UsingEnglish.com

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.

      Page: /

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.

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.

Kinds of materials

Specific materials

Things to talk about

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

 

 

Terms of Use

Lesson plans & worksheets can be used by teachers without any fee in the classroom; however, please ensure you keep all copyright information and references to UsingEnglish.com in place.

You will need Adobe Reader to view these files.

Get Adobe Reader


Trustpilot