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name: Lina María Bermeo Sua

code: 20112165014

Selecting Materials. Teachers` role.

Title: Primary communication Box

Publishing House: Cambridge University Press

Authors: Michael Tomlinson and Caroline Nixon

Book Analysis

1. what sort of approach does the book appear to adopt?

ANSWER:

Communicative approach: the book aim to promote speaking and listening so the learners can share and exchange information.

Linguistic approach: in each unit is presented the grammar to be used in it (syntax, phonetics)

2- Does one

approach predominate? Which? Support your answer.

ANSWER: the communicative approach is clearly the predominant one, though the grammar is presented as well, at the beginning of every unit is presented an activity with communicative goals to be practice in class, the language focus of each unit points out to the use of the language.

3- How are new

teaching points graded?

ANSWER:

language focus

kind of activity described

Grammar box

speaking: drills, dialogues

vocabulary games

listening games

writing: filling gaps, complete charts, answer questions, and so on.

4- Is the

organization of the course book linear or cyclical?

ANSWER: the organization is linear

5- Are there

any special pages of units for revision, self testing or reference?

ANSWER: no there is not.

6- What are

the art work and layout like? Are they attractive? Are they useful or only

decorative?

ANSWER: every picture in the book has a purpose to be used, non of them are just decorative. in the book that i have analyzed the pictures are black and white because the purpose is to copy them and use it, however in the pupils book the images are colorful.

7- Does the

book induce examples of authentic language and material? Give examples.

ANSWER: no it does not, as the book is published by Cambridge University, the language used in the book is standard, though i identify a that the language is presented to be used, and each activity promotes the use of what is been taught.

8- Does the

book include workbooks, tests, tapes, videos, on line sources etc…? Are they

useful? Give examples.

the book is accompanied by another book called Kids box, Pupils book. the pupils book includes a CD with songs an listening exercises.

9- Is the book

easy to follow? Why? Does it contain an index?

ANSWER: yes it is easy to follow, the instructions are short and concrete, every unite explains ant the beginning the language focus the type of activity to develop and the materials needed.

10- Does the

material have a specific cultural setting or is it non culture –specific?

ANSWER: not it does not. it is not culture specific.

11- Can you

spot any notable omissions? Will you have to supplement the book in any way?

ANSWER: no, the book by it self contains all the material needed for the development of the units.

12- How is each

unit titled? Is it clear? Functional?

ANSWER: each title refers to the topic to be taught in a creative way, for example, look what we've got! to teach have/has got toys

13- How is new

language presented?

ANSWER: the new language is presented in games, using pictures that can help the kids to understand new vocabulary, translation is not needed for some games because by watching the pictures they learn the vocabulary

14- Does the

presentation of new activities force the teacher to follow the unit sequence of

the book?

ANSWER: thought the book is designed to moved forward from easier topics to more complicated ones, the teacher can decide weather to follow the sequence strictly or not.

15- How new

language is presented in each unit? Is it appropriate for your children?

ANSWER: yes it is appropriate, the vocabulary used on the instructions in clear, and the vocabulary to be learnt is inside their knowledge of the world, i mean, the vocabulary is familiar and they can relate it with the pictures.

16- What kind

of practice activities are there? Are they motivating and meaningful?

ANSWER: there are board games, always aiming to promote speaking, charts to be filled, material to design puppets, listen and draw, lotteries, interviews. i consider that those activities are meaningful because they allow to the students to practice what they are learning.

17- How much

variety of activities is there?

ANSWER: there is a great variety of activities, promoting writing, listening, speaking and reading. we can find in there role plays with puppets, interviewing classmates, board games to chat, crosswords, lotteries, charts to complete with listening, listening and draw, and so on.

18- How is the

vocabulary presented?

ANSWER: The vocabulary is presented in boxes at the beginning, with pictures and on the game itself.

19- is there an

opportunity for reviewing at the end of each unit?

ANSWER: no, there is not opportunity for reviewing, when the unit is over, immediately starts the next one.

20-How

are the different skills treated? Are they integrated?

ANSWER: they are integrated but the focus is on listening and speaking, the writing and listening are a complement for the others. the book aims to promote oral production through games.

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