Beginner Product Profile

8/3/2019 Beginner Product Profile

1/9

Student's Bookwith the usual reference material at the back (Grammar Reference, tapescripts, word list, phonemic chart)Workbook lots of controlled exercises; practice of all areas introduced and practised in the students book; extralistening activities; pronunciation work.Teacher's Book lots of photocopiable activities, revision exercises, progress testsTeachers Resource BookClass cassettes/Audio CDsStudent cassette/Audio CD to go with the WorkbookTestsNew video

New Headway BeginnerA profile by the authors

Why is it being published?There has been a shift in the names of the levels of

British ELT course books over the past twenty years.

The levels used to be

beginner

elementary

intermediate

upper intermediate

advanced

Someone, somewhere, decided that the word beginner

had negative connotations, because the levels then

became

elementary

pre-intermediate

intermediate

etc.

No doubt people were starting to learn English at a

younger age, so that when they first came across ELT

coursebooks written for adults and young adults, theycould cope with this new elementary level. However,

it is wrong to assume that the whole world speaks

some English. There is still a need for an absolute

beginners book for adults and young adults.

Headfirst was published in 1994. It was adapted from

Headway Elementary by Briony Beaven for use in

Germany, because she found that her students

needed a gentler course book to use first.

Headstartwas published in 1995. It was adapted, from

Headfirst, for an international market by SylviaWheeldon, with us as editors. The book changed a lot

more practice exercises, more situational work with

the addition of an Everyday English section, and a

workbook. The syllabus, cline and end pointremained pretty much the same, however. Headstart

sells more than 100,000 copies a year. Its main

markets are Spain, Thailand, the UK, Mexico, Poland,

Italy, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Syria.

However, we wanted to complete the Headway series

by doing aNew Headway Beginnerbook ourselves.

The Headway approachIt is interesting to consider what it is about the

Headway series that has made it so successful. In our

opinion the following factors have made acontribution. They apply to all the levels, including

New Headway Beginner.

Headway has helped to reassert the place of

grammar as one of the key enabling skills involved

in language learning.

The treatment of grammar is upfront. Students are

guided to an understanding of the target language

by traditional means (texts, explanations) and

more recent ideas (guided grammar questions to

encourage students to work things out forthemselves).

There is a wealth of practice activities, ranging

from controlled to free. Controlled practice

activities are often rejected as being

uncommunicative, but they are vital, particularly

at the lower levels, and not necessarily

uncommunicative or boring. Staged practice is an

integral part of any learning, be it the piano or

tennis, driving or cooking.

The topics are engaging, and appeal to a wide

variety of people in varying situations.

All the texts are from an authentic source, but

many of them are adapted to suit the level or for

Components

1


2/9

linguistic exploitation. They all look authentic.

There is a full and well-defined vocabulary

syllabus.

There is clear sign-posting in a unit. Both teachers

and students are made aware of the aims of each

section and each activity. It is vital that everyone

knowswhy they're doingwhat they're doing.

Teachers feel they can trustHeadway. Experiencedteachers can use it as a springboard for their own

ideas; and less experienced teachers can just follow

every instruction in the Teacher's Book.

The material can be flexible. It doesn't have to be

done in a rigid order. Teachers feel they are in

control of the book, not the other way round.

Each unit provides a package. There is a balance of

everything grammar, vocabulary, functions,

situations, pronunciation, speaking, listening,

reading, and writing. When a unit is completed,

something significant has been achieved.

Headway is, dare we say it, an intelligent series. It

issues students with a challenge to solve

something, to see how something works, to have

an opinion on something, to practise a life

situation in the classroom and then guides

students in such a way that they can meet the

challenge.

Over the yearsHeadway has developed a reputation

as an educational series that delivers the goods.We

are now meeting second generation Headwayusers teachers who learned English

themselves as students, who are now

rediscovering the series as teachers. Having

successfully learned from it, they say that they

are very happy to teach from it.

Who is New Headway Beginner for?Adults and young adults who want a more measured

approach in their very early stages of learning

English.

We expect (and we know because we taught it) that

many beginners can start with Headway Elementary.

The structural content of both New Beginnerand New

Elementary is, for the first half at least, very similar. But

Elementary does it all in slightly more depth, with

more challenging questions to make students puzzle

things out, longer texts and more skills work.

There are many adults and young adults who are

genuinely true beginners, who want a gentler pace,

with more recycling, fewer words on the page, and

new language explored from many angles before

moving on. This book is for them.

We expect that having completed New Headway

Beginner, students should be able to get through the

first half ofElementary quite quickly or they might

like to journey through it at normal speed.

