Coursebook Analysis

Introduction: The following report has been written after having carried out a
deep analysis of the course book Total English intermediate by Antonia Clare and
JJ Wilson-Pearson Longman. It does not contain an introduction with reference to
teachers or students or how the book is organized. It provides educators with just a
list of contents and topics divided into units. Keys are presented at the end of the
coursebook.
Inclusion of pronunciation practice: There is a pronunciation practice section in
some units of the book. Not all the exercises are presented in the same form:
Some of them aim to teach the phonemic symbols. Example: In Pgs 8 and 9, Unit
1, there is an exercise providing different words, which you must distribute into two
columns, each one for two different vowels. In pg. 30, 31, Unit 4, there is an activity
to practice stressed syllables, although, there is no explanation for this.
There is no friendly explanation regarding pronunciation in activities referred to it.
In some units we can find activities related to:

Vowel number 12 and number four.

Pronunciation of verbs endings
Pronunciation of compound nouns
How to sound polite (intonation)
Silent letters.
Stressed activities.
Word stress.
Contractions
Distinction between vowel number four and ten.

Introduction of new vocabulary and practice: As in almost every book, this one
provides plenty of vocabulary. It is worth mentioning that it contains lots of useful
phrases, collocations, antonyms, a full range of verbs and nouns, examples of
word formation, and also specific vocabulary based on friendship, education, jobs,
media, life style, spare time, holidays and memories. In addition, there is a section
that introduces the vocabulary containing specific vocabulary in order to revise it.
Listening and speaking communicative Tasks: In connection to the audio
material, listening and speaking abilities are fully trained. In every unit, there is a
different section for each of these tasks. Speaking activities consist of instructions
to organize a discussion group, in a controlled environment (i.e. providing the verb
which should be used) or through a loose activity, such as a game. During these
speaking activities, the assignments encourage the learners to make an effort to
think about the future, to make use of their imagination and express their opinions.
As regards listening activities, the student can make use of the CD (which matches
with the Workbook) at his/her disposal; and the teacher is able to present the
activities contained in the Class-audio CD.

Reading texts: Every unit has a main text to be read, which contains the topic of
the unit. Vocabulary and Grammar taught in the unit is based on this main text.
This text tends to be "long", according to the level and the age of the learner. Also
each unit has two or three readings which are shorter in comparison with the main
one.
Critical aspects:

Pronunciation contents do not follow an order of relevance according to the

students level. For example, in unit 1 the content of pronunciation to be
taught is word stress. We believe that contents related to vowels and
consonant patterns are more suitable at initial stages. In fact, we agree with
Underhills theory about pronunciation learning stages. In this theory, he
claims that at first level students should work with individual sounds. At a
second level, they should be capable of stringing sounds together into
words, adding also the distinctive energy profile called word stress. Finally,
at a third level, teachers and students should consider the inclusion of
aspects related to connected speech as well as intonation. (Successful
pronunciation learning-Adrian Underhill. 2007).

There is no friendly explanation of pronunciation topics. There are not small

graphics indicating the position of the lips and the tongue (mouth
movement). The lack of simplicity may affect students comprehension.

According to Adrian Underhill, the approach of the pronunciation learning

process should be:

Experimental: since the student should learn through experience. Underhill

believes that students should learn sound, not symbols and the way to
achieve this is by enabling students to experience sounds and sound
sequences in a physical and vivid way. Teachers should bear in mind the
idea of using symbols as memory hooks which can trigger the auditory and
physical experience (Successful pronunciation learning-Adrian Underhill.
2007. Page 3). We can say that the approach of our course book is
experimental because activities and examples are designed with basis on
daily experiences (9). Furthermore, we can identify problems of
contextualization when taking into consideration how different our culture is
in comparison with the North American one.

Physical: according to Adrian Underhill, one of the aims of teaching

pronunciation is to get pronunciation work out of the head and into the
body, to make pronunciation a physical as well as a cognitive activity.
Teachers should promote on their students the ability to stop thinking about
pronunciation in the abstract by focusing on the muscles that produce
sound, rhythm and articulation (Successful pronunciation learning-Adrian

Underhill. 2007. Page 1) . In our opinion, the course book contains only
activities that prop up speaking and practice activities of some vowels and
consonants regardless of the way they are produced articulatorily.

