TEFL Reviews

Phrazzle Me is a good, fun way for students to reflect on language structures and vocabulary; and one that they really enjoyed.

The “BEC Higher Testbuilder” comprises the book itself, including all answer keys and listening transcripts, plus an audio CD. This is an effective, no-nonsense exam practice book – accurate, authentic and helpful, but with limited classroom use.

An important textbook for anyone interested in corpus development or vocabulary teaching.

Online materials for teacher-led or self-study classes showing real-life language in use

SkillsWork is advertised as a book for “integrated skills work and language practice”

Zoltán Dörnyei has published extensively on learner issues such as motivation, individual differences and in his most recent work he considers the exceptionally broad topic of ‘The Psychology of Second Language Acquisition’ (also available from OUP, published 2008). In the book I am reviewing here, however, he presents an accessible overview of research methods in applied linguistics.

This book is aimed at students at intermediate level and judging by the contents I would say it is most suitable for young adults. There is a student’s book, workbook and two CDs, one for the listening exercises and one for the reading texts.

I love these books, and I love the audio CD and video DVDs that accompany them. This is great stuff – not just another graded reader, but a cross curricular multi skills learning resource.

Part online education platform, part social networking site, EduFire seeks to “revolutionize education” by providing an environment for teachers to meet and teach students.

A clear-cut, no-nonsense course for elementary and pre-intermediate students in technical fields, with a focus on communicative tasks and skills practice

Components: Self-study book with key
Author: Alastair Lane
Publisher: Heinle
The Spotlight on FCE Exam Booster is designed as a supplement to the Student’s Book by the same name, and is really good. Like the Student’s Book, it is well set out- but I actually found it much easier to navigate. It is jam-packed with useful

Authors: Jon Naunton and John Hughes
Publisher: Heinle
I will admit that before opening this text I had to look up what FCE actually was. FCE stands for the Cambridge ESOL First Certificate in English, which made me apprehensive about opening the textbook as there are so many test preparation books on the market that I was [...]

Full title: Multilingualism and Assessment: Achieving transparency, assuring quality, sustaining diversity – Proceedings of the ALTE Berlin Conference May 2005
Edited by: Lynda Taylor and Cyril J Weir
Published by: Cambridge University Press
This book is one of many in Cambridge’s Studies in Language Testing series. This volume is compiled of 20 edited papers that were presented at [...]

Components reviewed: Student’s Book, Teacher’s Book, Workbook, Teacher’s Resource Book, DVD, Class Audio, website
Authors: Gill Holley, Robert Metcalf
Publisher: Richmond Publishing
Summary: A flexible, modern, and relevant course pack perfect for young adult learners.
If you ask any English language teacher what they find most frustrating about their textbook, many of the complaints would probably be the same: [...]

Publisher: Macmillan
Authors: John Allison et al
Components reviewed: Student’s Book, DVD-ROM and online components

This is a smart and well presented, thoroughly modern Business English course book which addresses all the difficult and dubious issues of BE at advanced level with accuracy and

Experience a fast, easy and efficient way to learn through images how to teach EFL

Full title: Teacher Development Interactive: Fundamentals of English Language Teaching
Components reviewed: Online course for teachers
Publisher: Pearson Longman
Summary: A good crash course in ESL theory and methodology for teachers new to the field of English language teaching.
Review
When I began teaching English as a foreign language in Korea, I found myself thrown in front of a class [...]

Authors: David Gordon Smith and Eric Baber
Publisher: Keyways Publishing
Reviewed by: Anton Elloway
Teaching English with Information Technology (2005) is a practical book which explains how to use the internet and IT when teaching English. Aimed primarily at English teachers who have little or no experience of using Information Technology (IT) in their teaching, it offers a [...]

Components: Online course management tool
Series Editors: Frances Boyd and Carol Numrich
Published by: Pearson Longman
Summary: MyNorthStarLab is a great resource for NorthStar teachers looking to add a customizable online component to their courses.

Review
MyNorthStarLab is an online course management tool for the NorthStar academic English series. Similar to WebCT or Moodle, it allows teachers to electronically manage [...]

Full title: IELTS Foundation Study Skills: A self-study course for General Training Modules
Authors: Amanda French, Rachael Roberts, Joanne Gakonga, Andrew Preshous
Publisher: Macmillan
Components: Textbook and Audio CD
Summary: A basic self-study text for IELTS learners at around the IELTS 4.5-5 bands, including all four skills and aimed at General Training Exam
Review
When I received this text and saw [...]

Authors: Caroline Nixon and Michael Tomlinson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Components Reviewed: Pupil’s Book, DVD with Teacher’s Booklet
Reviewed by: Kaithe Greene
Summary: Great kid’s course: colourful, interesting, fun and full of language – what more could you ask from a kid’s course book that doubles as a preparation course for the Starters level Cambridge young learner’s exam?
Review
Like many [...]