So there are at least three routes to get to the end of

the elementary level.

1 New Headway Elementary from the start.

2 New Headway Beginner, then zoom through the first

half ofElementary.

3 Both books at a steady pace.

Short general description New Headway Beginneris for absolute beginners. The

course will take between 80100

hours to complete, depending on how much other

material is used. It is for adults and young adults.

It covers verb to be, present simple, there is/are,

possessive adjectives, possessive s, have, question

words, pronouns, this and that, prepositions of place

and time,was/were, past simple, can,would like, present

continuous for now and future. Survival areas

included are numbers, prices, the alphabet, saying

dates, and social expressions. Functional areas include

requests and offers, directions, and expressing

problems. Situations include shopping, in a

restaurant, and going sightseeing.

It has

144 pages

14 units

Pairwork activities, grammar reference,

tapescripts, word list at the back.

Methodological notes

The whole Headwayseries

The concept of combining the best of traditional and

more recent approaches has always been at the core

of our writing. We are not dedicated followers of

fashion. We write as teachers for the classroom, not to

reflect current orthodoxy.

Our instincts and experience continue to tell us that

what teachers and students want is ...

clear presentation of target language (grammar)

explanation of target language

practice of target language, both controlled, freer

and personalized

input of vocabulary, developing awareness of

lexical systems and encouraging good vocabulary

learning habits texts and topics which are interesting, sometimes

fun, sometimes thought-provoking

2


3/9

a wide variety of speaking activities interwoven

throughout the material

a relevant writing syllabus

an opportunity to practise common situations

(using public transport, in a cafe), survival

skills (numbers, social expressions), functional

areas (requests and offers, directions)

the opportunity to revise and consolidate whatthey have been taught regularly, and to see

high-frequency items recycled as much as

possible.

We listen to practitioners of our profession talking

endlessly about learner training, learner autonomy,

the non-directive teacher, the emphasis on the

personal development of the learner (and teacher),

the (un)importance of grammar in the acquisition of a

foreign language, the desirability of a lexically-driven

syllabus or a task-based syllabus or a non-linear

syllabus, the necessity for all things to be totallyauthentic, the necessity for all topics to be multi-

cultural, the necessity to draw all examples from the

corpus, etc. etc. and although we pay attention to it,

we remain highly sceptical about 'mission' driven

approaches. This is not arrogance. It is only that over

the years we have learned that the most important

thing of all is to stay firmly rooted in the reality of the

day-to-day teaching situation and not to discard

approaches that are tried and tested but not trendy.

We try to keep ourselves fully informed but never to

vacillate with every swing of the pendulum. We drawonly on that which we believe is practically useful and

useable in the classroom.

An American adaptor, Ellen Shaw, said the following

about theHeadway series.

It appears to be easy to teach (and learn) from.

The content is appealing and sophisticated. The

multi-syllabus is well-balanced, especially the

grammar sections. To paraphrase Goldilocks,

there's not too much, and not too little (grammar)

- it's just right. I find the series simpatico in the

sense that it doesn't look as though it's on amission i.e. a communicative mission, a lexical

approach mission, a bring-back-grammar at-all-

costs mission, a peace-in-education mission, a

learning-through-discovery mission, a task-based

mission, or other such designs. In fact, Headway

incorporates good features of several approaches

without being obsessive about them.

New Headway Beginner

There are various factors which pull in opposite

directions when writing a beginners book.

- You have to reconcile trying to do something a bit

different with the need to be totally predictable

and transparent. For a beginner student, every

aspect of the language is a shock, so writers

shouldnt add to this by doing anything too radical.

- You want to give the maximum amount of

language with the maximum coverage which can

be used in a wide variety of contexts, but you dont

want to overwhelm the student with too much too

soon.

- You have to exercise strangle-like control over

structure, and especially vocabulary, so that every

word counts and is worth learning, and you recycle

vocabulary to the maximum. But you have to

include moments where students can run free for

a bit and see what they can do.

- For beginner students everything is a problem. You

cant go into tricky areas of the language and try to

talk your way out of it, because students dont have

enough points of reference. But that doesnt mean

that your methodology has to be superficial andfor the brain-dead.

So we wanted to go a bit further down the road with

this book thanHeadstart, whilst retaining the features

that make Headstart very successful. We wanted to

enable students to refer to present, past, and future

time, to have a survival vocabulary, and to practise as

many situations as you can do in one short book.

What we have tried to do with New HeadwayBeginner

There is much that will be familiar with the new book

similar to both other absolute beginners books,

and similar to other Headway books.

