The English Course consists of three main components: a student book, a DVD and
web site.
The Student Book contains eight learning units, two review
units, and five appendices of useful material.
The book can
be used either in class or at home (or other self-access situations), along
with with the DVD (as each student has a copy of the DVD).
Here's a quick tour of the book:
At the front of the book, after the contents page, there's a chart outlining
the format of each unit. Each of the eight main units follows the same pattern.
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Each of the eight units includes four question sections for audio comprehension
based on the DVD's video clips. There are eight speaking activities within
each unit. These build up from basic to more complex and from structured
and controlled to more free-form. There are two language structure focus
sections. There is also one social, cultural or geographical survey or quiz.
With a class that meets once a week for 90 minutes, each of the main units
might take three to four weeks to complete, depending on the level of the
students. The intention is to give teachers the opportunity to pick and choose
what material to actually use and how and where to use it. On the otherhand,
as some universities and colleges are increasing the number of class sessions
scheduled during each semester, The English
Course already contains the material
to cover the lengthening of course durations.
In addition to the eight main units, there are also two review units.
One follows and covers the first four units and the second covers the last
four units of the book. Each of these units feature several audio comprehension
exercises along with a board game for speaking practice.
There are five appendices at the back of the book, packed
with useful material for students. This includes: transcripts; role cards
and realia; vocabulary
lists; a cast and character list that also includes biographical background
data on characters and; answer keys.
There is also a Teacher's Guide to the The English
Course. This is available for downloading from the teacher
area of The Study
Centre on this web site. The first three chapters of the guide are
freely available in this unrestricted access side of the web site in the
for Teachers section on the Guidance page.
The
DVD contains audio and video material for the eight learning units
and two review units. Each learning unit contains five separate video clips.
English subtitles
are available where appropriate (in the first four videos in each unit).
Audio and video tracks can be switched on or off
as required.
There are also
slideshows
of
pictures
and additional interactive material. The DVD has menus which allow for linking
directly to material in The Study Centre on the web site.
Here's a quick tour of the DVD:
The unit menus allow the user to jump to any video clip
within the unit. You can also jump quickly from unit to unit
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Each video or audio clip within a unit has its own video
menu. These menus allow the user to play the content, adjust settings
(of subtitles, visual and audio content). Where appropriate, there are
Instructions to support student self-access use.
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The most important menu of these is the settings menu.
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Each unit also has an extras menu which contain
the intermission and finale material for
the unit.
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On the intermission menu, behind each number
is a question for students to ask and answer in pairs, groups or as a whole
class.
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Finale is a student self-access activity which can be used
in conjunction with The Study Centre on this web site.
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The Study Center contains a variety of reading, writing and listening activities
for students to use in self access mode. Student activity and performance
can
be monitored
by teachers.
Here's a quick tour of The Study Centre:
The Study Centre is a secure location as every student and teacher has a
unique username and password and everyone must login to access The Study
Centre.
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The Study Centre has two distinct areas: The student site and
the teacher site.
The student area can be accessed by both students
and teachers.
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The teacher area is restricted
to teachers as it contains material that should not be freely available
to students (e.g. test material, teacher guides, answer keys and other confidential
material).
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In the student area, each of the eight main
units contains eleven activities of varying types. Some of the tasks include
vocabulary
matching,
building
full
sentences from skeletal elements, gap-fill, true false, selecting appropriate
language in context, listening comprehension, and multiple choice.
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Students receive feedback for their submissions, which varies
depending on the type of activity. Students can see which items they got
right or wrong and (usually) have the option of making multiple attempts
at quizzes and exercises
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Teachers can view logs of any of the students that they teach.
These logs show detailed information about each student's activity and performance
in The Study Centre. These logs provide substantial objective data on students
motivation and ability, which can be useful when trying to grade the large-sized
classes that are so prevalent in Japanese universities and colleges.
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Students can also download video and audio files compatible
for use on mp3 players such as Apple Computer's iPod ® and on mobile
phones. Students can then listen to these anywhere, anytime.
