Spark 3 Based on Criteria Designed by Alan Cunningsworth jolanda gjergji

Chapter 6
Motivation and the learner
Motivation is a crucial factor insuccess or failure at language learning. Motivation determines the student’s level of attention during class. A well-motivated badly taught will probably do better than a poory-motivated student well taught. Motivation has a deep influence on the effectiveness of learning.


6.1 The variety and pace
The material has variety and pace. Spark 3 have various interesting topics and tasks such as: writing tasks, sentence and conversation completion, open-ended exercises which increase learner’s motivation, constituting an important factor that determines learning success.


6.2 The subject matter of reading texts, listening passages
The topics that appear in the coursebook are likely to be of genuine interest to the learners. The topics of every unit are about real life as well, such as Lifestyles, Natural phenomena, Experiences, Breaking the law, Technology and Communication, Entertainment and Places and Lifestyles. Spark has Albanian edition for 8th grade, so it is appropriate considering students’ social and cultural background. The material is intented for 8^th grade students so it is age-appropriate and match the learner objectives.
6.3 The presentation of the learning activities
Visual support in Spark 3 is mostly a part of reading and listening activities and is used to make the textbook visually more interesting. When it comes to vocabulary, there are instances in which visual support is added to faciliate memorization and retention of word form or meaning. For example, at the beginining of ta new module, there are new vocabulary items to which images are added so that learners memorize them easily. In addition, there are cases in which learners have to use new vocabulary to describe photos.


6.4 Layout, visuals, typography
At the first side, the textbook attracts the learner with the colourful cover and the photographs.
The cover of “Spark 3” is good enough. The paper that is used is thick. In order that each sheet is
ensured its quality. The layout in this textbook is interesting and colorful. The color merger is well to see. The color of red, orange, yellow, green and blue mix and match to become the one. The pictures also support the cover illustration. The pictures are unique because the writers of the book sets up the pictures to become meaningful pictures. The type and size of the fonts used guarantee the readability of the texts. The topic of each module and each section are written in bold type. There are no error points in the font size for topic and sections. The top, bottom, left and right margins, the space between words, phrases, lines and so on, ensures the reading of the textbook. So, the layout of this textbook is attractive, and well-organized.