Explorations 1: Grammar for the Experienced Beginner

Reviewed by Jacalyn Swink, Part Time Professor, Buena Vista University on 11/17/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text covers the basic reading, writing, speaking, and listening for students learning English.
There is not a glossary or index; however, there are only four chapters in this text and each is set up in a similar manner. The text is set up to be used with a partner or in a small group. The activities all include learning basic English and practicing the language.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The material is not biased nor does it contain errors in grammar.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The material in this text is current. The chapters contain learning goals, activities to practice and apply learning, reading, writing, and speaking in English. The learning activities are easy to understand and follow. There is also a self assessment at the end of each chapter for the learner to reflect.

Clarity rating: 5

The text was very clear and provided clear directions for the learner. The language was very simple and easily understood. Each task was articulated distinctly.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is consistent throughout each chapter providing opportunities to practice English through reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Each chapter has a rubric as well as providing examples.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is easy to read and understand. The activities were well written and straightforward. The directions were clear and concise.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

Each of the chapters in the text were clearly written and in chronological order of learning a language. The chapters were long and had numerous activities.

Interface rating: 5

There were visuals throughout the text, hands on lessons, models, and a variety of lesson formats.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text does not contain any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text is not culturally insensitive; it was neutral. It was not offensive.

Comments

This text was geared toward students who have a basic understanding of the English language.

Reviewed by Shelley-Jo Talvacchia Rowell, Instructor Diagnostic Technician Certification, Cape Cod Community College on 6/8/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

Though this text did not provide an index or glossary, it did cover many aspects (simple past and present tense sentences as well as pronunciation) to provide a good foundation for first time English speakers.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

This book is a process to follow, the lessons contained in it, to be completed alone, on paper or with a partner to practice questions and answers or pronunciations was accurate. In many ways I appreciated it's focus on simple phrases that are often constructed differently in other languages that can "tip off" a person as a beginner and had a process to work through these common mistakes and make a person sound and feel more confident in their English mastery.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

As long as people are arriving in America from other countries this book will be a relevant and important tool for anyone who uses it. As I understand it, if the stories used in the text to provide context for the lessons perhaps become dated over the years, the stories might be updated with this online format so I can't see it becoming stale or uninteresting to the reader.

Clarity rating: 5

Clarity is key in this text. The stories are written to be interesting, relevant and readable without unnecessary information that will be of no service during the lessons for each. The written lessons and speaking exercises are well written to be simple and clear. An ESOL student will be carefully guided through each lesson, becoming more involved in the grammar as each lesson is learned.

Consistency rating: 5

Each lesson in this text begins with a story. Methodically, there after the writing and speaking exercises build on and from the information in the story and the lessons progress in a similar fashion so that from beginning to end a student can feel their confidence in knowing the "flow" of each chapter and the exercise. There are also charts and tables that further demonstrate the use of the verbs being learned in each.
Icons are used to bring quick thoughts to mind, preparing the student for the coming lesson and instilling an idea of the types of lessons and verbs being offered in each of the four sections.
After each lesson, a review and a chance to correct mistakes is allowed, giving the student a chance to speak and write the corrections in the moment. I think this is an important aspect of the text.

Modularity rating: 4

This text contains four chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 whether in the order presented in the text or not could be complete lessons on their own, however Chapter 4 is a comparison of Chapters 2 and 3 and these two should be completed in order.
The individual chapters could be broken up into smaller lessons, given how they are complete, each on their own. The speaking exercises build on the reading and writing assignments and should remain together with their corresponding topics. I believe with some planning and thought the chapters could be easily taken as smaller chunks and still give good instruction in the subject.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

This text flows wonderfully with simple but interesting stories into questions and lessons that the student can confidently master. I can imagine it being a joy to use with a willing and excited class looking to improve their English usage. Each story asks questions and requires the student to properly insert verbs in their correct place within the sentence to properly express the thought in English. Each lesson is followed with speaking exercises (with a partner) and then with review and correction.
It's simplicity, the use of icons and repetitive lessons, practice exercises create an organization that marches towards a better understanding of the language.

Interface rating: 5

I experienced no issues with interfacing this text, I also downloaded the PDF for further review and had no problems with pages missing or incomplete.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

As it is a text concentrating on grammar for the beginner I found no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The people in the stories presented in the book are ordinary people from Central American countries. I will not pretend to know if any of the references are insensitive to all of the different cultures and ethnicities in these historically complicated countries, but the stories are about everyday life, portraying modest living conditions and daily mundane chores I can imagine anyone, of any ethnicity performing in their daily lives.

Comments

I teach students looking to become Diagnostic Techs, learning EKG, Phlebotomy and customer service as related to the allied health world. My students come from many different ethnic, cultural and economic backgrounds and I chose this book so that I could not only learn more about online learning resources, but so I could recommend it to any of my brave wonderful students (or their family members) who may need such a simple and comprehensive boost into speaking English more confidently. Cape Cod is so diverse, we are so grateful for all those who come here and look to become care givers in so many ways, this text will be forever in my "toolbox" for anyone who may need it.