TLT - Book Review [Issue 30, 2; February 2006]

Book Review by Justine Ross

Talking about the Australian Mosaic

Book Information: Jacoba Akazawa & Kim Bradford-Watts. Tokyo: Hokuseido, 2005. pp. viii + 65. 1,500. ISBN: 4-590-01165-4.

Talking about the Australian Mosaic is a unique textbook written for university students who want to improve their English skills and learn about Australian culture and society. The use of well selected, thought-provoking topics make this textbook suitable for an intermediate or advanced university class. At this level students are able to fully engage in discussing the issues that arise and contribute to the discussion based on their knowledge about their own culture. I trialed this textbook with pre-intermediate university students who were not English majors in my Australian Culture class. This class was made up of students of mixed English language ability. The textbook was more successful with the higher-level students who were able to summarize and analyze the text. However, all students enjoyed learning about Australia and the values of its people, while also developing various skills, such as scanning for specific information, learning new vocabulary, answering reading comprehension questions, discussing ideas, and expressing opinions about Australian and Japanese cultures. Each chapter consists of an introductory task, a reading passage, reading comprehension questions, pair work, a listening passage with listening comprehension questions, and either a student-centered discussion or a writing activity. The textbook covers the following topics: nature, Aboriginal heritage, multicultural Australia, the economy, politics, education, bush tucker (food), volunteer groups, Australian families, and an explanation of Australian slang. My students showed particular interest in talking about the controversial issue of whaling, as well as, for instance, the topic of eco-tourism in Tasmania. Students were also keen to learn more about the unique The School of the Air, whose teachers provide education using radio and the latest computer technology to an area three times the size of Japan. Some of its students live 1,000 kilometers from the nearest school. Japanese students tried hard to comprehend this kind of physical isolation and the vastness of the Australian continent. Such topics and related activities allowed students to contrast what they already knew about Japan with what they had just learnt about Australia. The answers given by the students in class were well thought out and intelligent, indicating that they were genuinely interested in the textbook’s content. From this type of response, I believe that my students enjoyed learning something new and talking about things other than their university life or part-time job. The information on Australian culture is presented clearly and the accompanying classroom activities give students the opportunity to talk about their own culture and heritage, focusing on topics such as the indigenous people of Japan in contrast to Native Australian Aborigines. Debate ensued on the subject of whether it is necessary to kill whales to consume their meat and on the need to preserve endangered wildlife. Another positive observation that can be made about the textbook is that each unit can be taught out of sequence. Thus, the teacher has the freedom to develop an individual course around Talking about the Australian Mosaic based on the needs and interest of the class, rather than the pedagogic dictates of a particular textbook. The information in the bilingual Teacher’s Manual provides detailed information about each topic. Whatever your nationality, it is possible to use Talking about the Australian Mosaic with confidence. The amount of guided support given in the Teacher’s Manual is more than sufficient for any teacher, regardless of how much (or how little) they may already know about Australia. The Manual provides answers and detailed lesson plans that can be altered based on the focus of a teacher’s lesson plan, be this for a reading, writing, listening, or speaking class. It also contains photocopiable materials, suggestions for the weighting of class assessments, and URL’s that make it possible to locate additional information related to the topics covered in the textbook. Overall, my students appreciated using a textbook based on topical issues. They were able to learn something new and had the opportunity to take each activity further than a simple question and answer exercise. Additionally, authentic materials, such as statistics on Australian life expectancy rates among the indigenous and general population, radio interviews, and even a didgeridoo performance, are included. This further raised students’ interest in the topics covered in class because they felt that they were learning something meaningful. The one inconvenience that I experienced teaching with this textbook was using the class CD since its contents are not listed in the textbook or on the CD cover itself. Thus, locating the track on the CD that corresponds to any given exercise in the textbook is somewhat burdensome and time consuming. This oversight, I hope, will be corrected in a future edition. In summary, I believe that this textbook is unique because the authors provide accurate information about Australia, rather than painting a glossy picture about that country. As a result, my students felt that they were able to look honestly at their own culture in order to actively participate in meaningful crosscultural activities. I would recommend Talking about the Australian Mosaic to any teacher with an intermediate level English language class who is searching for authentic topical material on Australia.

Reviewed by Justine Ross
Date and issue of publication: Issue 30, 2; February 2006

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