Language Learning Materials Reviews
A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS
Writing reviews practice and learner training, including lots of useful language for writing reviews and possible language learning recommendations, especially good for Cambridge exam preparation.
Lesson Plan Content:
Language learning materials reviews
with language for reviews and learner training
Choose one (specific) thing for learning English such as something on the next page. Describe its good points and bad points, who it is most suitable for and least suitable for, etc, as if you were writing an Amazon review. Your partner will listen and then comment and/ or ask you for more details.
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Suggested phrases for reviewing materials cheap/ reasonable – expensive/ overpriced complicated/ tricky – easy to use (in)effective flexible/ adaptable including innovative – traditional leading overrated packed with pocket-sized radical – tried and tested recommended similar to simple (but effective) (un)suitable time consuming tricky underrated worth(while) – worthless Looking at… In addition An additional… is… On the other hand On the other side of the coin Turning from the pros to the cons,… Moving onto… Despite…,… Nevertheless,…/ Nonetheless,… All in all/ Overall For all those reasons,… |
Suggested questions to ask for more details Can it…? Can you… with it? Did you have any problems with…? Do you need…? Do you think it will…? Does it claim…? Does it live up to…? How does it…? How long did you…? How does it compare to…? How long would it take to…? How useful is it for…? I found that… Do you have the same experience? I heard that… Is that true? Is it better for… (than…)? Is it easy/ difficult to…? Is it suitable for…? Is it useful for…? Is it worth…? Is… an advantage or a disadvantage? It sounds… Is that right/ fair? Overall, do you think…? When was it (first/ last)…? Who wrote/ published…? Would you recommend it for…? |
Tell another group about the thing that you agreed most on, and see if they have any questions or comments.
Ask about any words or phrases you don’t understand, questions you couldn’t answer, etc, working together to use them to describe language learning materials.
Without looking above or below, brainstorm suitable language for reviews, including adjectives, opposites, phrases for looking at both sides, etc.
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Kinds of materials |
Specific materials |
Things to talk about |
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app(lication) audiobook business English materials CD (ROM) (kids’) chant/ song children’s book/ DVD/ TV/… collocations practice comic (strip) correspondence course (learner’s/ electronic) dictionary DVD e-book Facebook page/ feed graded reader/ing materials grammar checker (self-study) grammar materials language exchange/ school/… list of language learning tips list of recommendations list of useful language (listings/ freebie) magazine model texts/ model dialogues MOOC newspaper online lecture/ presentation parallel text books phrasebook podcast poem/ book of poetry pronunciation materials radio programme smartphone game software speech study abroad (agent/ provider) (writing) style guide test preparation materials textbook translation materials TV programme Twitter feed video (self-study) vocabulary materials website YouTube channel |
6 Minute English Academic Word List ALC English Journal BBC Learning English drama/ News Review Berlitz phrasebooks Business Result Busuu.com DuoLingo.com Eigo de Asobo Email English Flashcard Stash Focus on IELTS Google Translate General Service List Headway IELTSbuddy.com Johnny Grammar Kaplan test preparation LearnEnglishKids Learning Time with Timmy Lingual.ly Market Leader (FCE) Masterclass Murphy’s English Grammar in Use MyWordBook NHK materials Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Oxford Express series Penguin Readers Rosetta Stone Simple English Wikipedia SpeakingPal English Tutor SuperSimpleSongs TED.com The Business 2.0 The English We Speak Vocabla Vocabulary in Use Voxy |
advantages/ benefits/ selling points/ positive points/ good points disadvantages/ drawbacks/ negative points/ bad points accuracy availability comparisons to others content cost design/ attractiveness difficulty ease of use effectiveness effort needed features future functions history level market share marketing (claims) motivation popularity portability reliability reuse size/ length suitability for… techniques time usefulness uses overall judgement recommendations
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