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Reading Explorer 2, by Paul MacIntyre
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Reading Explorer is a six-level content-based reading series featuring video from National Geographic to help develop reading and vocabulary skills for all learners. Each unit of Reading Explorer contains two reading passages and an optional video activity. Reading passages cover a wide range of real-world topics related to culture, science, social studies, travel, and adventure.
- Sales Rank: #500008 in Books
- Brand: MacIntyre, Paul
- Published on: 2008-12-03
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .60" h x 8.50" w x 10.80" l, 1.15 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 192 pages
- Used Book in Good Condition
About the Author
Paul MacIntyre earned his MA in TESL from Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts. He has been an ELT professional for over 20 years. Paul has teaching experience in Japan and the United States, and as an editor participated in the development of numerous ELT courses for classrooms around the world. As a writer, he has contributed to various major course book and testing programs. For National Geographic Learning he is proud to have authored Reading Explorer 2, Reading Explorer 4, and most recently Pathways Listening and Speaking 4.
Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Reading Explorer 2
By Jenny Kebir
This is a great book for teaching ESL. It gives great topics not only to learn about but enables students to practice their English speaking skills. The book was used but in excellent condition. It should be used for intermediate students who have already a good knowledge of English grammer. Wonderful for teaching vocabulary and allowing students to speak giving their opinions and experiences.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Reading Explorer 2 for English as a Foreign Language Learners
By David Proulx
Determining which materials are best suited for a target group of learners often involves predicting whether or not the materials correspond to learner needs. Therefore the evaluation of course books merits serious consideration as an inappropriate selection of a specific text may be unfitting for learners needs and have a demotivating effect on the students and teachers. Thus this review will examine the external and internal criteria often used by language teaching professionals to assess whether a particular textbook is suitable for adoption within the second language classroom.
First, it is important to recognize that no text or set of materials is likely to be perfect or suit the needs and preferences of all learners and teachers. It is self-evident that the purpose behind textbook assessment and selection is often a matter of preference and of one's own view of language learning. Nevertheless, having some model of what criteria ought to be valued in selecting a text to adopt is important, as doing a thorough in depth evaluation would not be beneficial if a preliminary external evaluation can demonstrate that the materials being evaluated will be of little use to learners.
External Evaluation
An external evaluation offers a brief overview of the materials (cover, introduction, table of contents, claims by the author, intended audience, how the language has been presented and organized) and so forth. Essentially, the external evaluation provides teachers with the opportunity to decide whether they should conduct a more through internal evaluation to determine if a particular textbook would be appropriate for learners.
A cursory external evaluation of Reading Explorer 2 by National Geographic and Heinle ELT immediately reveals that this 192-page textbook, which is divided into twelve units, is rich in content and provides a sufficient range of activities that I would be interested in for my learners. Allow me to qualify my statement by stating that Reading Explorer 2 is a beautifully designed textbook with a mesmerizing glossy cover and vibrant colorful images, photographs, charts, maps, illustrations, photographs, and computer rendered generations thoughtfully placed throughout every page of the book.
One of the few claims made by National Geographic and Heinle ELT is that this textbook presents English Language learning materials, which bring our world and different cultures to life. True to their word, the textbook developers of Reading Explorer 2 present 12 diverse themes with each theme being further broken down into two separate lessons.
The back of the book rightfully claims that the materials presented within are adapted from National Geographic text, images, and video to develop reading and vocabulary skills for English learners. Each unit contains two reading passages and an option video activity with the CD-ROM, which is included. The reading passages include a wide range of real world topics covering culture, science, social-issues, travel, and adventure.
A brief perusal of the chapters reveals that reading passages develop visual literacy, incorporate graphic organizers, to help learners become better readers in English. The text provides reading comprehension activities that cover essential reading skills and questions types commonly found on standardized tests such as TOEFL, TOEIC, and IELTS. Vocabulary practice activities and vocabulary builder boxes present and reinforce high-frequency vocabulary items. Also included are review units which spotlight UNESCO World Heritage Sites and offer a graphic overview of important global issues.
Considering that the physical design and layout of Reading Explorer 2 has an appropriate balance between text and images, that the text is available here in Korea for the reasonable price of approximately $20.00 and that the content aspect of the text is diverse and requires very few extensions and adaptations I believe that it is worthy of further consideration. Therefore, in the following portion of this textbook analysis will be followed by a closer and more detailed internal evaluation.
