1. 2. CUES
1.1. Couldn't it be instead rather than before?
1.2. is this true with modern coursebooks like Cutting Edge?
1.3. Where can I see examples of this so I can do it with my environmental lessons?
2. 1. NOTES
2.1. Humanising without the coursebook
2.1.1. In order to achieve effective and durable learning, language learners need to relax, feel at ease, develop self-confidence and self-esteem, develop positive attitudes towards the learning experience and be involved intellectually, aesthetically and emotionally (Tomlinson 1998a).
2.1.2. many coursebooks use an interrogative approach that continually underestimates the learners
2.1.2.1. talks about the experience in Jakarta where the students chose the texts which became meaningful for their lives as they chose them.
2.1.2.1.1. see Jensen and Hermer (1998)
2.1.3. learning needs to be based in meaningful experience
2.2. Humanising with the coursebook
2.2.1. reduce non-humanistic sections use and focus on sections which invite the learners to think, feel and do in order to learn
2.2.1.1. get class to act out reading text from a book
2.2.1.2. give them the coursebook text and ask them to find differences between it and similar texts
2.2.1.3. groups create extended version of text in local context.
2.2.1.4. get students to draw their versions of the text before/instead of comprehension activities
2.2.1.5. read first part of the text and then students complete it before reading/hearing the rest.
2.2.1.6. give students the comprehension questions they have to answer, and they write the text where the answers are!
2.2.1.7. • Getting students to write the inner speech monologues of characters in a coursebook dialogue (e.g. the outwardly polite shopkeeper who’s getting inwardly incensed by the customer who can’t make his mind up)
2.3. Developing humanistic coursebooks
2.3.1. it's possible yet according to Tomlinson 'no coursebook can be completely humanistic for all its users because it can’t possibly relate directly to each user’s life'
2.3.2. Writing in large and varied teams
2.3.2.1. shortens the time in production and avoids sapping energy
2.3.2.2. ideally all types of people
2.3.3. Using a text-driven approach
2.3.3.1. select an engaging text first, not a language point.
2.3.3.2. pre-reading/readiness tasks focus on connecting the texts to their own lives
2.3.3.3. post tasks 'development' ones focus on enriching learners 'mental representations of the text'.
2.3.3.4. keeps focus on the learners
2.3.3.5. much easier to develop learning activities to match a text than it is to find an engaging text to match teaching points.
2.3.4. Using a multi-dimensional Approach
2.3.4.1. using affect, mental imagery and inner speech as in L1 reading
2.3.4.1.1. • engaging affect (i.e. emotional involvement, positive attitudes towards the learning experience and self-esteem)
2.3.5. Talking to the Learners
2.3.5.1. coursebooks often formal 'matches the stereotype of the knowledge transmitting teacher talking at his learners'
2.3.5.2. like good teachers do, get involved in informal chat with the learners and find out preferences, needs and opinions
2.3.5.3. use informal language features in coursebooks
2.3.6. Providing text-free generalisable activities
2.3.6.1. Make beginning, during and after activities that can be used within a certain genre of text, as in coursebook English for the Web
2.3.6.2. even better, to do the same but add guidance and stimulus for the learners to write their own text.
2.3.7. Localising coursebooks
2.3.7.1. 'in trying to cater for everybody they end up engaging nobody'
2.3.7.1.1. localised coursebooks are better but can be less profitable
2.3.7.2. one option is to provide a bank of texts in the coursebook that are more localised
2.3.7.3. teachers book/notes have ideas for how to localise the activities.
2.3.7.4. include activities in which the learners localise the coursebook activities or texts. I like that!!!
2.4. Conclusion: humanistic approach helps with both language aquisition and personal development
2.4.1. many learners use coursebooks which are not humanistic.
2.4.2. It's possible to make humanistic coursebooks which are profitable on global markets. We must try.
3. 3. SUMMARY
3.1. My key take-aways from this are:
3.1.1. There is real power in the students in that they can localise a global coursebook activity, which lends itself to affective activities while enabling localisation
3.1.2. Materials writers need to include generalisable tasks that can lend themselves to localised texts, rather than being specific to a single text. I would like to learn more about how I could do this
3.1.3. Even if you have a non-humanistic coursebook, there are a myriad ways which you as a teacher can localise the content and make it more humanistic by reducing use of linguistic tasks and increasing focus on affective tasks