Evaluation of Coursebook Welcome Plus Elementary

Prepared by ASLI GÜREL, BANU SAMANA, ÇAÐDAÞ ÇAKICI (2005)

CONTENTS

 INTRODUCTION 

  1. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES of Welcome Plus

 1.1.       Aims And Objectives

1.2.       Relation Between The Aims And Objectives Of The

  Coursebook And The Learning Teaching Situations 

  1. DESIGN AND ORGANIZATION

 2.1.     Components Of The Coursebook Package

2.2.     The Organization Of The Content

2.3.     Suitability Of The Organization Of The Coursebook    For Learners and Teachers

2.4.     Sequence Of The Content

2.5.     Recycling And Revision

2.6.     Clearness Of Lay Out

     3.  LANGUAGE CONTENT

  3.1. Grammar

              3.1.1.  Grammar Teaching

                      3.1.2.  Evaluation Of Coursebook In Terms Of                                  Grammar Teaching

              3.1.3.  Classroom Profile In Grammar Theaching

   3.2.  Vocabulary

               3.2.1.  Vocabulary Teaching

               3.2.2.  Evaluation Of Coursebook In Terms Of                            Vocabulary Teaching

               3.2.3.  Classroom Profile In Vocabulary Teaching

        3.3.  Pronunciation

               3.3.1.  Pronuncation Teaching

               3.3.2.  Evaluation Of Coursebook In Terms Of

 Pronunciation Teaching

               3.3.3.  Classroom Profile In Pronunciation

  4.  SKILLS

  4.1.  Four Skills In General Coursebooks

              4.2.  Four Skills In The Coursebook

              4.3.  Writing Skill

                      4.3.1.  Teaching Writing

                      4.3.2.  Evaluation Of Coursebook In Terms Of                                 Writing

                      4.3.3.  Classroom Profile In Writing Skill

 5.  METHODOLOGY

               5.1.  Learner Needs

                      5.1.1.  Learner Needs

                      5.1.2.  Evaluation Of Coursebook In Terms Of                                 Learner Needs

               5.2.  Guiding principles

                      5.2.1.  Guiding Principles

                      5.2.2.  Evaluation Of Coursebook In Terms Of                                 Guiding Principles

               5.3.  Procedures For Learning And Teaching

                      5.3.1.  Procedures For Learning And Teaching

                      5.3.2.  Evaluation Of Coursebook In Terms Of                                 Procedures For Learning And Teaching

                                    5.4.  The Student’s Role

                      5.4.1.  The Student’s Role

                      5.4.2.  Evaluation Of Coursebook In Terms Of                                 The Student’s Role

 6.  TEACHER’S  BOOK

 6.1.  Teacher’s Role

              6.2.  Evaluation Of Teacher’s Book

  7.  QUESTIONNAIRE

 7.1.  Questions For Students

              7.2.  Evaluation Of Questionnaire

  CONCLUSION

 REFERENCES

 INDEX

 APPENDIX

 

INTRODUCTION

 

This research aims to evaluate whether the series of Welcome Plus coursebooks are apporopriate to be used in a course according to the criterias.

 The criterias used for the evaluation of the Welcome Plus are:  

·       The aims and objectives of the coursebook in lerning—teaching process

·       How it is designed and organized

·       How it deals with language content and all of the four skills

·       The methodological aspect of it

·       How it is supported by the teacher’s book

 For the first criteria, we considered the relation between

the aims and objectives of the coursebook and lerning teaching situations.

         For the design and organisation, we take into consideration of the suitability of the organization of the coursebook for learners and teachers, components of the coursebook package, the organisation and sequence of the content, recycling and revision and clearness of lay out.

         For the language content, we take into account of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and one (writing skill) being in a detailed way, four skills in the coursebook generally.

         For the methodological aspect, we deal with the learner needs, guiding principles, procedures for learning and teaching and the student’s role.

         As a last point, we evaluate the teacher’s book as a supporter of the coursebook for the teachers.

         Also, we include a questionnaire which is applied to ten users of this coursebook series in Private Oguz Kaan College in order to learn about their thoughts for the coursebook they are studying on.

  1.   AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

 1.1       Aims And Objectives

“Writing and ideology aims to develop your capacity to analyze and discuss literary texts, and to open up your understanding of how such texts articulate and criticize the ideologies of differing groups, societies, cultures and historical periods. Introductory lectures give an overall survey of the concept of ideology, with basic definitions provided and some fundamental issues raised. In the body of the course those issues are then taken up in relation to the specific prescribed texts. The module builds on your training in literary analysis during the 1A module, and can make connections with some of the issues and concepts you have encountered in both 1A and 1B. Specific connections, backwards to some of the Level One texts and forwards to some of those in 2B, can be made at various points in the course.

