Title: Empower

Author(s): Adrian Doff, Craig Thaine, Herbert Puchta, Jeff Stranks, Peter Lewis-Jones

Publisher: Cambridge University Press 

Published date: 2015 - Review date: December 2015

Criterion       Overall Rating  4    

Originality    3.5        

No course can claim to be wholly original in this day and age, with grammar, vocabulary and skills syllabi dictated by the all-encompassing CEFR, but that doesn’t mean that courses can’t find a particular angle or approach that is different. With this is mind a favourite Thai expression comes to me – “same, same, but different”. And Empower, as with more recent recruits to the ELT market, (Speakout, Navigate, Life and Global) is no different in this respect, looking to find its own particular angle to exploit. So, if you’re looking for something that is familiar but different then Empower very much falls within that category.

From the off, it’s evident that Empower is going up against the likes of established campaigners English File, Cutting Edge and Speakout – just opening the book tells you that. With its mix of engaging content, underpinned by a strong grammar and vocabulary syllabus, it ticks all the right boxes. The syllabus itself is informed by Cambridge’s own Corpus and English Profile, thus ensuring that not only are the course content and level appropriate but also making sure learning is kept at a manageable level. In this respect it achieves its goal – having used the books in class, the students responded well and never seemed to be overloaded with new language. What’s more, there were clear signs of both enjoyment in class and progress being made.

In terms of topics covered, Empower covers all the areas you’d expect and does so in a visually-engaging and content-rich way. So at the intermediate B1+ level we have Modern Life, Relationships, The Natural World, House & Home and Entertainment while upper intermediate B2 has more abstract topics along the lines of Survival, Talent, Chance, Dilemmas and Possibilities mixed in with more common areas such as Discoveries and Around the Globe. While these are familiar topics it’s how they are presented and the materials that are used (readings, listenings) that will always give a course an edge. In other words it’s a case of turning something familiar into something that appears new, fresh and more importantly, interesting. More often than not Empower is able to do this, with a good mix of text types (articles, interviews, leaflets, webpages and blogs) and listenings (radio reports and programmes, interviews, conversations and monologues). With this is mind we get texts about Steve Jobs (1A), The 30-Day Challenge (1B), Learning to Learn (3A), Where to Go (6A) and Reality TV (7B) at Upper Intermediate level, while at Intermediate texts range from Can you Really Learn a Language in 22 hours? (1B), What’s Your Favourite App? (2B) to Hungry Adventures (6B) and Everyone’s a Journalist (8A). As well as being broad ranging, these texts are generally speaking fairly ‘chunky’ and language rich, thus providing good context for grammar and vocabulary as well as developing reading skills. There is an effort to incorporate some critical thinking skills here too through appropriate task types and with students often asked to reflect and comment on the texts. The same goes for the listening tasks – as well as gist and specific information-listening type tasks, (comprehension, gap fills etc,) there are always follow-up tasks to either personalise the topic or to respond to what they’ve heard. What this is in essence doing is encouraging them to connect to the subject and this in turn makes the tasks as student focussed as possible. So, while the themes and topics are not particularly original, the content is and this is what gives Empower an edge. It refreshes ELT in the way other, older courses don’t.

So, while all of this is familiar, the question remains, how is it actually different?  One way in which Empower looks to set itself apart is by taking a learning orientated assessment (LOA) approach to teaching, with assessment systematically supporting and enhancing learning. In other words it looks to ensure students are making measureable progress. Taking this into consideration, it’s no surprise to see that there are lots of opportunities for assessment, both formally and informally throughout the course. Informally, there are plenty of practice activities, both controlled and freer, allowing teachers to monitor and check students’ understanding and progress in class, thus building a picture of individual students’ strengths and weaknesses. Formal assessment comes in the form of language-focussed end of unit reviews and ‘can do’ self-assessment reviews within the course, as well as end of unit progress tests, speaking tests, mid-course and end-of-course skills-based competency tests. This is all fantastic as students (and their teacher) get a really clear picture of how they’re doing and what they need to work on. However, most of the test features are online (unit tests are downloadable) and only accessible via the online access component of the course. That said, the way the online components (Online Assessment, Online Practice and Online Workbook) work through the LMS is excellent and help to manage and direct students’ individual learning. What should be noted is that while on the face of it this LOA approach is a USP for Empower, the fact remains that other courses also contain similar tests and so are in essence doing the same thing, just not as explicitly.

