SURVEY surveyREVIEW review EFL courses for adults Brian Tomlinson, Bao Dat, Hitomi Masuhara, and Rani Rubdy Introduction Our intention in this review is to evaluate eight current adult courses published by major British publishers, and to draw attention to the trends they have in common As such a comprehensive review of coursebooks has never appeared in the ELT Journal before, we have endeavoured to make our review as rigorous as possible, in order to be informative about the particular courses under review, and about course development in general The courses we have evaluated, which were submitted to us by four leading UK publishers, are as follows: π π π π Language in Use and True to Life Cutting Edge and Wavelength Inside Out and Reward Clockwise and Landmark (Cambridge University Press) (Pearson Longman) (Macmillan Heinemann ELT ) (Oxford University Press) The components of the courses are summarized in Appendix A NB the edition of Language in Use submitted for review was the original 1991 edition and not the new edition published in 2000 Our team consists of Brian Tomlinson from England, Bao Dat from Vietnam, Rani Rubdy from India, and Hitomi Masuhara from Japan What we all have in common is that we have worked at the National University of Singapore, and have experience of teaching English as a Foreign Language, of researching approaches to the learning of foreign languages, and of materials development In order to conduct this review, we first of all agreed on a list of 133 course evaluation criteria, which were developed from research into what learners, teachers, and administrators want from coursebooks This research was carried out at the 13th National Conference for Teachers of English, San Jose, Costa Rica (January 1997), at the 8th MATSDA Conference in Dublin (January 1997), at the IATEFL Literature Symposium in Dillingen, Germany ( September 1997), and on a worldwide scale for a major British publisher in 1998 After agreeing on our criteria, each of us independently evaluated the eight courses We all focused on diÔerent unit numbers, and started each 80 ELT Journal Volume 55/1 January 2001 © Oxford University Press reviews welcome evaluation with a detailed analysis of that unit in each of the course components at intermediate level We then looked at other units at the intermediate level before repeating this procedure for the other levels of the course Then we graded the course on a scale of 0–5 for most of our 133 criteria, but on a scale of 0–20 for those criteria under the heading of ‘Publisher’s Claim’, and of 0–10 for those under the heading of ‘Flexibility’ Finally, we wrote evaluative comments for each of the headings which the criteria were grouped under (e.g ‘Flexibility’; ‘Teachability’; ‘Design’) This procedure was carried out independently and in isolation by each reviewer, so as to avoid contamination of judgement Here is an example of the criteria we used: flexibility (Total grade = /100) a) Would the course appeal to adult learners in any country? (Grade = /10) b) Would the course be useful to adult learners in any country? (Grade = /10) c) Does the course provide opportunities for learners to localize activities? (Grade = /10) d) Does the course provide opportunities for teachers to localize activities? (Grade = /10) e) Does the course facilitate a flexible approach? (Grade = /10) f) Does the course provide opportunities for extensive reading? (Grade = /10) g) Does the course provide opportunities for extensive listening? (Grade = /10) h) Does the course provide opportunities for informal acquisition as well as formal learning? (Grade = /10) i) Does the course cater for diÔerent preferred learning styles? (Grade = /10) j) Does the course prepare learners for the realities of language use in ‘the real world’? (Grade = /10) Finally, we collated and then averaged our scores for each criterion for each course, before looking for distinctive convergence and divergence in our evaluative comments General review of the We have been very thorough and systematic in our evaluation courses procedures, and have attempted to be as fair, rigorous, and objective as possible However, we must start this report on our evaluation by acknowledging that, to some extent, our results are still inevitably subjective This is because any pre-use evaluation is subjective, both in its selection of criteria and in the judgements made by the evaluators (Ellis EFL courses for adults 81 reviews welcome 1998; Tomlinson 1999) We have attempted to compensate for this by establishing a team of reviewers from diÔerent countries and backgrounds, by evaluating the courses in isolation from each other, and by averaging our scores But we must accept that the same review, conducted by a diÔerent team of reviewers, would almost certainly have produced a diÔerent set of results It turned out that the four of us diÔered considerably in many of our prerequisites for a good coursebook, and disagreed completely in some of our responses to the coursebooks under review But we all agreed that a good coursebook, whilst helping learners to develop their procedural knowledge of grammar, should concentrate on providing learners with engaging and purposeful interaction with language in use Another group of reviewers might have considered the provision of grammatical information to be pivotal Only a thorough ‘whilst-use’ evaluation, and a rigorous longitudinal post-use evaluation, could reveal reliable evidence about the value of the courses in aÔecting learner attitudes and behaviour, and ultimately in contributing to the development of the communicative competence of the learners All that we can in this review is to present our informed and collective predictions as to the likely value of the courses Overall course criteria Publishers’ claims We found that publishers seem to have become more descriptive and less extravagant recently in their claims about what their courses For example, Language in Use, Wavelength, Landmark, and Inside Out, were found to be fairly accurate in their claims about what they were providing for the learner However, it was felt that Reward and Cutting Edge were more form-focused—and less communicative—than they claimed, that True to Life just did not achieve the motivation, realism, and engagement that it emphasized, and that Clockwise made exaggerated and unrealistic claims to be ‘energetic’ and ‘dynamic’, and to provide communicative pay-oÔs and stimulate personal response Reward and Cutting Edge also make very sensible points in the Introductions to their teacher’s books, but they not always help the teacher to achieve what they are recommending (for example, cross-cultural awareness in Reward, and personalization in Cutting Edge) One consequence of the trend to avoid criticism for unsubstantiated claims seems to be a reluctance to state the learning objectives of the diÔerent levels of the courses Instead, most of the courses seem to restrict themselves to a description of the content of units, rather than risk saying what they intend it to achieve For example, True to Life lists ‘Key features’, but does not state its objectives Reward states task aims in its teacher’s books, but they tend to be such vague procedural aims as ‘to practise reading for main ideas’ (Intermediate Teacher’s Book, p 43) Also, Clockwise lists ‘Series aims’; but they seem to be a mixture of content, procedures, and vague aims, such as ‘to enable students to “perform” English in a more natural way’ (Teacher’s Book, p 4) Flexibility ‘Whether one is drawing the content of courses from message forms which are contrived exemplifications of the code, or from the message 82 Brian Tomlinson, Bao Dat, Hitomi Masuhara, and Rani Rubdy reviews welcome forms which are sampled from actually occuring text, they need to be made real for the learner The message forms have to be made locally appropriate to the diÔerent classroom contexts in which learners find themselves.’ (Widdowson 2000: 30) This is the ultimate challenge for the global course, and it has to be said it is not one which most courses have achieved Some of the courses in this review focus the learners’ attention on ‘contrived exemplifications of the code’, and make little attempt to make them real for particular groups of learners (e.g the short passage about hating Christmas in Clockwise Intermediate (p 36), and a text about weather in the Pre-Intermediate Personal Study Workbook for True to Life (p 54) Others give attention to ‘message forms sampled from actually occurring text’, but often manage to make them unreal by using them in activities which have little apparent appeal or value to the adult learner (e.g an extract from Jane Eyre in Reward Upper Intermediate Student’s Book (p 38), which is followed by vocabulary and true/false questions) However, some of the courses succeed in making their texts and tasks ‘locally appropriate’ (especially Wavelength and Inside Out), and all of the courses try to personalize their activities by inviting the learners to use their own lives, views, and feelings, as content to comment on (e.g ‘Interview each other about your plans and ambitions Make notes under the following headings Cutting Edge Intermediate, p 50) We felt that most of the courses give little opportunity or encouragement to adapt the materials to the needs, wants, personalities, or styles of the learners or teachers Most of them favour analytical learners who like to focus their conscious attention on discrete learning points, but few of them provide activities for experiential learners, and none provide activities for kinaesthetic learners, who prefer to learn through physical activity The emphasis in most courses is on explicit teaching of declarative knowledge, followed by controlled or guided practice In other words, PPP (presentation–practice–production) still rules, but with the emphasis now very much on the first two Ps A lack of extended texts and tasks makes it very diªcult for the teacher to try to cater for experiential learners by changing the order or focus of the activities As the above comments suggest, we were disappointed that contemporary courses not seem to have taken the advice of researchers and methodologists, which is to cater for diÔerent teaching and learning styles (e.g Masuhara 1998; Oxford 1997) and to design books which can be used diÔerently in diÔerent circumstances (e.g Maley 1998) We were particularly disappointed to find that: π extensive reading and the use of fiction is almost non-existent in many courses; π the claims made by many courses that they follow a discovery approach usually disguise an attempt to get learners to find a pre-determined answer (e.g the discovery activities in Landmark Upper Intermediate Student’s Book, p 47, are trying to get learners to find the answers— which are in the Language commentary on p.129); π text length is constant and brief; π choices are hardly ever given to learners; EFL courses for adults 83 reviews welcome π when communication activities or tasks are provided, they nearly always have an overt language practice point (e.g in Reward Upper Intermediate Student’s Book (p 35) a ghost story writing activity is used to practice ‘linking words’, and on pp 96–7 of Cutting Edge Intermediate Student’s Book, a lottery money task is used to practise ‘Giving and explaining opinions’, and ‘Agreeing/disagreeing’) However, we did agree that Language in Use, Landmark, and Inside Out, especially, try to ensure some flexibility by providing experiential activities and opportunities for informal acquisition, and by encouraging learners to personalize and localize their responses Syllabus A quick glance at the course overviews at the beginning of the student’s books reveals how language-focused the syllabus of courses has become In most of the courses grammar is signalled as the main focus of most units, in fact, True to Life only has two columns—‘Language focus’ and ‘Topics’ Although the main column in Reward is ‘grammar and functions’, 35 out of the 40 units in the Intermediate Coursebook focus on grammar The exceptions are Inside Out and Landmark, which provide ample grammar practice, but put the initial emphasis in each unit on skills Most of the courses give much greater prominence to listening and speaking than they to reading and writing (with the exception of Landmark), although some of them have decided to focus on speaking and listening in the coursebook, and as in True to Life, ‘to limit the amount of reading material in the Class Book (but increase it in the Personal Study Workbook) …’ (Teacher’s Book p iv ) The decision seems to have been taken that, in most of the courses, classroom time should be spent in listening and speaking practice, but that for those who want it, provision should be made in workbooks for reading and writing practice Inside Out and Cutting Edge, for example, have a writing course syllabus in their workbooks, and Wavelength has a reading course in its workbook One of the consequences of downgrading reading is that in most courses there is no substantial content for the learners to respond to The reading texts which are provided are usually too short and bland to provide anything to think or talk about The listening texts also tend to be fairly mundane interviews, or monologues about hobbies, jobs, journeys, customs, routines, etc Many of them are quite realistic (and even interesting) but responding to them calls for very little cognitive or aÔective engagement An engaging poem or a controversial article would not only provide opportunities for developing the skills required in experiential reading, but could also provide meaningful content on which to base subsequent speaking and writing activities In our comments when reviewing these courses, we kept using such terms as ‘trivial’, ‘bland’, ‘dull’, and ‘not engaging’ about the topic content Also, we felt that many adults would feel intellectually and emotionally insulted, as a result of being constantly asked to discuss such topics as birthdays, mobile phones, hairstyles and ‘the most “foreign” ‘place you have been to’ (Clockwise Pre-Intermediate Classbook, p 47) The one 84 Brian Tomlinson, Bao Dat, Hitomi Masuhara, and Rani Rubdy reviews welcome outstanding exception is Language in Use, which stimulates the expression of thoughts and feelings about controversial issues (e.g Life on Earth pp 106–9 of the Intermediate Classroom Book) Moreover, it does so without imposing a correct attitude, and even, apparently, without any hidden agenda The language content of the courses focuses typically on language for cooperation—politeness and harmony—and rarely includes lexis or strategies which could empower learners in situations involving competition or conflict Combined with the brevity and blandness of the texts, this results in the creation of an EFL world ‘which is bland and dull and in which there is very little excitement or disturbance to stimulate the emotions of the learner’ (Tomlinson 1998c: 20), which is ‘safe, clean, harmonious, benevolent, undisturbed and PG-rated’ (Wajnryb 1996: 291), ultimately reduces and trivializes the content and the process of learning For example, Clockwise Pre-Intermediate Classbook has consecutive units on ‘Social Life’ (making arrangements, invitations, and suggestions), ‘Meet the Family’, and ‘Nearest and Dearest’, and the nearest it gets to discord is teaching polite forms of disagreement in a unit called ‘Out of Touch’ (pp 32–3) Clockwise Intermediate does, however, have one unit—‘Temper and Tears’ (pp 44–5)—which is full of anger, temper, and complaints Wavelength and True to Life are mainly peopled by nice young men and women getting on