Family and friends 3 american edition student cd time to talk

     

May 2019 – Volume 23, Number 1

PagesISBNPrice

American Family & Friends 3

Author:Tamzin Thompson & Naomi Simmons (2015)
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Publisher:Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press
127 pages978-0194816274 (Paper)$44.70 USD (Student Book)$42.39 (Teacher Book; includes CD/DVD materials

American Family and Friends 3 (Thompson & Simmons, 2015) is third in a six-book series designed for English as a Second Language (ESL) elementary school children. The series focuses on recycling vocabulary & basic grammar concepts for students. Family và Friends 1 begins with basic conversations and skills like counting, based on themes such as family, playing, and clothing. Family & Friends 2 incorporates more grammar concepts, such as asking present tense questions (“Do you have…”) & telling time, based on themes (e.g., school, holidays, etc.). Each book continues khổng lồ increase in proficiency level & includes more complicated grammar concepts. The grammar concepts in Family & Friends 3 include conjugations of “to be” (Unit 1), like + gerunds (Unit 2), possessive adjectives (Unit 3), adjectives lớn describe people & feelings (Units 4-5), routines and time (Unit 6), adverbs of frequency (Unit 7), countable & uncountable nouns (Unit 8), comparatives and superlatives (Unit 9), must for rules and obligations (Unit 10), simple past with affirmatives & negatives (Units 11-13), wh– questions (Unit 14), và future tense (Unit 15).

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Some ESL course books are not easily transferable to different cultural contexts; however, despite their limitations, they have “considerable potential” (Rixon, 2013, phường 232) for the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom when adapted correctly. Although Family and Friends 3 is designed khổng lồ be used in an ESL setting in the United States, many of the topics are relatable lớn an EFL context. In addition, the use of authentic language, vocabulary targeted lớn younger learners, và the use of giải pháp công nghệ make this book transferrable lớn other contexts.

Sometimes course books equip students with inauthentic language which “overprotects learners và does not prepare them for the reality of language use outside the classroom” (Tomlinson, 2012, p. 161). Family và Friends 3 is an exception khổng lồ this, as it provides depth và variety in the language it teaches. For example, students are taught that “I’m nine” is a correct response to “How old are you?” (Thompson và Simmons, 2015, p. 13), rather than the less commonly used “I am nine years old.” Furthermore, Family và Friends 3 has a section called ‘Fluency Time!’ at the kết thúc of every third unit consisting of a conversation, wherein native English-speaking children mã sản phẩm a conversation on the corresponding DVD (Oxford University Press, 2015b).

Family và Friends 3 focuses on vocabulary for younger learners, such as hobbies (Unit 2), animals (Unit 5) and daily routines (Unit 6). For example, the vocabulary in Unit 6 includes “brush my teeth,” “get dressed,” “have breakfast,” và “walk to lớn school” (p. 48). Whether in an ESL or an EFL context, this vocabulary is practical outside of the classroom. Conversely, some of the vocabulary in Unit 5 (pp. 40-47) is not as practical. The unit focuses on zoo animal vocabulary such as “penguin,” “zebra,” & “camel” (p. 40). “General” animals could be more practical for students (e.g., dog, cat, chicken), as many are common in various countries. Family & Friends 3 provides general & practical English vocabulary for EFL students to use inside & outside the classroom. By providing vocabulary that is relevant lớn their daily lives, students will be more motivated lớn talk about themselves in the target language (Ghosn, 2015, p 253).

Technology is crucial for current learners và teachers (Kiddle, 2013), as screens and technology are increasingly prevalent in students’ daily lives. This book provides online components for both teachers và students which complement the curriculum. The teacher’s trang web (Oxford University Press, 2018a) includes articles on teaching, as well as answer keys to lớn student book activities. The student’s website (Oxford University Press, 2018b) includes four games lớn practice English vocabulary, link to videos that are found on the teacher’s DVD, downloadable files of chants and songs in the teacher’s CD, and printable crafts and activities that connect lớn book themes. In addition, the teacher’s book contains a CD with editable tests & worksheets (Oxford University Press, 2015a), allowing teachers the option of using technology to adapt their materials.

Although many components are transferable khổng lồ an EFL setting, there are weaknesses in this book. One weakness is the lack of cultural diversity. Pulverness & Tomlinson (2013) encourage educators lớn avoid promoting “an implicitly superior ‘target’ culture” (p. 444), which is especially important for EFL students. There is minimal representation of other cultures in this book. Although the first unit includes many different characters from many countries (Thompson và Simmons, 2015, pp. 8-15), the characters are fair-skinned và have Anglicized names. One activity shows six boys, all with “American” names (Alex, Lee, Fred, Max, Jack, and Billy) (p. 18). Book characters also appear lớn have more money & go on vacations, và some learners in an EFL context might not be able to lớn relate to lớn these scenarios. This could highlight a juxtaposition of privilege & money between American culture and some EFL settings.

Another weakness of this book is its lack of scaffolding. Scaffolding leads students khổng lồ understand concepts and demonstrate that knowledge (Kong, 2015). Most book activities involve matching and fill-in-the-blank, which are important beginning exercises for learners, but the materials rarely move beyond them. Although there are opportunities for students lớn discuss và use learned grammatical structures, this is the extent lớn which students can showcase their knowledge. In a real-world context, students will need to lớn be able khổng lồ create và develop their own language, and this can be accomplished through scaffolding activities.

As a whole, American Family and Friends 3 has clear grammar concepts và themes, provides flexibility for EFL teachers to lớn adapt materials, models authentic English, utilizes themes & topics that are relatable khổng lồ children around the world, & has CD & DVD resources and online components that tư vấn teachers và students in the growing use of giải pháp công nghệ in education. Although there are limitations, such as an under-representation of other cultures & a lack of scaffolding, this is a good choice for educators who are teaching children in an EFL context và want quality, cost-effective materials.

References

Ghosn, I. (2013). Developing motivating materials for refugee children: From theory to lớn practice. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.) Developing materials for language teaching (pp. 247-267). New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic.

Kiddle, T. (2013). Developing digital language learning materials. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.) Developing materials for language teaching (pp. 189-205). New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic.

Kong, S. (2015). Designing content-language integrated learning materials for late immersion students. TESOL Journal, 6(2), 302-331.

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Oxford University Press. (2015a). Assessment and resource CD-ROM . Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Oxford University Press. (2015b). Fluency DVD . Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Oxford University Press. (2018a). American family & friends teachers site. Retrieved from https://elt.oup.com/teachers/americanfamilyandfriends/?cc=gtandselLanguage=en.

Oxford University Press. (2018b). Students family and friends cấp độ 3. Retrieved from https://elt.oup.com/student/americanfamilyandfriends/level03/?cc=caandselLanguage=en.

Pulverness, A. & Tomlinson, B. (2013). Materials for cultural awareness. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.) Developing materials for language teaching (pp.443-459). New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic.

Reynham, A. (2015). American family and friends 3: Teacher’s book plus (2nd ed.). (2015). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Rixon, S. (2013). Authors’ knowledge, rationales và principles – steady flow-through or stuck in the publishing pipeline? The case of early reading with young learners. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.) Developing materials for language teaching (pp. 229-246). New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic.

Thompson, T. & Simmons, N. (2015). American family and friends 3: Student book (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Tomlinson, B. (2012). State-of-the-Art article: Materials development for language learning and teaching. Language Teaching, 45(2), 143–179.

Reviewed byBeth BrownTrinity Western Universityelisabeth.brown2

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