Another book review

Goodman, B. (2004). English, Yes! Learning English Through Literature. Level 7: Transitional New York: Glencoe. 184 pp., 9 units. Last book of a series.

This book is used on a secondary/adult education level, best suited for students at WIDA levels 4-5, Expanding and Bridging. It is a stand-alone book with no supplemental material or online component.

The topics are age-appropriate, using adaptations of classical and contemporary literature, with each unit focusing on a different short story. Language instruction is covered though vocabulary and grammar exercises at the end of each story/unit, which always relate the questions back to the story itself. Comprehension exercises are scattered along with the vocabulary and grammar exercises, integrating content and language instruction. The exercises themselves, however, don't contain any sort of answer key, and are for the most part, open ended questions (short answers, essay prompts, etc.,) which don't allow for much assessment or evaluation without the teacher's presence.

 As the theme of the book is learning language through literature, reading and writing skills are stressed, at the expense of others. Some of the more advanced language functions include using language to persuade (in an essay format) others to a certain opinion or action, comparing and contrasting characters within a story, and summarizing and describing events. There are almost no grammar exercises at all, although vocabulary is stressed through definition, synonym and antonym drills – mostly in a multiple choice format.

Exercises are grouped in a predictable pattern at the end of each story/unit, although there is some variety in the exact format of each exercise. For example, while the vocabulary exercise for one unit may be fill-in-the-blanks, the next unit's vocabulary drill will be multiple choice. The variety, however, is still somewhat limited, which is not helpful for different learning styles. There are no group activities or oral communication exercises of any kind, so there are no opportunities for students to use their newfound knowledge in a hands-on scenario. The book is the last of a series, presumably the last step before mainstreaming, so there is no noticeable differentiation of instruction.

The book has very few hand-drawn illustrations, usually only two or three per story. As the stories themselves come from a variety of cultures, from China to Latin America, so do the illustrations. Many of the stories are not contemporary, so the illustrations are not either, although they are historically and literally accurate to promote understanding of the text. Not nearly enough illustration or realia is included to help English Learners, but as this book is the last of a series, this may be intentional in order to focus the reader on the literature unassisted.

This book is the last step in a series before mainstreaming, and I wish I could've seen some of the earlier books to get a look at how the series handles developing readers. I was very disappointed in the complete lack of oral or group exercises, something which is now standard even in mainstream Literature texts. The book seems to assume a high level of proficiency because that is what it is designed for, nevertheless, some differentiation of instruction and appeal to multiple intelligences would have still been a wise move to help those students who may not yet be up to the expected level.