Think globally and act locally - Textbooks (virtual paper)

Česká republika, ID LLCE2015-137

Perhaps surprisingly, coursebooks still lie at the heart of English language teaching and the number of them is increasing dramatically every year. In spite of an array of published material available, it can be an extremely challenging task to choose the right material. And this particularly applies to a novice teacher. Given the fact that the vast majority of current teaching and learning materials are primarily intended and produced for the global market, the materials cannot cater for various types of learners of various backgrounds, origins, interests, levels of proficiency, etc. As a result, we, teachers, are forced to make decisions about the choice of materials and question the extent to which we should adapt the materials. In the light of the environmental slogan think globally and act locally, the paper sets out to make a contribution to this topical and everyday issue, and attempts to look at some considerations in order to make our teaching more student-centred, effective as well as more enjoyable.

Key words: choosing learning and teaching materials, learners, teachers, mixed-ability classes