TEXTBOOKS REVIEW

Every resourceful ESL teacher must keep a collection of books of which she can readily use.
These books and resources are her treasures. They help her organize lessons and bring out
the best in every student.
Collecting good books means keeping a gold mine of ideas . Excellent books help teachers
create engaging and relevant lessons no matter what topic they have to cover. What books
should then be on every ESL teacher's bookshelf? Here is the shortlist of the best books on
teaching English as a Second Language:
Our Top 8 ESL Picks
1. Longman Advanced American Dictionary Since a dictionary is a must-have on every
ESL teachers shelf, consider buying the Longman Advanced American Dictionary. This
dictionary provides definitions that are commonly used today. It is an excellent resource to
use when teaching ESL learners since it has lists of spoken phrases, phrasal verbs with
definitions, and a lot of grammar usage notes. It also has a separate section on prepositions,
adjectives, idioms, modal verbs, phrasal verbs and articles discussed in a very
comprehensible way!
2. Recipes for Tired Teachers by Christopher Sion Recipes for Tired Teachers has lots of
instant, fun activities you can use in your classroom. This is the perfect book to add to your
collection because it has activities which kids will surely enjoy while learning valuable English
language skills. You will love this book's ready-to-use listening, speaking, reading and writing
activities.
3. 101 Bright Ideas by Claire Maria Ford Looking for fresh concepts to use in your classroom?
This compilation of 101 motivating activities will never leave you struggling when planning for
activities to use in class. This book can accommodate all the needs of the students since it
has activities for beginning, intermediate and advanced proficiency levels. It also offers
engaging activities, reproducible pages, and step-by-step teaching instructions.
4. Let's Go Series (Third Edition) by E. Cross, R. Nakata, K. Frazier, and B. Hoskins Its time to
get up and go" for English learning! This series is packed with new and exciting ideas that
will keep ESL students in the beginning level more and more excited to learn. Easy and
enjoyable to use, this must-have series offers a full-color program with a carefully controlled
grammatical syllabus that contains functional dialogues, reading skill-building activities,
listening tests, pair work exercises, and communicative games!
5. Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics - An
Engaging ESL Textbook for Advanced Students by Eric H. Roth Do you want to help teach
every student learn how to converse in English? Then get this book. This is one of the best
books on teaching ESL that will make teachers walk confidently into an advanced ESL
classroom with a pocketful of engaging conversations. Great conversation starters such as
"Do you prefer to drive in the city or the country? Flat or hills?" will surely hook all students
into speaking this second language. This conversation book has 45 chapters which each pose
25 or more questions and include at least a dozen fun quotes. It is a superb resource for
"multi-level" ESL classes!
I have all these books in my mini library and they make my teaching fun and easy! Include
these best books on teaching English as a Second Language in your collection and you too will
make a great ESL teacher, guaranteed!
6. Passages by Jack C. Evans and Chuck Sandy Are you trying to raise the bar for your
ESL learner? This two-level, multi-skills course, takes students of ESL students from the highintermediate to advanced level. The book focuses on developing students communicative
competence by providing several drills that develop students language fluency and accuracy.

It also provides opportunities for students to develop their writing skills through the step by
step guide!
7. Practical English Usage by Michael Swan If you are looking for a grammar bible suitable for
ESL learners then this is the right one. This book answers all the questions that the advanced
learners of ESL might ask about grammar.
8. Voyager Reading and Writing for Today's Adults with various editions published by New
Readers Press Voyager: Reading and Writing for Todays Adults is an engaging and
empowering book that ensures active involvement of the students it every topic discussed.
This nine-level program combines a contemporary theme-based approach with the best
elements from traditional direct instruction.
http://www.brighthubeducation.com/esl-teaching-tips/101993-books-for-teaching-english-as-asecond-language/
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Top 4 General English Textbooks
1 Headway
Headway is one of the books which I personally love to teach from as I find it
really gives the students a thorough and easy guide to meeting people, while building
students confidence at beginning a conversation. It also covers some really interesting topics
that the students will face in day-to-day life.
Each topic throughout the Headway series gives students an excellent grounding in the four
skills of listening, reading, writing and speaking, while the activities throughout the books are
varied enough for the learner to maintain interest as they progress through the book.
One of the best of the Headway series is the Elementary level, which is very useful in enabling
students to talk about themselves, a great topic to start off with for students who still need to
unlock their confidence. As the book advances, students cover countries, food and clothing,
while grammar covers essential structures, such as present, past and future tenses.
2 Face2Face Have you ever flipped open a book, scanned through the topics, and just let
out a frustrated sigh due to boring topics and images of people from the early 90s wearing
New Kids on the Block t-shirts?
Well, English language textbooks have moved into the future with Face2Face. Aimed at
slightly older teenagers, Face2Face provides an edgy and modern alternative that keeps
students interested. As with some textbooks, you can find yourself dealing with the same
topics for what feels like weeks on end. Unless you work through the book at snails pace,
topics change every two pages, giving the students a feeling as though they are covering a lot
at a fast pace.
Face2Face also provides a number of extras, including audio, DVD and teachers
supplementary book, with a complete section containing handouts that correlate with the
topics, grammar and structures learnt in the books. The Teachers Book also contains some
fantastic exercises that you can take with you and use for other classes.
3 Introduction to Academic Writing
Not so much a general English book, however this
book deserves a very special mention for its ability at building students writing from the
ground up, setting solid foundations in this all-important skill. It starts off with basic principles
of writing, such as paragraphs, while adding layers as it goes along.
Students are faced with a wide range of activities and grammar that moves at a pace that is
reasonable for most students, while covering a number of topics that tests the students
vocabulary.

What I personally love about Introduction to Academic Writing is the broad scope for the
teacher to cut in and out of the book as required. In many cases, the entire book would be too
long to complete in one course, so I have found that this textbook is ideal for taking the
material which is needed. Because there is more than enough to use, the perfect writing
course tailored to the students can be easily made.
4 Cutting Edge Probably one of the best books of the 2000s is the Cutting Edge series.
These books are intelligently compiled to draw students actively into the class, with a range of
materials for the teacher to draw from including a resource book, students book, workbook
and class CDs and cassettes. Overall, the package provides a complete range of stimulating
and exciting materials that a wonderful teacher can convert into an inspirational class.
The range covers grammar and structures in a variety of easy-to-teach methods that are
simple enough for the students to understand. Cutting Edge is perfect for larger classes, and
full of communicative exercises that are perfect for groups. While the focus is very much on
British English, the listening component contains a realistic, everyday dialogue.
http://busyteacher.org/5618-4-great-textbooks-general-english-students.html
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