The OUO philosophy
Many coursebooks are written for global markets rather than local ones. Global coursebooks are not suitable for each and every culture. As it grows, the OUO will contain original materials from, and for, many different EIL cultures. You, the teacher, can browse for materials from your own culture, or materials that seem suitable for your culture.
E.I.L
English is an International language and there are hundreds of varieties of English. English is spoken as a first or second language or is (or was) an official language in over 75 territories.
Approximately 323 million speakers in 58 different countries speak English as their first language and about 422 million speakers in 66 countries speak English as their second language. It is estimated that there are around a billion people learning the language today. But which variety? As the OUO coursebook expands, we hope that it will, with your input, include materials in the variety of English that is useful for you and your students.
The OUO eclectic approach
Teaching approaches are not universally applicable. The materials collected in the OUO represent various approaches to teaching, depending on the cultures they come from. They range along the continuum from teacher-centred to self-directed learning.
The OUO Syllabus
The OUO coursebook syllabus is ‘text-driven’; the ‘syllabus’ emerges from the texts that you have selected to teach. The ‘syllabus’ can consist of a record of the language covered in the language awareness activities, suggested in the materials template, that students do as part of their activities with the text.
How do I use the OUO?
Click on 'Units' on the top navigation menu and browse through the listings.You can filter the listings to a specific country by clicking on that country in the list. Countries will only be listed if there is at least one unit for that country in the system so if it isn't listed then there is no material for it.
Choose the material you want by selecting 'View' and download the appropriate file format. You can choose microsoft WORD format if you wish to download and modify the material. Choose the Adobe Acrobat .PDF format if you want to use the material as it is.
How do I contribute materials?
You are invited to contribute original materials to any of the ‘countries’ categories. If your country is not there, we can add it to the list.
You may send texts alone or texts plus materials you have developed. These materials must be original, not previously published. You may send files in Microsoft WORD format or in Adobe Acrobat pdf format.
You may use the materials template or use your own structure.
We welcome feedback after you have used the materials. There is an 'Leave comment' button beneath each piece of material, for your input which may then inform modification of the material.
Language proficiency level
Some of the materials indicate which proficiency level(s) they are suitable for. Some do not. The principle is to adapt the task (not the text) to the proficiency level of the learners. This means setting the learners challenging tasks, but ones that they can do.