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Teachingwithoutacoursebook byAdrianUnderhill LikemanyteachersIquiteoftenchoosenottouseacoursebook.InthisarticleIwouldliketoputforward someofmyreasonsformakingthatchoice,andtooutlinewhatmyclassdoeswithoutone.Ithenreferto howthishasaffectedmyowndevelopmentasateacherandfinallyIoffersomedimensionsforpersonal profilingthatIhavefoundhelpful. InthereferencestoclasspracticeIamassuming1)aclassatanylevelotherthanbeginner,2)thatthe studentseachhaveacurrentreaderandanappropriatemonolinguallearners'dictionary.Formethisisthe basickitforworkingwithoutacoursebookandwithoutmostoftheusualsupplementarymaterials. Familiararguments Iamfamiliarwith,andsympatheticto,theusualargumentsinfavourofcoursebooks:theyprovideasyllabus, agradedsequence,afocusanddirection,vocabularyandstructure,areference,ameasureofprogress, plannedactivities,texts,tapes,revision,occasionalnewideas,andsoon. Thesethingstheycertainlydo,butdoesitfollowthatthesethingscannotalsobepresentintheabsenceofa coursebook? 'MaterialsOperator' Ihavelearntalotfromusingpublishedmaterialsandtheaccompanyingteachers'books,especiallyinmy firstyearsofteaching.AtthesametimeIhavealsofoundthatmaterials,especiallycoursebooks,cancome betweenmeandmystudents,preventingmefromdirectlyexperiencingandrespondingtothemomentby momentenergyandvitalityoftheirownlearningexperience.IfI'mnotcarefulIreducemyselftoa'materials operator',separatedfrommylearnersbyascreenof'thingstodo'.WhatIreallywantistostudyhowIuse myselftofacilitatelearningasitunfoldsinthehereandnowinfrontofmyeyes. Inherentproblems Oneinherentproblemisthatthecoursebookiswrittenbysomeoneelse,somewhereelse,whohasnever metmystudentsorme,anddoesnotknowourbackgroundsorourlearningstyles.Theresultingtextbookis necessarilyarecordoftheauthor'sendpublisher'sgeneralassumptionsaboutwhatmystudentsmayneed tolearn,andaboutwhatprocessoflearningislikelytobegoodforthem.DoIsharethesevalues? Theseabsenteeauthorswritethematerialwhichisthenimposedonmystudentswhohavetoworkthrough it.Isthattheonlywayofworking?Whyshouldthetotalprocessbesplitintwo,onlyhalfofwhichhappensin theclassroom?Fromwherecomestheassumptionthatstudentsshoulddoonlyhalfofthetotaltask?Why imposematerialfromsomewhereelseiftheycanmaketheirownusingtheirownresourcesaswellasmine? Workingwithoutacoursebook Mostteachersinvitestudentstowritestoriesanddialogues.Well,whynottaketheircreationsonestep furtherandusethemasthebasisforallthetypesofelaboration,consolidationandpracticewhichatthe