The course will encourage you to

a) think critically about rhetoric and styles of persuasion
b) become aware of, and discuss, fundamental assumptions and outlooks, as these are embodied in some         literary     texts.
c) explore connections between literature and other fields of human activity, e.g. history, philosophy, politics, theology. The connections made will, of necessity, be exploratory, not systematic; but the course should stimulate an interest in ideas and their history, and in the connections between the history of ideas and other kinds of history. It should also enable you to continue the pursuit of such connections for yourself.

 

Once you have completed the course you should be able to

a) analyse a text, showing awareness of the literary resources (syntax, imagery, levels of style and discourse, conventions of genre) it employs
b) make effective comparisons and connections between relevant aspects of different texts
c) be alert to ways in which a text articulates ideological issues
d) place a text in its historical context
e) be able to make connections between literary texts and other forms of discourse
f) construct viable arguments about texts, with an awareness of competing or alternative critical viewpoints
g) marshal evidence effectively to support an argument and its conclusions
h) express yourself with clarity and economy in written and spoken English.” (www.arts.gla.ac.uk)

 

2.1 Relation Between The Aims And Objectives Of The Coursebook And The Learning Teaching Situations      

              

        While we are choosing coursebook we should have aims and objectives. Then we should take into account of the aims and objectives of the coursebook that we will choose.

        Aims of the coursebook correspond closely with the aims of teaching programme and with the needs of learners. Our students are young learners and they can lose their interests more quickly than adults and they are less able to keep themselves motivated on tasks as they are not satisfied by the small and dull things in the classroom because of the developing technology.Coursebook provides students need. Activities, topics are enjoyable and colorful.Coursebook also uses pictures for students. So coursebook keeps students attention.

 

Young learners like talking and they need interaction.Especially writing activities are suitable for students interaction. There are pair-works in the coursebook. (see appendix : 1; ex7 ) They like to see something they have created on their own. There are Welcome Weekly part at the end of the coursebook, they write their own text. (see appendix : 2 )

 

They have the instict for playing and having a fun, and in learning ; action is important so games are effective. Coursebook doesn’t provide games but teachers make students play games by the help of the teacher’s book. Imagination is important for children. They have the ability of  imaginative thinking and grasping the meaning without understanding the individual words. Intonation, gestures, facial expressions, actions and circumstances help them to tell what the unknown words  and phrases probably mean. By getting the message in this way, they start to understand the language. Grammar, vocabulary and skills are integrated. There is no prioritizing grammar or others.

 

        Coursebook corresponds with the aim of the class, aim of the learning programme and the the syllabus. When we look at the syllabus of the teaching  programme and content of the book,we see their aims correspond with each other. Teacher uses coursebook according to the syllabus of the teaching programme.(see appendix : 3-4 ) Activities of grammar structures are good in terms of usefulness. They are ordered in a proper way.This coursebook is good resource for students as it matches to the students’ needs. There are different syllabus types, so it shows us that this coursebook provides alternative methods.It includes teaching styles.It provides optional methods not just one single method.

 

2.  DESIGN AND ORGANIZATION

 

     2.1  Components Of  The  Coursebook Package

 

Welcome Plus is a six-level course at primary level for children learning English for the first time.

 

Components for each level;

 

·       Student’s  book  consists of three modules of three units each. There is tenth unit which provides material for further reading as well as review of the past simple. It also includes four Culture Clips which provide an insight into the culture and customs of the United Kingdom.

 

·       Workbook  consist of three modules of three units each snd a tenth three-page unit. The first and the second unit of each module are two-page lessons’ while the third unit is a four-page lesson. Each module provides material for further practice under the headings of vocabulary, grammar, reading, writing and listening. The workbook aims to consodilate the language points and grammar structures that appear in the Student’s book with various exercises. Ten progress tests, one per unit’ are included at the end of the workbook.

 

·       Teacher’s book  gives step-by-step lesson plans’ the answers to the exercises for both the Student’s book and the Workbook, the answers to the  Progress Tests, the answers to the tests from the Test Booklet and a marking scheme for each test. It also contains extra ideas  on how to present/practise new words and grammar stuctures, as well as tapescripts of the listening activites.

 

·       Test Booklet  includes four photocopiable assessment tests in two vesions.

 ·       Picture Flashcards  include all the pictures necessary to present and revise new vocabulary.

 ·       Class CDs or Cassettes  include all the recordings for the listening activities in the Student’s Book and the Workbook.

 ·       Student’s  CD or Cassette includes all vocabulary, dialogues, texts and language “twisters”, all of which

are necessary for home study. Students have the chance to listen to these recordings as many times as they want to improve their pronunciation and intonation.

        Multimedia CD Rom  includes exercises for students to reinforce their language skills.

 ·       Video Cassette  brings the characters to life and students learn while having fine.

