Review: Off the Page

‘Off the Page: Activities to bring lessons alive and enhance learning’ (Thaine 2020) is a resource for practicing and trainee teachers. It aims to provide a range of activities which supplement and enhance coursebook-based provision – helping teachers to lift learning ‘off the page’ and increase learner engagement.

The book begins with a dense acknowledgements section which should probably have appeared as end matter.

The actual book begins with a five-page summary on the role of coursebooks in the ELT classroom. This touches upon the prevalence of coursebooks, attitudes towards coursebooks, and coursebook adaptation. The premise of this resource is more that coursebooks can be useful but need enhancing, rather than coursebooks need ditching. Therefore, the intro chapter lacks strong critique of a coursebook-driven approach and serves mainly to highlight the need for this resource.