Let's Go (textbooks)

Last updated

Let's Go is a series of American-English based EFL (English as a foreign language) textbooks developed by Oxford University Press and first released in 1990. While having its origins in ESL teaching in the US, and then as an early EFL resource in Japan, [1] the series is currently in general use for English-language learners in over 160 countries around the world. [2] The series is now in its 5th edition, which was released in 2019, although the 3rd series is still in print.

Contents

Development

The series was written by two (at that time) US-based EFL/ESL teachers and two Asia-based teachers. [2] Ritsuko Nakata gained a BA from the University of California in Los Angeles, and has been involved in ELT for over 30 years, and is currently President of IIEEC, Teacher Training Center for English Teachers of Children, and President of AETC, The Association of English Teachers, based in Japan. Karen Frazier Tsai (cited as Karen Frazier) has 20 years experience of teaching ESL and has worked and travelled throughout Asia, Europe, and North America. Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto (cited as Barbara Hoskins) gained her MA in Teaching English as a Second Language from Northern Arizona University, and had been based in Japan since 1985. Carolyn Graham is the creator of Jazz Chants, which connect the rhythm of spoken American English to the beat of jazz. [3]

According to Nakata: [4]

In 1989, I was approached by the senior editor of Oxford University Press in New York asking me about what the Japanese market needed in terms of a new textbook. At the time, the only texts available were ESL texts that were written for students learning English in English speaking countries, so they were not appropriate for our Japanese students who were coming to class just once a week.

According to Hoskins: [5]

Let’s Go has been a remarkably collaborative piece of publishing. It was one of Oxford’s first publishing projects which worked with authors living in different countries. When we first started, I lived in California, Karen Frazier (Tsai) lived in Taipei, Ritsuko Nakata was in Tokyo, and Carolyn Graham was in New York. Back then, we felt quite high tech with our desk top computers and fax machines–there was no internet or email yet!

Titles

The series is targeted towards an age range of 5–13 years of age (levels beginner to pre-intermediate). [6] The 1st series (Books 1-6) was published in 1990, the 2nd in 1998, [7] the 3rd in 2006, [8] and the 4th in 2011. The lower level Let's Go Starter (by Nakata, Hoskins, and Frazier) was first released in 1997, before being replaced by Let'sBegin in later series. Ancillary publications include workbooks for each of the levels, Let's Go Phonics (by Jeffrrey Lehman), Let's Chant, Let's Sing (by Graham), and Let's Go Picture Dictionary (by Nakata, Frazier, and Hoskins). [9] Available resources include teacher books, classroom CDs, teacher vocabulary cards and student vocabulary cards.

Methodology

The series claims to improve student learning and classroom pedagogy in the following ways: [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phonics</span> Method of teaching reading and writing of an alphabetic language

Phonics is a method for teaching people how to read and write an alphabetic language. It is done by demonstrating the relationship between the sounds of the spoken language (phonemes), and the letters or groups of letters (graphemes) or syllables of the written language. In English, this is also known as the alphabetic principle or the alphabetic code.

Albert Sidney (or Sydney) Hornby, usually just A. S. Hornby (1898–1978), was an English grammarian, lexicographer, and pioneer in the field of English language learning and teaching (ELT).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">English as a second or foreign language</span> Use of English by speakers with different native languages

English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a foreign language (EFL), English as a second language (ESL), English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), English as an additional language (EAL), or English as a New Language (ENL).

Rod Ellis is a Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize-winning British linguist. He is currently a research professor in the School of Education, at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. He is also a professor at Anaheim University, where he serves as the Vice president of academic affairs. Ellis is a visiting professor at Shanghai International Studies University as part of China’s Chang Jiang Scholars Program and an emeritus professor of the University of Auckland. He has also been elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.

Cambridge Assessment English or Cambridge English develops and produces Cambridge English Qualifications and the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The organisation contributed to the development of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), the standard used around the world to benchmark language skills, and its qualifications and tests are aligned with CEFR levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second language writing</span>

Second language writing is the study of writing performed by non-native speakers/writers of a language as a second or foreign language. According to Oxford University, second language writing is the expression of one's actions and what one wants to say in writing in a language other than one's native language. Learning a new language and writing in it is the most challenging thing. Learning a new language first requires an understanding of the writing system and the grammar of the language. Because grammar is the basis of writing. Learning the grammar of a language is the only way to write in that language. The extent to which non-native speakers write in formal or specialized domains, and the requirements for grammatical accuracy and compositional coherence, will vary according to the specific context. The process of second language writing has been an area of research in applied linguistics and second language acquisition theory since the middle of the 20th century. The focus has been mainly on second-language writing in academic settings. In the last few years, there has been a great deal of interest in and research on informal writing. These informal writings include writing in online contexts. In terms of instructional practices, the focus of second language writing instruction has traditionally been on achieving grammatical accuracy. However, this changed under the influence of compositional studies, which focused on conceptual and structural properties. Another development in the teaching of second language writing is the increasing use of models and the emphasis on the properties of particular writing genres. Recent research has analyzed how second-language writing differs from native-language writing, emphasizing the cultural factors that influence second-language writers. In general, second language acquisition research has transitioned from a primary focus on cognitive factors to a sociocultural perspective in which writing is viewed not only as an acquired language skill and cognitive ability but also, more broadly, as a socially situated communicative act involving a target audience. Recently, particular attention has been paid to the integration of written texts with other media (multimodality) and to the mixing of languages in online media.

