Abstract Summary Introduction and Theories Objectives and Methodology We aim to show/analyze/study how North Star 5 - Listening and

Speaking, 3rd edition, attends to Brian Tomlinsons principles 2 and 3 of effective materials development in contrast to the great majority of commercial coursebooks. Presentation of the Coursebook PREISS, Sherry. NorthStar 5 - Listening and Speaking. 3rd Edition. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. The coursebook NorthStar 5 Listening and Speaking , of English advanced level, is basically composed by a welcome page of introduction, followed by the approach and the principles that guide the coursebook, and a section that explains the different focuses - Focus on the Topic; Focus on Listening; Focus on Speaking - of the material, how they are formed and how each focus works within the units. Still in this preliminary part, there is an explanation of the components of the material teachers manual and achievement tests; DVD; companion website -, end, at last, an elucidation on MyNorthStarLab, an online learning and assessment program, how it works and its key features. In the sequence, there is the Scope and Sequence, containing all the 10 units of the book, and what each of them is supposed to bring and arouse concerning the theme developed by the unit, critical thinking, listening and speaking skills, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. (REVIEW 2 FIRST PARAGRAPHS) In the very beginning of the 3 rd edition of NorthStar 5 Listening and Speaking, there is an exclusive page of welcome to the prospective students,

which covers what the book is capable of motivating and the special features of its third edition. It is first presented to the forthcoming students that NorthStar motivates them to be successful in their academic as well as their personal language goals. Therefore, it is possible to notice here an initial concern that will be present and developed throughout the book, regarding the students individuality, their personal perspective of language and intended achievements (personal language goals, PREISS, p.4), and also, a special concern related to an academic environment in which these students may be involved with and possibly taking place in. It is claimed that in all levels of the NorthStar series, up to the highest one, level 5 (? CHECK), the two great strands developed - Reading and Writing and Listening and Speaking offer a fully integrated approach for both students and teachers. In the case of the material considered in the present analysis, the attention is on the second great strand, that is, on listening and speaking. The page of welcome to NorthStar reserves a large part of it to present what makes the third edition of the book so special, content that is brought in four major subdivisions. New Themes, the first subdivision, is considered special, since the book is alleged to be updated and to convey a variety of genres, in authentic context, what, according to the author, challenge students intellectually. This concern about bringing authentic and updated material is also present in Tomlinson (2010), the main theoretician considered in this paper, when he considers that it is fundamental that language learners be in contact with authentic and meaningful language in use. The second element presented in this section is entitled Academic Skills. The author states here that in this new edition there is a more purposeful integration of critical thinking and an improved focus on academic skills, such as inferencing and synthesizing, preparing students for success in the classroom and in standardized tests. We soon understand that the main purposes presented and intended by the author, and possibly, by the book series (?), are to give instruments and possibilities to stimulate critical thinking and enhance students skills about elements that would be necessary in taking standardized tests, and as a consequence, preparing them for an eventual academic

atmosphere. Once again, it is preparing students to deal with real-life situations, with significant instruments for those circumstances. The third aspect exposed is the New Design of the third edition. Here it is revealed the importance of full color pages, with a greater number of illustrations, pictures and graphic organizers, in fostering student engagement and in making the contents more realistic. Its important to point out that the aesthetic issue is openly visible when it comes to the design of the material and the emotional involvement that it generates, being it positive or negative. This idea of stimulating aesthetical, intellectual and emotional involvement is a worry much present in Tomlinson and very appreciated by him while presented in one of the principles of language acquisition, in his Principles of effective materials development (2010). And the last feature presented in this section is MyNorthStarLab. The author brings here the online learning and assessment program, which provides students with exclusivities, such as original activities to build academic vocabulary and to promote pronunciation practice using voice recording tools. It also offers focused test preparation to help students succeed in international exams as TOEFL and IELTS, with instant feedback and personalized study plans, for instance. The program helps teachers too, by including flexible gradebook and authoring features that give them the control of content and help them track student progress. Thus, it increases the possibility of students being in contact with the target language of their studies, preparing them for international recognized exams and helps teachers to be in contact with students and students productions outside classroom, what is significant and facilitator in present times, when people are frequently connected to each and connected with the world through the usage of technology. Talk about the NorthStar approach and principles that guide it The Unit is divided into: 1 Focus on the Topic 2 Focus on Listening 3 Focus on Speaking (as we find in Welcome to NorthStar, pages 6 to 10)

- Why we did the choice we did We selected North Star 5 - Listening and Speaking because it clearly attends to Tomlinsons principles 2 and 3. One of the principles of this material is: The more profoundly students are stimulated intellectually and emotionally, the more language they will use and retain . As we can see, the connection to Tomlinson is unquestionable. Is this too strong to say? Research on this connection? both Erica and Cris I guess.. Besides, and because of principles 2 and 3, North Star 5 - Listening and Speaking opposes itself to the majority of materials that we understand as commercial coursebooks. In this context, we take the former as an opportunity to go deeper into the language, thus also in the subject and the latter (commercial coursebooks) as superficial, especially in and for the subject. For the part above is possible to cite English Language Learning Materials A Critical Review by Tomlinson. - What we understand from\as commercial materials - Cris Ill leave this part as it was because what is here is useful for commercials materials anyway. We thought about using pattern of commercial materials The Wise Up Series - Book 4 clearly sells itself as it carries the name of a language school. As any kind of enterprise, the material and the school possess a slogan: Ingls Inteligente which means in a way that the others are not bright at all !!! rsrs It presents itself to the learners as a material that works with the most new methodology in language learning and etc. Description of the (Coursebooks or units?) and Analysis No changes in this part yet. - North Star 5 - Listening and Speaking The units of North Star are built on a theme, thus listening and speaking parts are totally interconnected.