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momentisdoneusingthecoursebookmaterial?Insteadofprocessingmaterialwrittenbysomeoneelsethey cancreatetheirownmaterialbasedonwhattheywanttosayandwhattheyareabletosay. Thisyieldstwooverlappingphases.Creation ,whichroughlycorrespondstowhattheauthorusuallydoes, andExploitation ,whichroughlycorrespondstothethingsweusuallydowithacoursebook. So,Ifwewantadialoguewewriteit, Ifwewantatextwewriteone, Ifwewantapicturewedrawone, Ifwewantatapewemakeone, Ifwewantquestionswewritethem, Ifwewantanexerciseweconstructone, Ifwewanttoworkwithvocabularyweputourselvesinthepositionofneedingit, Ifwewantadictationwewriteone,orchooseitfromthereader, Ifwewantaroleplayweimproviseit,orelseweplanandwritetheparts,Ifwewanttogotothelanguage laboratorywenegotiatewhichofthismaterialwewanttopractise,andhowtoformatitforlabuse, Ifwewantanswers,weturntoresourcebooks,especiallythemonolinguallearners'dictionary, Andifweneedpublishedtextortapematerial,thenwefindit. Wetakethisrawmaterialandnegotiateitscorrectness,wehoneitandrefineit,practiseit,recordit,tellit,act itout,drawit,summariseit,extendit,transformit,improviseit,andsoon.Inallofthisthereisaworkshop atmosphere.withourowneverydaylifeeventsandinterestsasthesourcematerial. DuringthecreationphasestudentsquitenaturallyworkfromtheedgeofwhattheycandoinEnglish,from thefrontieroftheirknowledge.Iaddwhattheyneediftheycan'tprovideitfromtheircombinedresources.In thiswayIdon'tteachanewstructureorvocabularyitembutsimplyputitintocirculationwhenitisneeded. Thestudentstakeitandputittoworkstraightaway,usuallywithoutanycomplicatedexplanations.Later,in theexploitationphase,wemaystudythedetailedlinguisticpoints,thoughthatoftenturnsouttobe unnecessary. Byworkingwiththeprocessinthiswayeachlessonbecomesaricheventinitself,withnaturallyoccurring studenterrorshighlightingthecollectiveinnersyllabusoftheclass.Errorsthusbecomewelcomesignposts astowhattoworkon,ratherthantiresomedeviationsfromapredeterminedplan. Myowndevelopmentasateacher Thesereificationshavehelpedmetoclarifytheimportantrolethatpublishedmaterials,coursebooksin particular,haveplayedinmyowndevelopmentasateacher.IseehowmyrelianceonthemwhenIstarted teachingnotonlyfedmewithclassroomskillsandknowledgeaboutthelanguage,butalsogavemethe confidencewhichallowedmetobecomegraduallylessdependentonthem.Thisisintimatelylinkedwith

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otheraspectsofmydevelopment. Icanprofilethisdevelopmentbystatingsomeassumptionswhichunderpinnedmyclassroombehaviour duringmyfirstfewyearsofteaching.Theseassumptionsareintheleftcolumnbelow.Therightcolumn offersadifferentsetofbehavioursbasedondifferentassumptions,towardswhichIhavebeenmoving.In eachcasethetwopolaritiessetupadimensionwithinwhichIcanreflectonhowmuchchoiceofmovementI reallyhave. Idonotvalueeitherpolarityinitself.WhatIvalueistobeabletomoveappropriately,tobeattherightpoint attherighttimeduringalesson.Herearejustafewdimensionsthatarerelevanttome,youwillhaveyour own. DimensionsforPersonalProfiling Iam: ATeacher Wefocuson: What Product Thetopic Therefore: Iknowit/theydon't Wedoitin: AClassroom Oneimplicitmessageis: Becorrect Asaresultmistakesare: Tobeavoided AndIaskquestions: Toelicitarightanswer SoItendto: Listentotheirlanguage Itreatlearningasbeing: Fromoutsidein AHelper/Facilitator How Process Thewayweworkonthetopic Weareonthesamesideofthelearningfence AWorkshop Seewhathappens Welcomepartoftheprocess Tolearnsomethingmyself Listentotheirprocessaswellastheirlanguage Frominsideout

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Startingfromthebook Iviewthesyllabusas: AnOuterSyllabus Linear Imposed Activitiesare: Decidedbyme/thebook Timeis: Mine Thismeans: Icangetimpatient

Startingfromthem AnInnerSyllabus Organic Determinedbythelearners Negotiatedandnaturallyarising Ours Irespectthetimeittakes

Workingwithoutacoursebookgivesmemorespaceinwhichtoexplorethesedimensionsandtoopenup previouslyunchartedterritoryinmyexperienceofnoticingandfosteringlearning.Likeanyadventureitisalso riskyandfraughtwithproblems,andthatinitselfhelpstokeepmealertandtoremembermyaim,"HowcanI becomethebestfacilitatoroflearning,inmyselfandinothers,thatIpersonallycanbe?" Andateachstep"HowcanIbringwhatIhavelearntthroughnotusingacoursebook,tobearonusinga coursebookagain,butwithagreaterawarenessofthedimensionsofwhatispossible?" AdrianUnderhill InternationalHouseHastings

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