well with each other, but the Wavelength Pre-Intermediate Coursebook does have a sudden outburst of ‘Jealousy and revenge’ in Unit 10, and the True to Life Upper Intermediate Class Book does include some angry people on p 75, some others having arguments on p 85, and a mother and son getting irritated with each other in a scene from Harold Pinter’s A Night Out—a rare inclusion of literature (p 90) The prominence given to grammar in most courses has led to a decrease in the attention given to skills development, to functions, to communication strategies, and to learning strategies There is a token, and often rather fragmented attempt to include these important aspects of a language course, but in most cases not enough attention is given to them to facilitate useful learner development This is particularly true of Clockwise and Cutting Edge, but less so of Landmark and Inside Out Of course, this does raise the crucial question of how many facets of a language course can be covered in a principled, coherent, thorough, and systematic way in a coursebook In opting for the centrality of grammar, most of these courses have inevitably marginalized aspects of learning which researchers and methodologists would consider to be important features of language learning A number of the courses include a teacher’s resource pack of photocopiable materials Most of these packs feature communication tasks which can be used to supplement the coursebook (for a discussion of tasks see Rubdy 1998) However, in most of these courses (e.g Reward and Clockwise) the activities provide guided practice of grammar and vocabulary rather than the opportunities to use language to achieve intended outcomes which they seem to promise This is true also of the tasks in Cutting Edge, which claim to be ‘authentic’, and to ‘give students EFL courses for adults 85 reviews welcome the opportunity to develop their speaking skills in real life situations’, but which in most cases simply provide practice of given language For example, in the Module Part B Task of the Intermediate Student’s Book, the learners are told to ‘Discuss how you think the money should be spent and agree on a budget together Look at the phrases in the Useful language box’ (p 97) Many of the courses include cross-cultural awareness activities, but in most cases they are UK-centred, they describe English people’s reactions to exotic places they have visited on holiday, they depict stereotypical and often clichéd behaviour, and they tend to portray non-Western cultures as eccentric, and even bizarre For example: π In the Language in Use Intermediate Classroom Book, the learners listen to people from diÔerent countries comparing their countries to Britain (p 60) π In the Wavelength Pre-Intermediate Coursebook, Julia tells her friend about a holiday she had in India where the immigration oªcials laughed at her, and made her get back on the plane, because she did not have a valid visa (p 39) π The Clockwise Pre-Intermediate Classbook includes clichés about greetings in diÔerent countries (p 47) The Reward Pre-Intermediate Student’s Book states that people ‘sit on the floor in Japan’ (p 2) and that ‘men usually go to restaurants on their own’ The most noticeable exclusion is extensive reading All the way up to Upper-Intermediate level most courses use very short reading texts on which to base intensive reading questions Reward claims to encourage the learner ‘to respond to the reading passage in a personal and genuine way before using it for other purposes’, but often the reading tasks discourage experiential reading (e.g ‘Read Family life, and match the questions with each paragraph.’ Reward Pre-Intermediate Student’s Book, p 21) The one noticeable exception to this focus on intensive reading of short passages is Wavelength, which has a supplementary extensive reading book containing four short stories Pedagogic approach None of these courses really tries to cater for diÔerent learning styles or personalities The emphasis is on the analytical learning of discrete features through practice and memorization (‘an emphasis on vocabulary memorization at word and phrase level’ (Clockwise Intermediate Classbook) There are very few activities for experiential learners, and hardly any at all for the majority of learners who prefer kinaesthetic learning Learners are rarely given choices of content or activity, and there is little scope on most courses for teacher initiative in providing learner choice However, Landmark does provide some learner choice in its ‘Speaking personally’ sections, and Inside Out and Wavelength often ask learners to give extra examples for themselves (for example, in the Wavelength Pre-Intermediate Coursebook (p 68) learners are asked to persuade the class to get rid of ‘one modern invention or gadget which really irritates’ them) 86 Brian Tomlinson, Bao Dat, Hitomi Masuhara, and Rani Rubdy reviews welcome Not all these courses attempt to engage the learners aÔectively through excitement, emotion, or fun, which often provide a stimulating but achievable challenge (Arnold 1999; Tomlinson 1998c) In fact, many of them have an almost exclusively cognitive approach, and we all agreed that most of the courses underestimate the learners, and make most of the activities too simple (especially True to Life) The exceptions are Wavelength and Inside Out, which often provide a stimulating challenge, and aim at aÔective engagement (Inside Out, is often also funny), while Language in Use and Landmark respect the learners as individuals, and seek to engage them personally in many of their activities The most obvious pedagogic feature of many of these courses is that they are teaching-centred, and seem to assume that what is taught will be learnt There seems to be a reaction against the freer, open-ended, learner-centred days of the Communicative Approach, and a fear that unless language is seen to be taught, books will not be bought This might appeal to those administrators and teachers who blame the Communicative Approach for causing learners to use inaccurate English (a view which is prevalent today, for example, in Singapore), but it in no way does it agree with what we know about learners having their own syllabus, and only learning what they need, and when they are ready to learn (Tomlinson 1998a: 10–12) Most of these courses use the PPP (Presentation–Practice–Production) approach, which makes it clear what is being taught However, it has been criticized by many methodologists (e.g Willis 1996) for imposing a uni-modal learning style, and for not reflecting the natural tendency to learn what you need to use rather than what you are told to learn This focus on teaching rather than learning is particularly evident in True to Life, and in Clockwise, which despite its claims to develop fluency and to provide ‘clear communicative payoffs in every lesson’ (back cover of class book) actually gives much more attention to teaching language forms than it does to helping learners to acquire communicative competence Some of these courses use awareness approaches and task-based approaches, in addition to explicit teaching of language, but Cutting Edge, for example, puts more emphasis on language practice and language summary than it does on its language awareness activities (e.g Intermediate pp 62–3), and actually preteaches language items before asking learners to tasks (e.g Intermediate pp 64–5) Wavelength and Inside Out are exceptions to this teaching centredness, and we all agreed that, although they provide useful teaching of language items, their main focus is on meaning and communication, and on encouraging learners at all levels to actually use the language Topic content We all agreed that the topic content of many of the units, in many of the courses, is distinctively trivial for adult learners Topics tend