***TESL-EJ Forum***

Innovation in ESL and EFL Textbooks

Karen Stanley, editor

<<karen.stanley@cpcc.edu>

Change is difficult, time-consuming and costly - yet for today's product development organizations it is necessary and offers tremendous potential for improved performance. As they try to respond, many organizations get caught in the trap between fear and greed. They'd like the benefits of change, but they're afraid of failure.

While somewhat different when shifted to an educational environment, the basic concept applies to instruction, and lends an inherent difficulty to the process of implementing change in teaching. Among other venues, we see its influence on the creation and acceptance for publication of teaching materials intended to both provide support for new approaches to instruction and at the same time make a profit for both the publisher and the author. In other words, the difficulty of change impacts the creation and implementation of innovation in English as a second / foreign language textbooks.

What follows is a discussion of such innovation in ESL and EFL texts which appeared on the TESLMW-L email list for ESL/EFL materials writers in February 2003. Contributors whose email addresses appear welcome feedback from readers.

Maggie Sokolik <sokolik@SOCRATES.BERKELEY.EDU>
Manager, TESLMW-L

I've been thinking about recent dealings with different publishers, and wonder if anyone has any insight...

There seems to be a kind of paradox when it comes to innovation in textbook writing. Publishers claim to want it, but then the reviews of proposals come back, instructor-reviewers say the book doesn't look like what they're used to, and the publishers ask for a revision accordingly. It then looks like every other textbook, and doesn't do well in the second reviews because "there's nothing new here."

How have all of you who have written books managed to introduce innovations in your books? Or, how have you talked your publishers into taking a risk with something innovative? It seems they're less open to risk in this market, or maybe that's just my perception.

If you're not yet published, but review textbooks, how do you respond to innovation? Why? [-1-]

Elizabeth Claire <Eceardley@AOL.COM>
Editor, Easy English NEWS

Maggie Sokolik writes:

How have all of you who have written books managed to introduce innovations in your books? Or, how have you >talked your publishers into taking a risk with something innovative? It seems they're less open to risk in this market, >or maybe that's just my perception.

If you're not yet published, but review textbooks, how do you respond to innovation? Why?

Funny question:

I was hired by a US publisher to write an "innovative text." All the innovations apparently came from echoing the innovations in a British text for the same market.

But they truly were innovations for text books, drawing on new techniques that had been around for 5 - 6 years and well-publicized at TESOL in papers, workshops, and presentations. I learned a great deal from that.

As far as writing texts that are not "for hire" I've never written something that was already out there. It would seem a waste, because if someone has developed something that works well, why compete?

It makes more sense to meet an unmet need. The market doesn't need two similar things for the same audience, even though a textbook publisher might say they want to get a share of the market by having their own version of it.

But would a publisher recognize something that was an innovation? No, probably not. That's why I publish my own books and newspaper, although in 1990, after the fact, and having demonstrated a market, I was able to sell three of my self-published early works to a publisher. (38 had originally turned them down.)

Publishers are minimally sincere when they say they want innovation, because they can't take that kind of a risk! They want things that meet an already demonstrated market. Exception, they might take something innovative from the TOP people in the field such as Jim Cummins, Steven Krashen, H. Doug Brown, Molinski and Bliss, Carolyn Graham, et al. whose names could sell. [-2-]

Steve Taylore-Knowles <stevetk@acn.gr>
ELT Author, Athens, Greece</p>

Maggie Sokolik wrote: How have all of you who have written books managed to introduce innovations in your books? Or, how have you talked your publishers into taking a risk with something innovative?

I think this is a very good question. The market is inherently conservative (this certainly seems to be the case here in Greece, where I write) while materials writers tend to be more progressive. And I think this is probably healthy. One of the roles of the writer is to be a conduit between the classroom and wider developments in ELT, while a certain market conservatism provides stability in what can be a rather volatile profession.

I recently had a series of four skills books published. The brief included a 'Use of English' book, to link in with the Cambridge exams that are very popular here. My co-author and I took a rather innovative approach to what that meant, focusing on the grammatical, lexical and lexico-grammatical skills demanded by each part of the exam, rather than building the book around a list of grammatical structures, as other books on the market had done.

The key to making this happen for us was to be prepared to explain at length the approach a) to the publishers themselves, b) to the sales reps at sessions organised by the publisher and c) to customers through presentations at book exhibitions and schools. This is, of course, an on-going process. We also have a publisher (Macmillan) who recognises that to increase their market share in Greece they need to be prepared to take risks.

