Presentation by Dayna House, Senior English Language Fellow 2012 U.S. State Department (December 2012)

1. ADAPTING THE ENGLISH TEXTBOOK
TO YOUR STUDENTS’ NEEDS.
Dayna House,
Senior English Language Fellow 2012
U.S. State Department
http://argentina.usembassy.gov/english_teaching.
html

2. The Question
Why should teachers reinvent
activities when publishers have
already developed appropriate
instructional sequences, lesson
designs, and activities for each
subject?

3. The Answers….
1. Textbooks are designed so that the
format of all lessons is the same. This
uniformity makes textbooks easier to:
a. Write
b. Teach from
but it can also lead to boredom as the
same sequence of activities is followed
day after day.

4. 2. The materials are designed to appeal
to the same "generic" student
interests. This means that the design
of the textbook is "one size fits all.“
a. Teachers know that a single set of
materials cannot meet all the needs
and interests of all their students.

5. Don't you be a stumbling block to your
learners' progress
SO….Use the texts, but supplement
and adapt them to the needs of
your students
This builds Student’s confidence
that you are concerned about their
needs and not just following a
program.

6. Erroneous practices
Here are some common errors that can be
easily remedied.
1. You Don't adapt materials to the learning
style and characteristics of the students.
2. You only Follow the course book.
3. You Don't encourage and promote language
practice outside the classroom.
4. Ask for your students’ feedback to improve
your teaching

7. Mechanical Language Texts and
our own teaching practices can
derail the students' efforts and
motivation in language acquisition
Analyze your own teaching
practices and make any needed
adjustments to your teaching.

8. The learning style most reflected in the
classroom is that of the teacher.
But, It is important that concepts and material be
presented in ways most suitable for the learners. Jack C.
Richards, author of the popular Interchange textbook
series said,
"Student learning styles may be an important factor in the
success of teaching and may not necessarily reflect those
that teachers recommend."
Why is this true? Because teachers use their own
preferred learning style in the class room, not necessarily
those of the students.
Analyze your student’s learning characteristics, then apply
the results to your teaching.

9. Take the M. I. Test

10. 2. A course book is not intended to be
a "bible"
Too often teachers follow it "religiously“ and do nothing
else, nor do they include outside materials in their teaching.
1. Read the teacher's notes at the beginning. You will read
how the course book is intended as a guide for teaching
with supplementary materials to be added to
expand, deepen or reinforce presented materials and
themes.
2. Use the course book sequence as a guide and freely
supplement exercises and materials with your own creations
or at the very least with materials adapted from other
sources.
3. And again, plan your lessons and materials to meet the

11. Table of the Multiple Intelligences Synthesized
Type
Read “When Presenting Information”
Preference Strength Ss. Learn Best By And Need When presenting the information
1.Verbal/Linguistic Write Writing Reading Books - Present Content Verbally
Read Memorizing Dates Thinking In Words Tapes - Ask Questions Aloud And Look For Ss. Feedback - Use Interviews
Tell Stories Telling Stories Paper Diaries -Ask Ss. To Present Material
Talk Writing Tools - Ask Ss. To Read Content & Prepare Presentations For Classmates
Memorize Dialogue - Have Ss. Debate Over An Issue
Work At Solving Puzzles Discussion
Debated
Stories, Etc..
2. Logical/ Mathematical Question Work With Numbers Math Logic Working With Patterns & Relationships -Provide Brain Teasers Or Challenging Questions To Begin Lessons.
Experiment Solve Problems Problem-Solving Reasoning Classifying Categorizing - Make Logical Connections Between The Subject Matter & Authentic Situations To Answer The Question
Patterns Working With The Abstract "Why?" -Have Ss. Categorize Information In Logical Sequences For Organizing.
Needs: Things To Think –Have Ss. Create Graphs Or Charts To Explain Written Info. –Have Ss. Participate In Web
About & Explore-- Science Materials, Quests Associated With The Content
Manipulative, Trips To The Planetarium &
Science Museum.
3. Visual/Spatial Draw Build Maps Legos Video -Use Visuals To Explain Content: Powerpoint Slides, Charts, Graphs, Cartoons, Videos, Overheads,
Design Create Reading Charts Movies Slides -Have Students Work Individually Or In Groups To Create Visuals Pertaining To The Information
Daydream Look At Pictures Drawing Mazes Art Imagination Games - Use Posters; Timelines; Models; Powerpoint Slides; Maps; Illustrations, Charts; Concept Mapping
Puzzles Imagining Things Mazes Puzzles
Visualization Illustrated Book Trips To Art
Museums
4. Bodily/Kinesthetic Move Around Touch And Talk Athletics Dancing Touching Moving -Use Props During Lecture - Provide Tangible Items Pertaining To
Body Language Crafts Using Tools Knowledge Through Body Sensations Content For Ss. to Examine -Review Using Sports Related
Acting Processing Examples (Throw A Ball To Someone To Answer A Question) -
Needs: Role-Play Students Use Computers To Research Subject Matter. - Students
Drama Things To Build Create Props Of Their Own Explaining Subject Matter (Shadow Boxes, Mobiles, Etc...)
Movement Sports And - Students Create Review Games.
Physical Games
Tactile Experiences Hands-On Learning

