Can Mickey Really Teach English?! Review of English Adventures, a Series for Elementary Schools, by José Luis Morales

reviewed by Nevin Siders, Mexico

Nevin Siders is a tenured professor of educational psychology and English at the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, Mexico City, and has completed his master's studies in Applied Linguistics at Mexico's National University. He is Director of Studies for the Bridges consultancy. E-mail:bridgesesl@prodigy.net.mx, www.upn.mx, bridgesesl.com.mx

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Introduction
Background
Examples
Conclusions
Reference

Introduction

A basic principle to teaching is that the content and technique must be motivational, and an obvious key to motivation is finding topics appropriate to the age of the learners. What could get quicker to the kids of the whole world than Mickey and Donald?

Background

Over the years there have been innumerable attempts by countless authors to use Disney characters to teach all subjects. Through its own and third party publishers, the Disney company itself has tried many different approaches to present real learning content on a level that could rival Sesame Street. At best, these have reached "infotainment."

Examples

Yet one of the most recent attempts sets itself apart. English Adventures is a series whose principal author is a teacher who took up the Disney characters for their motivational ability - as opposed all previous attempts that started from the other end, taking the characters and then searching for content.

The progression through the series does not appear to be principally in the grammatical dimension, as is the fault of so many other series, but rather from the immediate to the distant, from the concrete to the abstract. This approach is consistent with the principles applied in the increasingly popular forms of evaluation patterned on the Common European Framework of Languages, as well as the deeper socio-cultural principles underlying educational psychology.

Each text in the nine book series has a theme character and movie, set within a progression in sophistication, from three pre-school books (4-6 years of age) to the last year of elementary school (12 years of age).

My review has shown consistency throughout the series - which is a feat in itself. Nonetheless, this series has reliable learning-by-doing.

Moreover, the series comes equipped with a greater selection of classroom materials than most of its competitors, including not only posters and flashcards and today's standard DVDs, but also puppets and a theater, a teacher's newsletter, extensive an website, and even more than this reviewer can keep track of.

Conclusions

A few hours of classroom use have shown this reviewer that the lessons are much more inclusive than others, passing extremely quickly through a receptive stage to move directly into student self-expression.

This a remarkable achievement for a series distributed from Argentina to Yugoslavia, because every author and publisher is faced with the paradox of simultaneously personalizing content and motivation while profitably distributing its products across demographic lines.

Having said this, I would really recommend all HLT Magazine readers to have a look at this book. Take time to handle the manipulatives yourself, enjoy the experience, bottom line: they are a lot of fun!!

Reference

As of this writing, the company's website (www.english-adventure.net, Pearson Longman in conjunction with Disney) shows it is distributed in over 80 countries

Please check the Methodology and Language for Primary Teachers course at Pilgrims website.<