  

     2.2.  The Organization Of The Content

 

Coursebooks are designed according to different syllabus types. While evaluating a coursebook, the syllabus type adapted by the coursebook should be revealed. Therefore in this section the most common four syllabus types will be explained briefly.

 

interested in and would like to learn more or say something about. The concern form thematic substance is what distinguishes topic - based syllabus from other syllabus." (Eskay: 1984)

 In the light of these information it can be presumed that Welcome Plus is organized according to mixture of  all four syllabuses; it’s syllabus type is  multidimentional .

  

2.3.    Suitability Of The Organization Of The Coursebook For Learners And Teacher

 

This course is designed for making student’s communicatively component in English. So, the language is seen in meaningful context with its form and functions. Each unit has a specific topic that all the vocabulary and grammar items are related to this topic. This provides reliance between the items and the activities with which the students practice the language form and usage. Unit 3 “Meet Our Pets” in Wellcome Plus 5 is a typical example of the topic in the course book. So, all the sections of the lay out of the unit are focused on this area. (see appendix : 5 -6 )

 

The topics are chosen selectively from daily life so teacher may make use them according to students need he / she can use them in different context.

 

The activities in the course are also flexible. Teacher may not follow the sequence of the lay out because the activities are independent from each other (see appendix : 7 ). He / she can pass the activity, which doesn’t suit the learners and he / she can add alternative activities or talks to the lesson.

The course books can not be used individually by the students because the activities consisted in the books should be guided by someone, teacher, because the answers are not included in the book so, students can’t have a chance to see their success.

 

2.4.    Sequence Of The Content

 

The coursebook startes with the topic and vocabulary. They are firstly given to the students. Vocabulary and grammar introduced in a meaningful context, then grammar structure is given in grammar tables and practiced with different tasks. And students are given the communicative function of the same item in communication part and the skills (listening, reading and writing) are handled by reading passages and reading and listening part. And at the end of the unit they produce their own language, work by writing a project with the given topic.

 

    2.5. Recycling And Revision

 

    In Welcome Plus, in the case of new grammar items are recycled with the help of “Reminder Box” that helps to rebember the recycled item. In the case of vocabulary, cycling is used too.

    For revision; there is a  “Modular Revision and Assessment” after the each module

    To sum up, it can be said that recycling and revision are done both grammar and vocabulary

 

2.6.    Clearness Of Lay Out

 

The lay out of the course is presented clearly in the introduction part in each level. The sections of a unit is explained step by step; how the organisation of the content of the unit is provided, what the each section aims with the material they contain.  

 

The lay out of the course is presented clearly in the introduction part in each level. The sections of a unit is explained step by step; how the organisation of the content of the unit is provided, what the each section aims with the material they contain.

    "Many teachers and students are happier when they have a straightforward route through a course and they sometimes feel more secure when the conventional beginning - to - end direction is used." (Cunnigsworth,1995:28)

    In Welcome Plus; each unit is structured in the same way. They all include vocabulary, listening, reading, working with grammar. This provides the teachers and students to find their way around the coursebook easily.

 

3. LANGUAGE CONTENT

      3.1. GRAMMAR

             3.1.1. Grammar Teaching

      “The first considerations are what grammar items are included and how far they correspond to learner needs.Grammar is a major component of any general language course, whether it is acknowledged as such, or disguised as something else. It is the effective teaching of grammar that distinguishes a true language course from a phrasebook and it is an understanding of and ability to use grammar that equips  learners  with the ability to create their own utterances and use language for their own purposes.

      When introducing new grammar items’ it is possibble to teach the form of a new grammatical item without its meaning (in the sense of its underlying use).

      Equally, it is possible to present a new grammar item with emphasis on its use, minimizing or postponing the problems presented by its form (or forms in the case of irregular verbs).” (Cunningsworth, 1995: 32)

       “We should also consider that “how the book gives the grammar. Generally we have 2 basic items: 

  1. Rule – based  : Emphasis is on the form. First of all, rules are given, the speaker has to obey some kinds of rules’ exemplify these rules to make them use. Teaching new grammatical items without the emphasis on meaning.Very important teaching principles :

a)   recycling

b)   interanalizing

 

  1. Performance – based  : Teaching new grammatical items with emphasis on its use. Provide feedback and context to permit students to interanalize or grasp the meaning of the rule of the structures from the context. Students can interanalize the meaning of the rules, not the rule itself.” (Lecturer Muazzaz Yavuz’s notes)

 

            3.1.2. Evaluation Of Coursebook In Terms Of Grammar Teaching

 

      Grammar items that are included in Welcome Plus are;

 ·       Present simple of the verb “to be”

·       Question words

·       Personal pronouns – possessive pronouns and adjectives

·       Possessive case

·       The verb “have got”

·       Plurals

·       Present simple tense

·       Adverbs of frequency

·       The verb “can”

·       Prepositions of time

·       Present continuous tense

·       Some / any / no

·       A few / a little

·       Should / shouldn’t

·       Past simple of the verb “to be”

·       Simple past tense

 

The grammar items that are included in Welcome Plus correspond to students’ language needs. Some simple phrases and sentences are provided for students to give personal information or to encourage them to talk about their field of interest in simple terms.

