Five Minute Activities for Young Learners

P e n n y M c K ay & J e n n i G u s e

Cambridge University Press 2007

R e v i e w e d B y M i c h a e l R at c l i f f

Five Minute Activaties for Young Learners is the most recent title in the series Cambridge
Handbooks for Language Teachers. The book contains 108 low-resource activities for
teachers of English to children aged from six to twelve years of age. These activities
are organised into themes of interest to child learners. The topics (Animals, Journeys,
Fantasy & Adventure, the World Around Us, Healthy Bodies, and About Me) reflect
the content covered in young learner English exams such as the Cambridge Young
Learner English Tests. Each activity is outlined in less than a page using an easy to
read format that, more often than not, is accompanied by useful examples, tables
and illustrations.
All four macro skills are covered in the book, using a variety of generally engaging
games and activities, most of which could be used with either small group or large
classes of learners. There is a good variety of activities and various types of learners
are well catered for with a strong emphasis on using the child’s imagination.
There is an index at the back of the book which can be used to locate activities
that relate to a particular macro skill, however the activities are only referred to by
number making it difficult to skim-read for ideas when planning lessons. A table
of contents related to vocabulary, structures and the four macro skills would have
been a helpful addition.
The back of the book also contains a two page list of web links which direct readers
to sites where they can listen to some of the songs and stories mentioned in the book.
Most links are to the British Council website which seems to have been revamped
recently making it difficult to locate the items in the book in the manner described.
The web links idea is a good one, and would be improved if the items were linked
to a website under the publishers control so that they remained valid for a longer
period of time.
In their introduction the authors note that the book is for those teaching primary
school aged children, in both ESL and EFL contexts. They have provided a rating
system to indicate levels of difficulty. One star indicates the lowest level of difficulty
while three stars the highest. However, even one star activities require the learners to

72 EA Journal Volume 24 No 1
understand simple instructions in English so there are few activities suitable for EFL
learners who may be learning for only an hour or two each week.
This is particularly true for these teaching younger EFL learners. For example, the
first two one star activities in the book both require that the students ‘write down
the names of as many animals as they know’. For many EFL learners encountering
English for the first time this will be zero. The problem is further compounded by
the complex use of meta-language, for example in activity 2.1 (A Beach Holiday) the
instructions ask the teacher to say: ‘Imagine you are going on a beach holiday, choose
eight of these people to come with you’. This is listed as a one star activity, but would
be well beyond the reach of students learning English for the first time.
The activities themselves are generally more complex than those in books like W.R
Lee’s Language Teaching Games and Contests (OUP 1990) and many could easily be
used with older learners, or even adults. This could be an asset if you are working
with students in an English speaking environment, such as an international school
or primary school ESL class. However teachers working overseas might find many of
the activities too difficult for their students.
Michael Ratcliff is the Academic Director of Greenwich College, Sydney.

Grammar for IELTS (with answers):

Self-study grammar reference and practice

D i a n a H o pk i n s a n d P a u l i n e C u l l e n

Cambridge University Press 2007

Reviewed by Nicholas Mann

As a teacher of an IELTS preparation course that is communicative, topic-based and

designed to teach skills needed to pass the test, there is often a need for materials that
address particular grammar points for either individual students or the class as a whole
which are not explicitly addressed by the course materials. Cambridge Grammar for
IELTS provides a perfect supplementary for such a course.
The book aims to provide complete coverage of the grammar needed for the IELTS
test, while familiarizing students with the style and format of the test and developing
listening skills at the same time. Its intended target is upper-intermediate students,
or in IELTS terms, candidates in the 6 and above band score.

EA Journal Volume 24 No 1 73