to focus on everyday routines, such as sleeping, going to work, watching television, and eating out, and most attention is paid to normal behaviour rather than to interesting divergence (e.g in the ‘Map of the Book’ for Reward Pre-Intermediate, the word ‘typical’, ‘routine’, and ‘customs’ is EFL courses for adults 87 reviews welcome mentioned in the content description of six of the first 20 units) While these safe topics have the advantage of familiarity, they are hardly likely to engage the learners aÔectively or intellectually True to Life and Clockwise were considered to be particularly bland and conventional in their choice of topics Reward, Landmark, Cutting Edge, and Inside Out include some potentially engaging topics (e.g ‘Social matters’ ‘Society and the future’, ‘Rules and freedom’, and ‘Dilemmas and decisions’ in Cutting Edge Intermediate) However, we often felt that the texts related to these topics were used mainly as examples of language features, and that the activities were often superficial, and generally failed to exploit the aÔective and intellectual potential of the topics By contrast, we thought that Language in Use and Wavelength not only included many important and provocative topics, but also exploited them in ways which encouraged aÔective and intellectual engagement Voice In general, the voices of the authors in these courses are neutral and semi-formal The learners are given instruction(s) impersonally in the voice of an expert talking to a novice and the author rarely talks to the adult learners as equals, or shares experiences with them This approach avoids the risk of learners—especially those from authority-respecting cultures—being irritated or oÔended by a quirkily personal voice, but it misses the opportunities for engagement and stimulation which have been found to result from authors chatting to learners in personal ways (Beck, McKeown, and Worthy 1995; Tomlinson 1998a: 8–9) True to Life was considered to be patronising at times (e.g p 44, Task of True to Life Elementary Class Book), while Clockwise was thought to be sometimes brusque and unfriendly, and Cutting Edge, Inside Out, Reward, and Landmark were described as neutral, but not unfriendly or disrespectful However, we agreed that Language in Use and Wavelength managed to be neutral, yet at the same time friendly and supportive in their authorial voice Instructions We were surprised at the lack of clarity and specificity in many of the instructions For example, Landmark and Inside Out were criticized for their ambiguous use of pronouns, lack of clarity in reference, insuªcient separation, lack of specificity about what to and how to it, lack of examples, and insuªciency of signalling and highlighting Pages 42–3 Landmark Upper Intermediate Student’s Book and Unit of Inside Out Workbook Intermediate (both chosen at random), illustrate most of these faults, and some of them can also be found on almost every page of most of the other courses However, whilst sharing many of the negative features mentioned above, Reward and True to Life at least clearly signal and highlight their instructions, and Wavelength usually achieves clear highlighting, separation and staging Teachability ‘Teachers can … be said to be the central figures in materials development’, and yet their needs and wants are rarely given much consideration in coursebook development (Masuhara 1998: 239–40) 88 Brian Tomlinson, Bao Dat, Hitomi Masuhara, and Rani Rubdy reviews welcome Not surprisingly, many of the courses reviewed did not satisfy all of our criteria for teachability Although most of them consider the obvious need to help teachers to minimize their preparation time, very few provide help in adapting the global course to specic situations, or cater for diÔerent teaching styles or personalities, or (most important of all) make eÔorts to make the courses interesting for the teachers We found that most of the courses (especially True to Life) impose an approach on the teachers, and we agreed that many of them (especially True to Life, Clockwise, and Reward) would not be very interesting to teach However we agreed that: π Language in Use gives some useful advice to teachers in its teacher’s books; π Cutting Edge facilitates some adaptation through useful cross-referencing and suggestions on how to use the additional material in the Resource Bank and Workbook; Wavelength oÔers the teacher a choice of interesting extra materials; Landmark oÔers the teacher some scope for localization and adaptation; π Inside Out makes clear to the teacher the principles and objectives of its activities, gives helpful suggestions, and provides some scope for teacher adaptation Coursebookspecific criteria Appearance It is surprising that with the exception of Landmark and Reward, very few of these courses have made any serious attempt to appeal to adults, and that some of them (especially Clockwise) seem almost childish in appearance In fact, a teacher visiting our offices flicked through the coursebooks and commented that they looked just like school textbooks We considered most of the coursebooks to have unattractive covers (especially Landmark and Inside Out) but to be very visually attractive throughout especially Landmark and Inside Out We considered Language in Use to have an attractive cover, and to be visually very attractive throughout Whereas Cutting Edge was thought to have a rather gaudy cover, and not to be very attractive inside A distinctive feature of most of the books when we flicked through them was how European they look Despite what seems to be a token attempt to include a few photographs of other continents and cultures, this was particularly true of Reward, Clockwise, Cutting Edge, Landmark, and Inside Out Design Some of the courses were considered to be cluttered and dense, with too much text crammed onto each page, and not enough white space to provide relief and clarity Clockwise Intermediate and Upper Intermediate, and Cutting Edge were thought to be particularly guilty of such clutter, and also of a lack of clear separation and sequencing, so that we found it very diªcult to focus our attention on some of their pages (e.g pp 50–1 of Clockwise Intermediate Classbook, and pp 36–7 of Cutting Edge Intermediate Student’s Book) On the other hand, we found that Reward, and Language in Use made good use of white space, and EFL courses for adults 89 reviews welcome always made the sequence and separation of their activities clear (e.g pp 24–5 of Reward Upper Intermediate Student’s Book) Illustrations One distinctly positive feature of most of these courses is the use of interesting illustrations Language in Use, in particular, has a rich variety of modern, attractive, and intriguing illustrations (including photographs, drawings, cartoons, and art), which give the books an aesthetic appeal, and are often used to stimulate curiosity and engagement This is particularly true of the Upper Intermediate Classroom Book, which, for example, uses intriguing modern paintings as the basis for personal interpretation activities (pp 20, 39, 89, 90, 94) The same is also true to a lesser extent of Inside Out, Cutting Edge, and Landmark However, we found that Clockwise has only a few rather small and unattractive illustrations (except in the Pre-Intermediate Classbook) and that the illustrations in True to Life are neither interesting, attractive, or functional A number of other courses contain many illustrations which have no apparent function other than to decorate the book This is particularly true of Reward Upper Intermediate Student’s Book (e.g pp 12 and 77) and Clockwise the Intermediate Classbook (e.g pp 44 and 62–3) On the other hand, some of the books use many of their illustrations as a resource for language activities, especially Wavelength (e.g pp 40–1 and pp 66–7 of the Pre-Intermediate