 

Welcome Plus is based on “performance – based” approach. It teaches new grammatical items with the emphasise on its use. By this way; students interanalize the meaning of the rules; not the rule itself. They interanalize or grasp the rule of structures from the context. Welcome Plus gives the use of language in  speaking or  reading activities. (see appendix : 8 ) Here; grammar structure is in the dialogue. First Ss practise the dialogue without knowing the rule.

 

In each unit, there is a “Grammar Table” after the dialogues.(see appendix : 8 ) This grammar table shows the grammar items in an inductive way; no rule is given. Students are made understand the rules by themselves. As we see; Welcome Plus uses “Inductive Structure”.

 

There is only one section in which deductive approach is used. It’s the plural forms of the nouns. (see appendix : 9 ) First it gives the rules because in English; all the nouns do not take “-s” when they become plural and the coursebook emphises the nouns that change when they become plural.

 

Students practise grammar structures in the exercises which fallow the table. (see appendix : 8 ) Students practise the grammar structures first orally, then in writing.

We see the Present Continuous Tense (see appendix: 10 ) for both “immadiate present” and “immediate future” after the Simple Present Tense. Learning two functions of the Present Continuos Tense provides an apportunity to students for understanding the differences between them by comparing.

 

The organization of the Welcome Plus is according to grammar structures. Each of the reading passages, dialogues and all of the four skills’ activities are related with each unit’s grammar structures. (appendix : 5- 11 )

 

The grammar order of Welcome Plus is according to Cyclical progression. It moves from one item to another very quickly and then returns back in one time and covers once again. Welcome Plus teaches Simple Present Tense (see appendix  12 ) and then it teaches Present Continuos Tense (see appendix : 13 ). In here; there becomes a link between Simple Present Tense and Present Continuos Tense and then it gives the Simple Present Tense in other aspects again. (see appendix : 8 )

 

Welcome Plus recycles grammar structures from the previous levels. Simple Present Tense has been presented with ‘always, usually,etc..’ in Unit 4 (see appendix : 14 ) and then it has been presented in Unit 8. For recycle Welcome Plus presents a “Reminder Box” .(see appendix : 8 )

 

Welcome Plus pays attention to Revision as much as the Recycling. It provides “Modular Revision and Assessment” sections for revision after the each module.(see appendix : 15-16-17 ) This revision parts icludes these execise types for grammar;

a)   Multible Choice Completion

b)   Simple Completion

and there is a  “Now  I  Know” section which provides both students and teacher to realize what students have learned in each mole.

 

3.1.3. Classroom Profile In Grammar Teaching

 

Teacher fallows the content of Welcome Plus ans she also use the lesson procedure of the book as a guide. While teaching grammar; she uses inductive approach. She writes some sentences to the board and asks students to guess the meaning of the sentences. After  discussing about students’ guesses she gaves the form of the grammar structure.

 

Students make all the exercises in the coursebook in the lesson as a practice and the workbook’s exercises are assigned as homework. She brings extra worksheet to the classroom and want them to use their own Cdroms for self study.

 

When we asked her about the grammar teaching in Welcome Plus, she mentioned that Welcome Plus gives the grammar items in an appropriate way and not only she but also the students love the way of Welcome Plus in teaching grammar.

 

3.2.  Vocabulary

            

                    3.2.1.  Vocabulary Teaching

 

“It is often asserted with some truth that, particulary at lower level, students can communicate more effectively with a knowledge of vocabulary than with a knowledge of grammar.

 

        Selecting vocabulary is a tricky subject and not as simple as might be expected. One criterion alone is inadequate for selecting a workable vocabulary range for a teaching programme or coursebook. Few coursebooks explain how the vocabulary they include has been selected, referring to frequency and usefulness.

         In general terms, we would expect to see at least 1000 words taught in each stage of a general course. Very often additional vocabulary-learning activities are provided in the students’ workbook, as much vocabulary learning take place outside the classroom.

         As well as teaching as many new words as possible, coursebooks can help equip students with strategies for handling the unfamiliar vocabulary that they will inevitably meet. They can also enable students to develop their own vocabulary-learning strategies.

         Vocabulary learning activities help learners to extend and develop their vocabulary in a purposeful and structured way. We would not expect to see just wordlists or dictionary definitions of new words. Nor would we expect to see words taught in isolation or outside of context.

