Hi-time

Short description

In the preface, the Authors underline the objective of the coursebook, which is to present the English language as
- a means for efficient and appropriate self-expression;
- an object of study, whose forms and structures lend themselves to comparison with Italian and other languages;
- something to be inextricably connected to culture and history.
The Authors claim that the methodology adopted for the course book combines a notional-functional and a structural approach. In this sense, they explain that the language is presented in relation to a variety of registers, focusing on the four linguistic skills, and based on a graded syllabus of morphosyntactic structures.
The student’s book is accompanied by a booklet titled Approaching unit, divided into five lessons to revise basic functions such as introducing yourself, asking and saying your age, describing people, and corresponding relevant linguistic structures such as personal pronouns and adjectives, articles, demonstratives. It can be assumed that this booklet was designed to cater for the needs of students in mixed ability classes in the first year of upper secondary school.
The units in the student’s book usually begin with a dialogue followed by listening comprehension exercises and communicative activities for pair and group work. The input used in the drill-type exercises for practising the linguistic structures in the unit appears to be out of context if compared to the topic of the dialogue. Moreover, reflection on language is implemented at the end of the unit in a section titled Grammar focus, and it is distanced from the structural exercises. Hence, despite the emphasis given to the linguistic functions foregrounded in the table of contents, the overall design of the units seems to serve the purposes of “language practice” rather than “language use” (Pedrazzini 2023).
Work on pronunciation is supported in the Sound task section of the units, where phonemes are presented which can be problematic for Italian learners.