Spark 3 Based on Criteria Designed by Alan Cunningsworth jolanda gjergji

5.5 Index of grammar
There is no index of grammar items in the students’ book. The grammar book it is a separate textbook. At the back of the book it is only one list of irregular verbs.


5.6 Vocabulary list
The coursebook contains a word lists at the back of the book categorized by modules and sections (E.g. Module 2, word list categorized: 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f, 2g). The words are accompanied with their phonetic transcription in English and the English meaning. This is useful for the students doing individualized, out-of-class work, as well as comprehensive preparation for exams.


5.7 Materials for testing
At the end of the textbook, there are ‘Self-Check’ pages categorized by modules which learners
can use for self-evaluation. These are progress tests which are given periodically during the course and are related to what has been taught in the preceding units. The tests help students assess their own progress, and in turn become independent learners.
The tests are discrete items tests because concentrates on testing separate language items such as grammar and vocabulary, and no speaking practice is included. Grammar obtained a lot of attention as it can be seen in the self-assessment tasks. Students are not involved in integrative language use. In this section, it is tested only the students’ knowledge of language construction by gap-fills exercises, nor the students’ ability to perform in a communicative situation by using a combination of different skills or abilities. The tests are related to what is taught by the course material, rather than the learners’ communicative needs. This section includes tasks on reading, vocabulary and grammar. There are no activities related to speaking practice. The tasks include only sentence completion activities with the words given.
5.8 Other considerations
5.8.1 The support for the teacher and the guidance provided
The material does not require a high degree of teacher input because the textbook presents
necessary input through various explanations in the activities. The exercises are not difficult to be completed and the textbook includes the necessary directions to explain how every exercise should be completed. So, the material is almost self-sufficient. In addition, the material is suitable for a teacher who is not a native speaker since it doesn’t require the teacher to have a native speaker intuition. For less experienced teachers, there is a teacher’s book accompanying the students’ book which contains a lot of useful information on how to best use the Spark 3 in class.