Book ReportMembers: Camila Berros

Constanza Elgueta

Cristina Guzmn

Priscila Seplveda

Professor: Isabel Vsquez

Subject: Didctica de la Especialidad

Introduction

The following report contains information about the book How to teach English by Jeremy Harmer, published by Longman in 1998. We will go through the main topics and relevant information about the book.

This book was meant to help teachers to improve or better develop their classes. Therefore through the information gathered and presented in this report we will give an idea of what this book is about and weather it is a good idea to read it or not.Title of the book

Harmer, Jeremy. How to teach English. Addison Wesley Longman Limited, England, 1998.

About the author

Jeremy Harmer was born in 1947. He is known as an English Language Teaching (ELT) author, practitioner and trainer.

He studied in the United Kingdom and graduated from the University of East Anglia. Also, he pursued his MA in Applied Linguistics at the University of Reading. He completed his studies with a Teacher Training certification from international House.

He has taught in Mexico and the UK. He has trained teachers and offered seminars all over the world.

Jeremy Harmer's Experience

Performer of the spoken word

Bingham & Harmer

January 2008 Present (6 years 9 months)

"With musician and colleague Steve Bingham I perform a poetry and music show called 'Touchable Dreams'

With the Bingham String Quartet I perform two shows: 'A Christmas Carol' and 'One Must Speak a little you know - or how Lizzie got her man' - about Pride and Prejudice.

I have performed/narrated shows with The Ely Sinfonia, and the City of Peteborough Symphony Orchestra."www.otherloves.co.uk/touchabledreams

Course designer, lecturer

The New School

Educational Institution; 1001-5000 employees; Higher Education industry

September 2007 Present (7 years 1 month)

Author (and co-author)

Freelance

August 1983 Present (31 years 2 months)

Author of:

Essential Teacher Knowledge

The Practice of English Language Teaching,

How to teach English

How to teach Writing (published by Pearson Education)

Solo Saxophone,

Trumpet Voluntary

The Double Bass Mystery (published by Cambridge University Press)

Co-author of Just Right (Published by Cengage Heinle ELT)

Jeremy Harmer

Singer/songwriter

January 1972 Present (42 years 9 months)

www.otherloves.co.uk

Jeremy Harmer's Education

University of Reading MA, Aplied Linguistics 1977 1978

University of East Anglia BA Hons, English and American Studies 1966 1969

Jeremy Harmer's Additional Information

Interests:

Music, poetry, drama. Instruments played: guitar, viola, piano, bass guitar, Cajn. With Steve Bingham, I have released a CD of poetry and music called Touchable Dreams

Groups and Associations:

IATEFL (International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language), CaKind of book

Its a book oriented to introduce the teaching of English to trainee teachers. It gives pieces of advice to teachers and recommendations about how they have to teach and how they have to be with the students. This book is emphatic on practical issues, so it is appropriate for self-study and for use to guide trainee teachers.

The first two chapters discuss general issues about teaching and learning, How can we be good teachers?, What makes a good learner? and how can teachers make classes better?. The book suggests a way of looking at a variety of teaching methods according to a single model of teaching and goes on to offer a concise theoretical guide to the description of language. Following chapters look at specific teaching methods, particularly in relation to the four skills (reading, listening, speaking and writing), as well as offering ideas on textbook use, lesson planning and coping with the unexpected. As it is a practical book, each chapter has a range of tasks provided to stimulate debate and further thought.Main contents and/or topics of the book

The book has thirteen chapters and each one is subdivided in order to get the most information of it.

The first five chapters provide to the teacher ideas to understand how to become a good teacher, a good learner, how to manage the concept and also the action of learning and teaching, also we can find the description of language inside the book. The next five chapters provide to the teacher the reasons and the most suitable ideas to teach the basic English skills which are listening, reading, speaking and writing. And the three final chapters would help the teacher in how to plan lessons, the correct use of textbooks and how to confront certain situations in the classroom such as different kind of students or learning problems.

The idea of this book is to give us as teachers the best strategies top up in practice with our students, in order to give the students a good and proper learning process.

The book has thirteen chapters and each one is subdivided in order to get the most information of it.The first two chapters: How to be a good teacher?, How to be a good learner?

Chapter three: teach how to manage classesChapter four: suggests a way of looking at all teaching and learning

Chapter five: about language itself

Chapter six: looks at the various options for studying language

Chapter seven to ten: examples for teaching the so-called 'four skills'Chapter eleven: how teachers should use textbooks

Chapter: twelve: why and how to plan lessons

Last chapter: problems that teachers may encounter, how to solve them if they have a solution at all.

The Task File at the back of the book comprises a large number of exercises and activities designed to predict and/ or build on the information in the chapters of the main book. These are intended to be photocopied for use on training courses or to be used by individual teachers working on their own.

And three appendices describing classroom equipment, reading suggestions and phonetic alphabet.Why is this book recommended?

It is an excellent idea to read this book if you are a teacher or if you are a trainee, and the main reason is at the final chapter of this book called 'What if?' because it describes the most common and frequent problems a teacher faces. Basically, it tells you what to do when a problems pop up during a course, these problems may be dealing with mixed -level class, overcrowded classrooms, uncooperative student, student who do not speak, listen or finish their tasks before their classmates etcetera. some of this problems are due to poor preparation of the teacher and this book is full of good advice and valuable lessons that can help teachers to improve their practice and solve problems by themselves in their own courses.

This book is an excellent guide worth reading and studying it as a way to prepare expectations and setting teaching goals, as a way of being part of the education's improvement.*We recommend this book because teachers can use it as a tool in order to improve their abilities in the English classroom.

*The book has important information about teaching, so teachers can use it as a guide in the process of planning the lessons.

*Also, it gives important notions about how to develop the basic skills (reading, listening, speaking and writing) in our students.

*The book gives teachers strategies in order to develop a good knowledge in their students and to make it properly.Conclusions

The book turns out to be a great help for teachers, or people who are becoming teachers, as you could see in the description given before, this book, will give you guidelines in how to teach properly and what to do in case you face a problem in your classes, as long as it is with the material or with students itself.

It is important to highlight that no matter how old this book may appear to be, the information that gives can always be put into practice with students at any age or social characteristics, since the process of learning must be the same for everyone, anywhere around the world.

Finally, take into account the material that the author provides at the end of the book, if you do not want to use the same material, at least it can help you with the creation of new material, and with this and with the advices that the author has given throughout the book, you will succeed in teaching English.