Internal Evaluation
An internal evaluation is an attempt to analyze the extent to which the factors mentioned in the external evaluation match up with the internal consistency as stated by the author and publisher. Some of these aforementioned claims of Reading Explorer 2 include the fact the materials within the textbook:
1. Real world content
2. Reading passages and comprehension activities
3. Vocabulary practice
To determine whether of not the external evaluation aligns itself with the internal consistency of the text, I've chosen to review the theme of unit 3 "History Detectives" with a special emphasis on lesson (b) A Body in the Mountains. The materials in this text facilitate the development of reading skills and vocabulary while providing a variety of tasks that evaluate learners' comprehension of language and its relationship of language to reality.
Though not stated explicitly by the publisher material would fall under the umbrella of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). This approach can be characterized in the following ways:
View of Language:
* Language serves to communicate meaning, e.g., skills, discourse, lexis, grammar, and functions
View of Language Learning:
* Language is learned best when you use language to learn something else
Classroom Practices:
* The materials are based about learning a subject matter
* The language learned is the language needed for understanding the subject
In retrospect, I believe this material is worth using because learning goals are clearly defined, a sufficiently broad range of topics are presented, and the structure of each lesson encourages learners to draw upon their prior knowledge, and encourages them to discover for themselves what ideas or details are important for each lesson.
For instance, in this section of the lesson the materials developers provide learners with authentic and colorful photographs of artifacts of a 5,300 year-old-man found frozen in the Italian Alps. The photographs include brief written descriptions of the artifacts found with the frozen mummified remains of the man.
* The Iceman's quiver and arrows
* The Iceman was carrying a stone knife
* A fire starting kit
These images and other stunning photographs introduce students to new vocabulary, help develop visual literacy, and are integrated in such a way as to ensure that learners develop awareness about certain key vocabulary items.
The material developers then provide learners with a police report for the mummified remains, which were found high in the Italian Alps. This police report sets the stage by providing some background as to what happened the missing man and invites learners take on the role of an investigator. This is significant as responsibility for discovering what has happened to the man falls on the shoulders of our new detectives.
Police Report
Iceman mummy found in the Italian Alps
Condition of mummy:
Nearly perfect condition, but deep cuts on hand and one on the back
Approximate age of death:
Mid-forties
Approximate time of death:
5,300 years ago
Clothes:
Three layers of clothes and bearskin shoes
Personal possessions:
Stone dagger, valuable copper axe, half finished wooden arrows, fire starting kit
Other:
A dark object visible in body under left shoulder
Before reading a small five-paragraph passage of what's happened to the iceman, learners are asked to use the information provided in the police report to answer questions. The instructions clearly state that answers should be discussed with a partner. In doing so the textbook developers manage to integrate activities that focus of productive language skills; such as speaking and permits students to experiment with language in novel and authentic ways to reach the correct solution.
1. How long ago did the iceman actually die?
a. recently b. hundreds of years ago c. thousands of years ago
2. Did he die naturally or was he murdered?
a. naturally b. murdered
3. What do you think the dark shape under his shoulder is?
a. blood b. a tattoo c. part of an arrow
These questions can be answered with the information presented in the police report. The discussion also allows students to make predictions based on the materials that they have been presented with. Obviously, the discussion questions prepare learners to anticipate or make educated guesses as to what could have happened to this man. In essence, this task asks students to use background knowledge (top-down approach) to process meaning. It is the intention of the developers that the learners perceive the inquiry as relevant and that they play an active role in developing a solution.
Next, learners are asked to scan the reading passage to see if their predictions are correct. The title of the passage is "Who Killed the Iceman". A quick perusal of the reading passage allows the learners to discover whether their predictions were correct. Noteworthy, is the fact the passage is divided into three different subheadings.
1. Who was the iceman
2. Clues to an ancient murder
3. A bloody discovery
Important vocabulary items are highlighted in red. New and possibly difficult lexical items are also given definitions underneath the reading passage. To assist learners with the passage the material developers also included a sketch depicting the iceman suffering a fatal blow to his back. Surrounding the main text are images, photographs and detailed scans that scientists used to recreate what the iceman named Otzi may have looked like. The developers also included maps and distance scales to help the reader understand where the body was found. The developers also numbered the lines in the passage for quick reference to assist learners in reading for specific purposes.
After completing the reading passage learners have a five multiple-choice questions. Each question is written to assess a different language and reading skills.
1. What is this reading mainly about? (Gist)
2. Why do scientists believe that the iceman was not a young man? (Detail)
3. What probably caused the death of the iceman? (Detail)
4. The word this in line 43 refers to the fact that __________ (Reference)
5. In line 49, what does opening the door mean? (Vocabulary)
By reading the text learners can make informed judgments about whether statements presented in the passage are facts or theories.
