A list of texts and resource materials for language teachers is available for book reviews in TLT and JALT Journal. If none of the titles we have listed appeal to you or are not suitable for your teaching context, please feel free to contact us to suggest alternate titles. 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 The Language Teacher.
In this issue of TLT, I would like to warmly welcome my new coeditor, Derek Keever. I look forward to working with Derek in his new role to create a more informative column that brings value to JALT members. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
Books for Students (reviews published in TLT)
Contact: Julie Kimura — jaltpubs.tlt.pub.review@jalt.org
* Bake sale—Kamata, S. Gemma Open Door, 2022. [Laura Murata is a professor and a single mother. Kazu, the father of her daughter’s friend, is also raising his son on his own. Laura and Kazu meet at a holiday bake sale and plan to go out for dinner on Christmas Eve. The Open Door series comprises of graded readers written for people who struggle to read. A lesson plan is available on the publisher’s website.]
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+.]
! 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 usage. 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.]
Critical thinking—Hadley, G., & Boon, A., Routledge, 2022. [This resource book provides language teachers with a framework for fostering critical thinking skills in explicit and systematic ways. Critical Thinking can be used as a resource for teacher-directed classroom investigations as well as graduate school research projects.]
* Inside science—Nozaki, Y., Matsumoto, K., & Graham-Marr, A., Kinseido, 2019. [Students watch and learn from 15 videos selected from the American Institute of Physics news service, Inside Science. A variety of vocabulary, listening, and composition exercises support students’ learning. Teachers have access to vocabulary quizzes and reading comprehension questions. Students and teachers have access to online videos.]
* Inspiring voices: 15 interviews from NHK Direct Talk—Kobayashi, M., Fujita, R., Collins, P. J. Kinseido, 2021. [Students watch 15 ten-minute interviews from the NHK program Direct Talk. Students can build fluency and develop critical thinking skills by exploring a range of global issues. Lessons include background reading, comprehension tasks, and scaffolded activities. Students have access to online videos, and teachers have access to audio data as well as to the teacher’s manual.]
Life topics: Changing views—Berman, J., Nan’un-do, 2023. [This new addition to the Life Topics series provides advice on how Japanese EFL students can lead happy and meaningful lives. This coursebook contains 15 units and is adaptable for learners of various proficiencies but was written with lower proficiency students in mind. Additional resources include a teacher’s manual and audio download. TOEIC 250-450.]
* Science at hand—Miyamoto, K., Kinseido, 2020. [15 articles in a variety of fields, including the natural sciences, engineering, anthropology, and art, selected from the Smithsonian magazine. In addition to key phrases, reading, and dictation exercises, explanations are provided. The teacher’s manual includes vocabulary quizzes.]
* The spy—Kamata, S. Gemma Open Door, 2020. [Pearl Dubois is a Southern belle who wants to help the Allies in the Second World War. She convinces her boss to send her on a secret mission. The Open Door series comprises graded readers that are written for people who struggle to read.]
What do you think? 15 topics for discussion and conversation—Bossaer, A., Nan’un-do, 2023. [This coursebook was written for intermediate EFL learners and students to discuss their opinions with their partners or groups. In-class assessments based on these discussions provide students with opportunities to both demonstrate their understandings of the topic and reinforce the idea that our opinions can change when we are presented with new information.]
