Recently Received
Julie Kimura
A list of texts and resource materials for language teachers is available for book reviews in TLT and JALT Journal. Publishers are invited to submit complete sets of materials to Julie Kimura at the Publishers’ Review Copies Liaison postal address listed on the Staff page on the inside cover of TLT.
Recently Received Online
An up-to-date index of books available for review can be found at https://jalt-publications.org/tlt/departments/recently-received
* = new listing; ! = final notice — Final notice items will be removed on February 28. Please make queries by email to the appropriate JALT Publications contact.
Books for Students (reviews published in TLT)
Contact: Julie Kimura — see Contacts menu
Penguin Readers—Penguin Books, 2019. [Penguin Readers is a series of classics, contemporary fiction, and non-fiction, written for learners of English.]
* A Christmas carol—Dickens, C. [Retold by K. Kovacs. Ebenezer Scrooge hates Christmas and is angry that people are not working. He meets the ghost of his former partner. Can Scrooge become a good person before it is too late? Level: 1, CEFR A1.]
* Private—Patterson, J., & Paetro, M. [Retold by N. Bullard. Jack Morgan has a company called Private. He helps people. Sometimes. He helps the police, too. Now, Jack’s friend is dead and Jack has to find the killer. Level 2, CEFR A1+.]
* The great Gatsby—Fitzgerald, F. S. [Retold by A. Collins. Everybody wants to know Jay Gatsby. He is handsome and very rich. He owns a big house and has wonderful parties there. But does anyone really know who he is? Level 3, CEFR A2.]
* Women who changed the world—Leather, S. [This graded reader consists of ten chapters on some of the women who have fought to be equal to men as well as their achievements in education, science, sports, and politics. Level: 4, CEFR A2+.]
* The spy who came in from the cold—le Carré, J. [Retold by F. MacKenzie. Alec Leamas, a British spy, is worn out and ready to stop working. But he has to do one last job. His boss wants him to spread false information about an important man in East Germany. Can Alec retire and finally come in from the cold? Level: 6, CEFR: B1+.]
! Teaching and learning haiku in English—McMurray, D. The International University of Kagoshima, 2022. [The practice of writing haiku in second language classrooms is demonstrated in this English language education text for students from elementary school through high school. The book provides examples of how students can learn to write English in the classroom, suggests ways to teach haiku in English using information and communication technologies (ICT), and explains how to organize contests by and for students.]
* What’s that you say? Bright ideas for reading, writing, and discussing in the English classroom—David, J. Nan’un-do, 2023. [This book takes a student-centered approach and provides students with topics and activities designed to foster language learning and practical use. There are 15 units in which students can engage in vocabulary and reading activities, as well as engaging follow-up activities including trivia questions and famous quotations.]
! Writing a graduation thesis in English: Creating a strong epistemic argument—Smiley, J. Perceptia Press, 2019. [This book helps students prepare for the main task of their academic careers. Students will develop an understanding of argumentation and develop a robust relationship between self and knowledge. The teacher’s guide is available through the publisher’s website.]
! Teaching English in secondary school: A handbook of essentials—Siegel, J. Studentlitteratur, 2022. [This book provides a summary of the fundamental concepts in the field of second language acquisition. Topics covered include communicative language teaching and the psychology of language learning, as well as the four main skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. This book serves both as an introduction to novice second language instructors and as a reference for practicing teachers.]
