Familiar with the expression, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”? Nowhere is it truer than with English as a Second Language books. Here are some general tips and guidelines for choosing an appropriate text for your students.

            Look past the title. Authors write books and publishers market them with different audiences in mind. Some English books are written for college-educated international students. Their “basic” or “beginning” materials may be too difficult, too academic or totally irrelevant to what even our high-level ESL students need and want.

            Determine whether a book is a skills-based or a survival-based book. If you are working with one student on a skill like writing, a book that follows a linear path of skills development may be a good bet. But if you are uncertain of your student’s level, or have a student with less academic and more real-life goals, you’d probably be better sticking with a survival or competency-based book organized around topics such as health care, transportation and bargain shopping.

            Look for an “integrated skills” book, which means a book that covers the four basic skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing), and probably some support skills (vocabulary expansion, grammar, pronunciation). The more variety you find in one text, the less creating and hunting for materials you will have to do yourself.

            Choose something with visuals, even for high levels. If you’re working with beginners, the usefulness of visuals pretty much goes without saying. But visuals work well for intermediate and advanced students too. Tutors can use pictures for pre-reading questions to get students thinking about the topic of the reading.

            Get your student’s input. If you’re still uncertain, or if your student is not responding well to the book you’re currently using, bring a few different types of books for your student to look through. You can borrow books from the MCL lending library, or possibly the public library. Even if you feel strongly that your student will benefit from a particular book, if the student feels that his or her opinion isn’t valued, he or she may be less motivated to use the book.