Henry George Widdowson is a British linguist and an authority in the field of applied linguistics and language teaching, specifically English language learning and teaching.

HESS International Educational Group is the single largest private provider of English education in Taiwan. Hess has an estimated 60,000 students enrolled. Founded in 1983 by Joseph Chu and Karen Hess, it has become a large business, with schools across the island. Hess also provides books and resources to other English schools across Asia to teach English as a foreign language, and has a chain of bookstores, which was founded in 1990. In addition to the ROC, Hess also has branches in Singapore, China, and South Korea as well as connections to Japan.

The ELTons are international awards given annually by the British Council that recognise and celebrate innovation in the field of English language teaching. They reward educational resources that help English language learners and teachers to achieve their goals using innovative content, methods or media. The ELTons date from 2003 and the 2018 sponsors of the awards are Cambridge English Language Assessment and IELTS. Applications are submitted by the end of November each year and they are judged by an independent panel of ELT experts, using the Delphi Technique. The shortlist is published in March and the winners announced at a ceremony in London in June. The 2018 awards were held in a new venue, Savoy Place, Institute of Engineering and Technology, London, UK.

Willingness to communicate (WTC) was originally conceptualised for first language acquisition, and seeks to demonstrate the probability that a speaker will choose to participate in a conversation of their own volition. Traditionally, it was seen as a fixed personality trait that did not change according to context. However, McCroskey and associates suggested that it is in fact a situational variable that will change according to a number of factors.

Carolyn Graham is the creator of numerous English-language teaching books, most notably Jazz Chants and Let's Sing, Let's Chant, published by Oxford University Press. She also wrote the songs for the Let's Go (textbooks) and Susan Rivers' Tiny Talk series of ELT books, also published by OUP.

David Nunan is an Australian linguist who has focused on the teaching of English. He is the author of the ELT textbook series "Go For It!".

Scott Thornbury is an internationally recognized academic and teacher trainer in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT). Along with Luke Meddings, Thornbury is credited with developing the Dogme language teaching approach, which emphasizes meaningful interaction and emergent language over prepared materials and following an explicit syllabus. Thornbury has written over a dozen books on ELT methodology. Two of these, 'Natural Grammar' and 'Teaching Unplugged', have won the British Council's "ELTon" Award for Innovation, the top award in the industry.

NNEST or non-native English-speaking teachers is an acronym that refers to the growing body of English language teachers who speak English as a foreign or second language. The term was coined to highlight the dichotomy between native English-speaking teachers (NEST) and non-native English-speaking teachers (NNEST).

Ian Stephen Paul Nation is an internationally recognized scholar in the field of linguistics and teaching methodology.

Jazz Chants are exercises in which students utter words and short phrases rhythmically. They were first popularized by Carolyn Graham in the 1980s.

A display question is a type of question requiring the other party to demonstrate their knowledge on a subject matter when the questioner already knows the answer. They are contrasted with referential questions, a type of question posed when the answer is not known by the questioner at the time of inquiry.

Sarah Jane Mercer is a British linguist. She is currently the head of the Department of English Language Teaching at the University of Graz, Austria. Her research focuses on applied linguistics, with a special focus on psycholinguistics from a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory approach.

Patsy M. Lightbown is an American applied linguist whose research focuses on the teaching and acquisition of second and/or foreign languages in a classroom context. Her theories of second language acquisition earned her the SPEAQ Award for "contributions which have had an impact on the entire English teaching community in Quebec". She served in the United States Peace Corps in Niger, West Africa from 1965 to 1967. In her more than forty years in the field she has taught at multiple universities across the United States, Australia and Canada. She holds the title of Distinguished Professor Emerita at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. She has written seven published books and has been featured in many book chapters and refereed journals. She currently works as an independent consultant, editor, researcher and writing in second language acquisition and learning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack C. Richards</span> New Zealand linguist

Jack Croft Richards is an applied linguist from New Zealand, specializing in second and foreign language education, teacher training, and materials design. He has written numerous articles and books. Most of his books and articles are in the field of second language teaching and have been translated into many different languages. He was appointed full professor in the Department of English as a Second Language at the University of Hawaii in 1981.

References

  1. ↑ "20 years of learning and playing with Let's Go - Oxford University Press". Oxford University Press. 2011-06-09. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  2. 1 2 "Episode 60: Young Learner Materials with the 'Let's Go' Authors". The TEFLology Podcast. 2017-05-24. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  3. ↑ Let's Go: 3a: Student Book and Workbook (New ed.). Oxford University Press. 2012-03-15. ISBN   9780194643177.
  4. ↑ "IIEEC Teacher Training Center". www.iieec.com. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  5. ↑ "Let's Go - Teaching Village". Teaching Village. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  6. ↑ WEBSTER, ROBIN. "Let's Go | Oxford University Press". elt.oup.com. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  7. ↑ "Oxford University Press ＞ Let' Go 2nd Edition シリーズ". www.mikasabookcenter.jp. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  8. ↑ Nakata, Ritsuko (2007). Let's Go 3 Student Book. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780194394345.
  9. ↑ "Let's Go | ELTBOOKS.com". ELTBOOKS.com. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  10. ↑ Let's Go (Fourth ed.). Retrieved 2018-02-20.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.