I'm now working on a new course and some of the things I want to do are slightly different from other competing books. I've learned that I need to explain exactly what I'm doing and why, to be careful not to introduce too much innovation at once (the innovations we introduced in the last project mean that perhaps we can go a little further in the next), and to be prepared to be involved in the necessary process of educating the market. And finally, the writer needs to be prepared to compromise when there's a feeling that the market won't accept something.

Dorothy E. Zemach <zemach@uoregon.edu>
American English Institute - University of Oregon
http://aei.uoregon.edu

Maggie wrote:

There seems to be a kind of paradox when it comes to innovation in textbook writing. Publishers claim to want it, but then the reviews of proposals come back, instructor-reviewers say the book doesn't look like what they're used to, and the publishers ask for a revision accordingly. It then looks like every other textbook, and doesn't do well in the second reviews because "there's nothing new here."

I'm not sure publishers really want something all *that* different--maybe more refinement upon refinement, or gradual shifts in existing materials. And I suppose that is because they're marketing for the widest possible audience--the common denominator, which of course we hope is not the "lowest"! I'm less bothered by reviews of books by teachers than I am of reviews by sales reps, especially those who haven't been in the classroom for a long time (and I think this happens more than we know...). [-3-]

The innovations I've put in materials (that got published) have not been huge--an exercise here and there, and once a whole unit. In each case it took 1) a publisher who believed in me and the project from the outset, and 2) a number of e-mails assuring that I and others had used this approach or this exercise in a number of classes and that it had worked.

I only once proposed an entire book that I thought was truly innovative, and I believe that my publisher listened sincerely, and then said something like "I'm sure it works brilliantly for you, and would for other people as well--but it looks so different that a lot of teachers wouldn't be interested in it." Similarly, a friend of mine "X" had a proposal for a book turned down, and the editor later told me "If I were a teacher and I could choose any book, I'd want to use X's. But frankly, it wouldn't sell enough."

And of course we do want our books to sell, don't we--especially those of us who really live off the income.

I attended a really interesting presentation at JALT ... 2000? 2001? by Brian Tomlinson, who runs an M.A. (and Ph.D.) program in Materials Development at Leeds Metropolitan in the UK, who said something like 80% of the general population are right-brained, visual learners; however, it's the 20% of the left-brainers who are more likely to go into teaching, publishing, and writing. Therefore, you have a minority of the population writing books for itself, with a large population of students whose needs are going unmet. As a very left-brained person, I have thought a lot about that ever since! One solution for me personally has been to seek out co-authors who have very different approaches.

But you know, I think innovations do creep in there--look at textbooks from 30 years ago, or (sometimes worse), look at foreign language teaching textbooks. I've used best-selling titles in French and Japanese, and things we take for granted like pre-reading questions and pairwork were entirely absent.

We can push harder for innovations when we have publishers who believe in us, as Steve Taylore-Knowles said about Macmillan (I've noticed Macmillan produces some rather standard-looking books for Asia and some really exciting-looking (to me) things for Europe--this must be based on market research, right?), or have somehow built up a name for ourselves. Elizabeth Claire mentions "TOP people in the field such as Jim Cummns, Steven Krashen, H. Doug Brown, et. al. whose names could sell." Doug Brown did a workshop on strategies-based learning at the University of Oregon last year (where I work), and passed out copies of his new book on, surprise, strategies-based learning--it's sort of a strategy manual for students to help them figure out their own learning styles and what works best for them. It doesn't look mind-shattering to a teacher who's worked in this area, perhaps, but he did mention that he had to really pressure Longman hard to do the book. So the big names fight this fight too, even if they're more likely to succeed. [-4-]

Michael Marzio <mike@realenglish.com>

I remember in the early 80s, I produced a series of videos with student workbooks called "The Adventures of Charlie McBride" with some multitalented teacher friends (I'm American - they were all Brits). These were grammatically controlled comedy sketches and "drills", often compared to Monty Python insofar as the humor is concerned.

A company called Formavision in Paris distributed them - mostly to private schools, Chambers of Commerce language centers, etc., in France and Spain.