_______ a. He was found in the mountains
_______ b. He had a fight before his murder
_______ c. His murder was the end of a fight for power
_______ d. He died over 5,300 years ago
_______ e. He had an injury on his hand
The developers also included a vocabulary section where students are asked to select the correct word form for a fill in the blank task.
wealth laborer freeze cruel debatable tiny
E.g., Many scientists now believe that the cause of Otzi's death was the tiny arrowhead, only two centimeters across, found under his shoulder blade.
A subsequent task asks learners to read a paragraph then complete the definitions using the correct form of the words in red.
"Scientists really wanted to understand how the iceman's body could last over 5,000 years. At first they thought that he had dried out, like mummies in Egypt. However, the iceman had no hair, and a layer of his skin was gone. Scientists knew that Egyptian mummies still have their hair and skin. The knowledge of this difference enabled scientists to deduce that a different process must have happened to the iceman. Scientists also knew that the bodies that stay beneath the water for a long time lose their hair, which implies that the iceman's body had been underwater before it was dried out and frozen in the ice."
1. Something that is under another thing is _____________________ it.
2. If you __________________ something, you reach that conclusion because of other things that you know to be true.
3. If something is _________________, it has become very hard because of the cold.
4. If an event or situation ________________ that something is true, it makes you think that it is true.
5. If something __________________ you to do a particular thing, it makes it possible for you to do it.
Color coding the vocabulary and limiting the number of definitions to five makes this particular task less daunting for students as compared to a task where the lexical items are not explicitly highlighted.
The materials developers also included word partnerships and collocations. For instance, use "debate" with: open to debate, major debate, political debate, presidential debate, debate over something, and debate the issue. Thus by doing so the authors of the textbook incorporated elements commonly associated with the lexical approach even though the content of the text remains of primary importance.
As has been suggested, the approach taken by the developers of Reading Explorer 2 is primarily content driven. This leaves room for language teachers to make adaptations or extension activities or projects based on the themes presented. Since there does not exist a single approach that will suit the diverse needs of all students the developers have tried to provide units based on themes, which are then broken down into separate lessons that invite the learners to explore different cultures, geographic areas, and discover interesting historical and scientific content to become better language learners.
Overall Impressions
The developers of the Reading Explorer Series developed by National Geographic and Heinle ELT have presented tasks and texts that are broad and relevant so that most learners would find them of interest. The instructional design and sequences are carefully planned and allow learners to practice the four macro-language skills - listening, speaking, reading, and writing. I believe that the developers of these texts recognize that there is little in the way to help leaners be disciplined, active, and engaged unless the learners perceive an inquiry as relevant and that the learners themselves play an active role in determining the process or solution.
Taken together the Reading Explorer series are books that vary in their lexical and syntactical complexity and which have been scaled like graded readers according to the ability of the learners. This series provides varied themes and well ordered questions to peak learners curiosity.
In studying how language works, one has available all the possible forms of discourse imaginable, because language (dolphins aside) is produced by humans for the purpose of sharing meaning. I'm pleased that the developers of the Reading Explorer series did not give great weight to the traditional linguistic design of a second language learning textbooks as I do not believe that people learning a second language would have any reason to care about how a noun is defined, or what transformational rules are for forming the passive voice. Instead, the content of the Reading Explorer series is question and coherence centered. The material that has been evaluated requires that the students play a central, but not necessarily exclusive role in framing questions they deem important and relevant.
Any talk of coursebook standards is nonsense unless we are talking about standards of learning. Part of the process of learning, is learning how to learn. This is distinct from memorizing answers for a test or standards for grading. Materials that do not provide for needs of learners are analogous to an environment that does not allow an organism to thrive. I contend that the authors are not solely concerned with the study of English per sae, as English language learning texts are generally contrived, farcical and often times not about anything related to reality. Many materials are therefore unlikely places for meaningful inquiries into language. As American Psychologist and proponent of General Semantics (GS) Wendell Johnson has said, you can't write writing. You have to write about something. The same applies to all language activity. The meaningful study of language must be about the relationship of language to reality, whether the subject is geography, cultural studies, history or science.
In short, the developers of the Reading Explorer series have not put forth a traditional linguistic design, but instead chosen to focus on presenting varied content that allows learners to draw upon the meanings that they have stored up so that they may subject those meanings to testing, verifying, reordering, reclassification so that by the time they have finished a unit they are equipped with the skills to move on to more complex content driven material with questions that bring coherence to areas of inquiry as well as language learning.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Good !
By Pua
I like this book! The contents are interesting and the practice part isn't difficult to do.
Something negative was that the book tooks like one week to arrive, but all was fine ! Thank you for all :)
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