1. Choosing a
Coursebook
Sebastián Concha Ulbrich
Teaching III

2. Icebreaker:

3. Index
• Introduction
• What do you want from a coursebook?
• What can a good coursebook give the teacher?
• What do your learners need from a coursebook?
• The perfect coursebook
• What can you contribute to the coursebook?
• Checklist for choosing a coursebook (two samples)

4. Introduction
Choosing a coursebook is one of the most important selections
which teachers can make. Teachers cannot influence their working
lives in many ways. You cannot choose your teaching hours, your
holiday periods, the classes you teach, the learners who are in
those classes, or the classrooms you use, but you can choose your
coursebook.
You select a coursebook for your learners and for yourself, so you
first need to analyze your learners’ needs and your own needs.

5. What do you want from a
coursebook?
Different things (Interesting cover, bright colors, etc).
Different uses.
As a guideline.
As an instrument to assess the students’ progress.
A huge number of contents.
As a data base where to base a lesson.

6. What can a good coursebook give the teacher?
A good coursebook can help a teacher by providing:
· A clearly thought out programme which is appropriately
sequenced and structured to include progressive revision;
· A wider range of materials than an individual teacher may be
able to collect;
· Security;
· Economy of preparation time;

7. · A source of practical ideas;
· Work that the learners can do on their own so that the teacher
does not need to be center stage all the time;
· A basis for homework if this is required;
· A basis for discussion and comparison with other teachers.
· A source of practical ideas;

8. What do your learners need from a coursebook?
Colorful pictures
Interesting
Exiting
games
Different
activities
Dialogues Songs

9. The perfect coursebook
“The Perfect Coursebook for every teacher and every class does
not exist”.
Evaluate the makeup of your class. Important considerations include:
• The age
• Final course (are the students going to take a test?)
• Objectives
• Whether the class is made up of students learning for work purposes or for hobby.

10. What can you contribute to the coursebook?
• Are you a musician who can
play and sing any songs you need?
• Do you know hundreds of simple
games for your learners to play?
Do
• you have a good competence in
English?
• Are you a great artist who
can draw all the pictures you need?

12. Answer the following question:
What are the potential problems that
you can not avoid at all in a
coursebook? (Name at least 4 of them)

13. Potential problems
• A lot of activities where students do "questions and answers“.
• Learning process boring and uninteresting.
• Lack of challenging reading materials.
• Similarities among coursebook.
• Enough details.

14. Checklist for choosing a coursebook (two samples)

15. Conclusion
• Using course books has its share of benefits and advantages such as having a well
organized content with a consistency in the topics and genres for the four skill area
(listening, speaking, reading, and writing).
• This would be a great help to those inexperienced teachers who are just getting started
into teaching.
• However, nothing in the world is perfect and teachers need to somehow solve the issues
and problems that may come with ESL course books.

16. That’s all