         Good vocabulary development activities tend to exploit some or all of the following :

 

 

3.2.2.  Evaluation Of Coursebook In Terms Of Vocabulary Teaching

 

            In Welcome Plus series, each unit starts with the presentation of new words and each word is presented  through a picture, so that students understand the meaning easily by visualizing it (see Appendix : 27,18,19 ). Here, from these examples we can infer that this coursebook gives much importance to vocabulary teaching.

         The essential vocabulary is given according to some particular topics depending on a structure. (see Appendix : 20 ) As it’s seen, in unit 2, our topic is defining objects and people, and the vocabulary given is about people’s physical appearance and character. (see Appendix : 21 ) The necessary structures while we are using for defining objects and somebody’s features are “have/has got” , the plural forms of the nouns and “am/is/are”. So, while teaching these structures it gives us the necessary vocabulary items for this topic. However our syllabus type is multidimensional, it mostly uses and focuses on “topic-based”.Generally it chooses the topic, the situation and the vocabulary; then creates a context according to that. The topics are amusing and chosen according to their ages and interests.

         The words chosen are so appropriate in terms of frequency and usefulness. (see Appendix : 22,21,18 ) All the words in those units are basic necessary things and very possible to be used in daily life language and the topics assigned are not artificial. (see Appendix : 23 ex. 15) In this activity, students are wanted to write a letter to a foreign friend describing a new friend from school. This topic is so useful for them to practise and produce with the new words that they have learnt.

         Vocabulary learning exercises are based on collocations, situational relationships and semantic relations. (see Appendix : 24, ex. 10) This exercise is based on collocations. All the words in the exercise are about food&drinks and they commonly found in association with each other. (see Appendix : 25, ex. 12) In this exercise, words chosen are based on situational relationships. Word sets are associated with particular topics. These are sports and activities. (see Appendix :26, ex. 5) This exercise is about the sematic relations. Here we have the word groups (on the left) and students are wanted to find and match the suitable ones according to their meanings.

         In Welcome Plus series there is an adequate recycling and revision. As this book series are written for very young learners, these are essential for them. They have to learn without realizing, because it’s really hard to take their attentions. So, this can be done by the games or covering the items in different contexts.

         There is a modular revision part at the end of each three units. All of the items that are learnt in the previous three units such as grammar and vocabulary are covered once again at this part. (see Appendix : 20) For instance, in the first three units our vocabulary is about family words, countries and nationalities, jobs, people’s physical appearance and character, animals, pets and related adjectives; and in the revision part (see appendix : 27 ) vocabulary exercises are about family words, jobs and pets. As it’s seen, even in this part vocabulary is given with the pictures or a chart. The other word groups are integrated with the skills. For example, the word groups that we use while defining somebody are given in the exercise of writing skills (see Appendix : 28 ex. I,J).

        As there is a cyclical progression in vocabulary, we have a lot recycled words. For example, students learn the countries and nationalities in the first unit (see Appendix : 29 ex7,8). Then these words are covered once again in Unit 2 (see Appendix : 21 ) in a dialogue, but here in a different context and topic. So, they add unknown things to the known ones. As another words, this coursebook gives an opportunity to consolidate the known vocabulary items while learning the new ones.

         As another example, in Unit 7 our topic is about food and drinks (see appendix : 13 ). Students learn the names of the food and drinks in this unit, then we see them again in Unit 8 (see Appendix : 8, ex. 5). There is an exercise about giving an order in a restaurant. While students are practising the structure (“would you like”) that they have learnt, they recycle the words about food and drink.

 

3.2.3.  Classroom Profile In Vocabulary Teaching

 

       However this coursebook deals with the vocabulary very well, the teacher’ s way of teaching the new vocabulary items doesn’t seem fit to this coursebook’s vocabulary teaching strategies. This book includes approximately 1100 new words and almost every lesson teacher writes 10-20 words to the board and wants from students to write these 5-10 times on their notebooks. As we observed, this has created a fear and boredom above the students. Whenever they were wanted to write these,  we heard  such kind of sounds as “Ohh, once again?, Come on teacher!” . Even, at one time we witnessed  teacher’s using this as a threatment such as “ If you keep on making a noise, I’ll want you to write 20 times” after a big noise made by the students. This is so wrong because it creates discouragement above the students. Besides this, students like it very much if the vocabulary is given with the pictures because they find the colourful pictures so entertaining and they show their interests to those pictures without realizing as visuals are so important for them at those ages.

3.2.  Pronunciation

 

3.2.1.  Pronunciation Teaching

 “Most foreign language learners would agree that the improvement of their pronunciation is a desirable and necessary objective. How realistic, however, is the expectation amongst adult learners in particular that such an objective can be attained?