In those days, Oxford University Press was up and coming, trailing Longman, far from being the giant they are in Europe today. So we contacted them several times looking for serious distribution, and a senior ESL editor from Oxford finally came to Formavision to have a look. He laughed his head off, had a great time, insisted on seeing all 3 hours of the video, and at the end told us point blank that it was all "too wild and cheeky".

Needless to say, no surprise for me anymore. The last thing the esl giants want is something really new or different. Better, imho, to remain on the sidelines commercially speaking, with content that is genuinely innovative.

Dorothy E. Zemach <zemach@uoregon.edu>
American English Institute - University of Oregon
http://aei.uoregon.edu

...a senior ESL editor from Oxford finally came to Formavision to have a look. He laughed his head off, had a great time, insisted on seeing all 3 hours of the video, and at the end told us point blank that it was all "too wild and cheeky".

And yet now OUP has put out their ESL "Wallace and Gromit," which they probably would have considered "too wild and cheeky" at some earlier point. You both could have been right--it could have been a terrific product, and it might not have sold (at that time) well enough to justify publishing it for OUP's markets. Or OUP could have made a mistake.

Needless to say, no surprise for me anymore. The last thing the esl giants want is something really new or different. Better, imho, to remain on the sidelines commercially speaking, with content that is genuinely innovative.

But there's room for both, isn't there? And those who remain on the sidelines with content that is genuinely innovative DO make an impact, and influence the larger, more profit-driven publishers on down the line. [-5-]

I guess I sort of want it both ways--I'd like to do new and creative things, but also things that work for and are accessible to a large number of people. My latest book is being pushed most heavily in SE Asia, a market I'm reasonably familiar with, and then also in Turkey and the Middle East, markets I know next to nothing about (OK, entirely nothing). It's good then to have a publisher who can say "This will work for most teachers in Turkey," because I wouldn't know. I do get country-specific feedback from editors and publishers all the time ("The Brazilian teachers we spoke to wanted more role plays"), and that's really valuable. I live off my writing income; if books didn't sell enough, I couldn't devote time to writing them, because I'd have to be earning money some other way.

Interesting question: does teaching drive the materials produced, or do the materials produced drive teaching? Depends on the kind of teacher you are, I guess. But I know when I talk to publishers about future book ideas, they start first with what teachers are asking for. So when teachers (en masse) start asking for certain innovations, publishers will supply them.

Maggie Sokolik <sokolik@SOCRATES.BERKELEY.EDU>
Manager, TESLMW-L

I do sense a market change. My best selling series is from years ago, and was definitely too cheeky for the market, then or now. But, I had a somewhat inexperienced editor who thought it was great and managed to push it through. It's done so much better (and continues to do really well in 2nd edition) than the more traditional books I've published. I think what's often missing is a little bit of vision and trust in the market.

I have to say I am so bored by the books that come across my desk for examination. As the director of a large summer ESL program, I get to see them all, and more often than not, I have to say "Why is anyone still doing this?" Our instructors, similarly bored by the materials, are using more and more native speaker texts and self-produced materials.

Not every market can be a big market, and I know most publishers are aiming at the large-market community college audience. However, there is still a substantial market in the universities and elsewhere that tolerate more controversy, and definitely more challenging texts.

Marc Anthony <MAnthonyEFL@AOL.COM>
Head Instructor, Transworld Schools, San Francisco

Maggie Sokolik says: I have to say I am so bored by the books that come across my desk for examination. As the director of a large summer ESL program, I get to see them all, and more often than not, I have to say "Why is anyone still doing this?" Our instructors, similarly bored by the materials, are using more and more native speaker texts and self-produced materials.

I, too am bored by the examination copies I see (Longman's latest pile of books just arrived yesterday -- five minutes of flicking pages told me there was nothing really new here). I see the problems coming from different directions. First of all, how do we define 'innovation?' Cleverness for its own sake may be the product of a particular writer's creative mind, but it doesn't mean that the average teacher can comfortably execute the material. [-6-]

Many learners are also comfortable working with a book that reflects the same prescriptive and academic formats they had in earlier education. And then - the biggest problem of all -- few teachers are involved in selection of textbooks for their classes. Many ADs choose the most all-around useful books--Azar or Murphy, for example--and rarely involve the teachers in the selection process. Perhaps if more teachers had a say in text selection, the publishing industry would respond by offering newer materials. As it is, the publishing industry is only complying with the perceived desires of the market--which is, I believe, mostly a mostly academic one, which demands practical "workhorse" style books.

