EFL Teachers: Are You Overusing the Textbook

If something happened to your EFL textbooks--a fire,a flood, they were stolen or you forgot them at home--would you be able to teach your EFL class? Or would you panic? Many EFL teachers rely only on their textbooks in teaching English. And after a while, that can be a problem for them and their students.

The alternative is to supplement the textbook with authentic material from local newspapers, magazines, bank brochures, cookbooks, etc. Even objects from your purse can make for a good EFL lesson.

This does not mean you throw away the textbooks; it's not one or the other but a combination of the two sources that make a solid curriculum for your students. Textbooks are very good, of course, because they employ "tried and true" methods. The experts who write them know what students need to learn at each level to master English. This is especially true for beginning, elementary and pre-intermediate students.

But authentic material gives students a chance to use their English as they learn it. Reading something from a real newspaper increases their confidence. It's a different experience than reading the same material extracted and placed in textbook form.

Here are the signs that you may be overusing the language textbook:

Have you heard the following from students?

• I've done this lesson before--last year in another school.
• Do we have to buy the textbook?
• What does this exercise have to do with everyday English?
• What's the point of all these handouts?
• I can do this kind of stuff at home or on the Web; I don't need a teacher for this.
• Sorry, but this is boring.

Or have you--as an EFL teacher--ever found yourself:

• Frustrated when students say they've had this lesson before?
• Stressed because you can't find the textbook you need because someone else has it or it's been misplaced?
• Frantic because you can't get to the copy machine in time to run off copies from a textbook?
• Dreading the next chapter in the textbook because you hate it or it's so boring?
• Terrified that a student will ask you something (perhaps about grammar) that's not in the textbook or in the Teacher's Guide that accompanies the textbook?
• Embarrassed because the CD or language cassette doesn't work?

If you answered "yes" to a good number of these questions, it may indicate an over-dependence on or overuse of EFL textbooks. The solution is to add in some authentic material into your lessons. It will take some more effort on your part, but your lessons will be more creative, engaging and even more interesting to you--the teacher.