycling of previously taught items can be linked to the first presentation of a new item.’

In the first module of the book is related with part, present and future times. Also the skills, which are aimed to be taught are reading and speaking. In the second module, the skills are aimed and after learning the previous uses. Additionally extended speaking is aimed about what makes the students happy, angry etc. After every four modules consolidation tests are given for self-study.

Cutting Edge Upper Intermediate uses a ‘discovery’ approach to grammar, because students of this level will already have some knowledge of the given language area which they can use to work out further rules for themselves. This approach is used because it is believed that learners absorb rules better this way and it’s hoped that this will provide them with a useful skill to use outside the classroom.

Sequence Of The Content

Every module of the book is put in an order taking care of the grammatical units. They are given step by step namely from simple to complex. For instance in the first four modules firstly tenses are presented thoroughly, then comes the tasks. Generally speeches about different kinds of topics give chance to students to practice tenses while speaking.

This order of the knowledge also raises the level of learnability, usefulness of the book. Learnability that is effective learning is enhanced by giving many tests about the topic previously taught. Dealing with a topic many times of course make pupil get accustomed to it. Usefulness also has vital importance during the learning process. In Cutting Edge, tasks are presented previously to make aware the students of the aims of the module. Then skills are introduces in some kind of tasks. These may be in the form of reading passage or listening part, then comes questions, which are testing comprehension. At the end, kinds of exercises are testing important skills or knowledge. To avoid complexity modules are designed from relatively simple and known parts to complex and new knowledge. For example in the previous modules tasks requiring one skill are presented whereas later the tasks need the integration of skills.

The Amount Of Recycling And Revision

A course is expected to have a policy of recycling newly thought items. In order to transfer something newly learned from short-term memory to long-term memory revision and recycling has great importance and role. Of course they should be done frequently through using skills one by one or integrating them to form more complicated testing items. These can be in many forms like ‘fill in the blank’ exercises, cloze exercises etc. The result of recycling and revision are generally satisfactory. Students are said to have understood easily when studying from known to the new items.

The Aim Of The Modules

All the grammatical items to be given are in the modules of the book. At the beginning of each module, the task is presented in order to make them aware of what is expected. Any additional parts of grammar are not included in the book. However every module is giving some rules of grammar. Generally they are hidden in the exercises.

As an example in the module two[2], under the title of ‘Useful Language’, phrases for describing negative feelings are introduced and in the following sections nouns, gerunds and phrases are described and compared under the title ‘Analysis’. In module ten again starting with the title Analysis inpp.113-114 ‘how to use future time’ is shown to the students. What is good is that all of those parts are very short and give ideas about the most important part of the grammar points. Additionally after every four modules there is a testing part ‘Do you remember?’ which both tests and teaches the grammar rules.

The Chance The Book Gives For Individual Study

Coursebook does not have any parts for suitable for individual study but of course ‘Analysis’ parts which presents the sum of the grammar rules can be studied whenever liked by the students. Additionally there is a part at the end of the Teacher’s Book ‘Learner Training Worksheet’ which can be photocopied by the teacher and given to the students. They are more comprehensive parts of grammar and also being too long they can be done only by self-study. Also workbook gives chance for individual study.

One negative point that will prevent individual study is the non-existence of the key/answer part. Students who prefer individual study won’t have the possibility to correct his or her study. This part is in the Teacher’s Book. So it could be given by the teacher only.

Is It Easy And Enjoyable To Study With That Coursebook?

As a syllabus multi-layered which includes grammar and vocabulary. Syllabus is preferred. There is emphasis and systematic work on listening, speaking, reading and writing. Also integrated approach to pronunciation and learner training and revision is included.

There are three distinctive features making easier is to study. One of them is task-based element, which is an extended oral activity. Its goal is to achieve a particular outcome or product. The tasks generally includes story-telling, interviews, mini dialogues etc. with the help of it pupils are have regular and structured opportunities to speak, generally to speak the language used in real world.

It encourages students to plan and be more ambitious in the language they use. The tasks after a variety of pace when combined with the other elements of the syllabus. As a last point it provides natural opportunity to assess learners progress. Students at upper intermediate level will find it exciting to study with Cutting Edge and it’s supplementary materials.

LANGUAGE CONTENT

Cutting Edge Upper Intermediate has a full grammar syllabus that consist of work on tenses and other verb forms as well as areas such as suffixes and prefixes, word order, relative clause and articles.

