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Taboos and Issues

Article in ELT Journal · April 2003

DOI: 10.1093/elt/57.2.205 · Source: OAI

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Taboos and Issues The idea behind the materials is to provide a set of
R. MacAndrew and R. Martínez ‘straightforward, easy- to-use’ lessons on
controversial topics. Aimed at students of
Language Teaching Publications, 2001 80pp. ‘intermediate level and above’, the 40 topics range
£18.00 from the death penalty, through sexual harassment,
isbn 1 899396 41 1 gay families, AIDS , euthanasia, and the legalization
of drugs. Each unit is presented on a double page,
A great deal has been written about the lightness of with discussion questions and text on the left-hand
much EFL material, and it is the major coursebook side, and language work and further discussion
publishers which have come in for most criticism. activities on the right. The material is
On the whole, appealing to the global market does photocopiable, and the layout lends itself to this.
not lead to risk-taking. Rinvolucri (1999: 14) notes The authors point out in the Introduction that they
that ‘The EFL discourse world avoids the shadow expect the material to be used by ‘experienced
side of life with little or no reference to death, teachers’, and so the teachers’ notes have been
poverty or war.’ Thornbury (1999: 16) adds to this kept to a minimum. There are also some wise
list when he bemoans the lack of mention of words about how to deal with the ‘sensitive nature’
homosexuality in EFL coursebooks, saying that of much of the material. This is a kind of necessary
‘Gayness is about as omitted as anything can be.’ health warning, since the authors and publishers
This lack of what we might call ‘realness’, and the have not steered clear of any contentious topic.
supremacy of linguistic form over content, have Some topics are potentially more controversial
been the main two criticisms. So why is the EFL than others, depending of course on the situation.
material world so far from real life? One reason is The astute teacher will think carefully about context
that in the absence of a real culture to root itself in, before plunging into the units on Gays and Jobs, or
apart from a heterogeneous global culture, EFL has Abortion, or Torture. Indeed, almost all of the
had to invent one. This leads to a world in which topics require a good knowledge of the context, and
nothing too o¤ensive happens, or is even of the students.
mentioned. Rinvolucri’s (1999: 12) ‘EFL sub-
culture’, with its ‘soft, fudgey, sub-journalistic, Each unit starts with a discussion activity, which
woman’s magaziney world of EFL ese course both introduces relevant vocabulary and entices the
materials’, or Pulverness’s (1999: 6) ‘rarefied student into thinking about the topic. Sensibly, the
atmosphere of Cosmopolis’, do not easily lend teachers’ notes at the beginning of the book
themselves to the status of important global suggest that the student should be given time to
issues. think about the topic silently before going into pairs
or small groups. In the unit ‘It should be banned!’,
Then there is the matter of linguistic form. As for example, there is an activity which invites
Thornbury points out (1999: 15), talking about the students to think about whether such issues as
coursebook: ‘Form is safe. It sells books. Meaning, smoking inside public buildings, abortion pills,
relevance, engagement: these are unstable, fickle, smacking children, topless sunbathing, and
not safe.’ In a world in which subject matter is smoking marijuana are banned in their own
almost always subservient to the god of language, country. They then have to compare with other
one can sometimes feel that both materials and students in their group.
classrooms have been stripped of anything truly
meaningful in life. This discussion activity is followed by a reading
task which o¤ers four articles on laws in four
Taboos and Issues is not a coursebook, however, and di¤erent countries: topless sunbathing in Brazil,
supplementary materials have always been able to fox-hunting in England, smoking bans in the USA ,
get away with more. Not having to please the entire and a Ku Klux Klan rally in an unnamed context, but
world helps. There are still hazards, though, in presumably also the USA . The articles are quasi-
addressing the weightier side of life. I was authentic, and read fairly naturally. Reading tasks
interested to see how the authors would manage are varied; true/false questions, prediction
these questions of cultural context and focus on questions, filling in a table, and questions which
form through the material. And, perhaps most allow the student to express their own opinion
crucially, to see whether a teacher could use these about the facts presented. In the case of ‘It should
materials to meaningfully engage her students in be banned!’, students are given two or three
really important matters. questions on each short text. Again, there is plenty