That is not to say that there are some really interesting new books out there. I think the content is also a serious problem. Open a book and there are the same safe, universal themes: shopping, music, travel, fashion, money, popular psychology, etc. Where are the innovative twists on these themes?

Could this by why many teachers venture into authentic materials? Some books, like the Impact series, attempt to bring in more contemporary themes, but in my experience, with mixed results. Leo Jones, I think, does a good job. His updated and expanded Let's Talk series stands out among other books. So does some of the material coming from LTP Publishers, like Ron Martinez' Conversation Lessons.

Ms. Sokolik, I believe you recently did a study of textbooks from the last century for the last TESOL convention. I am a collector of English textbooks--going back to the 1700s. I don't know what the result of your study was (I would enjoy reading it), but in examining these books, I found little innovation over the centuries. Only a few books from the 1900 to 1910 range stood out as being somewhat different from the rest. But before and after that, books appeared in the same structured and drilled formats as you still see in many books today.

Steve Taylore-Knowles <stevetk@acn.gr>
ELT Author, Athens, Greece

Marc Anthony wrote: Many learners are also comfortable working with a book that reflects the same prescriptive and academic formats they had in earlier education

As are many teachers, let's not forget.

Open a book and there are the same safe, universal themes: shopping, music, travel, fashion, money, popular psychology, etc Where are the innovative twists on these themes?

I think we have to think about this also in terms of learners' needs. Here in Greece, which is a very exam-driven ELT environment, and where most materials are aimed at learners aged 9-18, the set of topics that writers are able to cover pretty much has to coincide with those laid down in exam specifications. Most teachers and school owners would feel that there was no point covering topics that weren't on such a list, and might not welcome an unusual slant on topics which are on the list since the exam itself is unlikely to take a similar slant. (I say this as someone who is always trying to find a new twist on safe topics myself.) I agree, though, that publishers can sometimes be hypersensitive about topic coverage. A publisher changed a passage of mine about arachnophobia to one about ornithophobia (fear of birds, for those whose Greek isn't up to it :>)) on the grounds that school owners flicking through the book might be put off by a picture of a tarantula. I thought this was unnecessary - but, then again, it's not my money that's at stake. [-7-]

Regarding innovation, there's another aspect that I'd like to hear opinions on. The economics of publishing, whereby glossier, brighter, more colourful gets cheaper as time goes on, means that the look of materials changes. More books published this year look newer, brighter, more inviting than a few years ago - and that's often mistaken for innovation. It seems to me that what it often means is the same content - but less of it because you have to make more room for illustration. I think there's a danger that in our rush to entertain and engage the learner and battle it out against all the other competing demands on young people's attention we sacrifice content.

Innovation in terms of look is innovation that publishers welcome - it's eye-catching, immediately understandable and safe. Innovation in terms of content needs to be explained and is risky.

Maggie Sokolik <sokolik@SOCRATES.BERKELEY.EDU>
Manager, TESLMW-L
UC Berkeley

Marc Anthony wrote:

Open a book and there are the same safe, universal themes: shopping,music, travel, fashion, money, popular psychology, etc Where are the innovative twists on these themes?

This is part of it. Another part is the fear of taboo subjects. I'm very eager not to offend anyone, but I also think that to avoid subjects that are common topics of discussion in English because they might offend someone *somewhere* (usually somewhere American books, in my case, don't sell much anyway), limits the topics to a number of safe and superficial ones. It does take creativity (but that's a good thing!) to break out of the mold.

Steve Taylore-Knowles wrote:

Regarding innovation, there's another aspect that I'd like to hear opinions on. The economics of publishing, whereby glossier, brighter, more colourful gets cheaper as time goes on, means that the look of materials changes. More books published this year look newer, brighter, more inviting than a few years ago - and that's often mistaken for innovation. It seems to me that what it often means is the same content - but less of it because you have to make more room for illustration. I think there's a danger that in our rush to entertain and engage the learner and battle it out against all the other competing demands on young people's attention we sacrifice content.

I think this is a real issue. And, it's interesting that publishers don't want to offend someone by talking about rap music or pet dogs, but are less concerned about the fact that in US universities, or other US institutions that teach adults, glossy color books are often associated with children's picture books, and avoided frequently because of that. I know it would take a lot for me to accept such a book in my own teaching circumstances. And I agree, the ability to put a color picture of some people standing at a bus stop doesn't make the book any more innovative than the book without the picture. Graphics need to be used for a reason, and as a part of the learning process, not only as decoration, IMHO. [-8-]

Anonymous

.... the fact that in US universities, or other US institutions that teach adults, glossy color books are often associated with children's picture books, and avoided frequently because of that.

