Jason Renshaw did quite an interesting piece recently where he tried to replicate the typical teacher dipping into the sites of the big 4 and seeing how much they like what they come across. I’ve had no such original ideas of how to approach the subject, so just as in my teaching and my writing I instead offer hard slog and geekiness. The result this time of two hours of tedious labour is a list of all their new titles in 2011.
Most noticeable for me was only two teacher’s resource books, and both of those just lists of ideas for teachers with little training, in the Oxford Basics mould.
Should want any of the books that are on the list, more volunteers to review for TEFL.net always needed (that being the reason I made the list, as even I wouldn’t do it for fun*)
Primary
Fly High Levels 1 to 4
Secondary
Cosmic – B1, B1+ and B2
Adult
Speakout – Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate and Upper Intermediate
Future – Intro, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4, Level 5
Skills
Real Reading – Levels, 1, 2, 3 and 4
Engaging Writing 1 and Engaging Writing 2
Focus on Vocabulary 2nd Edition
EAP Now! 2nd edition
Listening Power 1, Listening Power 2, Listening Power 3
Business and ESP
Intelligent Business Advanced Coursebook
Intelligent Business Advanced Skills Book
Lifestyle Elementary
English for the Oil Industry Level 1
Technical English 4
Dictionaries
Longman Photo Dictionary 3rd Edition
Longman Study Dictionary of American English 2nd Edition
Longman Elementary Dictionary and Thesaurus
Teacher Resources
Tips for Teaching Pronunciation
Tips for Teaching Culture
Penguin Graded Readers
San Francisco Story- Beginner
William Tell – Beginner
The Fox (Volpone) – Elementary
Barack Obama – Elementary
Leaving Microsoft to Change the World – Pre-Intermediate
Noughts and Crosses – Pre-Intermediate
Stories of Survival – Pre-intermediate
The Mirror Crack’d From Side to Side – Intermediate
The Bourne Supremacy – Upper Intermediate
A Murder is Announced – Upper Intermediate
The King of Torts – Advanced
Northanger Abbey – Advanced
Penguin Active Reading
The Slave Boy of Pompeii – Beginner
The Golden Seal – Beginner
The Olympic Promise – Beginner
The Last Juror – Elementary
The Scarlet Pimpernel – Elementary
And Then There Were None – Pre-Intermediate
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Stories – Pre-Intermediate
Carmilla – Pre-Intermediate
How Green Was My Valley – Intermediate
*Or would I…?
TEFLtastic 
Publishers no doubt appreciate this “hard slog and geekiness” of yours, Alex, and I honestly think they should be paying you for your time… If it takes two hours to generate a “what’s new from this publisher” list (that teachers can actually comprehend at a glance), then why does it require a committed and unpaid blogger to do this translation work for a company that can and should be doing it on their own…?
Like you, surprised to see only two teacher resource books. Interesting to note the ‘extensive reading’ additions, but doesn’t look like there’s anything there for CLIL. Interesting data to add to the trends/patterns guesswork, I suppose.
Cheers,
– J
LikeLike
I’m shocked that Longman (apparently) doesn’t produce their own ‘what’s new’ bulletin — shame on them. Thanks for your efforts, Alex.
LikeLike