Across Cultures and Reading for Pleasure

Listening and Speaking

Unit 4 in each theme focuses on oral skills. It aims

to develop fluency and accuracy within specified

functional areas and with acceptable standards of

pronunciation.There is a focus throughout on

developing realistic purposes for listening, including

both listening for pleasure and listening for

information.The listening tasks can be dialogues

between two or more speakers, or just one

speaker talking about a topic.They simulate

interviews, radio shows and short presentations.

In each unit there is a Soundbites activity which

highlights the functional language highlighted in the

unit, such as ‘asking questions’ or ‘making and

responding to suggestions‘.This both revises and

extends previous work covered, providing more

options for students to use in conversation.

Soundbites is followed by an activity where the

focus is on the fluent use of the functional

language highlighted in the Soundbites box.

2.1.6 Writing

The emphasis in Unit 5 is on developing

purposeful and practical writing skills, rather than

writing for its own sake or in order to practise

grammatical structures.A wide variety of writing

tasks is given, but teachers should also look for

opportunities to create more, for example, writing

tasks based on a discussion.The focus is on the

processes involved in writing with a balance

between fluency-based and accuracy based tasks.

Different genres of writing are highlighted in each

theme, building up a solid foundation of writing

skills. In Grades 11 and 12, there is practice in

both vocational and academic genres of writing.

Students are exposed to the stages of writing

from reading a model text, through discussion of

language and features associated with different

genres and the writing of a structured text, to free

writing practice of the particular genre practised

in each theme.

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xvi • Teacher’s Book •

2.1.7 Across Cultures and Reading for

Pleasure

These are optional two-page spreads which

teachers can choose either to do in class with

students or ask students to complete in their own

time.There are no detailed activity notes in the

Teacher’s Book.

Each of the Across Cultures spreads focuses on a

different country, particularly on aspects of

interest to Omani students who might be going to

study in that country.At the end of each spread,

students discuss questions which compare an

aspect of the culture they have read about with

Oman - for example, sports or food.They discuss

the questions and then write a paragraph giving

particular information about Oman to a visitor,

based on the ideas generated in their discussions.

The Reading for Pleasure spread introduces a range

of text types and genres, which it is hoped that

students will enjoy. Interested students can find

additional information about the topic on the

Reading for Pleasure page in theWorkbook.

Although there are no specific activities for

Reading for Pleasure, teachers might like to ask

students to do a short piece of writing – for

example, a short summary, or to say whether they

found what they read interesting, and give their

reasons.

2.1.8 Review and Reference Page

The Review and Reference page outlines the main

learning activities/objectives the students have

covered in the theme. In addition, there is a

Glossary containing 12 – 14 of the core words.

This Glossary replaces theWord Lists from the

previous version of the Grade 11 books Teachers

should tell students to learn the spellings of the

words in the Glossary, and check these spellings at

the end of the theme.

2.1.9 Communication Activities

In Themes 3 and 4, there are communication

activities which require students to turn to

specific pages in the back of the book.All materials

for these activities are fully cross-referenced.

2.2 The Workbook

TheWorkbook opens with a contents map, which

outlines the syllabus.This is followed by a

two-page spread with the learning outcomes for

each theme.

2.2.1 Reading

The two-page reading spread provides practice

activities for a reading text from the Coursebook

or a second reading text, plus further practice of

the activity type connected to the text. In

addition, there may be vocabulary activities

connected to the topic of the unit or

activities which require students to complete an

activity with personal information.

2.2.2 Grammar

The grammar pages provide further consolidation

and practice activities related to the language

focus areas of the unit. Students also work on

vocabulary activities related to the topic of the

unit.

2.2.3 Vocabulary

The vocabulary pages provide opportunities for

students to use the vocabulary introduced in the

listening or reading texts of the units. Students

also complete word-building and vocabulary

extension activities.

2.2.4 Listening and Speaking

The listening and speaking pages give students the

opportunity to complete their answers to a

listening activity and to work on the functional

language contained in the Soundbites box in the

Coursebook. Students also work on vocabulary

activities connected to the topic of the unit.

2.2.5 Writing

The writing pages give students practice with a

variety of writing tasks such as writing an informal

e-mail.There may also be activities connected to

the features of a particular text or genre. Students

also work on vocabulary activities connected to

the topic of the unit.

2.2.6 Across Cultures and

Reading for Pleasure

The Across Cultures page provides activities linked

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• Teacher’s Book • xvii

to the Across Cultures spread in the Coursebook.

The activities can be worked on in class or by

individual students in their own time. In response

to requests from teachers, answer keys to the

Across Cultures activities have been provided in the

Teacher’s Book at the end of each theme, as well

as in theWorkbook.

The Reading for Pleasure page is related to the

topic of the Reading for Pleasure two-page spread

in the Coursebook. It provides areas for further

discussion, or for students to think about.

2.2.7 Review and Reference Pages

The Review and Reference pages at the end of each

theme contain a self-assessment activity, a copy of

the Grammar Recall box and practice activities for

grammar and vocabulary revised in the theme. In

response to requests from teachers, answer keys

to the Review and Reference activities are provided

in the Teacher’s Book at the end of each theme, as

well as at the back of theWorkbook.

Note: TheWord Lists and categorisation

activities from the previous version of the Grade

11 books have been replaced by Glossaries and

activities based on the words from these

Glossaries.