For our analysis we selected unit 6 - Spiritual Renewal because it explicits the focus on the subject. Its theme is religion which is definitely a deep and personal issue as it has the potential to stimulate the expression of the self. As it appears in the syllabus, the content of unit 6 is: Theme: Religion Listening One: The Religious Traditions of Fasting - A radio interview Listening Two: Describing Monastic Life - A radio interview Critical Thinking Separate fact from myth Infer word meaning from context Analyze and discuss different opinions Recognize similarities and differences among various religions Understand the importance and value of religious rituals Listening Make predictions Listen for main ideas Listen for details Make inferences about a speakers intention Organize and synthesize information from the listenings Speaking Discuss background knowledge and personal beliefs Role-play scripted and semi-scripted conversations Tell and encourage others to tell an anecdote Role-play a group discussion Vocabulary Use context clues to infer meaning Identify and use word forms

Identify and use idiomatic expressions Grammar Count and non-count nouns and their quantifiers Pronunciation Vowel alternation

Looking to this syllabus unit, we should pay attention to the presence of the part Critical Thinking and to the fact that it appears side by side with listening, speaking, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation items. Besides, as we can see, the unit offers the potential to engage learners affectively and cognitively (T No.2). For example, by: Analyze and discuss different opinions and Recognize similarities and differences among various religions, the material is providing ground for the arousal of opinions and thus discussion; it is involving learners by dealing with their beliefs. Not to mention that the syllabus above offers activities that have the potential to allow\make learners think about what they are doing in order to respond to it personally (this is the magical word) and the potential to make them think and feel before, during, and after using the language for communication (T No.2). We intend to exemplify this principle as it follows. For all this and more (T No.3), unit 6 works with radio broadcasts, blog entries (also written), interviews (also written) and online journals or audio blogs. In general, these texts (in audio and written form) help the learner to be aware of how a monastic life is, giving descriptions of monasteries and interviews with people such as travelers and professors or with people who became monks or nuns. As the unit progresses it is interesting to observe that some of these people abandoned an urban and contemporary life for a life in solitude and meditation. As Unit 6 conducts learners deeper and deeper into the theme, it also conducts them deeper into language. By the end of Listening One, they had already been in contact with new ideas and new vocabulary and then they are asked to answer the following questions. We must add that by this

activity\exercise and others, learners are being prepared for the final activity of the unit. - EXPRESS OPINIONS, p.129. 1 2 3 The listening part ends with part C* in which Listening One and Listening Two are integrated. In part C, learners are asked to fulfill a chart based on the two listenings and after they are asked to prepare a one minute mini-lecture, but instead of presenting it to a whole class, the coursebook suggests it to be done in small groups. Once again it is preparing them for the final activity. - STEP 2: Synthesize to copy or cut from the book, p.130. * there is also listening in the speaking part. In the speaking part, almost at its end, learners are asked to prepare and tell an anecdote. They have already seen and worked with more new vocabulary, expressions, grammar and pronunciation through the contact with different texts and listenings. This is the activity: 3 Prepare and tell an anecdote. p.142. Once again learners are getting ready... The final activity of unit 6 is a debate: to debate the pros and cons of (a) business expansion for a monastery . The whole unit was elaborated to allow learners to feel secure and perform successfully in this. Learners were exposed to information, ideas, experiences, opinions, vocabulary, expressions, grammar and etc. They were asked to say their beliefs before and during the activities. They worked together, prepared a mini-lecture and an anecdote and now they can use all this for the debate.

Description of - Production: Group Discussion, p.143. The four selected activities guide us to Tomlinsons principle number 3: Language learners who achieve positive affect are much more likely to achieve communicative competence than those who do not . This must be better explained Rodrigo, help! Moreover, this final activity has the potential to occur as an interesting, enjoyable and relevant task so as to exert a positive influence on the learners attitude to the language and to the learning process (T No.3). It becomes an achievable challenge as the unit progresses and it manages to stimulate emotive responses by the use of a polemic theme\issue: religion. Use Jameson somewhere - Commercial Materials - Contrastive Exercises We will invent them based on Fame \ Wise Up. 3? Someone will be needed here. Conclusion Bibliography Tomlinson, B. Principles of effective materials development. London: C.U.P. pp. 81-108. In HARWOOD, N. (2010) English Teaching Materials Theory and practice.

Annexes North Star 5 Unit 6 and some other parts, such as the syllabus