Coursebook) and Inside Out (e.g pp 54–5 and pp 93 of the Intermediate Student’s Book Reading texts We all agreed that the most notable and regrettable features of the reading texts are their brevity, and the restricted range of text types Even at Upper Intermediate Level the typical text is no more than half a page long, and either describes a person, place, or routine, or narrates an event Rarely are the learners encouraged to read extensively for pleasure, rarely are they invited to engage with argumentative or provocative texts, and rarely are they given opportunity to enjoy a story or a poem are equally scarce Instead, most units in most courses ask them to read a very short text intensively before answering related comprehension or language questions There is little attempt to help the learners to develop reading skills and confidence, and hardly any attempt at all to help them develop the positive approach to free reading which has been shown to facilitate language acquisition (Elley 1991; Krashen 1993; Tomlinson 1998b) The notable exceptions are Language in Use, which does provide some provocative texts, and invites the learners to respond to them personally (e.g p 68 of the Upper Intermediate Classroom Book) and Wavelength, which provides opportunities for ‘reading for pleasure’ (e.g p 53 of the Pre-Intermediate Coursebook) Cassettte/CD ROMspecific criteria One of the components of global courses which has become more interesting and eÔective in the current generation of language teaching materials is that which provides the learners with opportunities to listen to the language being used Many of the courses in this review have managed to provide listening material which is realistic (if not always authentic), varied, and sometimes engaging This is especially true of 90 Brian Tomlinson, Bao Dat, Hitomi Masuhara, and Rani Rubdy reviews welcome Language in Use, which sounds natural even at the beginners level, which includes a variety of genres, text types, voices, and accents, and which does provide some experience of extensive listening The same also applies to Inside Out and Wavelength, although these courses were sometimes criticized for sounding obviously scripted and acted Unfortunately, it cannot be said that the listening material in Reward, True to Life, or Clockwise is particularly natural, varied, or engaging We found Reward lacked spontaneity, variety, and aÔective appeal (though it does include some non-British accents); True to Life struck us as rather monotonous and ‘Cambridge upper middle class’, and we thought that Clockwise was contrived, obviously acted, and not very engaging Teacher’s Bookspecific criteria We found that there were basically three types of teacher’s book: Those that give very little useful information or advice to the teacher and are uninteresting to read (i.e True to Life and Clockwise) Those which give clear and detailed procedures to the teacher for using the book but not provide many extra possibilities, or anything to help the teacher to adapt and localize the course (i.e Reward, Inside Out, and Landmark) Those which provide useful suggestions for adaptation, as well as useful additional activities for the teacher to choose from (Cutting Edge, Wavelength, and, especially, Language in Use) Unfortunately, except those for Language in Use, all of the teacher’s books are unattractive in appearance and poorly designed—the almost inevitable consequence of being a financially unprofitable component of a global course Workbookspecific criteria The workbook is another course component which seems to have improved in the current generation of global adult courses We liked the fact that many of the activities in many of the courses are personalized, that the reading and writing activities are quite interesting, that there is a variety of activity types, and that there is varied revision of what has been taught in the coursebook These qualities are particularly evident in Landmark, Language in Use, and Inside Out, but not quite so evident in Wavelength, or in Cutting Edge, which was considered to have too many form-focused activities) Video-specific criteria Only two of the courses have video components The Reward video component was considered to be ‘boring’, to use a very restricted number of genres and text types, and to concentrate far too much on a running story about a very corny TV company staÔed by a number of gross and unconvincing ‘character types’ The True to Life video was thought to be rather amateurish in its acting, and the script was thought to lack clear principles and objectives It does, however, have some potentially interesting scenes We all asked the question, ‘What is the point of including an expensive video component when so much interesting material is available oÔ-air these days? Nobody could think of a convincing answer EFL courses for adults 91 reviews welcome All of us independentally agreed that Clockwise is disappointing, and that it satisfies very few of our criteria Specific evaluation of the individual courses What we all liked about Clockwise was: π The attractive and supportive design, lots of white space, clear divisions Clockwise between activities, and clear indications of sequence in the Pre(Oxford University Intermediate Classbook Press) π Some fairly realistic and quite interesting listenings at the Intermediate level (e.g in Unit 06 ‘Change of State’, and Unit 07 ‘Taking Chances’) What we all disliked about Clockwise was: π The excessive focus on language form, and the consequent neglect of communication π The textbook-centredness of the approach: although it gives information to the learners, it does not provide them with enough opportunities to use it for communication, and does not encourage them to think or discover for themselves π The lack of potential for aÔective engagement in most of the activities The lack of challenge oÔered to the learners π The triviality of much of the content π The neglect of writing skills π The consistent brevity of the reading texts, and the lack of variety of text types and genres π The obvious scripting of the listening texts at levels below Upper Intermediate π The minuteness and lack of function of many of the illustrations π The ambiguity and lack of clarity of many of the instructions, none of which are supported by highlighting or examples π The exaggerated claims made about the approach and potential value of the course We gave Clockwise an overall average rating of 54.1% Cutting Edge (Pearson/Longman) π π π π π π π π π π π π π 92 Some of us liked Cutting Edge more than others, but none of us rated it very highly What we liked about it was: The respect given to the learners The opportunities for personal response The attempts to engage aÔect The opportunities for choice oÔered to teachers and learners What we did not like about Cutting Edge was: The excessive focus on language form The lack of real-life tasks The lack of opportunities to use language for communication The limitations imposed by the short texts and the guided activities The way the engagement potential of the reading and listening texts is ignored in favour of text-based language work The very ‘heavy’ units, which have too many unconnected activities The way every page is ‘cluttered’ with text, and devoid of any white space The ambiguity and lack of clarity of the instructions The apparent assumption that teaching = learning, made evident by an approach which is based on giving information about grammar and vocabulary, and ignoring everything we know about the need to motivate Brian Tomlinson, Bao Dat, Hitomi Masuhara, and Rani Rubdy reviews welcome and engage the learners, and to provide them with comprehensible input and with opportunities to use language rather than to just practice it We gave Cutting Edge an overall average rating of 