Page 24 - ELG1903 Mar-Apr Issue 464
P. 24

IATEFL special              .




        “Honey, I just blew up the cour




        Lindsay Clandfi eld switches cha




        Where is the coursebook going and why is it going there? Mel


        Lindsay Clandfi eld to fi nd out.


                                              “I really have to put in a word for the   practice, gap fills, more techy gap fills, sexy
                                            publishers here,” says Clandfield. “Helbling   gap fills…”
                                            have been wonderful. I really wanted to work   We sigh in synch.
                                            with a smaller publisher. The big companies   “Where’s the communication? What
                                            have become so risk conscious, ‘let’s be   happened to the C in ICT!”
                                            realistic’, they say or ‘this is what the markets   Sure, that there was a place for tech in the
                                            are telling us.’ Helbling have been really   classroom, as a platform for communication,
                                            supportive all the way.”            Lindsay set off to find out. He spent time
                                              I sigh sympathetically. I worked in   watching teachers using tech in class.
                                            course book publishing twenty-five years   He expected to see lots of interactive
                                            ago, and I heard all the same messages.   whiteboards. Instead, what he found was that
                                            Over the years, I too have become   most teacher used projectors, niftily dipping
                                            increasingly tired of the dominance of the   in and out of programmes, and switching
                                            long-distance topic. Who wants to talk   video on and off.
                                            about food for ten classroom hours – that   The results of his research and work are
                                            could take four whole weeks in a part-time   exciting, apps for downloading pair  work,
                                            evening class. And most of the global market   vocabulary beats – the digital version
                                            for adult learners takes place part-time and   of the dear, old Jazz chant, lots of audio
                                            in the evening.                     formats. “The young are busy discovering
              o, you’re sitting down to plan a   The research, I tell Lindsay, supports the   the joy of audio, look at the popularity of
              coursebook,” I say to Lindsay   idea of recycling topics, particularly when it   podcasts” says Lindsay, the father of two boys
              Clandfield over the phone. “What   comes to lexis. We have to meet a word seven   and amateur podcaster himself (he hosts a
        S is your agenda? You’re sitting down   times before we get to know it – and learning   podcast with Shaun Wilden called the TEFL
        with a blank piece of paper, what do you write   a lot of words in a lexical set and then not   Commute).
        down first”                         seeing them again till we start the next level   Lindsay and Robert are particularly
          “The first thing I write is, ‘We need to do   of the course is possibly the worst way ever   pleased with the videoscapes, which allow
        something about topics’,” he says. “For the   invented of teaching vocabulary.  the teacher to project a scene onto a screen,
        last twenty years, virtually every course book   “What surprised us, was how so much of   complete with backdrop, props, even sound
        has had long, topic-led units. I wanted a more   the language recycled itself naturally as we   effects at times. The student can then act
        flexible approach.”                 moved through a unit,”                          out a dialogue in front of
          I tell him when I flicked through the   Clandfield remarks.                          it, film it and view the
        sample pages of his new course, Studio, it’s   That’s what    …over the years          results.
        the first thing I noticed. It was like flicking   happens when you   it seems to have been   My favourite is the
        through a magazine. Topics are recycled in   loosen the ties                           use of video in the units
        short bursts through the courses, making   between the words   used mostly for work    on functional language.
        the material in the individual units are   you teach and   outside the classroom:        “To be fair,” says
        more varied                         the topic you are                                  Lindsay, “we are not
          “I’ve always liked that magazine feel,”   covering.  grammar presentation,           the first to use video
        Lindsay agrees. “My co-author, Robert   But for many                                   and lots of books have
        Cambell, used to run a magazine called It’s   people, loosening   lexical practice, gap fi lls,   functional language.”
        which I wrote for. I always liked the way   the stranglehold of   more techy gap fi lls,   But for me, it is the
        you flicked through and there was a piece   the topic is not the                       match between video
        on sport, followed by something on food,   main way that Studio   sexy gap fi lls…     and functional language,
        or maybe the family. So, Robert and I came   seeks to deconstruct                     the medium and the
        up with the idea of TV channels, a sports   the course book. The way the authors use   message, which works so well. It is the way
        channel, a food channel. Different text types,   technology as a classroom tool means that   that the book presents functional language as
        different media.”                   the course is really no longer just a book with   the focus of a whole lesson, rather than just
          The new course has twelve channels, each   some nice techy add-ons.   a bunch if useful phrases in a box, that feels
        featuring a different topic. It’s the Netflix   “I started off being really optimistic about   so fresh.
        approach, a structure which fits in with   the use of Information and Communications   Lindsay admits he was looking for a way
        a millennial aesthetic. Simple, but quite   Technology (ICT), but over the years it seems   to translate CEFR, can-do statements into
        revolutionary in the risk-averse world of ELT   to have been used mostly for work outside   a classroom activity that students could
        publishing.                         the classroom: grammar presentation, lexical   relate to. “We came up with the idea of 101


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