About a Coursebook ...

 "a book that is used by students and teachers as the basis of a course of study"

the pros of a coursebook

1. Framework teacher and learners know where they are going and what is coming next, they have the sense of a structure

2. Syllabus It is a systematic and a carefully planned and balanced selection of language content that will be covered.
3. Ready-made texts and tasks The coursebook provides texts and learning tasks which are likely to be of anappropriate level for most of the class. This of course saves time for the teacher who would otherwise have to prepare his or her own.
4. Economy A book is the cheapest way of providing learning material for each learner.
5. Convenience A book is a convenient package. It is bound, so that its components stick together and stay in order; it is light and small enough to carry around easily;it is of a shape that is easily packed and stacked; it does not depend for its use on hardware or a supply of electricity.
6. Guidance For teachers who are inexperienced or occasionally unsure of their knowledge of the language, the coursebook can provide useful guidance and support.
7. Autonomy The learner can use the coursebook to learn new material, review and monitor progress with some degree of autonomy. A learner without a coursebook is more teacher-dependent.


the cons of a coursebook


1. Inadequacy Every class – in fact, every learner – has their own learning needs: no one coursebook can possibly supply these satisfactorily.
2. Irrelevance, lack of interest The topics dealt with in the coursebook may not necessarily be relevant or interesting for your class.
3. Limitation A coursebook is confining: its set structure and sequence may inhibit a teacher’s initiative and creativity, and lead to boredom and lack of motivation on the part of the learners.
4. Homogeneity Coursebooks have their own rationale and chosen teaching/learning approach.They do not usually cater for the variety of levels of ability and knowledge, or of learning styles and strategies that exist in most classes.
5. Over-easiness Teachers find it too easy to follow the coursebook uncritically instead of using their initiative; they may find themselves functioning merely as mediators of its content instead of as teachers in their own right.

My own opinion about a coursebook...


I think that the coursebook is very useful specially for the teacher, because he/she has an idea about the content for that period and it could plan in advance the lesson plans and objectives for the class, but in a classroom every student have their own way of learning, therefore, using a coursebook is too sistematic and it's designed in one way that it can't be modified. And it has to be into account the learning pace of the course, and from that point, begin to create the syllabus according to the needs of the students and not what the coursebook calls.