Course material IntroductionWhen I decided I wanted to

Introduction

When I decided I wanted to compare of course materials used for adult students here in Germany I contacted a teacher that has been working in Munich for over 15 years and asked here if she could help me. I did lend several books from here but in the end I chose to use two books. My chose depended on that these books where suitable for a comparative study because they aimed for the same level of students. The first book is called 'Network' and is a stage 1 book printed in 2001. The other book I chose to use is also a stage 1 book and is called 'First choice'. The reason for me choosing this book is that it is the newest book I managed to get a hold of and it is printed. My aim was to see how these books matched what I have been taught during the TEFL course and how user friendly they are both for students and for teachers. I have also looked at what the content of the books include and where they are putting the emphasis in the material.

Comparative study

'Network' 2001

Looking at the table of content you can see that the book is focusing on learning to speak to people during your traveling. It starts up with meeting new people and continues with different places, money, travel and so on. This is a book that is easily used in different age groups. The structure of the book is built on dialogue, activities, grammar followed by home study. When you get to the activities the instructions are given in German. Every unit is divided in to three stops where you build up the conversation. In the end of every unit there is a review that sums the whole unit and gives the student a chance to reflect on there own development. After the unit there is a learner tip that again is in German. After there is a part called exchange of information. This is supposed to be team work exercises for the student to do both verbally and written. A good part but still way use German in the instructions. Another good thing is that you will get the tape conversations in writing. This I like because then the students can follow in the conversation and also on there own go back and repeat if there is something they have missed. The grammar part is built up as a key for example there is one key that shows how you change irregular verbs. The grammar part is easy to get an over view of.

'First choice' 2005

The book starts with a presentation both of the characters of the book and then it gives the students the task to get to learn each other. Short instructions made in English but all longer instructions are made in German. Even if this should be a general book for English students I find that the book is aimed towards young adults and towards business studies. Already in unit two they are showing how you are using the language writing short SMS messages. The start is very business oriented and in unit three the family is coming in. They work with different accents and event this time it is mostly concentrated towards business. The structure of the book is built up by an initiating dialog to listen to, tasks for the students, practical task, pronunciation and another task. The structure is more varied compared to 'network'. There is a grammar summary in the end that compares German and English grammar, again not very good if the teacher is not German. There is a phrase book added to the main book and there is also the vocabulary connected to the different units.

Conclusion

What surprised me most was that the books where using German for instructions and for the grammar part. During the TEFL course we have been instructed not to use the student's native language and hare the instructions are made mostly in German. The grammar part is all in German in 'Network' and for me who is not German speaking this would be a problem because I can't understand what explanation they are using in the book. Both of the books have a r in the review end of the units and I like this structure because it gives the students the possibility to e active in there learning by seeing what they can and cant.

Literature:

'Network 1', 2001,red. Doris Michels, M'nchen, ISBN3-526-50427-X

'First Choice', 2005, red. S. Sh'ltz, C. House, Berlin, ISBN 3-