It’s Always Been Basic

So much has been written about Language One (Macmillan Australia, 288 pp, $5.50) in various English teaching journals that there is little to add. What has been written has usually been critical – often very critical – ranging from ‘not only is it a bad book, but it is misleading’ (Idiom) to ‘buy one for your barbeque. soon’ (Opinion). Language Two (Macmillan Australia, 240 pp) will doubtless produce a similar response – from theorists, book reviewers, and the occasional highly competent teacher.

The response of most classroom teachers is quite different. Sales figures show this. The two books are selling in tens of thousands, and Language Three and Language Four will soon swell the profits. In spite of the poor language used in the books, the pointlessly difficult questions (e.g. ‘Why do wars occur?’ levelled at Year 8 students), and the unevenly chosen extracts, the books sell incredibly well. They are even exported in substantial quantities to the United Kingdom. My only conclusion is that most classroom teachers appear to disagree with the reviewers.