When I first started teaching ESL in the 60's, the Israli Board of Education was using short story books ('This Wide World', 'New Horizons') as high school textbooks. Since these did not include any language exercises, teachers were expected to write their own! When I became partner in an English language institute, the adult classes were using Robert Dixon's grammar books as course books, supplemented by photocopied dialogues ('In The Bank', 'At The Post Office') ELT publishing has come a long way in the past four decades: To meet the ever-increasing needs of a burgeoning industry, it has been turning out very professionally-done materials at an extraordinary pace. No wonder, then, that I approach each new ELT catalogue with the delight of a child in a candy store!

Nowadays, there's a vast array of course books for every age group and ESL level, most accompanied by audiocassettes, some by videocassettes, CD's and, most recently, interactive material; there are ESP (English for Specific Purposes) course books for an incredibly wide range of learners; there's supplementary material-readers, music, word games-to complement any course and teaching style.

Selecting appropriate material is one of the crucial factors in the success of a course. Note that I said 'appropriate', not 'good'. Almost all of the material being produced nowadays is of high quality-the question is how to determine what ELT material is most suitable for your students. To best accomplish this, let me suggest the following:

1. Familiarize yourself with what is available by checking out the online catalogues of

a. Major ELT publishers: Oxford University Press www.oup.com/elt Longman www.longman-elt.com

Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org/elt Macmillan www.onestopenglish.com

Penguin graded readers www.penguinreaders.com

b. Worldwide distributors: English Book Centre www.ebcoxford.co.uk Alta www.altaesl.com

2. Profile your students.

a. If you are looking for a course book, what level is most suitable? Which skill/s do you
want to concentrate on? General courses integrate the four language skills (speaking, aural comprehension, writing, reading comprehension) in a carefully graded manner.

Other course books emphasize one particular skill.

b. If your course book has already been selected, what kind of supplementary material could enhance it?

3. Get as much input as you possibly can before ordering:

a. Publishers and distributors employ consultants for this purpose. Use them.

b. Some ESL websites have teachers' forums. Ask teachers who've had experience with it.

c. Ask around locally. Teachers are very approachable on this issue-as are students.

GOOD LUCK!

Portions of this article have been excerpted from the e-guide 'How to Become a Personal ESL Trainer'.