Criterion

Grade: 5/4/3/2/1

Comments (5 being the highest grade and 1 the lowest)

Originality

          4

What’s the secret of the success of the English File series? Why are the coursebooks still so popular with students and teachers?

It is clear that the winning formula hasn’t been changed significantly with English File Intermediate (3^rd Edition) and the following distinctive ingredients are still present:

1. An emphasis on learners improving their pronunciation with pronunciation exercises given a prominent place in each unit and of course the quirky English File images that are paired with or incorporated with the phonetic symbols. (See examples on p166)
2. A variety of photocopiable materials for teachers to select from to practise grammar, vocabulary and communicative skills, including pairwork information gap activities, tell-us-about board games and card-based tasks.
3. A focus on functional language such as ‘Reacting to what people say’ or ‘Making suggestions’ that is presented using video clips of characters whose story we follow throughout the coursebook in each ‘Practical English’ lesson.
4. Use of songs for listening practice linked to the topic of the unit

I wouldn’t say that the coursebook is particularly original or groundbreaking in its approach or material, instead it tries to appeal to a wide range of learners through picking populist content for its reading and listening texts, for example using TV shows such as Top Gear and Dragons’ Den and internationally known celebrities like Steve Jobs.

Other skills texts introduce learners to interesting or surprising findings from research projects. For example I didn’t know that “chocolate makes people less aggressive” (p5), or that first-born children are often more ambitious but more insecure compared to the typical youngest child, who is more likely to be rebellious but disorganized (p11). I don’t know if the following is true either but on page 29 we find:

In social situations women use conversation to solve problems and reduce stress, while men chat with each other to have a laugh or to swap opinions

These texts, linked to topics such as food, families or differences between men and women, should work well and engage learners of different ages, cultures and backgrounds.

Practicality

         5

English File Intermediate (Third Edition) is excellent for inexperienced teachers as it is very straightforward to use and navigate through. The focus of each lesson is clearly labelled e.g. ‘Listening and Speaking’ or ‘Grammar future forms’ rather than expressed in more detailed, specific aims. The way the contents pages are displayed in the Student’s book is simplified so that learners can only see what aspects of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation are covered by the course. This lack of an emphasis on skills practice in the Contents (although there is plenty of material that deals with this included throughout the coursebook) seems designed to appeal to learners who like to see a linear progression through clearly signposted language points. This more traditional approach may also provide a helpful crutch for less experienced teachers (in addition to the detailed Teacher’s book which includes useful suggestions for ‘extra support’, ‘extra challenge’ and ‘extra ideas’).

The Grammar Bank, containing an explanation of and practice exercises of the key grammar points from each unit, reminds me of the very successful  ‘English Grammar in Use’ by Raymond Murphy in both it’s format and colour scheme, which I’m sure many students will appreciate. The Vocabulary Bank, also found at the back of the coursebook, consists of exercises that students do as they go through the course and is also useful for students who want to review the lexis they have studied. Many visuals are used for a significant proportion of the new words students learn in the coursebook units to help with clarity of meaning and memorisation. Aspects of pronunciation are also highlighted in the Vocabulary Bank and there is also a focus on easily confused pairs of words such as ‘job/work’, ‘roof/ceiling’, ‘learn/study’.

Another useful section of the coursebook covers different types of writing including informal emails, reviews and letters of complaint. Models are provided along with exercises that also link to language studied in the relevant unit, to support learners before they begin the main writing task. Having all the writing lessons in one place allows a learner to use this section for easy reference, which could be useful if they need to revise for an exam.

Presentation

         4

The coursebook is colourful with busy, dense pages - perhaps intended to engage teenagers visually and have (or keep) the book used in high schools across the world. Some of the photos are so obviously staged it’s fairly comic, for example see page 68 where young flatmates discuss an article in the Guardian over breakfast while another flatmate smiles inanely at something (probably nothing at all) on an ipad…

The accompanying DVD-Rom includes video that is used to present the language taught in the ‘Practical English’ lessons. These are light ‘rom-com’-style episodes with young, attractive people in everyday situations. The video has been made especially for the course and is cheesy but professional enough to not be too cringe-worthy. It is, however, full of cliché such as the couple meeting when she bumps into him and accidently makes him spill his coffee over himself (surely not intended to be imagery that is quite so starkly sexual!). Other video on the DVD-Rom includes authentic interviews with people on various topics with comprehension exercises in the coursebook and short documentary films that students are intended to watch without doing a task (‘watch for pleasure’).

Overall rating

      4

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

Strengths

• Easy-to-follow and particularly good for novice teachers
• Interesting texts that should engage a wide range of learners and stimulate discussion
• Clearly presented grammar, vocabulary and writing reference sections – also useful for revision
• A focus on phonology throughout the course and the English File Pronunciation Chart which has additional images associated with phonemes to make them easier for learners to understand and remember (also for teachers not confident with the phonetic symbols alone)
• A variety of photocopiable supplementary activities in the Teacher’s book

Weaknesses

• The choice of songs and the ‘karaoke’ cover versions
• An over-emphasis on the importance of learning grammar as the key to making progress
• The ring-bound style of the Teacher’s Book that gets damaged easily and too soon needs replacing

Other comments

The DVD-Rom (‘i-Tutor’) that comes with the coursebook includes the audio (except the songs), video, wordlists and an interactive sounds chart for pronunciation.

There is also an online site that learners can access for free that has practice exercises of the language studied in each unit: www.oup.com/elt/englishfile