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Browse > ELT > Products > CES > Cambridge World of English Magazine > Reviews |
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Reviews This
review by Chris Grant-Bear first appeared in its entirety in Modern English
Teacher, Volume 6 Number 4, October 1997, and sections from it are reprinted
here with permission from Modern English Teacher.A Book I Like 'It's a long time since I have seen 10-11 year old students enjoy a coursebook as much as they did Book 1 in the Cambridge English for Schools series. The authors of this new four-level course, which was six years in the making, have in my opinion 'got it right.' Their commitment and experience, plus their time and effort on the project, are apparent on every page and in every component. What makes me say this? Well É when I trialled the materials, my students regularly asked for more, their parents were impressed with the creative work they produced and willingly helped with projects at home (making pancakes and shortbread biscuits, for example) and I felt very comfortable with the choices the students made about their learning. The book more than lived up to my expectations and to its promise 'to approach the teaching and learning of English in an innovative manner and to incorporate the findings of much of the current research into EFL.' I had been looking for something new that would cater for a mixed-ability group with mixed motivation and was attracted to the course for a variety of reasons. I was searching for stimulating material for individual, group and whole class participation and I wanted my students to work with cross-curricular material that they were already familiar with in their native language. But my main consideration was to find a book that stressed the importance of learner independence and thoughtful decision making from an early age; I wanted my students to be capable of cooperative independence in learning. É It was rewarding to see shy students become much more confident in class as they made connections with what they knew in their native language. When we shared work with the parents, they were very impressed with their children's posters on maps, stars and space, rain forests, wild animals and the life of cave dwellers. The Student's Book is so colourful and attractively laid out that my students were immediately enthusiastic about finding out what was in store for them. The opening spread, in which they had to match pictures to units in the course, immediately grabbed their attention and involved them in finding out what the book contained; the short introductory unit, 'What's in Cambridge English for Schools 1', was a great way to get the class to participate in a guided tour of the course book, workbook and cassettes. There are many special attractions to the course. One unique feature is the Parcel of English, where students prepare a package of information about themselves, their school and their town. You simply register your class with Cambridge University Press, who then connect you with a class of the same age elsewhere in the world. This opportunity to have written communication with other learners at the same level is an exciting concept for it brings the language to life as an international language and provides students with real pen friends. É But it is in the areas of learner choice, decision-making and autonomy that the series really makes its mark. The entire course encourages students to participate actively in class and my students really enjoyed getting together to gather information. There were endless opportunities to do research alone - if they preferred that - or to work in groups; it was a delight to see students develop responsibility for their own learning as they progressed through the course. ÉThe Cambridge English for Schools Workbook is the best I have used; every exercise involved my young students fully in the task and held their attention throughout; there was not a hint of pointless repetition and gap-fill exercise anywhere! É What can I say about the Teacher's Book? It's almost impossible to convey in such a short review my gratitude to the authors for the most impressive teacher's book I have seen: it's actually much more than a set of lesson plans and notes. It could better be described as a mini encyclopedia of ELT teaching methodology: the Rationale sets out the aims, syllabus, methodology and evaluation of the course; the purpose of the different units is explained with ideas on how the course can be shortened or lengthened; this is followed by teacher's notes that cover everything from an overview of the unit, timing, what you need for a regular or a mixed-ability class, worksheets, guidelines - it's a dream come true for teachers! The A-Z of Methodology section is a book within a book. It contains details of key areas of language teaching - from Autonomy to Discipline, from Error Correction to Fluency and Grammar through to Learning Strategies, Posters and Processing Time, and ending up with Videos and Writing. This is an invaluable resource and professional guidebook for both new and established teachers. The whole experience of working with Cambridge English for Schools Book 1 was delightful for me and my students. I cannot recommend this new CUP series highly enough. It is refreshing and challenging and the progress, enjoyment and interest my students showed in learning English was most rewarding. Try it for yourself!' Chris Grant-Bear Other Cambridge
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