The power of classics
on February 19, 2007
in gv
We have to confess that we have fossilized in some aspects of our teaching here at GV. Forty five of our beginner students probably don’t realise that we are feeding them weekly with the ideas and learning materials which originated more than 17 years ago. Yes, it says clearly in the the book we use: ‘First published in 1990′! The only copy we possess is well tattered, the pages greyed and edges fraying from continuous thumbing. As a material object it desperately deserves a safe place in a rare print library showcase.
The book in question is ‘First Lessons’ by Jane Willis, a surprisingly little publication packing tons of invaluable, fresh ideas in its mere fifty pages.
We’ve been using it on and off for many years and it still remains a great source of inspiration for both teachers and students. With its minimalist approach the book pioneered something called today Task-based Learning and Teaching, then practically implemented by Dave and Jane Willis in their seminal ‘Cobuild Course’ series.
The main idea of task-based teaching is that students use language to communicate with others, but since beginners in English will not readily use many grammar rules, they have to be given step-by-step instruction in simple communication – first get learners to communicate, then help them to grammaticise. ‘First Lessons’ manage(s) this job admirably.
A few years ago we stopped searching for some archival copies of the book, the publisher had them all pulped, probably to use the recycled paper to print yet another ‘new’ English coursebook. Luckily, we’ve prepared a revised and revamped edition for our own use.
