PROPOSAL

Title

Critically assessing and adapting a course book.

Puzzle
How can I ensure a balance between mental engaging and actually occupying activities
when using a course book?

Rationale
Course books might be a helpful source of teaching ideas, however during my
PES 1 I perceived that they frequently contained similar activities throughout the units
(eg. yes/no answers or matching) which did not provide much opportunity for active
language use. So, how can the students acquire a second language with so little
practice? I believe my role as a teacher is to provide them with opportunities to
participate in a variety of activities which allow them to be mentally engaged and
actively practice the English language. To accomplish this I have to ask myself what
can I do better than the course book that it may be useful in overcoming.

Literature Review
At primary levels the students’ capacity for conscious learning of forms and
grammatical patterns is not fully developed, so we need to make the most of their
enormous “instinct for indirect learning” (Halliwell, 1992:6) and set up different forms
of real language use tasks as a part of the process of learning to “let their subconscious
mind work on the processing of language while their conscious mind is focused on the
task” (Halliwell, 1992: 6). Direct learning is also important because it helps “internalise
a new language”, therefore both should be used in the classroom because “ideally we
want both accuracy and fluency to develop” (Halliwell, 1992:5). Using activities such as
competitions or language games, which encourage students to express quite fluently
leads to an increase of attainment.
Usually course books provide these teaching materials but it is “the teacher who
can best organise the events which turn that material into a real language exchange”
(Halliwell, 1992:117) and sometimes it is a good idea to adapt or supplement some of
the course book activities which can be done easily by giving the activities “a little
communicative ‘twist’” (Halliwell, 1992:118). Adapting an empty and boring
repetition exercise with slight interaction using a series of pictures to introduce new
words or phrases into a guessing exercise is modifying it into a “genuine act of
communication” (Halliwell, 1992:118).
Activities which respond to the children’s natural urge to communicate need to
be set up by the teacher to continuously encourage them to do it on their own or by
interacting with their peers. Games serve this purpose because they are very popular and
are easily adaptable, allowing teachers to promote the development of the learner’s
“interactive competence, confidence and fluency” (Sharpe, 2001:146). They are so
“useful (…) not just because they are fun” but “because the fun element creates a desire
to communicate” (Halliwell, 1992:5) and young learners are more likely to acquire
communicative competence when they are stimulated to laugh or feel joy. Like games,
songs can also provide real language use, fun and reinforce positive attitudes towards
the foreign language. While singing songs or saying rhymes the students gradually
internalize the structures and patterns of the language due to their repetitive nature.
Likewise stories encourage the students to interact with their peers and the teacher,
practising chunks, words or short sentences.
Whenever the course book activities do not keep in mind the points above the
teacher can improve them by adapting or even supplementing accordingly.

Research Methodology
 My research consists on how can balance between mental engaging and actually
occupying activities when using a course book. In order to do this I need to assess it.
The apprasal of a course book is a valuable exercise for me as it provides a greater
perceptions of its strenghts and weaknessess which enables me to focus on the weak
points and adapt or supplement them accordingly. In order to do this firstly I need to do
an in-depth internal evaluation of its content and perceive what to adopt. To be able to
do this I have to analyze several features as the following:
- does it cover the four classical skills starting with an oral emphasis moving
gradually to cover the other skills;
- the variation and suitability of the materials/tools provided and whether they
are meaningful, relevant and presented in natural, real/authentic or understandable
contexts (eg. games, songs, stories-picture books);
- are the activities enjoyable and lead to success and motivation;
- do the activities involve the senses and cater for different learning styles;
- are the activities purposeful with which the students get thrilled to discover and
use English to do things and social (eg. group activities), encourage cooperation and
respect.
Secondly I must decide how and what to adapt or supplement to increase the
effectiveness of the programme and maximize the value of the book for the students. If I
decide to adapt I can do it by making changes to materials in order to improve them or
increase their suitability. It can be made through omission, addition, reduction,
extension, re-writing/ modification, replacement, reordering or branching. But if I
decide to supplement I can do it by adding more activities when I feel they are not
suficient, boring or innapropriate. Independently of whether I choose, they must all be
based in authentic language activities, therefore I must take in consideration the purpose
of the activity, its difficulty; relevance and interests; quality and practicality of materials
and cultural appropriatness. In my classroom I can use as authentic language activities
categorizing, projects and posters.

In my research I will use quantitative and qualitative methods.

Quantitative tools:
For the course book
• Set of criterion→ to analyze why I need to adapt/supplement its activities. Using
questions/points to consider, regarding the course book.
For the students
• Questionnaire→to collect information about some of the activities the students have
completed with evidence of their opinions.

Qualitative tools:
• A diary (as soon as I have finished my lesson I will write what I observed during my
lesson and the reasons of what happened in the classroom)
• Samples of materials used in the classroom for the activities.

This data will provide me with information that will help understand:
- If the planned lesson activities went according to my initial expectations
- If not, why
- Compare activities (coursebook and adapted or supplemented ones) in terms of
behaviour/involvement with student´s opinion
- Finally, ascertain if there was a balance between activities.

Stages of my project

In the first stage of my project I chose the title and puzzle and now I am reading
literature related to my topic to develop my research plan.

The next stage will be collecting informed consent from students, parents, the
school board and classroom teachers. I will write letters, whereas with the students I
will use a yes/no grid with smileys to colour.

The third stage involves the intervention with 3 cycles:

• Pre-intervention (1st cycle)

In the first month, I will not adapt or supplement any course book activity. I will
observe and reflect on the students’ behaviour during the activities which I consider are
not mentally engaging. I will also give the students a questionnaire to collect
information about some of the activites they have done, followed by the analysis of the
course book activities.

• Post-intervention (2nd cycle)

After analysing the unit, I will adapt and supplement activities to ensure a balance
between mentally engaging and actually occupying ones; observe and write on a diary
on the students’ responses. Give the students a questionnaire and see if there are
differences in responses and attitudes towards the English language. Reflect on the
classroom observations and questionnaire results.

• Repetition (3rd cycle)

Adapt and supplement further course book activities; observe and write in a diary the
students’ responses. Give the students a questionnaire and see if there are differences in
responses and attitudes towards the English language. Reflect on the classroom
observations and questionnaire results.

The final stage of my project will be to plan for the future and arrive at a conclusion.

Expected benefits and outcomes

Learning a second language is not an easy task and that is why it is important to
perceive that increasing the level of active language use in the classroom is needed.
Throughout this process I hope to find engaging activities that will help the students
achieve this.

Name: Sandra Marina Andrade Saraiva

Ma in Teaching English in the 1st cycle of Portuguese Basic Education
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