?> ELTWeekly » ELT Book Reviews http://eltweekly.com/more India's First Weekly ELT eNewsletter Sun, 30 May 2010 08:07:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 en hourly 1 #37, Book of the week: Internet English: Www-Based Communication Activities http://eltweekly.com/more/2009/10/37-book-of-the-week-internet-english-www-based-communication-activities/ http://eltweekly.com/more/2009/10/37-book-of-the-week-internet-english-www-based-communication-activities/#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:54:05 +0000 Tarun Patel http://eltweekly.com/more/?p=542 Internet English: Www-Based Communication Activities

by Christina Gitsaki & Richard P. Taylor

Book Description

“Internet English” helps students develop the skills to surf the Internet, while providing a structured framework to practise their conversation skills through communicative tasks. It can be used in traditional or computer-equipped classrooms.

About the Author

Dr Christina Gitsaki is an Associate Professor at Nagoya Shoka Daigaku in Aichi, Japan. She has taught English to students from Asia, Europe, and South America in Greece, Australia, and Japan. She presently teaches English Conversation, English Through Electronic Media, and Computer Communication Skills. Her main research interests are in Web Assisted Language Learning and materials design. Richard P Taylor is a lecturer at the Nagoya City University, Japan. He teaches English Conversation and Computer Communication Skills. He has been teaching for ten years at secondary and tertiary level. His main research interests are in the area of Computer Assisted Language Learning and teaching methodology.

Book Details

Paperback: 70 pages

  • Publisher: Oxford University Press (October 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 019437226X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0194372268
  • Price: $20.15
  • Book Reviews

“da_hal” (Honolulu, Hawaii)

With great excitement, I bought the first book (to my knowledge) to teach English through the Internet. However, after reviewing both the workbook and the teacher’s manual, serious flaws begin to appear. Most puzzling to me are the first four chapters. They teach students how to use basic Internet functions like e-mail and search engines. However, the language required to understand these instructions is far more difficult than the language actually taught in later chapters.

The rest of the book is also puzzling. You don’t need the Internet to do most of the exercises, and most of the topics are fairly bland and very limiting (”Find a review of your favorite movie on the Internet. What does it say?”) This has almost nothing to do with language, in my opinion, other than hitting “ctrl-c” and “ctrl-v” and “ctrl-p” to print out the review nicely.

As a last kick in the rear, an appendix is devoted to teaching how to do html programming. What has this to do with language at all? There are tons of authoring tools that take care of the programming for students.

Students aren’t dumb, they probably know how to use the basic Internet functions. If they are dumb, they couldn’t understand the first 4 chapters anyway without doing the rest of the book first (which would be impossible without knowing how to do the first 4 tasks) yadda yadda.

While it is a commendable attempt, I think an English course based on the Internet should spend more time teaching language, not the Internet.

Riad Thalji (Irbid Jordan)

As an IT trainer, I found the most dificult barrier for People here in the Middle east is the English language chalenge. We have too much Internet cafes, but in my estimation, average people can’t understand more than 30% of English. This is why I thought of a solution to author a book in called Internet English. The problem is that me also is not a native. This is why I found this book valuable when I suddenly found it at amazon.com. Brilliant Idea.

Internet English: Www-Based Communication Activities

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]]> http://eltweekly.com/more/2009/10/37-book-of-the-week-internet-english-www-based-communication-activities/feed/ 1 ELTWeekly Issue#32, Book Review: ‘globish – The World Over’ http://eltweekly.com/more/2009/09/eltweekly-issue32-book-review-globish-the-world-over/ http://eltweekly.com/more/2009/09/eltweekly-issue32-book-review-globish-the-world-over/#comments Sat, 05 Sep 2009 04:34:02 +0000 Tarun Patel http://eltweekly.com/more/?p=422 ‘globish – The World Over’ by Jean-Paul Nerriere and David Hon

reviewed by Tarun Patel

‘Globish – The World Over’ is a 168-page ebook written by Jean-Paul Nerriere and David Hon. This ebook is divided into two parts – ‘The Problem with Learning English’ and ‘Elements of Globish’. It featuers 23 chapters. The ISBN of ‘Globish’ is 978-2-212-86542-4. The price of the book is $9.95.

‘Globish’ observes how a billion people are in need of a consistent language to do business across the globe, describes how the problem is being solved by many non-native English speakers, and discusses the specific outlines of the Globish approach that is being noted as perhaps the only possibility for true Global talk.

