University American College Skopje MA in TESOL Syllabus Design and Methodology EVALUATIVE REPORT ON TEXTBOOK / TEACHING MATERIALS

DESCRIPTION OF STUDENTS

1. Age _____7-9_________ 2. Gender___male / female_________ 3. Social/cultural background__rural/native Macedonians_ 4. Occupation (s)____students______ 5. Motivation/attitude____high/ eager to learn English__ 6. Educational Background___kindergarden 7. Knowledge (a) English level___Beginner__ (b) of the world___Beginner__ 8. Interests and beliefs:_____learning, studying, spending quality time_____ Based on the above what conclusions can you draw about the kind of materials that would be suitable for your students? _I think that the most suitable solution for my students would be materials that can develop positive attitudes to English language, that can establish a solid basis on which the students can continue to build in following years, that can encourage and impel students to take a bigger and an active role in their learning of English and to reflect and afterwards show their personal, professional, social and cultural progress and how they learn best.________________________________________________________________
DESCRIPTION OF STUDENTS NEEDS

1. What contexts and situations (if any) will your students probably use English in at some future date? a)__making projects; _________________________________ b)_involving in activities of logic and deduction;_____________________________ c)_observation, memorisation. ___________________________________

2. Give an order of priority for the different language skills (including sub-skills) that your students will need when using English. a)_speaking; ____________________________________________________ b)_reading;___________________________________________________________ c)_listening; __________________________________________________________

d)_writing;___ ________________________________________________________ e)_scanning. _________________________________________________________ 3. Say what percentage of class time should be spent on these various skills a)__40% __________ b)_ 25%____________ c)__10%____________ d)__20%____________ e)___5%____________ 4. Based on the above say what level the students need to reach and what kind of language they need to be able to use or understand (e.g. formal/informal, spoken/written scientific/business). Level: A2 spoken/written everyday vocabulary
CONCLUSION:

Language type: formal/informal

Based on the description of students and their needs, say what type of materials you think would be most appropriate for the students. I think that most appropriate materials would be materials that take into consideration the pupils personal and cognitive development. In such case the students would be more autonomous, inquisitive and they would be easily motivated. The materials should encourage students to play an active role as possible so that they will feel more important, their motivation and interest will increase and their learning process will be more meaningful. The materials should also take into account the interests and need of the students, thus fostering a positive attitude towards learning. This being fully incorporated in the students personal and professional background, such books should or are developing an active role in the learning process which fosters a sense of responsibility and cooperation, promotes confidence in the students own capacity to learn a new language and teaches a number of skills and strategies necessary for a more autonomous type of learning. At a particular stage of students learning, they should expect not just to learn English receptively, but also to use the language to express themselves and exchange information and knowledge with others, where they would develop cognitive skills and mature as individuals. Learning a language is a complex process involving cognitive, affective and social factors, all of which determine the childs progress. The students dont simply learn a language they also encounter with a whole new way of seeing the world. The aim of the materials appropriate for them is to nurture a curiosity for other cultures, to encourage an open attitude towards speakers of other languages and to prepare the students to function in a culturally and socially heterogeneous, different and numerous environments._____________________________________________________________

TEXTBOOK/ MATERIALS EVALUATION FORM Name of materials under consideration Title:____English Adventure 1______ Author (s) ____AnnWorrall__________________________________________________________ ____Elizabeth Kilbey_______________________________________ Publication details______Pearson Longman__________________________________ Level___Beginners___________________________________________________ A: Practical considerations: 1. Is the price of the materials appropriate for your students? Yes ___ No _____ Comments _For such price the materials give even more.__________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 2. Are the integral parts of the materials (course book, tapes, CDs teachers book, etc. available now? Yes __ No _____ Comments They can be freely ordered on their website and in our country in the bookshop English Centre in Skopje, which is authorized distributor for this book.______________________ B: Layout and design 3. Is layout and design of the materials appropriate for your students? Yes __ No _____ Comments The layout is very live, colourful and picturesque, the design is from a cartoon TOY STORY and the character is Buzz, the astronaut. _________________________________ C: Activities 4. Do the materials provide a balance of activities that is appropriate for your students? Yes __ No _____ Comments The activities are so adoptable to the students age, so they show real balance to their age and to the activities they can do.______________________________________________ 5. Is there a sufficient amount of communicative output in the materials under consideration? Yes __ No _____ Comments There are numerous dialogues and speaking activities in which the students fully take part in.______________________________________________________________________ 6. Do the materials provide enough roughly tuned input for your students? Yes __ No _____ Comments

They are adequate to their age and mental development and can take them into higher level respectively.__________________________________________________________ 7. Is new language introduced in motivation and realistic contexts? Yes _ No _____ Comments The cartoon characters are familiar to the students and the motivation is a step further to them, to learning something new._____________________________________________ 8. Where the materials encourage practice is the practice motivating for your students? Yes __ No _____ Comments Thats true. The students get an extra motivation when they can take part in dialogues, movie scenes etc..__________________________________________________________ Skills 9. Do the materials include and practice the skills your students need? Yes _ No _____ Comments All of the skills and the sub-skills are introduced in the book and are introduced through the various learning styles.___________________________________________________ 10. Do the materials have an appropriate balance of skills for your students? Yes _ No _____ Comments The skills are not just the right one for the students, but they are also involved almost in every activity with the right measurement.__________ ____________________ 11. Is the practice of individual skills integrated into the practice of other skills? Yes _ No _____ Comments If the students have to listen something in an exercise, the exercise continues with writing or speaking activity, so its absolutely true.______________________________________ Language Type 12. Is the language used in the materials realistic- like real life English? Yes __ No _____ Comments There are plenty of examples of English used in real life.___________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 13. Is the language used in the materials at the right level for your students? Yes _ No _____ Comments The language and the materials used in the book are perfectly fitted to the students and children who eagerly want to grab the language and the vocabulary. _________________ 14. Is the language used in the materials the right type for your students? Yes __ No _____ Comments There are examples of everyday English used in the classroom, about possessions, days, seasons, opinions, feelings and etc., so I think its the right one._____________________ 14. Is the progression of new language appropriate for your students? Yes __ No _____ Comments