64% Inside Out (Macmillan Heinemann ELT ) In general we like Inside Out, and would be happy to teach it π π π π π π π π π π π What we liked about it was: It stands out as being diÔerent from the stereotypical coursebook The author’s excitement and enthusiasm are evident It makes use of current insights from learning research It respects the learners It promotes learning rather than teaching It includes a varied range of interesting spoken and written texts It attempts to engage the learners both aÔectively and intellectually (especially in the listening activities) It encourages personal response It encourages student initiative It promotes creativity and independent thinking It gives priority to meaning What we did not like about Inside Out was: π That the engagement potential of a text is often ignored in favour of textbased language work (e.g ‘Pacific Heights’ on pp 77–8 of the Intermediate Student’s Book) π The lack of attention to communication skills π The paucity of the writing tasks π The poor quality of the instructions π The lack of opportunity for extensive listening and reading π The underuse of fiction π The orientation towards western culture (e.g Intermediate Student Book, Unit 3, p 28 ‘Chat up lines’, and Intermediate Workbook, p 13) We gave Inside Out an overall average of 73.8% Language in Use (Cambridge University Press) We are very impressed by the 1991 original edition Language in Use, and would recommend its use π π π π N.B We would like to emphasise that our evaluation above (and in Appendix B) is of Language in Use (1991) and not of the New Edition of Language in Use (2000).We have all seen a copy of the New Edition of Language in Use Pre-Intermediate and we are all agreed that this edition would not have been evaluated as highly as the original if we had subjected it to a criterion referenced evaluation We are all disappointed that the New Edition seems to have lost the aesthetic appeal, the potential for engagement and the encouragement of creativity of the orginal It has also lost nearly all the reading texts and gained lots of little bits of language for study instead What we liked about it was: It encourages creativity It aims at aÔective and intellectual engagement It encourages personalization It treats learners as individuals EFL courses for adults 93 reviews welcome π π π π π It tries to cater for students of mixed backgrounds and abilities It aims at skills development It contains a rich variety of ‘real world’ spoken and written texts It is very attractive in appearance Its attractive illustrations are often usefully functional What we did not like about Language in Use was: π It is too form-focused π It does not contain enough communication activities π It does not have enough experiential activities (despite its claims to so) π It gives little attention to extensive writing π It neglects extensive listening and reading π It does not use enough fiction We gave Language in Use an overall average score of 74.5% Landmark (Oxford University Press) We liked Landmark, and would recommend its use, especially for learners who want to be stimulated to think for themselves as well as to learn language What we liked about Landmark is: π It respects the learners and the teacher π It has an adult tone π It encourages learner enquiry, and provides opportunities for selfdiscovery (e.g Upper Intermediate Student’s Book, p.9) π It attempts to engage aÔect It provides potentially motivating exposure to English in use through a diverse range of realistic listening and reading texts π It provides some opportunities to develop the skills of extensive reading π It has a potentially useful writing component which has just the right balance of guidance and freedom π It helps to develop thinking skills in English π It provides some extension activities for ambitious students π It has an aesthetic appeal π π π π π π π π π What we did not like about Landmark was: The predominant focus on language forms The lack of attention to communication skills The excessive control and guidance provided in many of the activities The limitations imposed by the brevity of the texts The unrealistic harmony of the world created by the course The Anglo-centricity of the listening texts The lack of opportunities for localization The poor quality of the instructions The underuse of fiction We gave Landmark an overall average score of 73% Reward (Macmillan Heinemann ELT ) We all agreed that Reward is in many ways the stereotypical middle-ofthe-road language course which is unlikely to disturb or delight anybody, and is therefore likely to sell very well 94 Brian Tomlinson, Bao Dat, Hitomi Masuhara, and Rani Rubdy reviews welcome What we liked about Reward was: π It attempts to raise cross-cultural awareness π It attempts to engage aÔect by giving opportunities for personal response It gives respect to the learners π It chunks the course in a way which makes it manageable for teachers and for learners π Some of the listening and reading texts are potentially motivating What we did not like about Reward was: π The limitations imposed by the short texts and the guided activities π The way the engagement potential of a text is often ignored in favour of text-based language work π The excessive focus on the the explicit teaching of grammar rules π The de-contextualized presentation of vocabulary and grammar π The lack of opportunities for learners to make discoveries for themselves π The lack of attention to communication skills π The low priority given to writing π The cursory, rather superficial, coverage of most of the teaching points π The underuse of fiction We gave Reward an overall average score of 62.4% True to Life (Cambridge University Press) We were all very disappointed by True to Life, as we had had quite high expectations of it when we read the title, noticed the authors, and skimmed the coursebooks What we liked about True to Life was: π Some of the scenes on the video π Some of the listening material π The title What we did not like about True to Life was: The absolute centrality of grammar The almost exclusive focus on language form The neglect of spontaneous communication and fluency activities The discrete nature of most of the activities The lack of any attempt to engage aÔect The exclusive catering for analytical learners The lack of interesting texts The lack of variety of genres and text types The lack of imagination and creativity The triviality and lack of apparent transferability of many of the activities (e.g in Task 2, p 29 of the Pre-Intermediate Class Book, learners in pairs are invited to ask the teacher 15 questions about his or her shoes) π The neglect of writing skills π The lack of opportunities for extensive listening and reading π The potential for boring both learners and teachers π π π π π π π π π π We gave True to Life an overall average score of 54.1% EFL courses for adults 95 reviews welcome Wavelength (Pearson Longman) There are many things which we liked about Wavelength, and we would happily recommend it and use it ourselves What we liked about Wavelength was: π It attempts to engage aÔect by giving ample opportunities for personal response π The respect given to the learners π The way that grammar is given major attention, but is not allowed to destroy the reality of texts and tasks π The priority given to meaning π The realism of the world created by the course (e.g arguments and competition, as well as agreement and cooperation) π The use of narrative and of humour to engage interest and attention π The many interesting and useful suggestions, and the optional material oÔered to the teachers π The scope for learner choice, initiative, and personalization π The provision of some extensive reading activities What we did not like about Wavelength was: The predominant focus on language The lack of