Where it also differs is with the video content of the course. Where most other courses are heading down the route of culturally-heavy, documentary-styled video lessons, (Life, Outcomes, Speakout, Navigate,) Empower bucks that trend and follows English File down the functional/situational language video aisle. In this respect the videos are part of the Everyday English lesson and though scripted are actually of a pretty good standard. They’re certainly nowhere near as cringe-worthy as some that have gone before. However, these are not just functional language lessons – of course the videos are used as a vehicle to showcase target language (Useful Language), but this is not the sole aim as they also focus on conversation skills and pronunciation. In this way it is very much a multi-dimensional lesson, covering a number of different aspects and therefore is wholly practical in developing students’ skills for the outside world. Useful Language points covered include checking understanding, giving compliments, suggestions, being encouraging (Upper Intermediate) and giving opinions, offers and requests, recommendations and generalising (Intermediate). As with other areas of the course these are quite standard areas to cover, but actually it’s the Conversation Skills section that is more rewarding and ultimately useful as it focuses on those little things that don’t get covered anywhere else. Its aim is to produce more natural conversation, or at least raise awareness of it, thus making our students less robotic in their utterances. In doing so it takes in skills such as breaking off conversation, agreeing with question tags, responding to ideas, using vague language, clarifying misunderstandings (Upper Intermediate), sounding sympathetic, reacting to news, expressing surprise and changing subject (Intermediate). The third component is the Pronunciation section which, rather than being side-lined, is a key part of the lesson. Supplemented by additional activities in the Teacher’s Book, it deals with the likes of rapid speech (elision), contrastive stress, tone groups, linking and intrusion (Upper Intermediate), sentence stress, sounding interested and sounding polite (Intermediate). This highlights the role that pronunciation plays in the course as a whole and it’s good to see it being dealt with in a thorough manner.

With The Skills for Writing lessons, while all the usual suspects are all present and correct – articles, a biography, formal and informal emails, travel blogs, reviews, essays (for and against/opinion-led), and story writing – the course does take a slightly different approach to writing lessons. We’ve all had classes where we’ve told the students that we would be doing a writing lesson and have been met with moans and groans. To counter this Empower takes a multi-skilled approach whereby while writing is the end focus, there is also speaking, listening and reading input. Of course all sections of the lesson are linked, but by presenting it in this way the students are made all too aware that they are practising all skills on the way to written output. Not having a pure writing lesson is quite refreshing and for that this strand of the course is commendable.

So to sum up, while Empower doesn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel, it does make some adjustments in its bid to make student learning, progress and development both more efficient and measurable. To this end it does a good job.

Practicality        4       

Just as the content of the course is familiar, so too is the format, with the first two lessons of each unit (A+B) focusing on grammar and vocabulary, with reading and listening input, while lesson C focuses on functional and situational language. That’s then followed by a skills-for-writing lesson (D), before finishing with a review and extension page. At Intermediate and above this is spread over 10 units, while at Pre-Intermediate and Elementary it’s over 12 units which, if you’re using all levels of the course, can be a little frustrating in terms of pacing. What this means from a practical point of view is that while lessons A and B cover two pages at the lower levels, they cover three at the higher ones. Three pages (plus all the supplementary materials – see below) is a lot for one lesson which means that lessons might often get split into two lessons as a result. From a teacher’s point of view it means that there needs to be greater planning, of either how to split the lesson, or what to leave out. It’s an inconvenience rather than anything else, because more often than not you want to include everything there is and therefore the only option is to split the lessons into two. It’s a shame because otherwise the lessons are very well-structured with a good ‘lesson flow’ ensuring manageable learning and therefore learning success.

Focusing on each individual lesson, lessons A and B are the real meat of the course, focussing heavily on language input presented in context through texts and listening tasks. Lesson aims are clearly stated at the top of each page, while each stage of the lesson is very clearly signposted, making it easy to plan and follow.

Taking an inductive approach to learning grammar and vocabulary, there are plenty of noticing tasks followed by controlled practice and opportunities for active production with a speaking focus at the end of each lesson. This is all very familiar, but that’s a good thing as it makes it makes both teaching and learning manageable – one of the key principles behind the course. These lessons are well supported with an in-depth and particularly meaty Grammar Focus section at the back of the book with plenty of extra controlled practice. There’s also an additional Vocabulary Focus section hidden away here, but both are well-signposted in the main course so students and teachers alike always know when to refer to them. As a matter of course these lessons are very practical, especially given the extra support in the teacher’s book (more on that later), and achieve the desired results.

As mentioned above, the Everyday English lesson (lesson C) covers functional and situational language which can be watched as videos or simply listened to as audio files. With a number of different components – listening tasks, useful language analysis, conversation skills, pronunciation focus – the lesson is jam-packed as well as well-structured to ensure the best results in the final communication task. The Skills for Writing lessons (lesson D) in particular are generally very good, though the title is a tad misleading as while the writing is the end focus, they actually cover listening, reading and speaking skills too. The advantage of this multi-skilled approach is that students don’t switch off as soon as you say you’re doing a writing lesson and so actually makes for a much more rounded, enjoyable and therefore productive lesson. In this respect they are well-staged with lots of input, building to a point whereby students are able to complete the writing task effectively and successfully. Having taught a number of these lessons, there was certainly more motivation shown by students and with the careful scaffolding of the class, even weaker ones were able to produce good pieces of work.

