We started using Optimise B1 in the first semester of 2018 in our Intermediate course. Later, at the beginning of the second semester in the same year, we adopted Optimise A2 in our Pre-Intermediate courses. Students at Cultura Inglesa will complete A2 and B1 levels of the CEFR using Optimise. Even though the A2 and B1 coursebooks are designed to prepare learners for the A2 KEY and B1 PRELIMINARY certificates, respectively, the series can also be used as a regular general English language course for teenagers. Teachers are free to decide how much time they want to allot to examoriented tips should they face any time constraints. This turns the material into na appealing 2-in-1 package deal.
Each unit in Optimise starts out with na image that is intended to raise students’ interest and a reading spread of two pages that provides them with an interesting text that will draw their attention to the main theme of the lesson. The reading tasks allow for change and adaptation despite being exam-focused. All reading lessons feature an Exam skill box, with targeted advice on how to approach different exam tasks and the specific sub-skills required. The texts also serve as context for the grammar point that comes right next. Language samples are carefully picked and presented alongside with their meaning. Learners then have the chance to inductively work out such meaning and then move on to form. The material therefore does not provide course takers with a passive way of learning, but rather an active one. Furthermore, a sequence of controlled practice exercises follows to consolidate the target language as well as its meaning.
There is always an opportunity for personalisation tasks to foster the 21st century skills, such as critical analysis, collaboration and learning strategies, presented through the Think, Research, Culture, Learn and Me features. The following section deals with vocabulary, which presents not only lexical items, but a wide variety of chunks, collocations and expressions that are all closely related to the main topic of the lesson.
Listening skills are practised throughout the book before a different gramatical topic is presented, as the listening input is used for contextualising the second grammatical topic to be practised. All the Speaking lessons include a Talk2Me video featuring teenagers using functional language in a variety of situations that students will relate to. The Flipped classroom is suggested as an interesting alternative approach, in which students
watch the Talk2Me videos and complete some exercises at home in order to get themselves prepared for the following lesson. It aims at encouraging learner autonomy and creating more time to focus on activating the target language. The speaking section will then help learners produce functional language meaningfullyand foster engagement among teenagers in all sorts of situations which are typical in teenage daily life. There is also a language in use section that will revisit relevant linguistic features in addition to more functional language followed by practice through exam-like exercises. Each unit ends with a writing section that is guided and carefully takes learners through the process of producing texts in different genres smoothly, hence making them confidente enough to write their own pieces.
Besides being well-structured and full of useful and gripping content, the material offers an online platform for both teachers and students. The former will have access toall resources students are given as well as na additional set of communicative worksheets to help students practise and consolidate new language. The latter will find the videos for each unit, additional gramar and vocabulary activities, pronunciation worksheets, and audio tracks for both the
student’s book and the workbook. No CDs are provided anymore as all multimedia components are stored online with the simple use of an access code. The Optimise series has helped teachers and students in the process of transitioning from lower levels into the intermediatelevel. Also, the materials are rich, full ofmemorable and relevant content. The teachers will always have something todo and won’t have to think much about supplementation of the material but, rather, about selecting what is most relevant and important for each group of learners. If you want to focus on the preparation for the A2 Key or B1 Preliminary certificates and provide your students with rich content, you may benefit from adopting Optimise.
Maria Higina Almeida has a BA in Portuguese and English from UFMG and holds the Cambridge University ICELT and CPE certificates. She has been an English teacher for more than 30 years and an academic coordinatorfor teenage courses at Cultura Inglesa BH for about 20 years. She has also been an ICELT tutor for about 5 years.
Leandro Couto has been an English teacher for 15 years and is currently a course coordinator at Cultura Inglesa BH. He has a degree in English and has completed a post-graduation in. English language teaching at UFMG. He holds the Cambridge University CELTA and CPE certificates.
