New Inside Out

A good general English textbook with ample opportunity for students to practice both in and out of the classroom, using both the book and the accompanying CD-Rom.

Author: Sue Kay & Vaughan Jones
Publisher: Macmillan
Components: Elementary Student’s book with CD-R

This is a general English textbook using British English. I haven’t seen the old version of this textbook, so I can’t comment on the writers’ stated improvements. However, I must say that on the whole, I enjoy using this book. I have mostly used it with an older student in a private lesson but I have also used parts of the book and CD-Rom in my group high-school class. Students seemed to also enjoy using this book.

The topics are relevant and set out in an easily navigable form. There are numerous examples of the target language and good use of colour photographs and pictures make for a visually interesting book. Chapters end with a section on useful daily expressions and vocabulary-building exercises, helping students to build up a stock of phrases and words. There is a review chapter every four chapters and at the end of the book there are additional activities and a section with grammar notes with further exercises.

My main criticism is a lack of writing space. The textbook provides many opportunities for students to practice the target language – which is great – but the spaces provided for students to write in are very small and this has caused some problems for students not used to writing in English.

Another minor point is that the textbook is geared toward people living in Britain so some of the cultural references are not always understood by Japanese students. Indeed, I don’t always know the people referred to in the book! Be prepared to explain or answer questions on the British royal family, TV stars, singers, etc.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the class CD set. Transcripts are, however, provided at the back of the book, so the teacher could either read the transcripts out loud or use them as extra reading practice for students as I did. The students’ book also comes with a CD-Rom which I have used in class. I have played the short video clips so students can practice listening to other voices and accents. In a group class with access to only one computer, it is impractical for students to do the interactive activities. I simply made worksheets to go with the videos and it went quite well. Of course, for students who are computer literate and have access to a computer, the CD-Rom provides numerous opportunities to practice what they’ve studied in class.

In summary, this is a good general English textbook. There is ample opportunity for students to practice both in and out of the classroom, using both the book and the accompanying CD-Rom. Whilst I would say the book is geared towards adults, it can be used successfully with high-school students too.