Аракин 4 курс полностью

Possible follow-ups 
1. Speak on the following topic: "Exams or Continuous Assessment".
a) a student's view; b) a teacher's view.
2. Prepare a talk on the comparative study of the British and the Russian marking 
systems.
3. Write a composition on the following'topics:
a) The most adequate (revealing) tasks for teaching the students' skills in the senior stage.
b) My first exam.

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Практический курс английского языка. 4 курс под ред. В.Д. Аракина
302 
DISCUSSING A TEXTBOOK 
Situation 
A school textbook is to be re-edited. At a special meeting possible changes to be 
introduced are discussed.
1 
Cast list 
 
The author
A representative of the publishers
TeacherS.
Teacher D.
Ann/Michael
Jane/Andrew final-year students
Helen/Peter
Dorothy/Donald Parker, a visiting English teacher 
What you must decide 
What possible changes should be introduced into the second edition of the textbook? 
Role cards 
The author Aged 55
You are the author of the textbook. It is highly valued by the school teachers and so 
the publishing house is planning the second edition of it. As you have not been teaching 
at school yourself for the last ten years you have had no feedback from the learners (only 
practising teachers have). You appreciate the criticism and suggestions offered by the 
participants of the discussion. But you are a bit hurt by the students' impertinent remarks 
on your textbook and you let it show. 
Publisher Aged 45
You are representing the publishing house specialising in
textbooks. You conduct the 
discussion but your contribution to 
___________ 
1
The teacher must decide which textbook the group is going to discuss in the role-play. The students are 
given cards in advance so that they will study the chosen textbook and find out the items for criticism and 
approval.

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Практический курс английского языка. 4 курс под ред. В.Д. Аракина
303 
it is rather limited as you are more concerned with technical matters, therefore you object 
to colour illustrations urging to observe space limit. At the end of the discussion you 
thank the participants, promising to inform the editorial board of their 
suggestions/proposals. 
Teacher S. Aged 54
You are an experienced English teacher, favouring the existing textbook, its layout 
and the exercises provided. As some people doubt the necessity of using the students' 
mother tongue and especially a number of exercises on translation you strongly object to 
this view and argue in favour of translation as an objective method of foreign language 
teaching.
NB: After being at college together with the author of the textbook, you worked at the 
same school for some time. 
Teacher D. Aged 25
You are a young teacher with an urge to make innovations. You've been using the 
textbook for two years but you can't say you are happy about it. Your firm conviction is 
language and culture are not separable and should be taught together. But the textbook is 
not informative enough. So you insist that more information about the country should be 
provided and should be definitely supplemented by colour illustrations. 
Ann/Michael Aged 22
You are a final-year student who has already had two teaching practices in school. You 
are flattered by the invitation to participate in the discussion. You were asked to look 
through the exercises and drill material on the vocabulary and evaluate them. Say 
whether you consider the essential language items are really the most commonly used 
words about the topic. 
Jane / Andrew Aged 22
You are a final-year student. You were reluctant to participate in the discussion as you 
think that the grammar exercises you were asked to look through are subjected to a lot of 
criticism. They should be more contextualised. Exercises on translation and filling in the 
blanks should be eliminated. You sound too categorical and uncompromising but you are 
not aware of it.

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Практический курс английского языка. 4 курс под ред. В.Д. Аракина
304 
Helen/Peter Aged 30 
You are a final-year student of an evening dass. For the last two years you were 
allowed to work at school as a trainee teacher. Therefore you know the textbook well. 
You think no textbook can be perfectly designed and there is no limit to perfection. 
Concerning possible changes some texts pertaining to real-life teaching situations should 
be added to the course as well as additional visual aids (maps, diagrams, cartoons, slides, 
etc.)
Dorothy/Donald Parker Aged 35
You are a visiting English teacher with the English department. Today you are present at 
a special meeting where a school textbook planned to be re-edited is discussed. You are 
surprised to hear of a complex set of teaching material (try to find out what the set 
consists of). In Great Britain if sup to ttie subject teachers to choose any textbook for 
their forms. So you think that approach is a bit biased as it may reflect a teacher's 
preferences and it makes it difficult for a child to change schools.