12. 3. It is essential for learners to receive additional
practice and input.
It is alarming number of schools and institutes
decreasing foreign language class contact hours per
week.
-Many public or government-funded educational
centers require as little as four hours or less a week.
-Can a student really learn a language in only 45
hours?
-Now, add the fact that learners are using their first
language most of the day of language learning and you
have a situation degraded to a nearly impossible state.

13. Discuss ideas to do this
-Put this way, is it reasonable to expect mastery of any
sort in a language after only six or seven days in a
foreign country where that language is spoken?
It is no wonder students can't hold even a basic
conversation after studying English (or another foreign
language) under these conditions for two, three or
even more years.
Encouragement and promotion of
foreign language practice outside
the class room is absolutely vital to
the success of the learners.

14. 4. Ask for your students’ feedback to
improve your teaching
Feedback from your students is very important to
know which activities they enjoyed the most at the
end of the class, then adapt your lesson plans
based on their feedback.
This can help you better understand the teaching
methods that are most effective for your students.
Adapting your lessons to your students’ language
level and learning style is the best way to meet
their language need.

15. Don't you be a stumbling block to your
learners' progress.
If you are guilty of any of these
erroneous practices in language
teaching, make any needed adjustments
to your teaching practice ASAP.
You may be amazed how your learners
grow, improve and become motivated
to practice in the language classroom.

16. How to Adapt the Text
1. Leave out a unit or units
a. Leave out the first or second units of the
book when they already know the concepts(it
is being recycled)
b. Leave out a unit with a grammar point that
is introduced later on as there is a unit that
does contrasting of two tenses (e.g. Present
Perfect/ Simple Past)

17. 2. Combine grammar points
-If the students have done the Present Continuous
and Past Continuous before in a previous year, in
your class, do all the Continuous tenses together.
-Choose a few exercises from the different
chapters of the textbook and workbook to
illustrate the similarities and differences between
those two tenses and the Future Continuous and
Present Perfect Continuous.
-Then consider those units done. You can go back
to other parts of the units later if needed to
reinforce or assign it at homework

18. 3. Leave out the same section each
time.
You might be surprised that
leaving out the same tasks at
the end of units or the Test
Yourself sections doesn’t take
anything away from the
students learning.

19. 4. Let the class choose
Allow students to express their own
opinion on what they do and don’t want
to learn.
Let the class to look at the syllabus at the
front of the students’ book and decide
THEIR PRIORITIES AND what they are
happy to leave out.

20. For Classes that still expect the teacher
to make all learning decisions:
a. teachers can do a needs analysis and guide
the class to embrace different options. for
example:
• “After identifying the grammar points you
feel you already know, we can skim over the
easier units and work on fluency. Then we
can concentrate and try to push your level
up with more the difficult grammar
structures and idiomatic language”

21. 5. Set textbook exercises for homework
and eliminate the workbook
If the workbook has a key, set the
textbook exercise as obligatory and
the workbook as optional extras,
perhaps telling students which
workbook exercises would be most
useful for them to work on their
own.

22. 6. Turn the book activities into
communication games
Adapt textbook activities to engage
students in group or pair work and
create communicative games and
activities
Once you've decided how you want to
actively engage your students(M.I.),
make sure students understand the
procedures of the communicative
Activity you intend to use.

23. Discuss: Share ways you have turned you Book
grammar exercise into a communicative activity.
For Example:
Turned readings into jigsaw readings by getting
students to read half of the text each and
compare their information
Find someone who activity.