attention to communication skills The limited range of genres and text types The limitations imposed by the brevity of many of the texts, and the inadequate guidance provided for many of the activities π The mechanical nature of many of the exercises in the workbooks π The low priority given to writing π The predominance of conversational English in the listening texts π π π π We gave Wavelength an overall average score of 70% After our rigorous evaluation of the eight courses, our conclusion is that we would all be happy to teach or recommend Inside Out, Landmark, Language in Use, and Wavelength, they are all genuinely adult courses, and have the potential to motivate both teachers and learners See Appendix B for a summary of the scores which each course was given for each criterion heading General trends in current courses Positive trends 96 We all agreed that we had noticed and welcomed the following positive trends in course development: π An increase in attempts to personalize the learning process by getting learners to relate topics and texts to their own lives, views, and feelings (especially in Language in Use and Inside Out) An attempt to gain the aÔective engagement of the learners by involving them in texts and tasks which encourage the expression of feelings (especially in Language in Use and Wavelength) π A greater attempt to create ‘reality’ in the texts produced for the audiovisual components of many of the courses π A greater potential for engagement in the audio-visual components of many of the courses (especially in Wavelength) π A larger range of accents, genres, and personality types in the audiovisual components of many of the courses π Better quality teacher’s books, which are easier to use (e.g by having a Brian Tomlinson, Bao Dat, Hitomi Masuhara, and Rani Rubdy reviews welcome page from the student’s book, and a guide to using it on the same double-page spread), more respectful to the teacher, and more useful as a source of additional material, and ideas for alternative or extra activities π Better quality workbooks, as regards the engagement value of the content, and the attractiveness of the appearance (especially Landmark and Wavelength) π A multiple trialling of the materials, as evidenced by the lists of acknowledgements to the institutions involved in the trialling All the above are welcome trends, but we all agree that most of them need to go even further This is particularly true of the trends towards the personalization of activities, and the engagement of aÔect Negative trends We also agreed that we had noticed and regretted what we considered to be the following negative trends: π The insistence on a return to the ‘central place of grammar in the language curriculum’ (Soars and Soars 1996), which seems to contradict what many of the teachers and learners in the research referred to on p.1 said they want from a course This goes against many of the findings of Second Language Acquisition Research (see Tomlinson 1998a, pp 5–22), and in some of the courses reviewed often resulted in the sacrice of the potential cognitive and aÔective engagement of a text or task in order to focus on the explicit teaching of a ‘new’ feature of grammar, this is also noticeable in the new edition of Language in Use Pre-Intermediate which is far more grammar-centred than the original 1991 edition π The assumption that adult learners are mainly interested in listening and speaking, and a consequent neglect at reading and writing (activities which can be extremely valuable for facilitating language acquisition, even if the skills developed are not the priority needs of the learners) π The assertion that authenticity of text and task is not necessarily valuable for the learner, and that a ‘reality’ which is contrived to match the level of the learners is likely to be more beneficial in terms of language learning π The assumption that today’s adult learners have short attention spans, can only cope with very short reading and listening tasks, and will only engage in activities for a short time π The neglect of extensive reading and extensive listening as a means of engaging the interest and attention of learners, and as a source of exposure to language in use (with the conspicuous exception of Wavelength and Inside Out) π The assumption that most adult learners not want and would not gain from intellectually demanding activities whilst engaged in learning the target language π The absence of controversial issues to stimulate thought, to provide opportunities for exchanges of views, and to make the topic content meaningful to adult learners (with the notable exception of the 1991 edition of Language in Use) π The lack of adult content, and especially of topics which require intellectual and/or aÔective investment from the learners The scarcity of real tasks which have an intended outcome other than the practice of language forms EFL courses for adults 97 reviews welcome π The token attempt to make use of a discovery approach, which usually consists of being helped to reach a pre-determined answer, and then being asked to check the answer in a grammar summary (e.g Cutting Edge) π The neglect of literature as a source of potentially stimulating texts, and as a means of engaging learners in meaningful interaction with the target language—despite the many claims by methodologists of the potential value and appeal of literature (e.g DuÔ and Maley 1990; Lazar 1993; Tomlinson 1994 ,1998b) π The apparent abandonment of the extended project as a means of engaging learners in motivated and meaningful encounters with the target language in use π The continuing predominance of analytical activities, and a neglect of activities which could cater for learners with other preferred learning styles (e.g kinaesthetic activities) π The neglect of activities which could make full use of the resources of the mind by stimulating multi-dimensional mental responses which are at the same time sensory, cognitive, and aÔective (e.g Masuhara 1997 ) The lack of activities aiming to stimulate the imagination of the learners π The excessive increase in the number of course components (Reward, for example, has seven components per level) with a noticeable drop in creative energy for the multi-component courses (either from author fatigue or from bringing in extra writers to write workbooks, etc., who may not be initiating members of the team) This last point prompts us to ask ‘What is the rationale for multiplecomponent courses? and What are the eÔects of multiple-component courses compared to the eÔects of courses which have only a few components?’ A number of publishers have told us that they only publish multiple-component courses because their rivals do, and that they would be happy to jettison many of the money-losing components (such as videos and resource packs) and to return to the days when a course consisted of a student’s book, a cassette, and a teacher’s book The most apparent eÔect of multiple-component courses seems to be writer, learner, and teacher exhaustion So perhaps we should go back to the cheaper, simpler, and more coherent days of three component courses— especially as the courses which we liked best in this review seem to be those with the fewest components Conclusion We all admitted at our final meeting that we had been pleasantly surprised by the qualities of many of the components of the courses we have evaluated We were all delighted by the move towards stimulating more personal responses from the learners, pleased by the attempts of many of the courses to encourage humour and fun, and impressed by the realism of many of the audio components of the courses However, we would all welcome a greater provision of extended experience of the language in use, a reduction in the attention given to explicit knowledge of grammar, and an increase