In addition, students personalise their learning by

choosing 15 words from the theme that they

would like to remember – 5 nouns, 5 verbs and 5

adjectives.The last activity of the Review and

Reference section is a Personalise It activity, in which

students choose two things that interested them,

two things that were new and two things that they

wished to find out more about in each theme.

2.2.8 Communication Activities

In Themes 1 and 3, there are communication

activities which require students to turn to

specific pages in the back of the book.All materials

for these activities are fully cross-referenced.

2.2.9 Grammar Practice

The Grammar Practice pages are a new feature of

the Grade 11 books.There are four Grammar

Practice activity pages – one for each theme.They

provide the opportunity for further practice of

the main grammar point focused on in the theme,

plus other points.

2.2.10 Writing Guide

The Writing Guide section focuses on the main

writing task for that theme. Guidance is given

concerning layout and language, and models

provided for students to follow.

2.2.11 Grammar Reference

The Grammar Reference Section sets out the form

of the main language structures introduced in each

theme. It is intended to provide a reminder and

further support for those students who may need

more help.

2.2.12 Word List

This is arranged by theme, and comprises the key

vocabulary presented in the Glossary at the end

of each theme in the Coursebook.There is a

phonetic transcription for each word.

2.2.13 Functional Language Review

This contains the phrases from the Soundbites

function boxes presented in each theme of the

Coursebook, set out on one page for students’

easy reference.

2.3 The Teacher’s Book

2.3.1 Contents Map and Learning

Objectives

A contents map is provided at the front of the

Teacher’s Book which outlines the syllabus.This is

followed by a two-page spread with the learning

objectives for each theme. It should be noted that

these objectives are not exhaustive and may not

represent each separate activity.

For example, in the writing units the key objective

is the writing of a text in a specific genre.The

activities associated with each stage of building up

to writing the text – reading a model, analysing

language, structured writing – are not included in

the contents map.

The learning objectives are followed by

cross-curricular links which relate the material

presented in the course to other areas of the

school curriculum.

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2.3.2 Approach

The teacher’s notes are written in units, rather

than lessons.Although no specific timings for

activities have been given, it is expected that, with

the reduction of the Grade 11 books from five

themes to four, teachers will be able to cover

most of the material. However, it is also

recognized that some classes may work faster and

others may progress at a slower rate if students

have difficulty with a particular language point or

skill. It is therefore up to individual teachers to

allocate the time they spend on individual

activities, according to the ability of their class.

Summary of Activities

In response to requests from teachers, there is

more freedom for teachers to work through the

course materials.To help teachers, on the

introductory page to each theme, a summary is

given so that teachers can see at a glance the

activities which the theme contains. It is therefore

essential for teachers to read through each theme

thoroughly before they start it in class, to

familiarise themselves with the activities.

The activities are laid out in a suggested order,

alternating between Coursebook andWorkbook,

but it is up to individual teachers to decide if they

want to follow that order. Some themes contain

additional activities.Again, it is up to individual

teachers to decide whether they wish to make use

of these extra activities, and if so, whether to do

them in class or give them as homework.

Pair/Group work

Pair and group work is included throughout the

course.These activities are intended to give

students more practice in oral skills.With many

activities, it is up to the teacher to decide if they

should be done only orally, or whether students

should also write the answers in their exercise

books.

In addition, there are many discussion activities

throughout each theme to give students the

chance to work together and engage with the

content of a unit which may have been introduced

in a written form.Teachers should use these

activities as an opportunity to monitor and assess

students continuously and informally.

Feedback and Monitoring

Within the detailed teaching notes there is often

only a brief mention made to obtaining class

feedback in the interests of space and constant

repetition. However, there are a number of ways

in which feedback can be given, depending on the

type of activity, the students and time.

Simple checking of answers can be teacher-led by

choosing individual students to answer.

Feedback from group discussions can be done in a

number of ways:

• The discussion can be opened up so that the

whole class gets a chance to participate.

• A spokesperson from each group can be asked

to provide feedback from their group. Once all

the groups have spoken, then the discussion can

be refocused to pick up on points arising from

the discussion.

• One group can lead the feedback, facilitating the

discussion in place of the teacher.This gives

students valuable practice in facilitation skills

which is useful in many career areas.

• Two groups can work together and summarise

to each other the points arising from their

discussions.

Teachers are advised to use the opportunities

provided by the more independent learning

activities to monitor and assess students’ oral

skills while they work in groups, or their written

work throughout the drafting and checking

process.

2.3.3 Teaching Notes

Detailed teaching notes are provided for each unit

outlining what the students are required to do in

each activity. Listening scripts are provided in the

detailed teaching notes.

2.3.4 Course CDs

The course CDs feature a variety of native

speakers of English.This is to familiarise students

with the range of voices and accents they are

likely to meet in their future education and/or

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• Teacher’s Book • ix

future careers. It is up to teachers to decide how

many times it is necessary to play each recording,

although it is expected that most recordings will

need to be played more than once.

Each listening script is identified by a series of

numbers.These refer to the theme, the unit and

the number of each recording within the unit. For

example, ‘Listening Script 3.2.2’ means that the

recording comes fromTheme 3, Unit 2 (Travellers

and Tourists – Getting There) and is the second

recording in the unit.

Introduction