© 1991 by Oxford University Press
Articles |
Evaluating teachers' guides
lecturer in the Language Studies Department at Christ Church College of Higher Education, Canterbury,taught ESL and EFL from primary to tertiary levels, and has contributed to teacher-training seminars in many countries. His particular interests lie in pragmatics and in computer assisted language learning.
lecturer in the Language Studies Department at Christ Church College of Higher Education, Canterbury.Regularly contributes to journals in the ELT field, and has written a widely-used book on evaluating ELT teaching materials. His main interests are in the areas of teacher development and training, vocabulary teaching, and the acquisition of conversational skills.
Teachers' guides (TGs) are an important part of a materials package, especially for teachers who are less experienced, or whose English is not strong. The availability and effectiveness of a TG can contribute greatly to achieving a good standard of teaching, through the provision of information about the language, guidance on teaching procedures, and a rationale for the course. This article considers the functions of TGs, and suggests why evaluation of TGs is a worthwhile activity. It then goes on to examine the evaluation process, with a consideration of how teachers can become actively involved in it, and proposes a set of model criteria for global appraisal and more detailed evaluation of TGs.