in the attention paid to helping learners not only to achieve accuracy, fluency, and appropriacy, but to achieve eÔect as well And, nally, we would all be delighted to welcome back literature and other genres which give adults something to think, talk, and write about 98 Brian Tomlinson, Bao Dat, Hitomi Masuhara, and Rani Rubdy reviews welcome References Arnold, J 1999 AÔect in Language Learning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Beck, I L, M G McKeown, and J Worthy 1995 ‘Giving a text voice can improve students’ understanding’ Research Reading Quarterly 30/2 DuÔ, A and A Maley 1990 Literature Oxford Oxford University Press Elley, W 1991 ‘Acquiring literacy in a second language: the eÔect of book-based programmes Language Learning 41: 375–411 Ellis, R 1998 ‘The evaluation of communicative tasks’ in B Tomlinson (ed.) Materials Development in Language Teaching Cambridge Cambridge University Press Krashen, S 1993 The Power of Reading Englewood, Colarado: Libraries Unlimited Lazar,G 1993 Literature and Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Maley, A 1998 ‘Squaring the circle—reconciling materials as constraint with materials as empowerment’ in B Tomlinson (ed.) Materials Development in Language Teaching Cambridge Cambridge University Press Masuhara, H 1997 ‘Factors Influencing Reading Diªculties of Authentic Materials for Advanced Learners of EFL ’ Unpublished PhD thesis University of Luton Masuhara, H 1998 ‘What teachers really want from coursebooks?’ in B Tomlinson (ed.) Materials Development in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Oxford, R 1997 Language Learning Strategies Around the World: Crosscultural Perspectives Manoa: University of Hawaii Press Rubdy, R 1998 ‘Task’ ELT Journal 52/3: 264–5 Soars, J and L Soars 1996 ‘An introduction to New Headway Intermediate’ Headway Teacher’s Magazine 5: 2–5 Tomlinson, B 1994 Openings London: Penguin Tomlinson, B 1998a ‘Introduction’ in B Tomlinson (ed.) Materials Development in Language Teaching Cambridge Cambridge University Press Tomlinson, B 1998b And now for something not completely diÔerent Reading in a Foreign Language 11/2: 177–89 Tomlinson, B 1998c AÔect and the coursebook in IATEFL Issues 145: 201 Tomlinson, B 1999 ‘Materials development for language teachers’ in Modern English Teacher 8/1: 62–4 Wajnryb, R 1996 ‘Death, taxes and jeopardy: systematic omissions in EFL texts, or life was never meant to be an adjacency pair’ Sydney: ELICOS Association 9th Educational Conference Willis, J 1996 A Framework for Task-based Learning Harlow: Longman Widdowson, H G 2000 ‘Object language and the language subject: on the mediating role of applied linguistics’ in The Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 20: 21–33 The reviewers Brian Tomlinson is Reader in Language Learning and Teaching in the Centre for Language Study at Leeds Metropolitan University, and Founder and President of MATSDA (the Materials Development Association) He has worked in language education and teacher development in Indonesia, Japan, Nigeria, Singapore, Vanuatu, and Zambia, and has given conference presentations in over 40 countries His numerous publications include Discover English and Openings and Materials Development in Language Teaching Boa Dat is a Fellow at the National University of Singapore, where he teaches Vietnamese He has previously taught English at the National University of Vietnam, and is currently working for a PhD with Leeds Metropolitan University He has published a number of articles on speaking skills, and given presentations in The Philippines and the USA He is also a well-known cartoonist in Vietnam and Singapore Hitomi Masuhara is Lecturer in Lesser-Taught Languages in the Centre for Language Study at Leeds Metropolitan University Previously she was a Fellow at the National University of Singapore where she taught Japanese and Cross-cultural Studies She has also taught English at Nagoya Women’s University, and on the MA in L2 Materials Development at the University of Luton She has published a number of articles and books (including Use Your English and Active Japanese) and given conference presentations in every continent Rani Rubdy is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literature at the National University of Singapore, where she teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses on language education and the teaching of ESP Prior to this she taught at the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages in Hyderabad Her current research interests are classroombased research and curriculum innovation, and she has published a number of articles and reviews, including some for the ELT Journal EFL courses for adults 99 reviews welcome Levels Components 100 Brian Tomlinson, Bao Dat, Hitomi Masuhara, and Rani Rubdy reviews welcome DoÔ, A C Jones γ – γ γ γ γ – γ γ – γ – – – Intermediate Pre-Intermediate Elementary Beginner Starter Student’s Book Teacher’s Book Resource Book Class Cassettes Class CD Rom Workbook Student Cassettes Student CD Rom Tests Reader Reader CD Rom Video Young Adults/ Adults Advanced – Upper-Intermediate γ Target Learners Publication of First Level Student Coursebook Authors Language in Use 1991 Course γ – – – – γ γ γ γ – γ γ – γ – – – γ – γ γ γ γ γ – γ γ γ γ – – γ Young Adults/ Adults – – Kay, S V Jones 2000 Inside Out γ – γ γ γ γ γ γ γ – – – – – γ γ γ Young Adults/ Adults γ γ Greenall, S 1995 Reward Macmillan Heinemann ELT γ γ – γ Gairns, R S Redman; J Collie, S Haines.; S Slater Adults 1995 True to Life Cambridge University Press Publisher 2000 Landmark – – – γ γ γ γ – γ – – – – – – γ γ Young Adults/ Adults – γ – – – γ γ – γ – γ – – – – – – γ – Young Adults/ Adults – γ McGowen, B Haines, S V Richardson; B Stewart W Forsyth.; J Naunton 2000 Clockwise Oxford University Press Appendix A: Summary of course components reviewed (further components may now be available) 2000 Wavelength – – – γ γ γ γ – γ γ – γ – – – γ – – γ Young Adults γ – – γ γ γ γ γ γ – γ – γ γ – – γ Young Adults/ Adults – – Cunningham, S Burke, K P Moor J Brooks 1998 Cutting Edge Pearson Longman EFL courses for adults View publication stats 101 reviews welcome 56% 45% 60% 64% 58% 53% 63% 53% N.A N.A 100 65 10 20 40 20 135 25 45 30 35 55 45 25 30 syllabus pedagogic approach 110 35 flexibility topic contents voice instructions teachability durability Coursebook appearance design illustrations reading texts Cassette (& CD Rom) Teacher’s Book Workbook Video 58% 58% 63% 48% 59% 60% 39% 57% 40 publisher’s claims 50% 440 Overall Course N.A 58% 64% 68% 64% 68% 60% 69% 65% 35% 58% 58% 70% 66% 62% 65% 51% 67% 57% 64% 54% Total Grade N.A 69% 81% 80% 79% 77% 78% 74% 77% 76% 66% 70% 80% 75% 68% 66% 61% 79% 68% 74% Cutting Edge Inside Out Clockwise Course Appendix B: Summary of evaluation N.A 75% 70% 69% 74% 75% 73% 66% 72% 79% 64% 65% 83% 74% 73% 75% 62% 80% 71% 73% Landmark N.A 71% 72% 76% 71% 73% 73% 76% 73% 74% 75% 65% 75% 81% 73% 70% 66% 78% 72% 75% 53% 63% 66% 61% 65% 66% 72% 64% 67% 65% 58% 71% 75% 62% 53% 55% 51% 67% 57% 62% Language In Use Reward 44% 65% 70% 60% 46% 52% 74% 54% 58% 59% 53% 70% 68% 54% 45% 52% 39% 51% 49% 54% True to Life N.A 66% 69% 68% 65% 67% 65% 70% 66% 69% 62% 70% 73% 69% 65% 71% 61% 70% 66% 70% Wavelength ... – – γ – – γ Young Adults γ – – γ γ γ γ γ γ – γ – γ γ – – γ Young Adults/ Adults – – Cunningham, S Burke, K P Moor J Brooks 1998 Cutting Edge Pearson Longman EFL courses for adults View publication... opportunities for extensive listening and reading π The potential for boring both learners and teachers π π π π π π π π π π We gave True to Life an overall average score of 54.1% EFL courses for adults. .. interesting divergence (e.g in the ‘Map of the Book’ for Reward Pre-Intermediate, the word ‘typical’, ‘routine’, and ‘customs’ is EFL courses for adults 87 reviews welcome mentioned in the content