Are Language Textbooks a Scam for Students?

November 4, 2010

It used to be that university students taking language courses would buy a textbook and a workbook for a university course. The prices were high, but they could buy used copies. A student who wanted to sell his or her book later would be careful to do the workbook in pencil so it could be erased later.

Nowadays, textbooks companies have gone all high tech. They’re encouraging teachers to do away with “old fashioned paper workbooks” in favor of an online version. The teacher needs a course code. The students need a book code. Only the magical combination of both codes will allow students access to their high tech web student activity manual.

The scam? All of these codes have expiry dates. Students who bought a second-hand book have no access to the online activity manual, unless they cough up about $100 for their own personal book code. $100 for a code? Seriously? I have students who simply can not afford this and as a result, there is no way for them to access their homework activities.

To boot, the textbook takes a communicative approach, which is super for in class, but offers little in the way of activities to assign for homework. The homework is supposed to come from the web-based activity manual.

Not all students – even college age students – like the online versions. Anything but a high speed internet connection is insufficient to use the fancy web-based versions. Students complain about difficulties setting up their online accounts and some give up even before they get to do their first activity. Their frustration levels escalate.

The textbook rep comes in to do a demo. Everything works perfectly in his presentation and students are encouraged to try again.

Here it is the end of the semester and I still have students who haven’t done any online activities. When I ask them why, they sheepishly say they find the web versions cumbersome. Either that, or they simply can’t afford the $100 for a book code. A search for old, used workbooks has ensued so they can have paper versions to work from.

I’ve been giving them activities and materials I’ve developed myself over the years. These used to be “extra practice”, but for the students who have no other way to reinforce what we do in class, they have become their only option.

Some students are very tech-savvy, very into mobile learning. Some still like paper-and-pen activities. Others may like technology, but be cash poor. Our job as educators should be to make it easy for them to learn, not more cumbersome.

At least when we bought paper versions of books and workbooks, they were ours to keep for as long as we wanted, not until the textbook publisher decided that they expired and cut off our access to them. At best, they became outdated, but they didn’t disappear into thin air. I’m a huge fan of technology, but not when it becomes a barrier to my students’ learning.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Interview with Felix Wöhler: Leading by Example Series

October 4, 2010

This series is dedicated to highlighting the impact made by exemplary literacy and language professionals who lead by example. They share their inspirational tips and stories. In this article I’m pleased to showcase the work of Felix Wöhler, owner and manager of an English as a Second Language (ESL) school in Ontario, Canada.

What is your name, affiliation, and connection to language learning?

The school name is English Encounters (formerly Bronte Language Centre) and we have been in business since 1986.  We are fully accredited by Languages Canada for our ESL Program.

In your opinion, what’s the most important aspect of managing a language school?

The most important thing is to provide students with an enjoyable and useful language learning experience.

There are very few people who have bought a pre-existing language school. That makes you a pioneer of sorts. I think readers would be very interested to hear about your experience. What were the best and worst aspects of this experience for you?

The best part was not having to build everything from scratch.  I “inherited” an existing database of agents, students, and staff as well as an existing online and physical location.  This made the takeover relatively seamless in the sense that, in contrast to starting a school from zero, I was fully operational from day one.  On the other hand, the fact that all these aspects had already been established meant that there was a long period of adjustment – for both myself and staff, and to a lesser extent, for students – to each others’ way of doing things.

It took me a long time to truly “identify” with the school. At the beginning, it always felt like I was managing someone else’s business.  However, over the past year, I have worked closely together with my team and helped recreate and improve the school in a way I really feel I can identify with and am, in fact, very proud of.  This includes renaming the school, relocating to a brand new facility in a neighbouring city – a location we feel is far better-suited for student needs, decorating the new premises, redoing the website, getting accredited by Languages Canada, and creating new and improved programs and curricula.

What is it that you like best about owning your own language school?

The most rewarding aspect of owning my own language school is meeting students from all over the world and seeing their English improve as they enjoy their time in Canada with us.  Many of our students have become very close and it is wonderful to see how they keep in touch and refer their friends and family members.

What do you see for the future of language learning?

Language learning in the future will become increasing important as the world continues to globalize. To that end,  more and more people will need a second language, particularly English, which seems well-placed to become a global lingua franca. For language schools, the challenge is to provide language training that is both attainable and enjoyable.  At the same time, the high demand for English training means that large amounts of students can become concentrated in popular areas or language schools.  The problem with that, is the strong tendency for these students to break off into ethnic groups and revert to their 1st language in all out-of-class activities.  The strategy at English Encounters, therefore, is to provide a small, student-centred learning environment in a smaller city where the likelihood of finding many speakers of languages other than English is much lower.  This makes our school the ideal place for true immersion and language training.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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6 Reasons I love Glee – a language teacher’s point of view

September 23, 2010

This week, the new season of the TV show Glee aired. When I first heard about the show, I wasn’t interested. At first glance it looked fluffy, silly, and not particularly engaging. I don’t watch much television so when I do pick a show to watch it needs to engage my mind, as well as entertain me. For some reason last year, an episode of Glee got recorded and I, grumbling and growling, finally agreed to watch an episode of it. I was hooked.