David and Jean have written this book to aid those who use English as a tool for their communication. To form their viewpoint at the very beginning of the book, David and Jean say, “The English language seems to be the most important communication tool for the international world. But now it must be a kind of English which can be learned quickly and used very easily – not like Standard English. The people who know a little are already using what they know. It works for them – a little. But… they often have families and jobs. They cannot spend enough time or enough money to learn all of English. And English speakers think these people will “never be good enough” in English. It is a problem. We think Globish is a solution.”

In the initial chapters of this ebook Jean and David have talked about the demographics that the English language dominates as a most widely used language.

To describe this dominance they have put the following image, which is an self-explanatory example of wide spectrum of English language.

Image from page# 19

According to David and Jean, ‘Globish’ is a language that enables people to satisfy all their communication needs in 1500 words. They say:

“Globish is correct English”

“Globish spelling is English spelling”

“Globish sounds like English”

“Globish uses the same letters, markings and numbers as English”

“Globish uses the basic grammar of English, with fewer Tenses, Voices, and Moods.”

Globish has 1500 words, expandable in four ways:

- different use of same word,

- combinations of words,

- short additions to words,

- and Phrasal Verbs.

They have also talked about the limitations of Globish and enlisted all 1500 words which form Globish.

In the later chapters of the book the authors have focused on other aspects of Globish which are very interesting for everyone who uses English.

They have made this book easy to read by explaining all the technical words appropriately.

IT would be worth spending $9.95to read this book which has come with a new concept and could make a BIG story in terms of communication.

You can buy this ebook from Jean’s website: http://www.globish.com

Author Biographies

Jean-Paul Nerrière

As a vice-president of IBM Europe Middle East & Africa, Jean-Paul Nerrière was noted worldwide for his foresight in urging IBM to sell services instead of “selling iron”. With IBM USA as a Vice President in charge of International Marketing, he was also using and observing English – daily – in its many variations. Nerrière’s personal experience the world over enlightened him to a not-so-obvious solution to the global communication problem – Globish. Recently this has resulted in his best-selling books on Globish in French, Korean, Spanish and Italian, and the word Globish being known everywhere.

Nerrière has also been knighted with the Légion d’honneur, the highest award France can give.

David Hon

As a young man, David Hon jumped off helicopters in Vietnam and taught English in South America. He had an MA in English and thought that someday he would write about English as an international communication tool.

However, a different direction, into the computer age, led Hon to develop the world’s first realistic medical simulators. He won international awards and created a successful company, Ixion, to produce those computerized simulators.

A short time back, he came upon Nerrière’s Globish ideas, and Hon knew that this book in Globish was the one he had intended to write long ago.

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]]> http://eltweekly.com/more/2009/09/eltweekly-issue32-book-review-globish-the-world-over/feed/ 2 ELTWeekly Issue#31, Book of the Week: The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher http://eltweekly.com/more/2009/08/eltweekly-issue31-book-of-the-week-the-first-days-of-school-how-to-be-an-effective-teacher/ http://eltweekly.com/more/2009/08/eltweekly-issue31-book-of-the-week-the-first-days-of-school-how-to-be-an-effective-teacher/#comments Sat, 29 Aug 2009 09:41:22 +0000 Tarun Patel http://eltweekly.com/more/?p=411 The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher

by Harry K. Wong

Book Description

The best-selling book ever on classroom management and teaching for student achievement with over 3.3 million copies sold. The book walks a teacher, either novice or veteran, through structuring and organizing a classroom for success that can be applied at any time of the year at any grade level, pre-K through college.

The book is used in thousands of school districts, in over 100 countries, and in over 2,000 college classrooms. It’s practical, yet inspiring. But most important, it works!

The new 4th edition includes updated research, photos, and more examples of “how-to” along with an implementation DVD, “Using THE FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL” featuring Chelonnda Seroyer.

This is the most requested book for what works in the classroom for teacher and student success.

More Details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Harry K. Wong Publications; 4 edition (January 1, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0976423316
  • ISBN-13: 978-0976423317
  • Price: $20.98

About the Author

Harry K. Wong and Rosemary T. Wong are award-winning teachers and new teacher advocates. Harry is a native of San Francisco and is arguably the most sought-after motivational speaker in education today having given some 3000 presentations to over a million people. He has been called “Mr. Practicality” for his common sense, user-friendly, no-cost approach to managing a classroom for high-level student success. The March 2006 issue of Instructor magazine named him one of the 20 most admired people in education along with Maya Angelou, Howard Gardner, and Oprah Winfrey. He has received numerous other teaching honors.

Rosemary is from New Orleans, Louisiana. Her classroom success led to her selection as one of the first Mentor teachers in California. She has received many Silicon Valley business honors and the Southeastern Louisiana University Distinguished Alumni Award.