24. 7. Check answers to comprehension
activities after the first student finishes
Take a look at comprehension activities in the
textbooks and redesign them in light of the AMOUNT
of the activity itself.
Redesigning the activity in light of “AMOUNT" is about
the obligatory and optional tasks.
Ss. can be asked to answer a certain number of
questions.
For example, low-performing ESL students can list four
answers, while the stronger students can list more
than four answers.
As long as all the students have answered at least
three questions, before asking for the answer.

25. 8. Decide which individual questions
you will leave out
• This is a variation of #7
For example, “Do exercise
three, but don’t do questions 7
and 8 because they are only
true for British English”.

26. 9. When working on less challenging
exercises, stop when they’ve got the hang of it
• Work through exercises together and
at some point say
“Well, I think you’ve got the hang of
that. Let’s move onto the next
exercise/ language point, which is
more challenging/ useful/ related to
the exam”

27. 10. Stop the exercise and leave the
rest for homework
This is a variation of #9 that can be
more suitable for students who don’t
easily accept things being completely
left out.
Or those who are sensitive about
how much money they paid for the
book.

28. 11. Set different tasks for the slower
students
Cater to the student’s level(blooms Taxonomy) of
difficulty of the task.
The teacher can adapt the task to suit all three
levels: lower, middle and stronger.
This gives the student a choice of activities.
You may have to adapt the language of the activity
and the instructions of the activity itself to suit the
level of the student's linguistic ability.
• For example, “Leave questions 3 and 6 until the
end, and only do them if you have time”

29. Take a minute
Look at Blooms Taxonomy

32. 12. Simplify the grammar points
• You don’t have to give students every
meaning/use for a grammar item.
• You might want to leave out one of the
meanings for example of the Present Perfect or
one exception to almost always using a
determiner in English.
• If you do this, make sure that you can adapt or
leave it out of later exercises so that these
points don’t come up.

33. • This can also give you a justification
for leaving out other exercises
- “Exercise 4 is a bit different from the
grammar we have seen, so we won’t
do that one”

34. 13. Decide what you can rush through and
what students will need more time on.
• decide and tell your students which
parts you are going to rush or skim
through because they are too easy, too
similar to other things you have done
before or will be done again later.
• You can then tell them this will leave
more time for the things that are worth
spending time on.

35. 14. Use the whole book, but in a
different order
• This means that you will cover all the most
important points and that the students
might never notice that you have missed
anything.
• Ways of making the logic of the process
clear to students giving them a syllabus for
the first few weeks showing them that you
have an actual plan for how you are
choosing what comes next.

36. • This works best with books that
are meant to be modular rather
than ones that build on the
language and increase the
difficulty of texts as the units go
on.

37. ITSON textbook
• Here is an example of a syllabus I had to
reorder when I worked in Mexico at the
Instituto Tecnologico de Sonora.
• The textbook for English Course I & Course II
were compilations of Level I,II,III of other
published course books but were in random
order.
• Here is what I had to do.

38. Notice that
descriptive
adjectives were on
pg. 263-265. I had
Ss. do these
activities in week 1
Infinitive verbs
were on
Pg. 265 also so I
had Ss.
Do these activities
week 1

39. Plural nouns were
on pg.
150 – 151 and I had
Ss. do
Activities week 3

40. Prepositions were
On pg. 39 & 174
and I had Ss. do
activities week 4

41. • It is up to the teacher to order the learning in
a coherent way. If the text you are using
doesn’t do this, it is then your job. Otherwise
Students will just be confused.

42. Don't be a stumbling block to your
learners' progress.
Poorly used Language texts and classroom
methodology can easily derail the students'
efforts and motivation in language acquisition
and learning.
Analyze your own teaching practices and make
any needed adjustments to your teaching.
You will be surprised how your learners are
motivates and improve language skills like
never before.

43. Discuss
• Share 3 things that you learned in
today’s workshop with your
neighbors

44. Los Certificados
serán electrónicos y los recibirán dentro de los 7
días siguientes, quienes tengan urgencia lo
soliciten a Vicky
politicalinguisticagcba@gmail.com
o le decís la dirección de la escuela que lo pida
en idiomas@buenosaires.gob.ar
y se le enviará en el día. Aclaren que es urgente y
lo recibirán dentro de las 24 hrs. El resto, dentro
de los 7 días.

45. To receive a copy of this powerpoint
presentation to share with your
colleagues, write me @
elfdaynahouse@gmail.com
VISIT - U.S. Embassy website
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english_teaching.html &
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