* = new listing; ! = final notice — Final notice items will be removed on August 31. Please make queries by email to the appropriate JALT Publications contact.
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.]
! 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. However, it was written with lower proficiency students in mind. Additional resources include a teacher’s manual and audio download. This book is aimed towards those with a TOEIC score of 250-450.]
* New frontiers—Hong, T., Powell, G., Koe, T., & Scafaru, M. Compass Publishing, 2020. [This six-level course helps teenage students learn about English in the 21st century. Aimed towards students with a CEFR of A1-B2.]
* On point (2nd ed.)—Anderson, P., Foster, L., Robinson, S., & Hong, T. Compass Publishing, 2022. [This new edition includes new and updated readings on current topics. Students can participate in engaging activities to build specific reading and thinking skills, as well as guided writing tasks related to each topic. In addition, discussion activities help students form and support their opinions. Online materials available include audio files as well as other resources.]
Science at hand—Miyamoto, K. Kinseido, 2020. [This text is comprised of 15 articles selected from the Smithsonian magazine from a variety of fields, including the natural sciences, engineering, anthropology, and art. 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 is comprised of 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 understanding of the topic and reinforce the idea that our opinions can change when we are presented with new information.]
* What is language?—Kane-Hinohara, E. Perceptia Press, 2023. [What is Language? follows a CLIL approach. Each of the 15 units is scaffolded for learners, with a progression from lower- to higher-order thinking skills. There is a mix of communicative as well as focus on form tasks through explicit teaching of the Academic Word List and academic language skills. Productive tasks include pair work in scaffolded discussions and individual presentations. Audio tracks are available for download.]