Maggie Sokolik makes a good point here.

It makes one wonder if the following may perhaps be true.

If a fairly successful textbook that is now in full color were printed in black and white it may actually be more successful. More teachers might choose it because is looked "more serious" and adult-like (making the book financially more successful) and students might take the course more seriously because the textbook looked more serious (making the book educationally more successful).

Kelt Jones <lextext123@HOTMAIL.COM>

I would like to add a small bit to the many excellent points ... already made about graphic design vis-a-vis adult learners' materials.

Some very good advice from my initial teacher training about selecting text materials--specifically about the way the texts looked--was summed up in a relatively simple rhetorical question:

Would your learner(s) *possibly* be embarrassed being seen reviewing it in a public place - for example: a New York subway? ...because of its graphical design elements including its cover? , illustrations and pictures? (e.g., the text uses garish colors or, perhaps, "childish" or cartoonish drawings rather than photos of real people and things)

By extension (some examples):

1) Would a college student (young *and* older adults) be embarrassed reviewing or using the text in front of their student peers? their professional colleagues? their professors?

2) Would a business person be embarrassed to have the text fall out of their briefcase or be seen studying it in front of other business people?

3) Does the text have the "look and feel" deemed appropriate for professionals? for business people?

[NOTE: In the work domain (business and professional), most professional reports, briefs, journals, memos, etc. use color and graphical elements sparingly - mostly in visuals that *aid* understanding of abstract concepts set forth in the written text.]

If the answer is possibly "yes", then the text(book) *may* not be age-, or learner-, or genre-appropriate based on graphical components. [-9-]

Marc Anthony <MAnthonyEFL@AOL.COM>
Head Instructor, Transworld Schools, San Francisco

Would your learner(s) *possibly* be embarrassed being seen reviewing it

I think this point is worthwhile to consider in the broadest possible sense, but it lacks an intercultural perspective that publishers, I am sure, are aware of. Which learners are being referred to in this example? Publishers promote a variety of books with many different layouts, which can appeal broadly to learners in certain regions. For example, Japanese and Korean adult learners might appreciate the colorful and whimsical layout, Central Americans might appreciate cartoon-like illustrations, and German and Polish learners might prefer just straightforward text. And then there are the individual tastes of each of or learners which also must be take into account. I have always appreciated working in schools that had a large library of supplements, which allowed me to pick and choose depending on my target audience.

Karen Stanley <karen.stanley@cpcc.edu>
Central Piedmont Community College
Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

In incorporating innovation into ESL/EFL texts, I think considerations include how easily innovations:

(1) fit with teachers' teaching styles

(2) are structured to allow beginning teachers to use them

(3) facilitate progression/integration in a multi-level, multi-skill program

It's understandable, then, why introducing some innovations into a more traditional text works better than completely innovative texts. When I go to conferences and am exposed to new (exciting) techniques, I then have to figure out how to fit them into my classes. Often, I do that by extracting bits and pieces that adapt most easily. Many times I need to see the same technique / methodology / material discussed a number of times, and incorporate it into my thinking, before I am ready to use it in class. Even when I have developed my OWN innovative materials, I find that I introduce them a bit at a time into my classes, as I have to adjust all my other materials to them. And: I have to start feeling comfortable with ideas that I think are good, but which may not play out as well as I had hoped with the students.

Of course, having a textbook that structures as well as supports the innovations is very helpful. However, that works best if the approach in the textbook converges with my pre-existing style and/or intuitions.When something is radically different from what I had imagined, it's hard to find the time and energy to adjust my entire teaching plan, especially since it requires changing what feels *natural* to me. [-10-]

We need to think, too, how easily a NEW teacher can use a textbook. Experienced teachers are used to supplementing and adjusting texts, and at least somewhat more used to finding themselves with strange materials and figuring out how to work with them. If a program is more dependent than you would like on a shifting pool of part-time instructors, often with limited classroom experience, you need to think carefully how successful and accepting they will be in handling a non-traditional approach. This is especially true for us since we have morning, afternoon and night courses and our part-time instructors have NO office or desk space; thus, support through interaction with more experienced instructors is limited.