As a language teacher I can’t help but notice that this hot new TV show offers a veritable cornucopia of material to use in class. Here are a few examples:

  1. The characters, young high school students speak eloquently. Verbal prowess is the norm among the characters.
  2. In speaking eloquently, the characters become role models for clear, concise and articulate communication.
  3. There’s much less slang than on other comedy shows.
  4. Characters express a wide array of emotions with no vulgar language. Nothing needs to be “bleeped out”. They find appropriate words to express their feelings.
  5. Characters don’t use phrases such as “So, like…. ya know,” leaving the listener to fill in the blanks.
  6. Characters will correct each other’s language mistakes. In this season’s premiere, this exchange happened between lead characters Rachel and Finn:

Finn: Rachel is what you’d call a controlist.

Rachel: I’m controlling. ‘Controlist’ isn’t a word.

Where else on television do you get teenage characters who show their vulnerabilities as they try to find their way in the world in a lighthearted, yet serious show where being articulate, and using the English language properly are highlighted?

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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The biggest mistake educators make when marketing new programs

September 17, 2010

My first job in educational administration was in 1989 at Saint Mary’s University. I worked in what was then the Division of Continuing Education. Part of my job was to promote current and new programs. I’ve learned a thing or two over the past twenty years of working in education. What’s the biggest challenge of marketing of new educational programs?

One word: Impatience.

As educators, we tell our students that they need to study regularly. We tell them that consistent effort over time brings results. We tell them to set aside time every day for their studies. We tell them that if they put in the work, that they’ll see results… but they just have to be patient.  If we followed the same advice, we’d be much better at promoting educational programs.

Instead, administrators want results NOW. If a program is posted in the course calendar in one semester and it doesn’t meet the minimum requirements for registrations, it’s canned. Wiped off the books. Written off.

Imagine if you saw a student giving up so easily after getting less than stellar results on a test. Would you say, “Yeah, you’re right. You bombed this first test, so clearly you don’t have what it takes…”

No, of course not! You’d sit down with the student, review the results, determine strategies to improve and then monitor their progress. We can do the same thing with educational programs. If a new program bombs the first time, examine the results and try to figure out why. Develop some new marketing strategies and go out and try them. Keep an eye on your process and watch for improvements.

If we promoted our programs with the same vigilance and patience that we have with our students, we’d have better long term results.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Teaching formal and informal language register to native English speakers

September 14, 2010

As a university level-Spanish instructor, I often find that native English speaking students who have never studied languages before struggle with the concept of formal versus informal forms of address. In Spanish, it’s usted (formal) vs. tú (informal). The concept exists in many other languages, too. Here’s how I teach it:

1. Present the formal and informal words in the target language.

2. Explain that both the informal and formal equal “you” in today’s English.

3. Give some examples of when it is appropriate to address someone formally and when it is OK to address someone informally. Explain generational and regional differences.

4. Point out that we used to have both formal and informal in English. (I love this part!) Watch their faces scrunch up as if to say, “Huh?” I ask if any of them have studied Shakespeare, watched Shakespeare movies or heard language from that time period or before in movies. (If you’re teaching the secondary, post-secondary or adult levels, you’ll likely get a few nods if you try this.) Then I give them this example from Romeo and Juliet:

Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art ___________?

What goes in the blank? Thou, of course. Juliet addresses her lover informally.

I point out other related words such as “thee” and “thy”, which also fell out of use in favor of “you” and “your”, which was traditionally our formal form of address. We dropped the informal, in favour of using only the formal.

I don’t discuss religion much in my classes, but given that most of Latin America and Spain are Catholic, it is an interesting cultural note that God is addressed informally. (I could never figure that one out, myself. I mean, if there was one being who merited the respect of a formal address, you’d think it might be God, but what do I know?) If you’re teaching in a Christian faith-based environment, you can also point out that “classically” the “Our Father” prayer used “thou” and “thee”, too. Many churches have updated that to “you” nowadays, but “hallowed be Thy name” can still be heard in some places. Traditionally, God has been addressed informally in the Christian faith.

I also point out other well known phrases and verses using the traditional informal such as:

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” (Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

“To thine own self be true.” (Shakespeare, Hamlet)

“How great thou art.” (Christian hymn)

Once the students have made the connection that the formal and informal both used to exist – and be used quite regularly – in English, it is easier for them to transfer that knowledge to a new second language. That takes care of the conceptual block and all they have to master is when to use each form correctly.

Check out these related posts:

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Update – January, 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

 

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