Teacher Evaluation of "Be Your Own Chef"
Thank you for evaluating these materials. They are a 2–3 hour unit, "Be Your Own Chef" , designed for Chinese students aged 16–18 (CEFR A2–B1) who have finished junior high school in China and are now in a New Zealand foundation course before entering a NZ high school. Most live in a student hostel and need to cook simple meals for themselves. The unit teaches 10 cooking verbs through an authentic NZ recipe, with reading and speaking as the main skills. Please look at the student materials, the teacher's notes and the video, then answer the questions as if you were going to teach these learners in New Zealand . It takes about 25 minutes. Your answers are anonymous. You may answer the open questions in English or Chinese.
Part A: About you 1. How many years have you taught English?
2. What age groups do you mainly teach? (Tick all that apply.)
Primary school (about 6–12) Junior high school (about 12–15) Senior high school (about 15–18) University / adults (18+)
3. What materials do you use most often? (Tick all that apply.) School coursebooks (e.g. PEP 人教版, FLTRP 外研版) New Concept English Think Reading Explorer Cambridge English exam materials (e.g. KET, PET, FCE) Materials I make or adapt myself Other
4. What kinds of courses do you teach? (Tick all that apply.) School English (preparing for school tests, Zhongkao or Gaokao) General English proficiency courses (e.g. New Concept English, Think) Cambridge English exam preparation (e.g. KET, PET, FCE) Other
5. How similar are your students to the target learners described above? (Tick one.) very different quite different partly similar quite similar very similar
Part B: Rating the materials Scale: 1 = not at all · 2 = to a small extent · 3 = to some extent · 4 = to a large extent · 5 = to a very large extent
N/A = not relevant; ? = can't judge without teaching it
6. To what extent are the materials likely to engage the learners affectively (e.g., interest, enjoyment)?
7. To what extent are the materials likely to engage the learners cognitively (e.g. thinking, making decisions)?
8. To what extent do the materials expose learners to authentic English in use (the recipe and the video)?
9. To what extent do the materials give learners opportunities to use English for a real purpose ?
10. To what extent are the tasks an achievable challenge for A2–B1 learners?
11. To what extent are the materials likely to achieve their stated objectives ?
12. To what extent do the teacher's notes, answer key, and extra resources (e.g., Task 16 cards, lesson plan options) help a teacher prepare and teach the unit?
13. To what extent are the instructions clear enough for learners to follow without extra explanation?
14. To what extent do the layout and pictures help learners understand the tasks and the text?
15. To what extent is the video likely to help learners understand the recipe before they read it?
16. To what extent are the target verbs introduced through a meaningful context (the video and the recipe, Tasks 2–5) rather than as a word list?
17. To what extent are the 10 target verbs worth teaching to these learners (e.g. how useful and common they are)?
18. To what extent do the tasks help learners understand the meanings of the verbs, including their everyday and kitchen meanings (Tasks 9, 11)?
19. To what extent do the tasks help learners learn the forms of the verbs, both pronunciation and word building (Tasks 12, 14)?
20. To what extent do the tasks help learners use the verbs with their word partners (collocations) (Tasks 10, 16)?
21. To what extent do learners meet and use the target verbs often enough to remember them?
22. To what extent do the reading tasks reflect how people really read a recipe (Tasks 6, 8)?
23. To what extent do the reading tasks develop a range of reading skills (e.g., scanning, inferring, critical response) (Tasks 5–7)?
24. To what extent do the speaking tasks move from controlled practice to freer use in a clear sequence (Tasks 14–18)?
25. To what extent do the speaking tasks encourage meaningful communication rather than mechanical repetition (Tasks 16, 18)?
26. To what extent is there enough support (e.g., sentence frames, models) for A2–B1 learners to complete the speaking tasks (Tasks 16–18)?
27. To what extent do the speaking tasks help learners manage interaction (e.g., asking for details, checking understanding) (Tasks 16, 20)?
28. To what extent do the tasks give learners of this age enough independence (e.g. choosing their own dish, finding recipes online) (Tasks 18–19)?
29. To what extent is the presentation likely to be seen as age-appropriate rather than childish?
30. To what extent are the materials relevant to the learners' real need to cook for themselves in a New Zealand hostel?
31. To what extent are the timings realistic (core unit about 145 minutes, in 1–3 lessons)?
32. To what extent do the materials help learners become aware of New Zealand food culture as well as their own (Tasks 1, 7)?
33. Which task or tasks do you think would work best with these learners? Please give the task number(s) and explain why.
34. Which task or tasks do you think would most need changing ? Please give the task number(s) and say what you would change.
35. If you were teaching these learners, would you use the materials as they are, adapt them, add to them, or not use them ? Why?
36. If you used these materials with your own students in Beijing , what would you change?