Profits from the sale of their book fund “The First Days of School Foundation.” That foundation has built and funds the 250 student “Wong Mean Reth Learning Academy” in the jungles of Cambodia.

Customer Reviews

Laura Candler

I recently received a copy of the newly revised version of The First Days of School, and I love it! I’m enjoying it so much that I don’t want to rush through it. I read it a little at a time, savoring it like a wonderful piece of chocolate. Everything is clearly written, and much of what is written is quite profound in its simplicity. I love the sidebars with extra information and inspirational stories, as well as the internet links to additional resources. The page layout is attractive and easy to read. Many people are familiar with this book as a “must have” for beginning teachers, but as a 27-year veteran, I can say that this book is just as powerful today as it was when I first read it years ago. There is much wisdom tucked inside its pages!

Erica Schoenberger

Last night I sat down and started reading this book from the beginning and somewhat past midnight I had to force myself to put it down to go to sleep.

Why is this? It’s not that it’s such a sweeping, romantic epic — my
other bedtime reading just now is War and Peace. (Also quite good!)
Partly because I’m just very interested in teaching and everything to do
with it. But there’s something also about how it exactly models the
behaviors and attitudes the authors are trying to cultivate. It’s extremely well organized and well-paced — in a nutshell, well-managed. It’s also very inviting and warm. To make advice about posting assignments somehow draw you further into the text is quite an achievement.

Erica Schoenberger
Professor
Dept of Geography and Environmental Engineering
The Johns Hopkins University

High Scool Science Teacher

I am a high school science teacher. My principal gave my a copy of this book when I started teaching 13 years ago. Since then, I have read it every August before I start the school year.

I enjoy reviewing the components of good teaching (positive expectations, classroom management, and lesson mastery). However, my favorite part is the section called, The Teacher as a Professional. It helps me maintain a positive and professional attitude during the school year which is not always easy to do. Thank you Harry and Rosemary Wong for inspiring me to be a teacher-leader, not a worker!

The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher

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]]> http://eltweekly.com/more/2009/08/eltweekly-issue31-book-of-the-week-the-first-days-of-school-how-to-be-an-effective-teacher/feed/ 0 ELTWeekly Issue#27, Book of the Week: The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English http://eltweekly.com/more/2009/07/eltweekly-issue27-book-of-the-week-the-secret-life-of-words-how-english-became-english/ http://eltweekly.com/more/2009/07/eltweekly-issue27-book-of-the-week-the-secret-life-of-words-how-english-became-english/#comments Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:37:54 +0000 Tarun Patel http://eltweekly.com/more/?p=364 The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English

By Henry Hitchings

Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

This historical tour of the English lexicon considers words as etymological fossils of past dreams and traumas, revealing the preoccupations of the ages that produced them. The nineteenth century’s cult of fine feelings gave currency to sensibility and physiognomy; popery and libertine sprang from the religious skepticism of the sixteen-hundreds. Many such relics began as imports: centuries of Anglophone empire-building have occasioned borrowings from some three hundred and fifty languages, including Arabic (sash) and Sanskrit (pundit). The chapters are loosely focussed on different themes, but trade is a constant thread: tycoon comes from taikun, a Japanese honorific picked up on Commodore Matthew Perry’s eighteen-fifties mission to open the ports of Japan. Hitchings offers a rich array of anecdotes and extracts, but the absence of a strong over-all argument deprives his account of momentum.
Copyright ©2008 Click here to subscribe to The New Yorker –This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

What Hitchings shows us is that the history of our vocabulary is the history of who we really are. Playing up the “acquisitiveness of English,” which has proved hospitable to words from more than 350 other languages, his book has a wide sweep, from pre-Roman Britain to online communities. Each chapter tends to address a particular influx of words, whether rooted in invasion and conquest or in the innovative use of the language by gifted writers. A chapter called “Angst” not only covers the twentieth century’s contribution to the vocabulary via the military, advertising, technology, and the business world, it also incorporates, in digressive but entertaining fashion, the history of coffee, a caustic evisceration of “management speak,” and an explanation of why purists are so resistant to new words. Ever ready with an apt quote, Hitchings makes a delightful and knowledgeable guide, privy to many fascinating facts about the language—those averse to the increasing power of technophiles are given a handful of pithy put-downs, including dot snots and entrepenerds. A well-researched, fluidly written book that wears its scholarship lightly. –Joanne Wilkinson –This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Book Details