 There is a whole range of material available on the market designed to give learners practice in different aspects of pronunciation, from individual phonemes to intonation patterns, but how effective these materials are is open to debate. Market forces dictate that most published pronunciation materials are of a general nature and not geared to learners from a specific linguistic background. Thus, in a mixed nationality class it is entirely possible that learners may waste time practising the pronunciation of individual English phonemes that they are perfectly able to pronounce anyway, as these phonemes have virtually identical, if not wholly identical, equivalents in their mother tongue.

 In the case of phonemes, it would appear to be worth devoting attention to this area only if there are clearly defined problems caused by mother tongue interference that affect intelligibility. If this is the case, it should be possible to identify those vowel, consonant and diphthong sounds that cause particular problems to learners from specific linguistic backgrounds. If this is done, it can be argued that practice in the pronunciation of individual phonemes is worthwhile, even if any improvement is perceived as minimal. Having clear objectives (for example: these are the six sounds that you need to work on) is surely the key in this particular area of pronunciation.

 Unfortunately for the learner, however, effective pronunciation is much more than the stringing together of a series of sounds. The "facial set" of a particular language will have a significant impact on attempts to pronounce another. By the time adulthood is reached, the facial muscles used in the articulation of the sounds of the mother tongue will have developed to the extent that it requires genuine effort to adapt these muscles to the sounds of a different language. Changing this facial set to approximate that of English requires the learner not only to be willing to attempt this change but to have an awareness of what he or she needs to do in order to achieve it. This can be a very difficult process.

Just what is the facial set of English? Some learners have said that English sounds to them as if it is mumbled. Others say that there is little or no apparent jaw movement, that English sounds "lazy". In his book "How to be an Alien", the Hungarian writer George Mikes writes "If you want to sound English, just put a pipe in your mouth and say ‘actually’ at the end of every sentence". These observations might be over-simplifications, but they are nonetheless significant, as they tell us something about how the pronunciation of English is perceived by others. It can be argued that pronouncing a foreign language is, first and foremost, to demonstrate an ability to switch to a different persona, one in which the learner takes on the facial set of that language. The learner also needs to be able to identify particular features of phonemes, stress, rhythm and intonation that give the language its distinctive sound.

 An interesting, if not always successful experiment, is to ask learners to imitate an English speaker speaking their language and then to invite them to suggest what was different about the way they were speaking to the way they normally spoke their mother tongue. The results can be very informative and often produce similar comments to those mentioned above. This exercise has overtones of imitation, even mimicry, and can only be performed successfully after extensive exposure to examples of spoken English.

 Listening is of paramount importance to the process of acquiring a more comprehensible pronunciation. If pronunciation is only affected slightly by this kind of awareness, at least some progress has been made. The goal of pronunciation teaching must be increased comprehensibility, however limited that increase may be. In the final analysis, the development of perfect, native-speaker-like pronunciation may not only be an unachievable objective, it may also be undesirable as it raises questions of identity. After all, English spoken with a "non-standard" accent will often sound extremely pleasant to the listener, and why in any case should Budapest English or Bremen English be regarded as in any way inferior to Belfast English or Birmingham English?” (Tim Bowen, http://www.onestopenglish.com/news/magazine/archive/pronounciation.htm)

 

3.3.2.  Evaluation Of Coursebook In Terms Of Pronunciation Teaching

 

        In Welcome Plus series, for a correct pronunciation and intonation there’s “ listen and repeat” parts. By the help of the cassettes and tape-recorders students are trained to distinct the different ways of the utterances of the words that like each other.

         (see appendix : 3O ex. 8) Here, in exercise 8, is the “th” sound whose pronunciation differs word by word. Students listen the utterances from the tape recorder and then repeat chorally or individually.

         The other example is the “ou” sound (see appendix : 31 ex.7). Here, students learn how to spell this sound by the help of different examples of words.

         For the last example there comes the “ea” sound (see appendix : 1 ex. 6). As it’s easily seen, this coursebook gives a great importance of distincting some particular sounds from each other.

 The coursebook package includes cassettes and CD’s for a classroom and individual study at students’ homes. These include all vocabularies, dialogues, texts and songs which are necessary for home study. By this way, students have the chance to listen these recordings as many times as they want to improve their pronunciation and intonation.

 There is also games as a classroom activity that are called “hanging a man and girls vs boys”. These games are so important for students to revise the words and see their mistakes about both pronunciation and general word knowledge.

 

3.3.3.  Classroom Profile In Pronunciation Teaching

 

        Students like all of the pronunciation activities so much because they like to listen the songs and they find it funny to utter the words as a native speaker, so they take these activities serious.

         We have also the games as a classroom activity that students like them so much too, because they like competitions. These games are called “hanging a man and boys vs girls” and they are so important for them to revise the words and see their mistakes about pronunciation and general word knowledge.

