| Q: |
What is a corpus exactly? What’s in it? |
| Q: |
When you say the course is corpus informed, what does that mean? |
| Q: |
Is the Touchstone syllabus different from other courses’ syllabi? |
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Can I teach the lessons in a unit out of order? |
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Is the unit opener at the beginning of every unit important or can I skip it? |
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Should I have my students do the vocabulary logs in class or can I assign them for homework? |
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My students read the audio script while they do the self-study listening work. How can I stop them? |
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I love the oral quizzes at the back of the Teacher's Edition. Do we have to use these as quizzes, or can we use them as ordinary speaking activities in the classroom? |
| Q: |
My students need more controlled vocabulary and grammar practice. What can you suggest, apart from the Workbook? |
| Q: |
I’ve never taught conversation strategies before. Does the Teacher’s Edition provide help? |
| Q: |
Can I use my own activities in class? |
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| Q: |
What is a corpus exactly? What’s in it? |
| A: |
A corpus is a database of written and/or spoken language that can be searched to discover how language is actually used. Data for spoken corpora can be gathered from transcriptions of everyday conversations, interviews, and TV and radio broadcasts. Text for written corpora can be gathered from books, magazine, newspapers, or the Internet. |
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| Q: |
When you say the course is corpus informed, what does that mean? |
| A: |
It means we did extensive research with the Cambridge International Corpus to help us create the course. The Corpus helped us determine the syllabus strands for the course: grammar, vocabulary, and conversation. The fact that we used the Corpus is also your guarantee that the book is teaching authentic language. Note that the plural of corpus is “corpora.” |
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| Q: |
Is the Touchstone syllabus different from other courses’ syllabi? |
| A: |
The Touchstone syllabus will be familiar to most teachers to the degree that it teaches the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The syllabus is different in that it includes conversation strategies – an exciting new syllabus strand that is the result of extensive corpus research. Above and beyond the usual course material, Touchstone is full of helpful and interesting notes about the way English is really used. It also helps students become more efficient learners by presenting techniques to log and remember new language. |
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| Q: |
Can I teach the lessons in a unit out of order? |
| A: |
No. It is very important that lessons A, B, C, and D are taught in order. This is because the new structures and vocabulary taught in the earlier lessons are generally recycled and reused in the later lessons. Each lesson in a unit assumes that students have learned the language of the previous lesson (s). So, for example, simple present statements are taught before simple present questions; students are taught the strategy of asking questions in two ways only after they have learned how to ask yes-no and information questions. |
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| Q: |
Is the unit opener at the beginning of every unit important or can I skip it? |
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The unit opener is important for several reasons: it presents the unit objectives (key grammar, vocabulary, functions, and strategies), it helps introduce and create interest in the unit topic by activating students' schema, and it gives the teacher feedback on students' prior knowledge. |
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| Q: |
Should I have my students do the vocabulary logs in class or can I assign them for homework? |
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The vocabulary logs in Touchstone help students become more independent learners, so they should be done for homework. Having said that, students don't become independent overnight. To help get students started, the first two or three logs can be done in class with the teacher's help, especially for Touchstone 1 and 2. Then students can do the remaining logs on their own. |
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| Q: |
My students read the audio script while they do the self-study listening work. How can I stop them? |
| A: |
Realistically, you probably can’t stop students from reading the audio scripts if they really want to, but you can remind them that their listening skills will likely improve much more if they try to listen without the scripts.
In the beginning, students may want to rely on the audio scripts, as the scripts will help them feel more confident. If so, rather than insisting that they never read the scripts, encourage your students to stop doing so gradually, as they feel more confident of their listening skills. For example, start by asking your students not to look at the scripts the first time they listen. Next, a little later, ask students not to look at the scripts until after they have completed the self-study task. Be sure to praise students who do this, and continue to encourage the less confident students to do so. |
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| Q: |
I love the oral quizzes at the back of the Teacher's Edition. Do we have to use these as quizzes, or can we use them as ordinary speaking activities in the classroom? |
| A: |
Yes, you can use them in the classroom as speaking activities if you prefer. Students find them enjoyable, especially if used at the end of a unit. |
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| Q: |
My students need more controlled vocabulary and grammar practice. What can you suggest, apart from the Workbook? |
| A: |
We highly recommend the Homework Ideas in the Teacher's Edition. Many of these involve written practice of recently taught grammar and vocabulary. |
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| Q: |
I’ve never taught conversation strategies before. Does the Teacher’s Edition provide help? |
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Yes, the Teacher’s Edition provides extensive support, including helpful language notes that further explain the language in each unit. |
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Can I use my own activities in class? |
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Yes. Touchstone is a flexible course that will allow teachers to prepare and present their own material. |
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