The document discusses ways to localize and personalize teaching English as a foreign language using coursebooks and materials. It suggests rooting explanations, examples, activities and texts in the local culture and experiences of students rather than focusing exclusively on British or American culture. Techniques include using modeling to share personal experiences, asking localized questions, incorporating student discussions into lessons, and translating vocabulary and phrases into students' native language. The goal is to make English learning more relevant and memorable by connecting it to students' realities.

1. Localising the global coursebook Hugh Dellar The University of Westminster Heinle Cengage

5. Boardwork is crucial The food there a bit The weather here leaves something to be desired. Your writing a lot Now think of things in London / England – and in your hometown – that leave a bit to be desired . Monitor and turn student output into further board-based input. Public transport here leaves a lot to be desired. The trains are a……….! Half of them are falling to ………… . Plus, it's a r…..-…..! The cheapest tube ……… is four pounds! The media back home leaves a bit to be desired. We like to pretend it's free and ob…………., but we all know there's still a lot of c………… and certain things are t………. / off-l……… . Vocabulary: the key to localised teaching!

8. Wayang puppets and the Ramayana Start from where the students are at

10. CUTTING EDGE Intermediate: Life stories A vocabulary exercise followed by personalisation task - find four things you’ve done already or were doing at the moment; four which you’d like to do one day; four you would NOT like to do and four you could do at any time in your lives. Then compare answers with a partner. Without modeling by the teacher, 'compare your answers' tasks can fall flat! OK. For example, for me . . . I went to university between 1988 and 1991. I did my degree IN English Literature At Goldsmiths College in New Cross, in south London. It's part of the University of London. Believe it or not, I graduated with a first-class degree, but to be honest, once I'd got my degree, I didn't really have much idea about what I wanted to do. I never went to university with a career plan in mind. I just did a degree that I found interesting. In fact, after I graduated, I started working – and my first job was making sandwiches in a factory in Plumstead, right out in Zone 5 in south-east London: I worked a twelve-hour day, doing really dull and monotonous work! The money was awful . . . and all the other people there made fun of me and called me The Professor! Modelling in action

11. In a sense, it’s an irrelevant distinction: both help bring the book to life However, here, modelling roots the impersonal language of the book in a geography that’s familiar to my students. These kinds of teacher-driven stories send subliminal messages: English is not just for talking about Britain and the British; it can also be a way for us to tell each other – and thus to tell the world – about OUR realities and our lives Personalised or localised?

13. Root coursebooks not only in the local culture, but also in the local language! Translate phrases, collocations and chunks – NOT single words or grammar. Translation validates L1, and also allows L1 to serve as a shortcut through which L2 can be re-accessed. Regular comparisons of L1 and L2 helps foster language awareness. Translation can be used in all manner of ways. It’s a great revision tool – using L1 translations to re-elicit chunks of L2 It's a great check of comprehension of new lexis – getting students to check translations in pairs and to discuss any differences. It can cast light on common recurrent errors that students are making. Localisation means local language!

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