All of the twelve modules are structured so that grammar areas are covered in Part B of each module came up during the task in Part A although of course this depends partly on what the individual students decides to say. It is stated by Cunningsworth[3] that;

‘It is generally necessary to analyze language and divide it into small units for effective teaching or learning to take place. Yet, it is notoriously difficult to separate individual aspects of language from the whole and isolate them without losing authenticity and naturalness in the process. This is mainly because language is a complex phenomenon which operates at several levels simultaneously.’

Generally in the book global view of grammar is presented to help learners to see general patterns in areas such as continuous and simple aspect and the use of the articles. However problematic areas are dealt within the Grammar snack in the coursebook. The grammar syllabus contains an element of revision supplemented by the Grammar check-up sections in the workbook.

The included grammar items are:

English verbs: the aim is starting, maintaining and ending conversation
Auxiliary verbs
Expressing abstract ideas (using nouns, gerunds and other phrases and the use of prefixes and suffixes. Discussing personal qualities, responding sympathetically areas are aimed to be given.
Past Simple, Past Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Perfect Continuous, Present Perfect Continuous and Future Continuous the real life task is responding to unexpected problems.
Passives and alternatives to the passives and basic words order patterns in English. Now the task is explaining how things work.
Perfect aspect in the past present and future more about the present perfect, simple and continuous with the aim of describing a book or film you have enjoyed.
Relative Clauses, quantifiers
Infinitive forms, infinitive or gerund.
Modal and related verbs, present forms and past modals
Review of basic future forms and future continuous and future perfect
Talking about hypothetical situations and hypothetical situations in the past..
Reporting people’s exact words and verbs that summarize what people say.

All of these grammar units are given in sum in order not to bore students. Besides they are presented with the grammar activities so students unawaringly deal with them through the module. The more newly introduced grammar items are given in context to make the understanding easier.

Being aware of the importance of good vocabulary to communicative success new lexis is introduced at every stage in Student’s Book and recycled whenever possible. Particular attention is paid to the selection of useful, high frequency lexis. All of the new vocabulary are given at every module are suitable and related to the topic introduced. Generally the purpose is to show the real use of the words and present new words about the related topic.

In order to communicate fluently ‘pre-fabricated chunks of language are used extensively. There are many of them and they operate as single units of meaning just as individual words;

. Collocations

. Fixed phrases

. Semi fixed phrases

. Whole sentences that act as phrases

. Problem sounds

. Word stress

A range of activity types is used including discrimination exercises and dictation and there is an equal emphasis on hearing and reproduction. Pronunciation sections in both the student’s book and the workbook are accompanied by exercises on the cassette that provides modals.

For example in module one, pronunciation is taught through listening, reading and writing. In module four only the integration of listening and writing is used as a skill. However in module five speaking and listening are used together practice pronunciation.

SKILLS

The Four Skills In General

Course books deal with the four skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking), which are seen as the basis of language learning by using different methods or attitudes. These differences are caused because of different course book’s different aims and different syllabus requirements. Even these course books have differences the common emphasis is on linguistic behavior and on learner’s ability to use the language in different situations requiring different skills, sometimes in isolation but more usually together.4

When we are evaluating a coursebook, we need to check if the coursebook deals adequately with all four skills, taking the level and overall aims into account and if there is a suitable balance between those skills. For all teaching situations, all four skills don’t have to be treated in depth in balance, because different teaching situations require different emphasis on each skill.

If we look at Cutting Edge Upper Intermediate Student’s Book we see the features of the task based approach. We can say that task which means extended oral activity is the main element in the book. The primary goal is to achieve a particular outcome or product. All these show that the book has a communicative aim which forces students to speak, understand what is spoken etc. Beside these aims the book has a multi layered syllabus, which includes a comprehensive grammar and vocabulary syllabus, in cooperating systematic work on listening, speaking, reading and writing. It takes an integrating approach to pronunciation and includes learner training and revision.5 So we can say that Cutting Edge includes all the skills in different intensity according to its aim and syllabus. It places strong emphasis on listening and speaking. Reading and writing skills also take place but they usually appear as a source (reading materials) or product (writing) for listening and speaking activities.