Reviews reviews welcome 205

 of potential for students to compare ideas and itself. I’ve always thought it a great pity to get the
feelings on the issues. students really engaged in the topic and then get
them to do an exercise which exhorts them to ‘read
I tried out this unit with a group of Dutch teachers
through the text again and find the verbs which go
with upper-intermediate level English. This was
with the following nouns’.
ambitious on a number of fronts. Firstly, the Dutch
are famous for their unshockability. Drugs? Each unit ends with a further discussion section.
Prostitution? Gay marriage? Euthanasia? You name Again, the formats are diverse, so that if a teacher
it, the Dutch have discussed it at length, and decides to use this material on a regular basis,
usually decided in favour. Secondly, this kind of there is always some variety. There are debates,
material obviously works best in a multicultural small group discussions of specific situations, and
class, a fact which is perhaps true of much of the opportunities to ‘choose your favourite quotation’,
book. These topics are certainly challenging among others. One of the attractive features of
enough, and a multinational group containing a these activities is that they allow for a high level of
couple of Dutch students would really do it justice. personalization. ‘What would you do in this
situation?’ is a good way of ensuring that students
More worryingly, I found that the complexity of the
really engage with the topic.
language and vocabulary did not hold up very well
at this level, despite the fact that it is called So what of learner engagement, that ‘fickle’ and
‘intermediate and above’. I found, as I find with ‘unstable’ quality? I believe that working on real
many materials, that I wanted to supplement it with topics in the classroom is one of the best ways of
something really authentic and ‘here and now’. engaging learners and promoting real learning.
This was both because of the linguistic complexity Taboos and Issues is a brave and useful book. The
issue, and because it’s always a good idea to take thoughtful teacher will use it to tune into her
advantage of students’ real world preoccupations. I students’ own agenda, perhaps even inviting them to
was able to do this as a prominent Dutch politician choose their own topics. Whether the teacher is able
had been assassinated a few days before, and to truly engage her students using this material will
everyone was talking about how to ban guns. I ultimately depend on her own skill and judgement.
could therefore bring in a Herald Tribune article on Above all, heaviness needs a lightness of touch.
the topic, which made the whole lesson more
References
challenging. This is as it should be: the responsive
teacher will find ways of really engaging their Pulverness, A. 1999. ‘Context or pretext ? Cultural
students in the topic and of challenging them. content and the course book’. Folio Vol. 5/2: 5–10.
Rinvolucri, M. 1999. ‘The UK , EFL ese sub-culture
So what of my ‘real cultural context’ question? Not
and dialect’. Folio Vol. 5/2: 12–14.
much ‘fudginess’ here. Most of the texts are rooted
in specific cultures, and deal with real events. In the Thornbury, S. 1999. ‘Window-dressing vs. cross-
unit on torture, for example, one of the articles dressing in the EFL sub-culture’. Folio Vol. 5/2:
deals with Dr Sheila Cassidy’s real experience 15–17.
during the coup in Chile in 1975. In the unit
‘Nobody needs a gun’, the reading passage is The reviewer
about the Columbine massacre in the USA in 1999. Sue Leather runs Excel Training Services, a training
These are useful texts. Most teachers know that company based in the Netherlands which operates
when a particular topic comes up, it’s always good internationally. She has extensive experience of ELT ,
to have a real situation, and it’s not always easy to particularly in the fields of teacher training and
find something in today’s newspaper. management. She is a frequent contributor to
Then, of course, comes the section on language. international conferences, and writes regularly for
Well, we knew it had to happen. It would be too ELT journals. Her main professional interests are in
much to think we could have material which aimed the management of change in developing contexts
at really engaging learners in meaningful subject and cross-cultural teacher training.
matter without then giving them a cloze text or a Sue Leather is also a writer of short stories and
collocation exercise. In fact, though, the authors original readers, as well as books on methodology.
have worked hard to make the language section as Her publications include a range of readers in the
unobtrusive as possible. Many of the exercises are Cambridge University Press Cambridge English
on vocabulary rather than manipulation of form— Readers series.
and, of course, they can be left out of the lesson Email: [email protected]

206 Reviews reviews welcome

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