We must also consider how the approach fits with a progression through the other courses in a program. As an instructor in an Academic ESL program at a community college, I average 18 hours a week with 25 students per class. Many of my students are NOT full time; quite a few take only one class per term. Thus, we have maintained a discrete-skill approach for most of our program - not that any of us eliminate other skills from the mix in class, just that the *focus* in a particular class is on one skill. There is room for innovation, but we need to think through and try out materials before simply switching textbooks. This is especially important if you want at least moderate agreement among those instructors who often teach a particular class. There have also been times when a text looks like it's simply wonderful to the teacher, we switched, and then discovered that while the *idea* behind the text was good, it just didn't work well in class. Other times we have been very glad to have tried out portions of the book while keeping an older book in place, because we discovered that we were better off with what we already had - and, of course, sometimes we are glad because the new book really does what we had hoped.

Another thing I often do is use a basic traditional text, but create my own (sometimes innovative) supplements. Let me take black Azar (Fundamentals of English Grammar, by Betty Azar) as an example. The explanations in the book are very clear for students working independently. There are supplementary workbooks which students can use at home or in the language lab. (The new edition, by the way, incorporates - much to my astonishment - many of the adaptations that I had made on my own. I was sure Betty had been observing from the back corner of my classroom.) I have videotaped myself teaching the class, so that students could go back and review the things that I do which approach or practice grammar in ways that are different from the book (still quite a few, and mostly on an interactive level), and also so that teachers new to teaching grammar have a model available. Because I don't like the accompanying CD, and because there is no substantial oral/aural component, I have begun (slowly) using an authoring program with which I have created supplementary exercises (such as "Listening for Grammar") that students use in our self-access language lab. I have also developed a supplementary workbook that presents (my) alternate ways of explaining things, and which includes more integrated exercises, all of which fit with the organization and flow of the class. I am currently working on developing more and varied exercises for oral practice of grammar items. (The Audio-Lingual Method had its good points.)

Now, imagine how reluctant I would be to switch textbooks when I have spent so much time creating my own (sometimes innovative) supplements that fit with what is, in fact, already a good book. [-11-]

I don't know if all of these are good points on a theoretical level, but I am sure they play a significant role on the practical side of textbook selection and innovation.

Dorothy E. Zemach <zemach@uoregon.edu>
American English Institute - University of Oregon
http://aei.uoregon.edu

Marc Anthony wrote:

Maggie:

This is part of it. Another part is the fear of taboo subjects. I'm very eager not to offend anyone, but I also think that to avoid subjects that are common topics of discussion in English because they might offend someone *somewhere* (usually somewhere American books, in my case, don't sell much anyway), limits the topics to a number of safe and superficial ones. It does take creativity (but that's a good thing!) to break out of the mold.

I would hope that a major drive in selecting topics (and twists) is in giving students, especially beginners, the most useful language. I'm studying a little Chinese now in preparation for a stint there this summer, and while I'm always happy to talk about the wacky 'n weird in English, in a second language that I don't know well I really do need to know how to describe my family and ask where the bathroom is and buy food. Of course, I'm not taking an upper-level discussion class. But if I were ever to try to improve my Japanese, I would still be interested in learning vocab and techniques for polite, safe discussions, since those are the ones I'd be most likely to be involved in. (Now, if I were improving my French, some techniques for interrupting, holding my own, and offering other sides of issues might be more relevant.) But I think sometimes we teachers get bored with topics long before our students do. Couldn't agree more with Maggie's point that we shouldn't avoid subjects that are common topics of discussion in English.

The looks of books... I think the "glossy" books get marketed in the US and SE Asia, and some of the more "serious" looking ones in Europe. I eavesdropped on a conversation once between a professor at a Japanese university and an OUP sales rep talking about the new edition of Headway. The professor said he was going to drop the book because he and his students didn't like the new look--there was more on each page, and fewer Asians in the photos, and the whole thing had a more "international" feel. I suppose OUP was trying to make Headway appeal to Europeans as well. I bet there isn't an F-Talk for France or a G-Talk for Germany, the way there is a J-Talk for Japan.... It's really quite interesting sometimes for me to see the kinds of EFL books that get sold in Europe, because they do look so different to what I've seen in the US and Asia. The new Macmillan Inside Out, for instance, looks really good to me (and speaking of covers, it has the only covers that ever excited my husband, who says they have the artwork of a cutting edge big name artist on the front, whose name completely escapes me)--but I know they're planning a special edition for Asia, w/ a more open page, some different language perhaps. It will be interesting to see what it looks like when it comes out. [-12-]