Similarities with other beginners books

- Deal first with the verb to be

- Deal with the present simple before the present

continuous (because the present simple is much

more used)

- Everyday vocabulary, concrete not abstract

-Deal with survival basics, such as numbers,greetings, polite requests.

Differences from other beginners books

- We dont go too far, too fast, too soon. Some

beginners books go as far as their corresponding

elementary books in terms of end point grammar,

amount of vocabulary, words on a page.

- Grammar, vocabulary and Everyday English are

given equal attention in the presentation sections.

This isnt a grammar-bashing book; we dont

neglect vocabulary or drown students in new words; survival, situations and functions are all

practised.

3


4/9

- Skills work is introduced very gently short texts

to read and/or listen to, short things to write such

as postcards or a description, very basic

information gap exercises.

- The verb have is introduced in Unit 4 as just

another irregular verb like to be.

- Can I ? is introduced in Unit 7 as an all-purpose

form of request.- Question words and question formation are

revised regularly.

- Students learn first the irregular past simple verbs

because they are such high frequency was, went,

said, bought, took, saw

- Some Everyday English sections have the feel of a

phrase book this is deliberate! For example,

talking about problems, going sightseeing, going

shopping, saying how you feel. There are many

ritualistic interchanges as we communicate and

mix with each other, and many fixed phrases (or

holophrases, or chunks) which need to be learned

as a whole.

SyllabusAs is common in coursebooks these days, Headway has

a multi-layered syllabus.

A grammatical syllabus. We are firm believers in

the enabling power of an appropriate

understanding of grammatical systems. This

knowledge can be made deeper and wider a s

students progress through the levels. A functional syllabus. This is most apparent in the

Everyday English sections.

A situational syllabus. Again, in the Everyday

English section.

A lexical syllabus.Headway has always paid due

attention to the acquisition of vocabulary.

A skills syllabus, although this is very basic at

beginners level. There is always a text to read or

listen to, and there is usually a speaking and/or

writing activity in each unit.

Here is the syllabus to NewHeadway Beginner.

4

CONTENTS

Unit Grammar Vocabulary Skills Everyday English

1

Hello!p6

am/are/is

Im Sandra. p6My names Hiro.Whats your name?This is John Mason. p7How are you? p8Im OK, thanks.

Whats this in

English?Everyday things book, computer, carp10

Numbers 110

Plural nounscars, books, housesp11

2Your worldp12

am/are/ishe/she/they his/herWhats his name? p13Wheres she from?They are in New York.

p16Questionswhere, what p15

CountriesAustralia, France p12CitiesMilan, Tokyo p14

ReadingandlisteningWhere are they from?p16

Numbers 1130 p17

3Personalinformationp18

am/are/isNegatives,questions, and shortanswersShe isnt a nurse. p18Im not from theEngland. p20We arent married. p22Are you from the

United States? p20Yes, I am./No, Im not.

Jobspolice officer, doctorp18Personal informationaddress, age, marriedp19

Reading andspeakingA pop group p22

Social expressionsGood afternoon. p23Goodbye.Pardon?Thank you.

Stop and check 1 Teachers Book p000


5/9

5

4Family and friendsp24

Possessiveadjectivesour, their p24Possessive sSallys husband p25Kirstys school

has/haveTom has a very goodjob. p27I have a small farm.Questions andanswershow old, who, what,where p28

The familydaughter,parents p25Adjective + nouna small farm p27a good jobDescribing a friend

best friend p28really funnyhis favourite music

Reading and writingMy best friend p28

The alphabetHow do you spell ?p30On the phoneGood morning, TheGrand Hotel. p31

Thank you fortelephoning.

5Its my life!p32

Present SimpleI/you/theyI like tennis. p33I dont speak Spanish.

p34Where do you live?p35a and ana flat p34an actor

Sportstennis, football p32Foodhamburgers, oranges

p32Drinkstea, coffee p32Verbscome, live, work, eat,speak p34Languages andnationalitiesJapanese, French p36

Listening andspeakingAt a party p38

Numbers and pricesone pound sixty p3930pHow much ?

6My day

p40

The timeIts nine oclock. p40

Its two thirty.Present Simplehe/she/itHe gets up at six. p42She lives in the country.p44Questions andnegativesWhen does he get up?p43She doesnt cook. p44

Verbsget up,go to work,

have lunch p42Adverbs of frequencyusually, sometimes,never p42Words that gotogetherwatch TV p46listen to music

Vocabulary andspeaking

Words that gotogetherget up early p46have a showerLifestylequestionnaire p46

Days of the weekMonday, Tuesday p47

Prepositions of timeat nine oclock p47on Mondayin the morning

7Places I likep48

this/thatWhats that? p50this jacket p55Object pronounsit, themI love them! p51Questions andanswers

how, what, who,where, why, howmuch, when, howmany p51

Opposite adjectivesnew old p52expensive cheapAdjective + nounIrish music p53old buildingsAdjectivesnice, old, comfortable

p53

Reading and writingA postcard p53

Can I ?Can I have a sandwich?p54Can I try on thisjumper, please?