 

4.    SKILLS

 4.1.     Four Skills In General Coursebooks

 “The skills dimension complements the dimension of grammatical/lexical/phonological knowledge and focuses on the ability of learners actually to operate in the language. The emphasis is on linguistic behaviour and on learners’ ability to use language in different situations requiring different skills’ sometimes in isolation but more usually together.

 We need to check if the coursebook deals with all four skills’ taking the level and overall aims into account’ and if there is suitable balance between and skills. We might note here that in-depth and balanced treatment of all four skills is not necessary for all teaching situations.Extensive reading, for example, would not be desirable in a coursebook designed to be used by native-speaker teachers in japan, who would want the emphasis to be on listening and writing.

 The knowledge base of grammar, lexis,etc and the skills base of listening, speaking, etc must go hand in hand and coursebooks should develop students’ skills in using English every bit as much as they help to develop students’ knowledge (explicit or not) of the system of English.

 As the grammar element in the course progresses and the vocabulary becomes more extensive, we should expect to see skills work become more demanding. Dialogue work might become more complex, moving away from simple question-and-answer sequences. Similarly, listening passages would become longer, and might be spoken more quickly or with a slightly non-standart accent. Reading texts would also become longer, and the discourse structure more complex. Comprehension questions, which in the early stages of learning would check understanding ofsimple facts, might, as the course progresses, require learners to infer meaning, or to extract certain relevant information from a mass of less relevant information.” (Cunningsworth , 1995 : 64)

 

4.2  The Four Skills In The Coursebook

 

Each unit starts with the presentation of new words. Each word is presented through a picture so that students understand the meaning. They listen the new words from the cassette and then they repeat them chorally or individually so the coursebook improves students’ listening skill and pronounciation.

 Each dialogue is preceded by  listening activity. Dialogues are usually a lead-in question or a listening task which students have to perform before reading the dialogue. In this way students familiarize themselves with the dialogue, practising their listening comprehension at the same time.

 All dialogues cover themes with in a child’s area of interest and focus on developing students’ listening and reading skills. Each dialogue is fallowed by a reading comprehension exercises.

 The practice section of each unit usually begings with a structural/functional exercise which recycles vocabulary and grammar structure/patterns presented in the dialogue. This exercise is recorded so that students acquire the correct pronunciation and intonation. Students memorise these patterns.

 Students use the structures presented before to act out similar dialogues in pairs.Students do the exercise orally. In the second lesson of each units there is a further communication exercise which practises patterns from the dialogue or is an extension for further practice.

 Each unit finishes with a piece of writing.This could be a project or a realistic piece of writing.In both cases, students are given a text which serves as a modal to produce a short piece of writing. Students do the exercise orally, then are assigned it as written homework.

 To sum up; the aim of the each unit is to provide further practice on all four skills.(see appendix : 32 )

 4.3.  Writing Skill

4.3.1.  Teaching Writing

“The most important factor in writing exercises is that students need to be personally involved in order to make the learning experience of lasting value. Encouraging student participation in the exercise, while at the same time refining and expanding writing skills, requires a certain pragmatic approach. The teacher should be clear on what skills he/she is trying to develop. Next, the teacher needs to decide on which means (or type of exercise) can facilitate learning of the target area. Once the target skill areas and means of implmentation are defined, the teacher can then proceed to focus on what topic can be employed to ensure student participation. By pragmatically combing these objectives, the teacher can expect both enthusiasm and effective learning. Choosing the target area depends on many factors; What level are the students?, What is the average age of the students, Why are the students learning English, Are there any specific future intentions for the writing (i.e school tests or job application letters etc.). Other important questions to ask oneself are: What should the students be able to produce at the end of this exercise? (a well written letter, basic communication of ideas, etc.) What is the focus of the exercise? (structure, tense usage, creative writing). Once these factors are clear in the mind of the teacher, the teacher can begin to focus on how to involve the students in the activity thus promoting a positive, long-term learning experience.”(www.esl.about.com)

“Writing activities in coursebooks are normally of the controlled or guided kind, where a model is given and student’s task is to produce something similar, usually based on additional information given. The ypes of writing task given can be quite varied and include writing factual accounts such as a report for a newspaper, filling in grids, writing notes to others, making lists, filling in forms, writing a diary, formal and informal letters, summarizing tests, and many others.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 aims of the learners. At the very least, it should deal with paragraphing, which is the basic unit of organization for  most kinds of written English.”(Cunningsworth, 1995: 80)

 

What we should do as a teacher?

. Teach students how to write to in L2. Do not assume that they have ability to write in their L1

. Let students know if they don’t know why they are writing.

