coursebooks

As for prescriptive and descriptive grammar, I think that most grammar in coursebooks is more of the descriptive kind – or at least is trying to be.

C is for Coursebook (by Lindsay Clandfield) « An A-Z of ELT 2010

Your very nice idea for “this is where I live” is one I have seen (and used) in coursebooks, I just did not have the space to put the whole blank page.

C is for Coursebook (by Lindsay Clandfield) « An A-Z of ELT 2010

The high number of good-looking, rich and famous people in coursebooks has also been criticized recently.

C is for Coursebook (by Lindsay Clandfield) « An A-Z of ELT 2010

The high number of good-looking, rich and famous people in coursebooks has also been criticized recently.

May « 2010 « An A-Z of ELT 2010

The point you make about using literary texts as a way of introducing more challenging and engaging content into coursebooks is an interesting one – it is exactly the timidity of publishers to exploit the literary canon in American textbooks that so enrages Diane Ravitch.

T is for Taboo « An A-Z of ELT 2010

It seems to me that your main criticism of coursebooks is – not that they are structured around a syllabus of grammar ‘mcnuggets’ but that their texts are anodyne and easily forgettable.

C is for Coursebook (by Lindsay Clandfield) « An A-Z of ELT 2010

It seems to me you’re saying the best way forward when working with coursebooks is to make sure the students are directly involved in how they are used.

C is for Coursebook (by Lindsay Clandfield) « An A-Z of ELT 2010

As for your second point – the way that phrasal verbs are dealt with in coursebooks: they’re a good example of the ‘fuzziness’ of the boundary between lexis and grammar, since they straddle both semantics (word meaning) and sytnax (word order) – they’re an example both of ‘big words’ or ‘small grammar’.

P is for Phrasal Verb « An A-Z of ELT 2010

I found Glennie’s recent comment about revision in coursebooks an interesting one.

S is for Scaffolding « An A-Z of ELT 2010

I wanted to add a further comment here about the importance of innovations reflecting ELT realities in coursebooks here, and use Lindsay’s own series Global as a very effective example.

C is for Coursebook (by Lindsay Clandfield) « An A-Z of ELT 2010