Full title: Common mistakes at IELTS Advanced…and how to avoid them
Author: Julie Moore
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Review by: Saul Pope
Summary: An important component of any advanced IELTS course
Review
IELTS can be a notoriously tricky course to teach, especially for the more inexperienced teacher. You’re almost guaranteed to have a mixed ability group, students may want to take [...]

Full title: World Englishes: Implications for International Communication and English Language Teaching
Author: Andy Kirkpatrick
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Reviewed by: Eric Roth
Do the English in England speak the same English as the Americans, the Jamaicans, the South Africans, the Australians, the Irish, and the Indians? Do they even speak the same English as they did 100 years [...]

Learning and Teaching English: A course for teachers
Authors: Cora Lindsay & Paul Knight
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Components: Teachers’ Resource Book with Audio CD
Learning to Teach English: A practical introduction for new teachers
Author: Peter Watkins
Publisher: Delta Publishing
Components: Teachers’ Resource Book
Summary: Two more teaching books fight to make themselves heard in a crowded niche of the market.
Review
Every publishing [...]

Components reviewed: Student’s Book, Exam Maximiser with answers and audio CD, Audio CD, iTestsAuthors: Nick Kenny, Jacky Newbrook, Richard Acklam and Elaine Boyd
Publisher: Pearson Longman
Summary: Many new elements make this pack attractive for both teachers and learners. Do not miss the computer- and web-based practice.

Components reviewed: Student’s Book, CD (Teacher’s Book also available)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Author: Ian MacKenzie
Summary: A very detailed, narrowly-focused look at the vocabulary of Financial English, with decently presented grammar explanations and a focus on functions.

Author: John Hughes
Publisher: Keyways Publishing
On my office wall I have a painting done by a very good friend of mine. It shows two young men walking along a cobbled street in Mexico. Both are wearing casual western clothes and large hats to protect themselves from the sun. They are both carrying large backpacks (or as [...]

Components: Handbook for English language teachers
Author: Priscilla Osborne
Publisher: Keyways Publishing Ltd
This book is aimed at English language teachers who want to get the best out of their one-to-one classes and is packed full of ideas and suggestions to make the one-to-one teaching experience enjoyable and productive. The first few chapters offer basic information about the [...]

Authors: David Grant and Robert McLarty
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Components reviewed: Student’s Book, multiROM
Summary: Business Basics (updated for the international workplace) is a communication-based, user-friendly, highly visual and attractive introduction to ‘the language of business’.
Review:

What is new/different about the materials
The most obvious change in the latest edition of Business Basics is that it says that [...]

Components: Book and integrated Audio CD for Classroom use or self-study
Author: David King
Publisher: DELTA Publishing
Summary: An excellent learner-centered resource for ESP learners at the Pre-Intermediate to Intermediate level.
Review:
Part of the DELTA Business Communication Skills series, Meetings fills a definite niche by bringing all the language needed for various aspects of meetings into one resource, with [...]

Authors: Sally Burgess with Jacky Newbrook and Judith Wilson
Components reviewed: Student’s Book, Exam Maximiser with answers and audio CD, Teacher’s book, Audio CD, iTests
Publisher: Pearson Longman

Summary: Studying for FCE can be motivating as well!
Review:
This is a good time to be reviewing FCE books as the First Certificate in English exam has had a number of [...]

Components: Dictionary, CD-Rom
Publisher: Pearson Longman
There are a number of learner’s dictionaries available on the market and the Longman Dictionary of American English is one of them. It is well presented, colourful and easy to use and is aimed at intermediate and above

Author: Jane Spiro
Publisher: Oxford University Press.
Material consists of : Book for teachers
Creative Poetry Writing is an “ideas” book for teachers who want to introduce or develop poetic writing skills in their teaching programmes. It is a thorough and well-organised text with plenty of useful examples which have a lot of scope for scaffolding illustrating the [...]

Authors: Vanessa Jakeman and Claire McDowell
Components reviewed: Student’s Book with answers and Audio CD
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Summary: A no-nonsense, supportive and well-designed approach to the IELTS exam
Review: We’ve all been there. The Director of Studies waltzes into the staff room and tells you that you’ve got a new IELTS group. It’s in-company, the students have [...]

Authors: John Morgan and Mario Rinvolucri
Components: Book for teachers
Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary: Provides a wide range of fun, effective classroom activities for learning vocabulary that range in level from beginner to advanced.
Review:
Vocabulary aims to provide teachers with a wide range of activities not typically found in other vocabulary books, including activities that are so fun [...]