Linda Ciano <ljcinnyc@HOTMAIL.COM>
Language Lecturer
American Language Institute, New York University

This is part of it. Another part is the fear of taboo subjects. I'm very eager not to offend anyone, but I also think that to avoid subjects that are common topics of discussion in English because they might offend someone *somewhere* (usually somewhere American books, in my case, don't sell much anyway), limits the topics to a number of safe and superficial ones. It does take creativity (but that's a good thing!) to break out of the mold.

Reading the recent posts about innovation, particularly the ones relating to taboo subjects, really gave me pause. I immediately thought of an incident that happened several semesters ago in an intermediate-level ESL conversation class. A young, native Spanish-speaking student, now living and working in the US, came to me after class one day and asked about something he often heard his African-American co-workers say to each other. What, he wanted to know, did "What's up, my nigga?" mean and how could he use it in conversation.

I quickly explained what the expression meant and why he, as a non-African-American, could not under any circumstances use it. Fortunately, he had come to me before trying out his new English expression on anyone else.

Expressions such as this certainly fall under the heading of "taboo subjects." However, this and other potentially offensive expressions are commonly heard in all areas of popular US culture (music, movies, and so forth), especially if our students are young and trying to fit in with other hip young teens and twenty-somethings.

I can certainly understand why publishing companies wouldn't want to touch on issues like this with a ten-foot pole. But, it's our responsibility as teachers to help our students avoid inadverdently offending others with their speech. (If I were in my students' position, I certainly would want someone to do that for me.) Those of us teaching ESL in the US urge our students to listen to music, watch TV and movies, and pay attention to the language they hear all around them every day, but our textbooks don't necessarily help give them the proper context for deciding what is appropriate and what is inappropriate for them to pick up and use in their own conversations.

I wonder if any publishing company will be innovative enough to find a way to address the issue of taboo subjects as they relate to this idea of providing a context for choosing appropriate versus inappropriate speech. Especially for those intermediate-level students who always seem to know just enough of the language to get themselves into trouble, it seems like an absolutely necessary topic to address, but I've yet to see anyone do it. [-13-]

Eileen Lou <PrinceLou@aol.com>
Prince Lou Associates, The Communication Enhancers

After having a great relationship with my original publisher, my texts and contract for one text were sold to another. Unfortunately, the great relationship did not continue. I wanted the opening chapter in the text in progress to contain an interview with a rapper and had gotten permission from the publication that contained it. My new editor was appalled by the subject and the language of rap. (One of the activities was to have students compose their own rap.) Suffice it to say that reviewers were found who were equally appalled and the topic was scrapped.

For the record, the rapper was Ice-Tea, who is now acting in movies and on TV. I get upset every time I think about the lost chance of having an interview with such a celebrity in my book.

Richard Slessor <RSlessor@AOL.COM>

Here are a few thoughts from a longtime language publisher (both ELT and other languages for English native speakers) currently teaching at a poly in Singapore - some publishing, more business communication.

Some of my most successful publishing came from taking a chance on something a bit different. You get bread and butter income from the safer me-too titles, but that's not usually where the bestsellers come from.

However, the more speculative stuff can bomb as well as boom - I know *that* from personal experience too! I think the top people in the big conglomerates (who tend to come from a financial or marketing background rather than an editorial or teaching one) have problems with that kind of risktaking. They like to see figures, and how do you provide believable sales forecasts for something of a kind which no one has tried to sell yet? (I came across a nice Albert Einstein quote the other day, to the effect that 'not everything that counts is countable, and not everything that is countable counts'. It might be relevant here somewhere, perhaps?)

On the other hand, while commissioning editors should be gamblers, they should not be wild gamblers. You still need to do market research, and the successful items among my more speculative titles usually came from talking to teachers. So it's true that things can only change if enough teachers indicate quite vociferously that they want something different to form a critical mass - and if they show some degree of unanimity on what they are looking for, so that commissioning editors can present some alternative statistics showing what a viable segment of the market would actually want if given a chance.

Otherwise everyone is stuck in a vicious circle where teachers complain that the existing books are boring and unimaginative, and senior publishers reply 'But that's what people buy - just look at the sales figures.' [-14-]