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English Plus works!
After the first opening and
going through English Plus I realised
that it is somehow different
from the other textbooks.
Why is that? Nice layout and
just enough text, pictures
and photos on each page so
the students do concentrate
on certain text, picture or
photo. The topics and texts
are designed both to motivate
and to educate teenage learners.
Each lesson in the teaching
notes starts by clearly stating
the aims of the lesson, which
extend the I can… statements
that are very important for
students.The key competences
enable students to develop and
apply knowledge, skills and attitudes
to solve problems in a
range of contexts.
I devoted the fi rst lessson of
the introduction to the textbook
and the workbook step-
by-step. I did carefully explain
what each coloured square
represents in a particular unit
including EP options.
The workbook offers
three-level exercises and that
is excellent because the teachers
can select the right mate-
Introduction
We decided to try the new textbook
English Plus which was
presented by the author Mr.
Ben Wetz in Brno at a seminar
organized by OUP. After 4
months of teaching with this
textbook we would like to
share some of our ideas and
experience.
The book itself
English Plus is a four-level course
and we focus on level 1. The
course consists of Student’s
book, Workbook with Multi-
ROM and Teacher’s book, the
iTools software, The Bank
Multi ROM and the DVD.
Our comment
The course itself is very complex
and fl exible. Everything
is connected. It can be used in
weaker as well as in stronger
classes. It helps students to
develop effective reading, writing,
listening and speaking
rial for each student
even in the mixed
ability classes and
for the students with
dyslexia or special
learning diffi culties.
Language focus reference
and Language
focus practice enable
that the students can
immediately practise
English grammar
and simultaneously
check it.
And there is great advantage
of the Test Bank MultiROM
of choosing tests with different
levels. For example, I gave
my students the one star level
test and after some time I gave
them the same test with two
and three star levels and they
had the great possibility to
compare their knowledge of
English. They also did the selfassessment
about the test.
Pronunciation and Expression
bank seems to be a good
idea for practising and using
English correctly. Extra materials
covering culture, CLIL,
Culture and Curriculum Extra
DVD, communication and vo-
skills. The exercises are set in a
way that makes student think
and apply what they have
learnt. In each unit there is a
great choice of pictures which
are used for interactive activities.
The articles are up-to-date
and our students like them as
well as the pictures. The course
is introduced by a starter unit
which helps to revise the previous
knowledge of the students.
Every lesson starts with the
aim of the lesson in form of
a statement I can… and ends
with Activate exercise. The
aim is set clear as a short-term
goal which increases students’
motivation. Each unit fi nishes
with a review which prepares
students for the unit test. For
each unit there is a wide
range of extra options at the
end of the book. The DVD is
well prepared and we appreciate
its connection to each
section and unit. It contains
the worksheets and teach-
cabulary practice motivate,
interest and engage students.
Five stars for EP.
1. EP gives the students all the
skills they need to communicate
with confi dence.
2. EP meets students’ different
needs and abilities.
3. English questions are quite
diffi cult for Czech students
and EP pays them a due at-
ers notes. We used excellent
drama lessons which are provided
with recordings and our
students enjoyed practising
and showing it to their classmates.
For beginners there is
an English-Czech vocabulary
list and pronounciation bank
at the end of the workbook.
After every second unit there
is a project task which is very
popular with this age group.
Our plan
We have planned each unit to
take one month and it works
more or less. It is possible to
manage the course during one
school year (5 lessons of English
a week). One page of the unit
is planned for 45 minute
period and it works.
Resume
The Teacher’s book is a great
resource of different activities
and extra additional activities.
As busy teachers we really ad-
tention and naturally forces
pupils to make and use them
in every day conversation.
4. EP offers a rich variety of
educational materials for
teaching English.
5. EP makes students speak
English.
Helena Pálenská,
ZŠ Hanspaulka, Praha 6
English Plus and our experience using this textbook
mire the Bank MultiROM with
a great range of tests. Actually
the 5 minute tests are great
for quick revision. You can
choose from a simple level
test to one for stronger groups.
We also appreciate iTools especially
in computer equiped
rooms, where we have them
installed. As we are involved in
the pilot scheme for this book,
we have also experienced good
feedback with a representative
of Oxford University Press. Mr.
Bowell has visited our school
and has taken all our comments
seriously. To sum up
we can highly recommend
this course. If you want to
know more you can contact
us at Biskupské Gymnázium,
Barvičova 85, Brno. We are
looking forward to sharing our
experience with you.
Mgr. Alice Bílková
for the English Plus team,
Biskupské Gymnázium, Brno
NOVINKY Z OXFORDU 9