, New Cutting Edge Advanced – An Evaluation
The coursebook is at the appropriate level for C1-C2 (proficient) English learners and
contains most of the elements required for a good coursebook. There are three areas,
however, where the course materials may be improved. These observations are discussed
below.
The theme of the unit is globalisation and urbanisation. This is highly suitable for the age,
language-proficiency and experience of the target class. The material is logically structured,
suitably graded, and the unit presents all four skills (reading, writing, listening and
speaking) across a range of relevant topics, like the importance of English in a globalised
world. The exercises clearly move from simple tasks to more complex tasks within each
section and across all the sections. For example, at the start of the unit, students are asked
just to brainstorm from their own experience of globalisation, moving to more complex
debating type activities. So they move from a discussion of how globalisation has changed
their lives to a table of advantages and disadvantages, moving to a debate-type response
to six opinion interviews about globalisation. It also balances vocabulary, grammar and
pronunciation exercises. The grammar that is introduced, namely, the present continuous
verb, is very relevant. Globalisation is about rapid transformation, for which an
understanding of verb tenses would be important. There are more than enough exercises
to allow for consolidation of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. While all the
exercises are relevant and interesting, the biographical task at the end draws on the
students’ own experiences as citizens of a globalised world. There is a solid build-up to the
task since they would have listened to high-level language speakers discussing learning
strategies, which the class would have summarised. They would also have had to think like
language teachers in order to advise the case-study students identified in the unit about
learning strategies. The test takes the form of writing a report. This is a good test since it
forces the student to use all the knowledge gained and is a real-world activity necessary in
many professions. In general, the layout, images, links for listening and the reference to
grammar extension are good.
The coursebook falls short in the following areas: I found the summary of the unit on page
6 confusing since it does not correlate with the order in which the activities appear. I think
a globalisation and urbanisation vocabulary list would have been very helpful. Apart from
the biographical exercise and the report at the end, there are no other activities that could
be done for extension independently outside of the classroom.
I would use this coursebook, but would probably use the in-class exercises to construct my
own vocabulary list, which I would then give to the class. The vocabulary list could very
easily be constructed from the word webs which are part of the exercises. I would also
source or devise additional, independent, at-home activities. Together with my
supplementary material, I think the coursebook would work well for a C1-C2 class.
The coursebook is at the appropriate level for C1-C2 (proficient) English learners and
contains most of the elements required for a good coursebook. There are three areas,
however, where the course materials may be improved. These observations are discussed
below.
The theme of the unit is globalisation and urbanisation. This is highly suitable for the age,
language-proficiency and experience of the target class. The material is logically structured,
suitably graded, and the unit presents all four skills (reading, writing, listening and
speaking) across a range of relevant topics, like the importance of English in a globalised
world. The exercises clearly move from simple tasks to more complex tasks within each
section and across all the sections. For example, at the start of the unit, students are asked
just to brainstorm from their own experience of globalisation, moving to more complex
debating type activities. So they move from a discussion of how globalisation has changed
their lives to a table of advantages and disadvantages, moving to a debate-type response
to six opinion interviews about globalisation. It also balances vocabulary, grammar and
pronunciation exercises. The grammar that is introduced, namely, the present continuous
verb, is very relevant. Globalisation is about rapid transformation, for which an
understanding of verb tenses would be important. There are more than enough exercises
to allow for consolidation of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. While all the
exercises are relevant and interesting, the biographical task at the end draws on the
students’ own experiences as citizens of a globalised world. There is a solid build-up to the
task since they would have listened to high-level language speakers discussing learning
strategies, which the class would have summarised. They would also have had to think like
language teachers in order to advise the case-study students identified in the unit about
learning strategies. The test takes the form of writing a report. This is a good test since it
forces the student to use all the knowledge gained and is a real-world activity necessary in
many professions. In general, the layout, images, links for listening and the reference to
grammar extension are good.
The coursebook falls short in the following areas: I found the summary of the unit on page
6 confusing since it does not correlate with the order in which the activities appear. I think
a globalisation and urbanisation vocabulary list would have been very helpful. Apart from
the biographical exercise and the report at the end, there are no other activities that could
be done for extension independently outside of the classroom.
I would use this coursebook, but would probably use the in-class exercises to construct my
own vocabulary list, which I would then give to the class. The vocabulary list could very
easily be constructed from the word webs which are part of the exercises. I would also
source or devise additional, independent, at-home activities. Together with my
supplementary material, I think the coursebook would work well for a C1-C2 class.
