English Language Textbooks Dealing with Global Issues

Publishers are invited to send in sample copies of new books relating to global issues.
Readers interested in writing book reviews should contact the editor.

The World Around Us: Canadian Social Issues for ESL Students

by Christine Hoppenrath & Wendy Royal (1997)

Harcourt Brace, 55 Horner Ave., Toronto M8Z 4X6 CANADA

This 185-page activity-based text for intermediate / advanced English learners uses reading materials from newspapers, diaries, books and magazines to develop language skills and encourage students to think critically, form opinions and speak out on social issues. The book's 10 chapters deal with (1) family issues (intercultural marriage, alternative families), (2) youth (childhood poverty, teen activism), (3) education (exams, single sex schools), (4) crime (crime rates, death penalty), (5) euthanasia (6) abortion (7) AIDS (8) urban problems (pan-handling, animal rights), (9) media (media bias, TV violence), (10) the 21st century (future views: optimist or pessimist). Each chapter includes a pre-reading photo activity, background information, readings on the topic, comprehension / discussion activities, and journal writing.

Worlds Together: A Journey into Multicultural Literature

by Patricia Richard-Amato & Wendy Abbott Hansen (1995)

Addison-Wesley/Longman, Gyokuroen Bldg., 1-13-19 Sekiguchi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112

This 180-page ESL text for intermediate English learners combines multicultural readings with interactive activities featuring authentic stories, poems, drama, autobiographies and songs from many cultures and perspectives. The book's 6 units are (1) A World of My Own (self-esteem, the song "True Colors"); (2) Making Friends in a New World (living in a new culture); (3) Family Connections (diverse families: Navajo, Hispanic, Norwegian); (4) What Makes a Hero? (stories of heroism: Puerto Rico, Native American, physical disability); (5) Faces of Love (love of family, of others, of nature), and (6) Worlds Together (Martin Luther King, one world). Each chapter includes photos, poems, cartoons, readings, comprehension and discussion activities, and an "idea box" of follow-up activities. A Teachers Resource Book includes student handouts.

20 Steps to Critical Writing

Haruhiko Shiokawa & Leo Yoffe (1997)

Kirihara Shoten, 2-44-5 Koenji-minami, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 166

This 100-page Japanese EFL text for intermediate/advanced learners aims to promote critical thinking through meaningful writing on global and local issues. The book teaches both paragraph and essay writing skills. Its 20 lessons deal with topics such as sexual harassment, recycling, corporal punishment, gender roles, the aging society, informed consent, the death penalty, nuclear power, and euthanasia. Each lesson includes a reading passage, essay analysis activities, essay writing outlines, Japanese vocabulary notes and background information.

Cue Cards: Famous Women of the Twentieth Century

by Lisa F. DeWitt Pro Lingua (1993)

15 Elm Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301

This English teaching resource comprises one-page "cue card" biographies of famous women of the 20th century. The 40 women profiled include Marie Curie, Maria Montessori, Helen Keller, Eleanor Roosevelt, Pearl Buck, Amelia Earhart, Golda Meir, Margaret Mead, Mother Teresa, Indira Gandhi, Eva Peron, Margaret Thatcher, Dian Fossey, Aung San Suu Kyi and Rigoberta Menchu. Each page includes an illustration of the woman profiled, a memorable quote by her, personal data (her birth, education, occupation) and 3-4 paragraphs describing her life. The book includes suggestions for using the profiles for interview roleplays, dictation, and research.

Folklife Around the World

by Joseph Lieberman (1994)

Kenkyusha, 2-11-3 Fujimi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102, Japan

This 75-page Japanese college EFL text aims to develop reading skills while promoting awareness of other cultures, countries and issues through armchair travel which challenges students to better understand their place in the world. The book's 10 chapters describe the author's travels in such places as Colombia, China, New Guinea, Morocco, Turkey, Tahiti, Switzerland, Amsterdam and Hawaii. Each chapter contains a reading passage plus basic vocabulary and comprehension questions. Japanese notes are given at the back of the book.

A Teacher's Resource for Global Learning

by Susan Fountain (1995)

UNICEF Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH, USA

This UK teacher's resource introduces the field of education for development - an approach to learning which aims to develop active global citizens able to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Packed with photographs, drawings and photocopiable materials, the book contains a wide variety of exciting classroom activities adaptable for all ages, levels and subjects built around global issues of violence, poverty, hunger, prejudice and the environment. The book is divided into sections focussing on five key concepts: interdependence, images and perceptions, social justice, peace and conflict resolution, and change and the future. Activities include analysing conflict stories, challenging stereotypes, designing alternative futures, linking global and local news, a coffee trade simulation, a human rights quiz, a children-round-the-world card game and a Third World tourism role play.

World Studies in the Primary Curriculum

by Miriam Steiner (1993)

Trentham Books: Stoke-on-Trent, UK

This exciting UK handbook outlines the field of world studies / global education and shows how primary (and other) teachers can bring the world into their classrooms through creative global awareness activities based on experiential and cooperative learning. The book's three parts comprise: (1) World Studies in the Primary Curriculum (an introduction to global education, global issues, the global classroom and methods of assessment); (2) Putting It Into Practice (global education objectives and classroom strategies for promoting active learning, cooperative learning, communication skills, critical thinking and topical theme work); (3) An Active Learning Approach to the National Curriculum (creative ideas and activities for integrating global education and world studies across the school curriculum into subjects such as art, English, geography, history, math and science).

Educating Beyond Violent Futures

by Francis P. Hutchinson (1996)

Routledge: London and New York

This hefty theoretical text on peace education and global futures gives an Australian perspective to the challenge for teachers to educate beyond violence. It questions the widespread fatalism that violence is a permanent feature of human relations in our schools, our communities, our nations and our planet, and suggests seeds of peace that teachers can plant on our journey into the 21st century. The book's three sections are: (1) Questioning Fatalism and Impoverished Social Imagination (resisting violence in the media, listening to young people's dreams/fears about the future); (2) Expanding Ways of Knowing and Vocabularies of Hope (developing global literacy, awareness of cultural editing, building hope); (3) Encouraging Forward Thinking, Life-affirming and Empowering Principles and Practices (educating for sustainable futures and cultures of peace).

A Handbook for Spiritual Development and Global Awareness

by Sally Burns & Georgeanne Lamont (1995)

Hodder & Stoughton: London

This unique UK handbook offers guidelines and 96 creative activities for encouraging spiritual development, values clarification and global awareness in schools. The book is divided into four parts: (1) Key Areas of Experience (encouraging a sense of self, creating a sense of community, valuing the Earth, developing openness to joy and suffering); (2) Key Ways of Reflection (encountering others, learning to listen, understanding stories, appreciating stillness and contemplation, sensory awareness, celebration and grieving, envisioning a peaceful future); (3) Purpose and Action (generating class rules, planning action projects, writing letters from the future); and (4) Perspectives on Values and Visions (essays on global responsibility from the perspectives of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and secular humanism).

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