OFF THE COURSEBOOK

STAND OUT. motivate.

We aim to bring authentic and creative language material into the English classroom (ESL) and foster language learning beyond the traditional coursebook – Off The Coursebook.

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“One child, one teacher, one pen can change the world.”

– Malala Yousafzai

Resources

The aim of the task is for (ESL) students to practise "presenting themselves" based on an American Idol Audition (YouTube) video. The free worksheet is for students at an A2/B1 level. We did this task in our first session with students we had never seen, before and it was a success. For the task your students will need their mobile phones, an Internet connection, headphones (if possible) and of course their classmates. For further information click the links below.

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Walk-Through: American Idol Audition Worksheet

Our fabulous Robin will quickly walk you through the worksheet. Click on the YouTube link below. 

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Download: American Idol Audition Worksheet

Subscribe and download your free "American Idol Audition" worksheet and you are ready to go.

PHILOSOPHY

Coursebooks are an essential part in everyday teaching all around the world. They provide guidance for achieving educational goals and follow the curriculum. Popular culture, such as TV series or films, is one aspect that motivates learners significantly to deal with a foreign language but is often difficult to realise in traditional coursebooks. 

 

We aim to bring authentic language material into the classroom and foster language learning beyond the traditional coursebook – Off The Coursebook.

TEAM

Ralf teaches PE and English at a technical college in Upper Austria while Matthias is an English and History teacher at a commercial college in Lower Austria.

 

Together we are working on schoolbooks and give seminars and webinars on using new media in the classroom. We are both especially interested in getting students talking in creative situations using authentic language as we believe that it fosters motivation for language learning.

 

We decided to start Off The Coursebook to share our tasks with fellow teachers.

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Matthias
Stock Ralf
Students