I’ve recently become aware of two textbooks that deal with global issues. 

1.  Planet Earth can be found at http://www.eltbooks.com

Planet Earth 2008

Planet Earth 2008 is a *fully-photocopiable* resource that marks the International Year of the Planet Earth. It has been written to raise students’ awareness of the Earth and the consequences of human activity upon it.

The text covers essential Earth science facts and important environmental issues.

The International Year of Planet Earth ･ The Earth ･ Fossils ･ Water ･ Soil･ Oceans ･ Natural hazards ･ Pollution ･ Climate change ･ Urbanisation ･ Resources ･ Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

• Perfect for Japanese High School students and above.
• Full lesson plan for each topic
• Full glossary of useful terms
• Wide range of activities
• Teacher’s notes included

･ 75 pages — fully photocopiable!
(¥ 4,000 ¥ 3,400)

2.  A colleague, Nina, suggested in her comment The Ravaging Tide: Strange Weather, Future Katrinas, and the Coming Death of America’s Coastal Cities by Mike Tidwell. She said it is challenging but not impossible for advanced students, and she highly recommends it. http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=1&pid=519448

I am creating this blog as one of the activities for the BaW 08 online workshop and to further explore a theme that colleagues and I have been using in our ESL classes–global issues. As language teachers, the themes we cover may be determined by program curriculum or the textbooks we use. Other times we can supplement or choose our own themes, and the choices are varied. Over the past few years, several colleagues and I have gotten enthusiastic feedback from students about activities and projects incorporating global issues.

We’ve found numerous reasons for including global issues in our lessons. With global issues, we can
-provide meaningful content
-integrate the four skills
-lend themselves to student centered activities
-allow for community involvement
-explore other perspectives/realities
-help students become socially responsible world citizens

A more detailed rationale for using global issues in our teaching can be found in the article “Teaching for a Better World: Global Issues and Language Education” by Kip Kates who has written and presented extensively on this topic.

There are several ESL/EFL textbooks specifically about global issues, for example Speaking Globally by William Grohe and Christine Root, Prentice Hall Regents, 1996; some textbooks have chapters on global issues. In addition, the Internet has a wealth of resources including activities made for teachers.  Although many of them are not written specifically for ESL/EFL students, they can be easily adapted. Here are just a few of those sites:

The United Nations Cyberschoolbus

U.S. Department of State, The Office of English Language Programs, Forum Electronic Journals

World Affairs CouncilTESOLers for Social Responsibility Caucus

IATEFL Global Issues SIG