Teaching Materials and the Roles of EFL/ESL Teachers

Reviews / Votes

Teaching Materials and the Roles of EFL/ESL Teachers: Practice and Theory is aimed at postgraduate students and would be an ideal core text for a module on materials development. -- Rachel Wicaksono, York St John University, UK * Times Higher Education * [A] valuable resource for postgraduate students, researchers, and teacher educators in the area of TESOL. What it reveals about how coursebooks are actually used will also make it salutary reading for publishers and coursebook writers. With his measured tone and a balanced approach which takes into consideration all sectors of the language teaching community, McGrath gives us a very readable, thought-provoking, and welcome addition to the steadily growing body of literature on materials development. -- Freda Mishan, University of Limerick, Ireland * ELT Journal * McGrath's book ... provides a safety harness for the inexperienced teacher while offering the more seasoned teacher an opportunity to rethink and refresh perspectives held towards materials development and design ... A useful resource for all teachers and teacher educators. * Australian Review of Applied Linguistics * A strength is that the author brings together perspectives of materials, teachers, learners, contexts, and teacher education that other similar texts often deal with in a less than adequate way. The book succeeds as a primer for those seeking to explore different elements of materials evaluation and design. I would even suggest that the current text is a must-read resource for pre-service teachers and in-service teachers as well as those interested in language materials evaluation and development. -- Handoyo Puji Widodo, University of Adelaide, Australia * System * [An] excellent review of past and current research in textbook use. -- Jesus Garcia Laborda, Universidad de Alcala, Spain * Modern Language Journal * In itself, this is an extremely practical set of suggestions for teachers to consider ... My own (long) experience in working with teachers from many backgrounds supports McGrath's contention that many lack a clear understanding of how to systematically evaluate the materials they use, and often are obliged to use. His book is well-organised, clearly written and thought provoking, and McGrath provides a clear rationale and framework for the professional development of teachers in the area of materials selection, evaluation and adaptation. I highly recommend it to future and practising teachers and especially to those responsible for advising and teaching them. -- Roger Barnard, University of Waikato, New Zealand * Modern English Teacher * This book is a must-read for EFL/ESL teachers and those who educate them. McGrath, as one of the leading scholars in the field ... addresses an area of materials development which seems to have been under-represented in the literature ... by giving more voice to teachers. * Australian Journal of Linguistics * Ian McGrath's book ... examines the roles and types of agency that teachers may exercise by drawing on a remarkable body of research ... Teachers are invited to become critical users of course books and active agents of change ... I highly recommend the book. -- Dario Luis Banegas * MEXTESOL Journal *