Reading

The Aim Of Using Reading Material

Reading text can be used for several different purposes and this is reflected in course books:

Developing reading skills and strategies
Presenting/recycling grammar items
Extending vocabulary
Providing models for writing
Giving information of interest to students
Stimulating oral work

Reading skills can be linked to other skills work. For example listening and writing skill can be linked to reading skill. On some course books there are reading texts recorded on cassette and they ask learners to listen as they read. This kind of an activity link written English to its pronunciation, provide models for stress and intonation and generally bring the text to real life. By using reading texts different kind of items can be achieved.6

In Cutting Edge, each unit that is called module is divided into two parts: Part A and Part B. Part A is mainly vocabulary an d skills based and leads up to a communicative task. It consists of a reading text, preparation for task and the task itself. Part B is based round discrete language areas. This includes grammar, vocabulary, real life, writing skills. The modules are structured so that the grammar areas covered in Part B of each module are likely to have come up during the task in Part A.7

In the second module of the book, in part A, there is a reading text that is an article as ‘Are you on top of the world?’. In this part after reading the text, there is a section intended as a preparation for the task. For preparation there is a listening part including people talk about the things annoying them. Then the task section comes. In this part extended speaking activity takes place, which requires devising a list of what makes you happy, angry, etc. In Part B there is a language focus part in which new grammar and vocabulary points take place. These new items are the ones, which are necessary during the task. Grammar points are expressing abstract ideas (using nouns, gerund and other phrases) and the use of prefixes and suffixes (with nouns, adjectives and verbs). Vocabulary point is word building with abstract nouns, verbs and adjectives. So we can say that in Cutting Edge the reading texts are used for introducing new language items.8

Appropriateness Of Reading Texts

There are different types of reading materials. The variation of these materials is caused because of the writer’s perception of the interests, expectations and previous experience of the learners. Also the level of the students affects the variation of the materials because each level can use a certain range of materials. There are a number of dimensions for this variation. Topic is one of them. What sort of topic included, are they interesting, challenging, topical, culturally acceptable and likely to remain fresh over the lifetime of the book? When the book is written for wide markets choosing the topic become a more difficult event because some subjects are unacceptable or taboo in certain cultures and of considerable interest and topicality in others. The presentation of the topic is also important, by using effective formats, color blocks, stylistic formats the reading passage stand out as something special with its own identity. The type or genre of the text is also another important factor. There are many kind of different types such as press extracts, advertisement, instructions, recipes, information leaflets, poems, letters, transcripts of interviews, extracts from magazine stories, questionnaires, extracts from factual books such as travel guides, novels. Different text types should be given to the students within their capability. As students progress through the course, the amount of variety increases. Different text types have different styles, for this reason course books must be careful not to overload learners with too much stylistic variety at too early a stage.

In Cutting Edge tasks, through reading passages provide students with just the right amount of challenge. After reading the passages, students make extended oral activities (task), so as long as it is an appropriate reading passage they create better products. Students use what they already know, developing their confidence and fluency and at the same time create a need for further new input at the first modules. Cutting Edge Upper Intermediate starts with simpler reading texts for simpler personalized tasks which move on the simulations and more complex discussions as the reading texts become harder and student’s knowledge and confidence increases. Also the topics of the reading passages are associated with the student’s interest. For example at the eighth module in the book, the title of the reading passage is ‘how to pass exams’ which completely takes the student’s attention, because at this age group exams are the only thing that they care of.9

Sufficiency Of the Reading Material

‘When analyzing the reading content of a general coursebook, we need to consider;

The quantity of the reading material
The type of reading passages
How early on reading passages
Whether any help is given to learners in developing reading strategies
The nature and the range of exercises and activities linked to the reading passages.

Concerning the texts themselves, we need to know;

How long they are
How authentic they are
How complex the grammatical and the discourse structure is
What the range of vocabulary is
Whether any specialized background knowledge is needed in order to understand them.’10

In Cutting Edge the quantity of reading materials are not too short or too long for students. Their quantity varies according to their topic when it is more complex then the material is longer. There are different types of materials in the book, some of them are taken from newspaper, some from novels and some from letters etc. even at the first module we see reading materials because the book is written according to the task based approach, so reading materials are given to be a model for the task from the very beginning. When we look at each module in the book we see that a small title is given to each of them according to the subject that covers the task. For example in the third module the title is ‘adventures and mishaps’ and during the entire module the reading material deals with that subject. By the way the vocabulary and grammar parts are all to use in such conditions. Also each reading material has a picture next to it that helps to determine the material. These pictures and main titles of the modules help learners develop good learning strategies. Before the main reading material of each module there is ‘Reading and Speaking’ part. For example in the third module there is a reading material ‘The Gentle Touch’, which is about police reports. Before that text in ‘Reading and Speaking’ part, there are clues, which help to understand the text in a better way.

