adapting the textbook
In using international textbooks, some of the topics included can be problematic for both students and teacher. For example, when asked who John Lennon or Nelson Mandela were, my Cambodian students had absolutely no idea, let alone how to the use the information about these people in the book to practice specific rules of grammar and discourse. In my current course book, there are sections where my students are introduced to the present perfect at the early Preintermediate level, by presenting information about famous people like these, a common practice in foreign course books. For various reasons, Cambodian students have very limited knowledge of famous people and places outside of their country. Therefore, trying to introduce new language and unfamiliar content at the same time creates an unnecessary learning burden for my students. To help connect learning English to their own lives I generally localize the content of the lesson by using names of people and other information that my students are familiar with, which helps them connect learning of English with their own knowledge and interests.