They just cant wait to meet each other again; they even go home and try to learn English on their own and then come back to their class and exchange information with the others. Subject and content 15. Is subject and content of the materials relevant to the students needs? Yes __ No _____ Comments The subject and the content of the book are open to the students needs especially if their needs acquire relevant knowledge and understanding._____________________________ 16. Is the subject and content of the materials realistic at least some of the time? Yes _ No _____ Comments Students meet with everyday situations in almost every story, song or exercise in the book.____________________________________________________________________ 17. Is the subject and content of the materials interesting for the students? Yes __ No _____ Comments True. The stories are appealing to the students imagination and emotions, the songs are enjoyable and the games are part of everyday experience for children of this age group._ 18. Is there sufficient variety for your students in the subject and content of the materials? Yes _ No _____ Comments Every student can find itself in almost every subject and content written in this book.____________________________________________________________________ 19. Do the materials avoid harmful stereotypes of different members of society? Yes __ No _____ Comments There are not mentioned members of society such as: rich, poor, dirty, bagger etc._____________________________________________________________________ 20. Do the materials avoid harmful stereotypes of different races and cultures? Do they reflect the multicultural nature of modern society? Yes __ No _____ Comments All races and cultures in the world should be respected and appreciated respectively.______________________________________________________________ 21. Do the materials make use of the IT tools and technology? Yes __ No _____ Comments Now we face the challenge of teaching our students to use ICT, as a learning tool in the classroom and as a means of accessing information outside_________________________ 22. Is there a compatible set of audiovisual materials to accompany the materials? Yes __ No _____ Comments CDs, DVDs, videos and flashcards are included in each unit in order to develop listening and oral skills.____________________________________________________________

Guidance 23. Do the materials contain clear guidance for the teacher about how they can be used to the best advantage (for example in a teachers book)? Yes __ No _____ Comments The teachers book has complete lesson notes with keys for all the activities, optional extra activities, tests, photocopiable worksheets etc._______________________________ 24. Are there materials clearly written for your students and are the objectives clearly stated for both students and teacher? Yes __ No _____ Comments Everything is written in perfect manner and all the objectives are stated for the teacher as well as the students.________________________________________________________ Conclusion 25. Would you recommend adopting (or continuing with) these materials for your students? Yes __ No _____ Comments As a teacher Im addicted to this book and I truly recommend it to all present and future teachers that cant decide which book is appropriate to this group of children.__________

RECOMMENDATION OF THE TEXTBOOK / TEACHING MATERIALS (Write the recommendation in 350 -400 words including information and findings from the questionnaire.) RECOMMENDATION ON BOOK EHGLISH ADVENTURE 1 English Adventure Level 1 is a book which delivers a great knowledge of English for children of age 7 to 9. Teachers who have worked and will be working with English Adventure 1 will find that the vocabulary and structures are systematically ordered. In English Adventure 1, a wide range of basic communicative functions are presented: exchanging personal information, expressing ideas, opinions and feelings, talking about what is happening at the moment, talking about daily routine, quantity and possessions, describing the surroundings and the weather and identifying and saying the days and the seasons._________ The language skills are being constantly reactivated and extended; there are many dialogues of asking and answering, listening to short passages for gist and for specific information, expressing immediate needs in the classroom, reading messages and short texts to extract information and developing an awareness of rhythm, intonation and stress in oral texts. In the book the skills of reading and writing play a prominent role._________________ This book covers the main objectives involved in the teaching process which are:____ -developing a positive attitude to English by providing a context in which learning a foreign language is stimulating and fun,_________________________________________________ -presenting activities and materials which allow students to explore different topics and concepts while they learn the new language, _______________________________________ -catering varied learning styles so that all types of learner can find something to capture and maintain his or her interest, _____________________________________________________ -encouraging students to take an active role in their learning and to reflect on their progress, _ -also establishing a solid basis on which the students can continually build in the following years.______________________________________________________________ ________ The Pupils Book consists of an introductory unit, then eight core units with regular reviews. At the back there is a magazine section, Our World, which is intended to develop socio-cultural themes related to the units. There are also three festivals incorporated into the teaching programme. Each lesson is designed for duration of between forty-five minutes and an hour and follows a basic pattern. Artistic and creative activities are also included in all the units and each teaching unit has a corresponding set of flash cards. ___ _________________ The English Adventure 1 Book is founded on the principle that children have different talents, all of which need to be given the opportunity to succeed thus enabling each student to develop their abilities to the maximum. By participating in the numerous pair work and group activities which are there in the book, students are getting to know their classmates better and will easily learn to work together, thus developing their interpersonal and social skills. In English Adventure 1, the students are encouraged to play as active role as possible so that they feel more important, and in that way their motivation and interest increases and their learning becomes more meaningful. The Teachers Book includes detailed teaching notes which help promoting a specific way of working in the classroom. _______________________________ In addition to learning as demonstrated by formal training and experience opportunities which the textbook provides for the learner, other personal traits such as self-

confidence, creativeness and attitudes towards innovation, taking risks, problem solving and involvement are to be taken into account when identifying evaluation criteria. I give my recommendation on this book because its amusing, lively, colourful, systematically organized, its themes are well-developed, picturesque, overwhelming, evocative and powerful for childs mental and physical maturity. __________________________________________