As with any course worth its salt, the unit finishes with a review, but with the added bonus of a vocabulary-based extension lesson – Wordpower. The review itself is good in as far as it goes, focussing on the target language of the unit, plus there’s a chance for the students to self-assess in reference to CEFR based “can do” statements. The Wordpower extension, though tucked away at the end of the unit, is actually a really nice little mini-lesson. Not dissimilar to the Wordspots in Cutting Edge, they focus on individual words (eg make, face, side, up, down, take, come, way – Upper Intermediate) and their collocations and use in phrasal verbs. In this way it looks to employ a more a lexical approach to language learning and with extra support coming from the Teacher’s Book can easily be made into a more comprehensive lesson. So, even though it’s hidden at the end of the unit it shouldn’t be ignored.

Supporting the main coursebook is the Workbook which compliments it well. Each lesson comes with a page of extra practice, recycling and reviewing the language input before providing an additional reading and listening extension for each unit. These provide longer and more challenging reading texts and listening tasks, both of which retain the same quality as the main course. There’s also a further review (more assessment) and an extra Wordpower task. Tucked away right at the back, almost as an after-thought, are vox-pop videos for each unit. Accessible from the website (as is all the audio), each video is accompanied by three listening activities, but you can’t help but think more could have been made of them.

However, we all know that as good as a coursebook might be, what teachers really want is a wholeheartedly supportive Teacher’s Book, stacked full of supplementary material to use in class. In this respect Empower really shines and its plethora of photocopiables is a veritable treasure trove for teachers. Indeed, there are over 70 pages of photocopiables making this is an undoubted strength of the course. To this end there are seven, yes SEVEN, additional activities for every unit, with two grammar, two vocabulary and two pronunciation activities and one Wordpower activity. The real beauty here is that there isn’t a gap fill in sight, with all of them being communicatively based, thus encouraging students to actively use and recycle the target language. As well as helping bring the classroom alive, they make planning lessons easier. Now, while vocabulary and grammar games are something that every course comes with, Empower is the only course that has designated pronunciation photocopiables included, and for that it should be given credit. These focus on the areas that matter (not just phonetics), with sentence stress, word stress, linking sounds, intonation, sound vs spelling all covered and practised in depth. Essentially it adds another dimension to the course and supplements the pronunciation sections in the main coursebook really well. Aside from that the Teacher’s Book is very supportive as a whole, with lots good ideas for lead-ins, extra activities plus ideas for differentiation with fast finishers. On top of that there are also plenty of LOA tips scattered around to help teachers develop their skills and knowledge.

It’s plain to see that there’s an awful lot to Empower (certainly having enough should never be an issue) and all things considered it is an eminently teachable and enjoyable course.

Presentation   4.5

It has to be said that Empower looks great and is visually engaging. To this end it is also motivating for students. With each unit being introduced by a full page and stimulating photo reflecting the topic, (beach bungee jumping, Upper Intermediate Unit 5 being a particular favourite,) the standards are set high. Excellent use of photos is made throughout though, pulling students into the lessons and adding to the overall input of the course. There’s no doubt that they add another dimension to the input, specifically the reading texts, as seeing what you’re reading really helps students, especially visual learners. We’re often told that a picture tells a thousand words, and certainly Empower plays on this. There are lots of bright colours too, often used to box off different input. This, along with very clear sub-headings, means that everything is very clear on the page and therefore very easy to follow. It might seem that there’s a lot going on, but the pages never seem to be overloaded with content and this is down to the excellent overall design. This then ties in with the theme of manageable learning that underlies all areas of the course and is further backed up by the good use of unit and lesson aims at the top of each page, thus ensuring that students always know what they will be studying.

What outstanding strengths/ weaknesses do you feel this title possesses?

Strengths

• Excellent Teacher’s Book – lots of teacher support and a wealth of photocopiabe resources
• Strong focus on assessment with a Learning Orientated Assessment (LOA) approach and lots of practice incorporated into the course
• Good focus on pronunciation, as highlighted by pronunciation photocopiables
• An appropriate international feel, both visually and in the texts
• Visually strong and motivating

Weaknesses

• The majority of the assessment package is only available online via the Cambridge LMS, with the unit tests being downloadable.

On which courses do you envisage being able to use this material?

Empower is as General English as they come. Given its content, it’s the kind of book that would work well during the summer period where students might be younger and therefore less serious – with all the activities and games, there is plenty of fun to be had while learning.

Other comments

There’s no doubt that Empower has looked hard at what other courses have done and what has made them so popular and successful. In doing so it has been able to identify all the best parts, replicate them and incorporate them into a course with its own style and identity. Having taught a number of different levels, the lessons generally work well.

© Copyright BEBC REVIEW PANEL 2015 – this review may be reproduced but only with this acknowledgement