Back in 2015, while redesigning the English programme for Adults at CCBEU-Goiânia, we intended it to be a course aiming to help (young) adult learners achieve the Level B2 as quickly as possible. Having achieved such level, the students would then be able to sit the Cambridge-Michigan Examination for the Certificate of Competency in English (ECCE). Therefore, we needed a coursebook that would provide teachers and learners with dynamic lessons focused on conversation topics that are not only relevant to the students, but also related to their reality. At that time, English ID series appeared to us as the book that would suit our needs, which has proven to be so, ever since.
The book is nicely designed, especially its second edition. Apart from that, the student’s book brings gripping lessons, focused on conversation and based on vocabulary and grammar. Another feature that caught the coordinators’ attention is the Common Mistakes section in the course book, which is related to L1 transfer errors learners usually make while speaking (and that should be avoided). Furthermore, the book exploits familiar structures and cognates while the cultural background matches the reality of the learners and help them understand how English works in a way that makes sense to them. Finally yet importantly, the book also considers the learners’ previous knowledge by bringing famous song lines, where learners identify the target structures in use.
It is relatively easy to prepare a lesson or a series of lessons using English ID as the teacher’s book provides easy-to-use lesson plans. When it comes to the components of the book, there is a grammar section with further explanation and controlled practice, along with a picture dictionary aimed to help teachers present or recycle vocabulary. The Make it personal section – in the coursebook and in the workbook – brings plenty of room to help learners express themselves and contextualise the content learnt. At the end of each unit, there is a writing lesson which brings a model task, followed by activities that will lead students to produce a text related to the content presented throughout the unit. The writing lesson is helpful for busy teachers who do not have to devise an entire lesson based on writing.
The Digital Book is easy to use and teachers can decide whether he or she wants to install the software into his computer or use it online via Richmond Learning Platform. For those teaching online, the Digital Book brings colour and dynamism to the lessons reducing the teachers’ workload while preparing the lessons. The Richmond Learning Platform also brings extra content in terms of resources for teachers (audio files, video passages, photocopiable materials, answer keys), and a test manager that allows teachers and coordinators to select the content they want to include in the exams, as well as to adapt the questions at their discretion.
As an academic coordinator, I definitely recommend English ID and Identities for they are books that are modern, neat, and student and teacher-friendly. On top of that, Richmond provides Centro Cultural Brasil Estados Unidos with all the support needed in terms of training and educational solutions.
English Id 2Nd Edition Achieves This Goal By: Emphasizing Fluency And Accuracy; Embracing Cognates For Speakers Of Spanish And Portuguese, Enriching Texts And Building Vocabulary Faster; Highlighting Stressed Syllables In New Words So Students Master Pronunciation More Quickly; Focusing On Common Mistakes To Accelerate Accuracy; Providing Audioscripts That Help With Difficult Aspects Of Listening, Pronunciation And Spelling For Speakers Of Spanish And Portuguese; Personalizing Learning Through Make It Personal Section In Every Lesson; Building Writing Skills Through Integrated Process Writing In Every Unit; Exploring The 60-Question Syllabus With A Memorizable Question Opening Every Lesson; Presenting Song Lines Linked To Every Lesson To Help Remember Its Language Or Topic; Offering A Id Café Video In Every Unit.
English ID 2nd Edition keeps all the successful features of English ID, but highly improved. It is an engaging four-level series for adults and young adults, with an emphasis on speaking both accurately and fluently. It is tailored for the specific needs and advantages of students whose own language is Spanish or Portuguese and offers everything expected from an international course. Offering 80–120 hours of material per level, this flexible accelerates the learning process with a range of exciting strategies and encourages students to express themselves and their new identity in English. New and improved features: · New interleaved Teacher’s Book, with a section of notes for teaching Spanish/ Portuguese speakers. · Simplified grammar flow and more grammar activities. · Updated texts, song lines and ID Café lessons, now integrated into units. · More Common mistakes, now in every lesson – over 100 per level! · More guided, process writing lessons, now integrated into units. · Improved Notice tasks for listening, pronunciation & spelling, using the audio scripts.