. Give purpose, make things realistic and relevant

. Integrate writing with other skills

                 . Without teaching do not expect them to write

                 . Do not judge

                 . Do not force them to write

 

Ask your students to write:

·       First draw without considering grammatical accuracy

·       Second draft with giving importance to grammar

·       Third draft for controlling ( coherence and accuracy )

 

4.3.2  Evaluation Of Coursebook In Terms Of  Writing

         In Welcome Plus each unit finishes with a writing activity. This could be a project or a realistic piece of writing.(see appendix : 33, 23 ) In both cases students are given a text which serves as a model to produce a short of writing.(see appendix : 23 ) Students do the exercises orally, then they are assigned as an homework. (see appendix : 29 ex.5 ) Students write their text in a space provided in the Welcome Weekly section, attach or draw pictures, then cut out the page and it is to be corrected.( see appendix : 2 ) Topics are interesting, enjoyable and suitable for students age and level.

 

Topics;

 Unit 1- Writing a description of a family photograph

 Unit 2- Writing a letter about new friend of you

 Unit 3- Writing a description of your pet

 Unit 4- Writing about what you usually do on Saturdays

 Unit 5- Writing a note to a friend

        Inviting him/her to volleyball match

 Unit 6- Writing a brochure about camp advanture

 Unit 7- Writing an invitation to an fancy dress party

 Unit 8- Writing a recipe

 Unit 9- Writing an article about festival

 Unit 10- Writing an article about the  Colossus of Rhodes

         Coursebook uses pictures to make students familiar with the topic and draw students’ attention.( see appendix : 33 )

When teacher asks students to write something, he should provide a background information, grammatical structure and vocabulary and coursebook provides all of them for the teacher.When we look at the writing part there are reading texts for students.

 Reading texts include all informations that students  need. Students read the text and they get background information. (see appendix :  23 ) As well as a writing section, there is a grammar section in every unit. Students learn grammatical structures and coursebook provides activities for them to apply what they have learnt in writing section. (see appendix : 34 , 35 )There is also vocabulary part in each unit. All vocabularies that students need are given by coursebook. (see appendix : 36 )  

         There is no organization of writing. Cousebook does not show controlling idea, paragraphing. It doesn’t teach how to write. But there are sample texts before writing part.Student look at the text, read them and write their own text. (see appendix : 6 )

         Writing, speaking and listening skills are integrated with each other, because  writing sections can be done orally. (see appendix : 7; ex5 )

 

4.3.3. Classroom Profile In Writing Skill

 Students are keen on making writing activities in the coursebook because they like the topics and writing contexts. We’ve asked a question to the  teacher about how they study on writing parts and she said me that they sometimes do the exercises in the classroom and sometimes in their home.

 5.  METHODOLOGY

 5.1.  Learner Needs

  5.1.1.  Learner Needs

 “ It is surprising how few coursesdiscuss students’ needs in the introductory sections of their teachers’ book and even more surprising to see how many launch straight away into a description of the course and how to use it without considering, however briefly, the needs of the students for whom the course has been written. Amoung the exceotions to this generalizition is Blueprint one (Abbs and Freebairn 1990), which, perhaps optimistically in the light of events since 1990, states that ‘students in the 1900s live in a world where political, economic and cultural barriers are rapidly disappearing’. The authors identify five needs experienced by beginner students when learning a language in a classroom with a teacher and a textbook. These are:

 ·       The need to communicate effectively

·       The need to be familiar with the language systems

·       The need for challange

·       The need to take on more responsibility for their own learning

·       The need for cross-cultural awareness

 

The authors of The New Camridge English Course (Swan and Walter`1990) identify the need to respect the learner, adding that ‘people generally learn languages best when their experience, knowledge of the world, interests and feelings are involved, and a course must allow students to be themselves as fully as possible.’  ” (Cunningsworth, 1995: 97 )

 

5.1.2  Evuluation Coursebook In Terms Of Learner needs

 Welcome Plus provides effectives effective communication. When we look at the dialogues or writting sections we can see that they are communicative. The dialogues provide the knowledge that students can use in their daily life. (see appendix : 1 ) When we asked students whether they have got the information about different people from different countiries or not, they said that “yes we’ve got information about different people.” In the light of this answer we can say that the coursebook provides authentic texts by the help of which they gain world knowledge.

 There are games which create challanging atmosphere in the classroom. They helps students to learn easily and it takes their attention to the subjects. The games are not included in the coursebook but they are stated in teacher’s book and they are practised in the classroomwith the help of teacher

 Welcome Plus makes students for their own learning and it is flexible . It gives many options for students and also for teacher. There are different types of activities and students choose one of them according to their interests.

 Because students are young learners they need concrete and colourful things. The coursebook teaches concrete items with colourful pictures. (see appendix : 9 )

 Welcome Plus also taches items in an inductive way and it provides background information before students learn.