Listening

Pre-listening Activities and Sound Quality Of Listening Material

In coursebooks, there are different kinds of listening materials. Some materials handle listening in its own right, with recorded listening passages for comprehension, for extraction of information, in conjunction with a real text etc. One important point to check the listening material is to check if it provides pre-listening activities to focus learner’s attention on the topic of the passage. These can be pre-questions, asking students to look for certain items of information contained in the listening material. The pre-activities give purpose to it allows an element of prediction and make the material more meaningful by placing it in a context.

Another important factor to be checked should be the quality of the recorded sound. This should be high. The speed of speaking should be appropriate to learners’ ability and level and where different accents are used they shouldn’t be more difficult than the standard accent that their teachers use. Over articulated speech is to be avoided and the models presented should include features such as elision, weak forms, assimilation etc. 11

In Cutting Edge, listening materials are well recorded and most of them are authentic. For example in the fourth module at ‘Listening and Reading’ part there is a listening activity, which is taken from a real radio program. Before listening to this material at the first question of this part, students are asked if they had ever seen an intelligence test as in the example. In the second section students read the given notes about intelligence test, then listen to another example of intelligence tests from a radio program and add to the information given. As seen in the examples in Cutting Edge before the listening materials there are extracts about the subjects for better comprehension. In this example the activity first check the students’ background knowledge about the intelligence test then give some information and at last give the listening material that is taken from real life.

Setting The Listening Material In A Meaningful Context

Students face some difficulties during listening activities. Some listening activities are a kind of oral work including dialogues, role-plays in which students take part. At this point students face the problem of unpredictability of the answer or response in foreign language. Coursebooks can help students to set the material in a meaningful context by providing dialogues where what the students say is well controlled and graded, but where the response is more difficult and harder to understand. Another problem with listening materials is that it is not a realistic activity because the listener sometimes does not take part in the activity and cannot influence anyway just listens to it. At this point coursebook should give as much background information as possible to make comprehension easier. Another difficulty of understanding recorded material is the absence of vision, depriving students of all the supporting features normally available through facial expression, gesture, eye contact etc. Videotapes can overcome these disadvantages.

In Cutting Edge as mentioned at the previous section, before the listening material there are extracts, background information that creates a meaningful context. This also helps students to understand the listening material better.

Speaking

Emphasis On Spoken English In Coursebook

Speaking practice takes place through the oral presentation and practice of new language items in dialogue work and in role-play. Speaking activities are also covered in pronunciation practice to be sure that students receive good spoken models from their teachers.

There is a strong emphasis on speaking in Cutting Edge. Tasks in the book provide a regular opportunity for extended and prepared speaking. Much of the practice of grammar and lexis in the book is through oral exercises and activities. There is also regular integrated work on pronunciation. The main goal of the Cutting Edge is to make students speak around a subject, so we can say that speaking skill is the heart of the book.

Is The Material For Spoken English Dialogues, Role-play etc. Well Designed To Support Learners For Real Life Interactions?’

In Cutting Edge at the end of each module there are regular ‘Real Life’ sections, which provide opportunities for role-play of practical, everyday situations. For example in the second module in ‘Real Life’ section the subject is ‘responding sympathetically’. At first some example responds are given and students are wanted to match the proper answer to the true situation. At the second part the students listen to a conversation about the situations given at the first exercise and answer the given questions. In the third exercise students choose one of these situations and write a conversation about it in the last exercise in pairs. At the end of the lesson, they act their conversation for the rest of the class.12

Writing

Organization Of Longer Pieces Of Writing

‘As well as teaching the mechanics of writing at sentence level, we would expect writing material to familiarize learners with the way written text is organized in terms of its discourse structure. Different kinds of writing have different conventions for their organization and expression and a coursebook should cover as many of these as is appropriate for the level and the aims of the learners. At the very last, it should deal with paragraphing, which is the basic unit of organization for most kind of written English.’ 13

In Cutting Edge writing skill is developed through; ‘Writing Skills’ sections which focus on key areas such as drafting and redrafting, avoiding repetition, note-taking, formal and informal language and letter writing, follow-up tasks, some of which are written. For example in the sixth module of the book at ‘Follow-Up Task’ students are wanted to write an article similar to the one they read before. While writing the article they include both the writer’s and their own ideas. They are wanted to divide their article into heading and use bullet points in the same way as in the original article. They try to create the true organization of an article by conforming the original one, so we can say that the original article helps the students.

Also ‘Improve your writing’ sections in the workbook, where the writing skills presented in the coursebook are further developed and practiced. Also ‘Improve Your Writing’ sections, in the workbook which deal with a large range of sub-skills including spelling, punctuation avoiding repetition, linkers, time words, etc. are other activities of writing.

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