  • Paperback: 448 pages
  • Publisher: Picador (September 29, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312428561
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312428563
  • Shipping Information: View shipping rates and policies
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #254,208 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
  • Price: $11.56
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]]> http://eltweekly.com/more/2009/07/eltweekly-issue27-book-of-the-week-the-secret-life-of-words-how-english-became-english/feed/ 1 ELTWeekly Issue#26, Book Review: ‘The Universal Course in FRENCH’ by Pawan Kumar http://eltweekly.com/more/2009/07/eltweekly-issue26-book-review-the-universal-course-in-french-by-pawan-kumar/ http://eltweekly.com/more/2009/07/eltweekly-issue26-book-review-the-universal-course-in-french-by-pawan-kumar/#comments Sun, 19 Jul 2009 03:58:08 +0000 Tarun Patel http://eltweekly.com/more/?p=352 ‘The Universal Course in FRENCH’ by Pawan Kumar

Reviewed by Prof (Dr) Shefali Bakshi

Mr Pawan Kumar, who is a teacher of French in Amity University, Lucknow Campus, since last three years, has written a student friendly book in which elementary or zero level learners can be well-versed with day-to-day French and its pronunciation. The book begins with a chapter on “Salutations” along with their English forms so as to make the learner involved in speaking the language right away. The second chapter concentrates on the French alphabets in their symbol form with the meaning in the Indian script. This chapter forms the base of the learner and so it is very important for the learner to completely understand and acquire the sounds correctly. The third chapter is on colloquial dialogues in a conversation form so that communicative activities like Role Play, Drilling Activity  by repeating structures can be conducted in the classrooms. These, however, have Hindi translations for better pronunciation and usage. The author has constructed small chapters of lots of variety, thus motivating the learner to become fluent in the language. The best part is the last chapter, which is based on Lord Ram’s story in French which evolves an integration of the Indian Culture in the French language. This inspires the learners to create their own short writings in French. At the grammar level, the author discusses ‘Tenses’ briefly and does a comparative study between the different tenses, which helps in story building.

The Author has taken examples from daily life so that a learner can grasp the basic knowledge in a simple way. The wonderful part of this book is that the pronunciation is given in the Hindi script; therefore any beginner can acquire the French language. Mr Pawan Kumar has written this book keeping in mind the growth of Engineering, Management, and other Institutes in smaller pockets of India. He has shown that it is not necessary to be proficient in English in order to acquire any other language. It is a boon to students who are studying in districts, towns and villages. So far, there was not a single book of such a kind for the vernacular medium.

Therefore the book has become very popular among the local learners of not only college but also school. This book can be subscribed in schools as today schools are also offering one foreign language to their students. The book is also being used in Amity University, Lucknow, Jaipur and Noida campuses, Lucknow University, and many other technical and management institutions where French has become an optional subject to be opted by the beginners. The author Mr.Pawan Kumar has made the languages very simple for first time for the Indian students

Prof (Dr) Shefali Bakshi is the Deputy Director at Amity School of Languages. She has done a Project on “A Study of Verbal Interaction in Waiting for Godot” for the M.A. degree and has ompleted her PhD thesis on “A Study of Verbal Interaction in the plays of Samuel Beckett” for the Degree of Ph.D. at University of Lucknow, India. She has conducted over 75 workshops on ELT in various parts of India for school teachers and principals.

* ELTWeekly would likt to thank Prof (Dr) Shefali Bakshi for sontributing this review.

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]]> http://eltweekly.com/more/2009/07/eltweekly-issue26-book-review-the-universal-course-in-french-by-pawan-kumar/feed/ 4 ELTWeekly Issue#25, Book of the week: English Language Teaching in its Social Context: A Reader http://eltweekly.com/more/2009/07/eltweekly-issue25-book-of-the-week-english-language-teaching-in-its-social-context-a-reader/ http://eltweekly.com/more/2009/07/eltweekly-issue25-book-of-the-week-english-language-teaching-in-its-social-context-a-reader/#comments Sat, 11 Jul 2009 06:05:30 +0000 Tarun Patel http://eltweekly.com/more/?p=348 English Language Teaching in its Social Context: A Reader

By C. Candlin

Book Description

English Language Teaching in its Social Context presents four major principles of English language teaching:

* focusing on the roles played by teachers and learners
* recognizing the individuality of language learners
* supporting teachers in the provision of active guidance for students’ learning
* examining both positive and negative patterns of interaction between learners and teachers.
About the Author

Christopher N. Candlin is Chair Professor of Applied Linguistics at the City University of Hong Kong.

Neil Mercer is professor of Language and Communications at the Open University, UK.

More Details

  • Hardcover: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (January 22, 2001)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0415241219
  • ISBN-13: 978-0415241212
  • Price: $160.00
This book cites 100 books:
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