Publisher: Obunsha
Components: Nintendo DS software
Reviewedby: Kelly Quinn
Summary: The Nintendo DS game system provides a unique platform to review and study skills and strategies tested by the TOEIC test.
Review:
The Nintendo DS is a game platform introduced in 2004.  Since then it has proved wildly successful, selling more than 25 million units in the United States alone [...]

Full title: Uncovering CLIL: Content and Language Integrated Learning in Bilingual and Multilingual Education
Authors: Peeter Mehisto, David Marsh and Maria Jesus Frigols.
Publisher: MacMillan
Uncovering CLIL appears to be a relatively simple book with a very simple layout at first glance but it is in actual fact rich in content. It is divided into eight chapters in [...]

Author: Tricia Hedge
Publisher: Oxford University Press (Resource Books for Teachers series)

Summary: A highly recommended resource book for the teachers’ bookshelf.
Review:
Writing is probably one of the best writing resource books available. Every English teacher who teaches writing, or wants to teach more writing, will find something of interest in this book.
After all, it has 100 teaching [...]

Components: Handbook for managers of language teaching organizations and accompanying online glossary
Authors: Ron White, Andy Hockley, Julie van der Horst Jansen and Melissa S. Laughner
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

This book is aimed at both current managers of language teaching organizations and aspiring managers, be it as owner, DOS, ADOS, Academic Director or in any other supervisory [...]

Author: Gordon Lewis
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Components: Teacher’s resource book

The TEFL industry is notoriously slow at adopting new technology. Unless you are lucky enough to work for a company or institution that is profitable and brave enough to make a sizeable investment the chances are that a lot of your lesson preparation is still spent [...]

Authors: Peta Gray and Sue Leather
Publisher: Delta Publishing
Components: Teacher’s Resource Book
With a title that seems to take inspiration from the habit common among Japanese learners of English of over-using noun forms, I was a somewhat sceptical of how much this book would help me in the monolingual classroom environment. The writers purport to want “unlock [...]

Components: Self-Study Book
Authors: Felicity O’Dell and Michael McCarthy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary: Well worth the trouble for students preparing for high-level examinations and teachers of advanced students (especially in one-to-one classes).
Review:
As I first flipped through English Collocations in Use – Advanced, I was reminded of my humble beginnings in TEFL.  Freshly certified, unsure how to handle [...]

Components: Book for teachers
Author: Annamaria Pinter
Publisher: Oxford University Press

Review:
This book, Teaching Young Language Learners, immediately caught my attention as I currently teach pre-school to elementary age beginner level children in Japan. But upon reading the introduction, the author, Annamaria Pinter describes that she intends seasoned teachers with an interest in teaching language to children and [...]

Components: Dictionary, CD-Rom
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Summary: Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary was designed to be used as a reference dictionary for upper-intermediate to advanced learners of English.
Review:
The CALD is one of the many learner’s dictionaries available today.  It has been specifically designed for upper-intermediate to advanced learners of English, especially those who are preparing for tests [...]

Author: Hana Svecova
Components: Book for teachers
Publisher: Oxford University Press (Oxford Basics series)
Summary: Cross-curricular activities uses a wide variety of topics as the basis for lesson plans aimed at elementary to intermediate level classes.
Review:
Cross-curricular activities (CCA) tries to show learners how English and cross-curricular subjects fit together. The students are encouraged to see English as not [...]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Components: Book & CD ROM with User’s Guide.
I must be a sad creature because I actually like dictionaries. And, yes, I read them – not cover to cover, but just the important bits, like how to use the edition in my hands. This one appeals to me because it is small and [...]

Components reviewed: Course Book / Class CDs
Publisher: Pearson-Longman
Authors: David Cotton, David Falvey and Simon Kent
As I have also reviewed the Intermediate level of this course, in this review I want to focus on different points and initially look at two particular features of this new edition: the quotes and the vocabulary reference list.

Authors: Viv Lambert and Cheryl Pelteret
Published by: Delta Publishing
Components reviewed: Student Book and Activity Book
An activity-based course book for young learners, Fantastic Flyers is billed as “an excellent course for any young learner in the 11-13 age range” and the authors have truly striven to make this so.

Components reviewed: Course Book / Class CDs
Authors: David Cotton, David Falvey and Simon Kent
Publisher: Pearson Longman
Firstly, this isn’t a new text (New Edition first published in 2005) and although I won’t go so far as to call it ‘timeless’, it definitely warrants a review on TEFL.net. One thing is for sure: many teachers agree that [...]

Authors: Herbert Puchta & Jeff Stranks, et al.
Published by: Cambridge University Press
Components reviewed: Student’s book
This is a general English textbook using British English designed for Junior High School Students. However, I have used it with a group of older students who are false-beginners. Both the students and I have enjoyed using this book.
The units are [...]