How To Plan A Book

In this practical module, experienced and bestselling ELT author Lindsay Clandfield describes different approaches to coursebook planning. He starts by outlining different types of syllabus, then compares traditional and modern approaches, before going into more detail about what is involved in building a syllabus. The analysis is punctuated with practical tasks which guide the reader through the thinking process involved in planning a syllabus.

This book provides:

  • an examination of what elements make up a modern coursebook.
  • an exploration of syllabuses for language learning courses and how these are translated into a book.
  • an overview of trends in syllabus design right now.
  • guidance on planning individual units of study and designing a sequence of tasks or activities within them.
  • some thoughts on the books of the future.

This book forms part of the ELT Teacher 2 Writer training course. The course is designed to help you write better ELT materials, either for publication, or simply to improve the quality of your self-produced classroom materials.

Read a review here.


Lindsay Clandfield

Beginning his career on Onestopenglish and iT’s for Teachers magazine, Lindsay’s first big published work were the popular photocopiables for New English File (OUP). He was also the author of courses such as Global, Straightforward (Macmillan) and Studio (Helbling). Lindsay’s writing for teachers includes Dealing with Difficulties (co-written with Luke Prodromou) and Teaching Online (co-written with Nicky Hockly). Both are published by Delta Publishing, and Lindsay is the series editor of the Delta Development Books for Teachers Series.

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