Requisite reference books

TEACHER - 2 - Teacher

It's interesting to look at the books English teachers keep on their desks to help them prepare for their classes.

While there are many books to include, every desk should have one or more of the following: an advanced EFL (English as a foreign language) dictionary, an EFL teacher's grammar book, a book on English usage, an optional collocation dictionary and a thesaurus.

Advanced EFL dictionary

An advanced EFL dictionary is an absolute must. While it is very seldom that a word appears in English that most teachers will not know, it is another matter to be able to offer students a definition that does not confuse them. By referring to an advanced-learner dictionary and using the definition provided, or one further simplified for lower-level students, teachers can provide students with a clear definition using vocabulary the students should easily understand.

Sample sentences and other related words or phrases are often included. While these can prove useful for students when studying on their own, teachers need to be careful of how much information they provide when defining a word.

If too much information is provided or too many related words are included, students can become confused. On the other hand, a definition provided by a teacher must be thorough enough so that students will not need to search for the words in a bilingual dictionary.

English usage English-usage reference books deal with how vocabulary should be employed, but more importantly, they offer details on how confusing pairs or sets of words are used. The contrast between "affect" and "effect" is one such example. Fowler's Modern English Usage is perhaps one of the best-known titles and includes a wealth of information concerning grammar, syntax, style and word choice.

Grammar book, thesauri

While teachers and academics continue to argue about whether students should be taught grammar, the need to be able to explain a grammatical item arises constantly in the classroom.

Without an EFL/ESL (English as a second language) grammar resource, teachers will find that while definitions provided in many student books are fine to use in class, they do not provide the depth of knowledge about a particular point needed to be comfortable working with textbook material and being able to answer related, but perhaps unexpected questions.

The Grammar Book, by Marianne Celce-Murcia and Diane Larsen-Freeman, not only provides a very detailed explanation of grammar points, but also offers useful teaching ideas.

Although the Microsoft Word computer programme has a very useful thesaurus, a good, hard-copy thesaurus can provide a multitude of words that can be used to provide a one-word definition or to find alternatives or a more precise way to say something.

Style guides

Aimed at higher-level students, a style guide provides exact details on everything from how referencing should be included and bibliographies prepared, to extensive lists of what prefixes and words should be hyphenated.

A necessary tool for any student completing referenced papers, most style books also include examples and advice on how referenced material can be shortened, paraphrased, punctuated or summarised.

Far more complex than most university publication guides, two excellent choices are The Chicago Manual of Style and the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (aka the "APA Manual").

Regardless of the books teachers might have available, one of the keys to being a successful teacher in any subject is to be able to say, "I'm sorry. I don't know the answer to that question. Let me do some research and get back to you next time."

The next step, then, is knowing where to find the answer. Finally, do the research and find the correct answer. Never promise students an answer and fail to follow up.

While many teachers may not be able to afford to buy all of these books, there is a huge volume of resources readily available on the Web, including http://www.englishtips.org . Therefore, it should not be that difficult for teachers to build up a decent personal library.

Dr Timothy Cornwall has been teaching EFL for 30 years and is part of the Shinawatra University faculty. Co-founder of Thailand Educators Network, he can be reached at thaiednet.org , through his website speechwork.co.th , at tim@speechwork.co.th or on 081-834-8982.