6/9

6

8Where I livep56

There is/are, anyTheres a CD player.p57There are two lamps.Are there anyphotographs?Prepositionsin, on, under, next top58

Rooms in a housebedroom, living roomp56Furniture in a housecooker, sofa p56City lifeharbour,park, clubp60

Reading andspeakingHow to have a goodtime in Sydney p60Listening andwritingMy home town p62

Places in townsbank, chemist, churchp63DirectionsTurn left. p63Go straight on.

9Happy birthday!p64

Saying years1841 2008 p64was/were bornWhen were you born?p65I was born in 1986.Past Simple irregular verbswent, bought, tookp68

People and jobswriter,princess,painterp66Irregular verbswent, bought, sawp68

Vocabulary andreadingWere millionaires!p69

Whens yourbirthday? p70Months of the yearJanuary, February p70Saying datesthe seventh of Marchp71

10We had a good time!p72

Past Simple regular and irregularShe cooked a meal.p72He played tennis. p73Questions andnegativesWhat did you do? p73I didnt watch football.Short answersYes, he did. p73No, I didnt.

Weekend activitiesgo to the cinema p74see my friendsSports and leisureplay baseball p76go ice-skating

Listening andspeakingHolidays p77WritingMy last holiday p78

Filling in forms p79


11We can do it!p80

can/cantHe can use a computer.p80I cant speak Spanish.p81Requests and offersCan you tell me the

time? p83Can I help you?

Verbs and adverbsdraw well p80run fastVerbs and nouns thatgo togetherbook a hotel p84play chess

chat to a friend

Reading andlisteningThe things you can doon the Internet! p84

Whats the problem?It doesnt work. p86Im lost.

12Thank you verymuchp88

want, like, and wouldlikeHe wants a stamp.p88Id like a coffee. p89Id like to buy adictionary.I like orange juice. p91Would you like to learnmore languages?What would you like todo?

Pairs of adjectivesred/white winesingle/return ticketIn a restaurantmeat p93sandwichesside orders

ReadingShe only eats junkfood p94

Going shoppingCan I help you? p95Im sorry. Thats all wehave.



7/9


8/9

Syllabus covers the basic grammatical areas. Very limited coverage: to be and Present Simple only, as

a preparation for the first six units of Headway

Elementary.

Final commentsHeadway is a well-established coursebook. We hope

and trust that we write to very exacting standards. A

friend and colleague once remarked to us that she

knew there was a reason behind every word we write,

and it's true.

One thing we do try very hard to do in Headway is

TEACH. This might sound rather odd surely this isthe aim of all coursebooks? But the ELT profession has

a strange attitude to the concept of teaching. Is it

possible to teach someone else to do something? Is it

desirable? Is it politically correct to think that the

teacher might know something that the students

don't?

Of course we are very aware that students have a large

contribution to make in the learning process, but we

feel we know how students would answer the above

three questions. Theywant teachers to help them.

Theywant coursebooks to help and explain. Anything

else would be an abdication of responsibility. So in

Headwaywe aim to meet students's expectations, and

to equip teachers to do that in a way that is

challenging, rewarding, stimulating, and fun.John and Liz Soars

8

Key differences, HeadwayBeginner and HeadwayElementary

Beginner Elementary

Less confident learner or real beginner. Confident learner, false beginner.

Syllabus: less grammatical coverage. Has present, past,

and one future (the present continuous).

Wider syllabus: includes countable and uncountable,

comparatives and superlatives, have got, present perfect.

Slow, measured progression: first three units cover to be,

have is introduced in Unit 4, present simple in Units 5

and 6.

Rapid progression, maintaining challenge.

Tightly controlled vocabulary load: no extra material to

challenge. Controlled vocabulary exposure and careful,

gentle practice.

Higher load from the beginning: challenging material,

challenging vocabulary.

Key differences, HeadwayBeginner and Headstart

Beginner Headstart

A complete course in itself. A pre-course for Headway Elementary.

A full-length course (80100 hours) A short course (50 hours)


9/9

CHECKLIST: New Headway BeginnerComponents

Price

Type of school

Age

Number of hours

Strengths

Weaknesses

Competition

OUP Competition

Supplementary

Additional comments

Suggested action points

Beginner Product Profile

Documents

Transcript of Beginner Product Profile