Insightful: as the key is in awareness rather than repetition (drilling).

Underhill insists in the active and inquiring role of teachers, since behind
their set of psychological attitudes lie the technical facilities that may help of
hinder students when working and analyzing the different sounds. Teachers
should be intrigued and curious about the way pronunciation is included and
worked into the classroom. (Successful pronunciation learning-Adrian
Underhill. 2007. Page 4). As far as we are concerned, the course book does
not provide space for practical analysis for students to get aware of the
sounds they are dealing with. Moreover, the pronunciation aspects are
mainly focused on drilling stages(repetition)

Humanistic: because it should engage students curiosity and sense of fun.

The traditional or mainstream way of approaching pronunciation teaching
and learning easily becomes cerebral and disconnected from the body,
resulting in approaches that are either too academic or too much based on
experience (Successful pronunciation learning-Adrian Underhill. 2007.
Page 1). The Course book pronunciation activities are not designed in a
creative or funny way, but in the form of academic activities as students are
mainly asked to repeat the sounds and group words with a particular sound.

Practical: because it helps students when necessary. The course book is

practical because it develops pronunciation activities according to the topic
of the unit. However, success is difficult to achieve as contents are not

presented in a logical order of relevance. For example: before learning word

accentuation we need to know about consonants and vowels.

According to Novak, students will be able to learn a new content only if they
contain relevant or relative concepts in their cognitive structures. The

contents should follow a sequence from general concepts to specific ones or

vise versa. Adrian Underhill suggests the following order:

i) Vowels: monophthongs
ii) Vowels: diphthongs
iii) Consonants
iv) Joining individual phonemes to make words
v) Stress in words
vi) Sounds and simplifications in connected speech
vii) Intonation and word stress
Proposed activity number 1:
-

The pronunciation content lays on producing and recognizing the long vowel
sounds /i:/, /u:/ and /:/.
The coursebook should provide some examples as well as small pictures
portraying the way those sounds are produced, so students can notice the
lips/mouth position.
After the teacher has introduced the topic, he pronounces the words aloud
and then, he does it again, but this time in a silent mode while asking
students to put attention to the way the mouth/lips move. Once he does this,
he pronounces the words one by one again almost exaggerating and asks
for students repetition.
The book should contain funny short phrases or tongue twister for students
to play with them. Lets consider the case of a coursebook which contains
them and requires students putting their fingers on each side of the mouth,
or the bridge of the nose and the jaw. This works in those cases where the
teacher or the book aims to make students aware of the differences in the
sounds production. When promoting those kinds of activities we are
following Underhills ideas of Pronunciation Teaching.
Why is important to chose a course book?

The course book provides a rich resource of materials and a structured, well thought out
syllabus. The good course book offers the students stability and security. The good course
book offers the students a sense of progress and achievement. There is always something
to go back to and revise. It offers the students a sense of confidence and satisfaction as
they feel they are working within a framework and they know where they are headed and
where they've been.
Below we have some questions that can help use to decide what kind of course book is
adequate for our students:

Do the principles stated in the introduction or teacher's guide reflect my own

principles?

Is the teacher's guide comprehensive and does it offer many extra ideas?

Does the book follow the rationale of the current English curriculum?
o

How do I know this?

Where can I check it?

Are the topics covered in the book appropriate for my students?

Is the material appropriate for my students?

Are there enough reading passages and tasks in the book?

o

Are there enough listening comprehension tasks in the book?

o

Are they varied?

Is grammar presented, taught and practiced in the book?

o

Are they varied?

Are there enough writing tasks in the book?

o

Are they varied?

Is there enough practice of grammar in the book?

Are there performance-based tasks in the book?

o

Are these varied and include both oral presentations and written ones?

Is the language authentic?

Is the book appealing to me?

o

Do I think the students will also find it appealing?

Is the font size or style appropriate for the age group of my students?

Do I think I would enjoy using this book?

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