Coursebook

I agree that dependence on the coursebook is not a good thing, if for no other reason than you eventually get bored and demotivated. ❋ Unknown (2010)

A great discussion to which I would love to add a few more thoughts on coursebooks which still reign on the ELT scene in many countries simply because there are teachers who have no skills, motivation or incentive to go beyond them and millions of learners who have those expecations mentioned by previous commenters – a coursebook is taken as a given and once they buy it, they fret if it is not used fully, unless the teachers or the institution instil the notion that the coursebook is merely a framework on which to build and no more. ❋ Unknown (2010)

Until we have a generation of teachers with full capabilities for varied and versatile activity and materials design, I’m afraid it’s not possible to be talking about dogme classrooms either or inserting dogme moments in coursebook driven syllabuses, whichever suits the teaching context and the particular learners. ❋ Unknown (2010)

That way neither the teacher nor the coursebook is deciding what is and what isn’t taboo for the students, they are. ❋ Unknown (2010)

To pursue that metaphor, for many ‘newbie’ teachers the coursebook will be their water wings for the first year or so, until they feel themselves confident and skilled enough to ‘go dogme’. ❋ Unknown (2010)

Hmmm … I feel a new “Dogway” coursebook thread being started here … what would be the kind of coursebook that has a functional syllabus whilst a the same time being adaptable enough to change direction with the dynamic of the class …? ❋ Unknown (2010)

Yes, most all of ELT is stuck with the coursebook, with most of that being coursebooks delivered by major publishers. ❋ Unknown (2010)

Thanks for making my coursebook writer day, Patrick! ❋ Unknown (2010)

CLT communicative approach comprehension context corpus coursebook definite article dogme drills ❋ Unknown (2010)

But I would love to see some more creativity and fun, some more inspiration, some poetry and literature, too … I would love to see a coursebook that will inspire me. ❋ Unknown (2010)

But what i DO have against some coursebook critics is the unspoken superiority which says that they are somehow right, and that users of coursebooks are selling their students short; that coursebook use is somehow uncreative and that publishers are just money-grabbing cynics who care nothing for education. ❋ Unknown (2010)

And so my over-riding conclusion is that die-hard coursebook critics are actually saying much more about themselves than about coursebooks. ❋ Unknown (2010)

Extremely valuable as a coursebook or for self-study. ❋ Unknown (2009)

As for a coursebook for which students enter content, I think many tasks in existing coursebooks do allow for that. ❋ Unknown (2010)

I wonder if students have such a loathing of the coursebook as some teachers. ❋ Unknown (2010)

When using coursebooks, we must remember that we are only really being presented with a limited idea of how to use the materials and activities (that of the coursebook author/s). ❋ Unknown (2010)

Let; s support and publicise publishers big and small (and independent) trying to do something about what the coursebook represents and the impact it has on classrooms – and let; s keep pushing for more of the same! ❋ Unknown (2010)

Why am I looking for resources on the Internet instead of sticking to a coursebook? ❋ Unknown (2009)

But is the coursebook the best kind of structure for this purpose – and what other kinds of structure might there be? ❋ Unknown (2010)