TESL 0170: Continued professional development report

I used many resources during my 10 hours of teaching, however, the main resource that was used is the ESL textbook “Skills for Success”. It is the coursebook for Level 4 students taking “English for Academic purposes “ course. All the students had a hard copy of the book whereas the teacher also had the ebook on the oxford learner’s shelf. 

This book proved to be a great help to me. When I was observing the class, I was given one copy by the sponsor teacher. While discussing the chapters, I observed that he used to open up the book online and display it on the smartboard. He would type, write, highlight and check the answers on the ebook. I did the same during my teaching hours. I found that the book is very easy to use and follow. The instructions in the book are very clear. It is divided into units of reading, listening, writing and speaking. There are 15-18 activities for every unit, including video, grammar, and vocabulary games, and alternate unit assignments, as well as a range of tools to encourage student communication, including the online Discussion Board and email. There is a question at the beginning of each unit which makes students think about the topic and gather some ideas. There is also a checklist of the learning outcomes for each unit which keeps students on track and help them achieve their goal. Videos in the unit are mostly documentary style and help in generating the interest of the students in the topic. Writing space is provided on the book itself so they can fill the answers on it and take notes. 

The online version of this book provides extra support for the teachers such as Multilevel teaching tips, Expansion activities, Background notes on the reading or listening texts plus the art in the unit openers, Grammar, and Vocabulary skill notes, Unit Assignment grading rubrics. They can also access Answer keys, Audio scripts and video transcripts, Communicative Grammar worksheets, Discussion Board worksheets with teaching notes to help with the online Discussion Board.

Speaking is supported with discussion points, and writing involves pair work and peer-reviewing, which naturally involves speaking and its various sub-skills. There is also a skill build on dictionary use for identifying word forms and importantly for finding the correct meaning. I covered that part in the class and the students found this useful, as they were having difficulty choosing the correct definition of the word from the dictionary. All in all, every unit has a strong integration of all the skills.

To be honest, I could not find any drawback except that when I was accessing the online version of the book, it would just get stuck there and not go to the next page. Also, the person who is not very comfortable with technology, using the online version is a bit of a challenge but they can take advantage of the printed version. 

I would recommend this book to the English learners who want to learn on their own, at their own pace.