ADVANCED 1

Throughout his 45 years of experience of teaching English inthe Arab world, Francis Andrew has consistently noticedthat many ELT materials are heavily culturally weighted tosuch an extent that it is often difficult for non-western learnersof English to relate to the contents of such materials presentedto them. This inability to understand and relate to textbookswhich are biased towards western culture and traditionsseverely hampers English language learning in conservativesocieties, Notwithstanding the realisation of this drawback,,the author is cognizant of two crucial factors which are, theneed of the culture through which language is acquired,, andthat different societies relate to western culture in differentways and at various levels. Progress in English has successfullynavigated between Scylla and Charybdis in presenting theEnglish language student with texts which are not devoid ofthe culture within which the English is inevitably embedded,yet is not so thickly over-layered as to be incomprehensibleto the average learner. The author trusts that you will findProgress in English pedagogically fruitful and at the sametime culturally enriching.