Introduction

        This unit has been designed for use in public middle schools, with 7^th grade beginning English students - in Taiwan.  It is for the first semester.  Please consider it as an example of what could be done, but not what must be done.  Everyone comes into this job with his or her own attitudes and beliefs, and if something doesn’t work for you it is always better to throw it out and start again.

        I will also be using my own work experience as a background for what follows.  Individual work environments will of course vary.

        Lastly, I have deliberately avoided the use of what I call teacherspeak here.  By teacherspeak I am referring to words such as assessment, multiple intelligences, constructivism, and other such abuses of the English language.  We are, after all, teachers, and communicating what we do – in plain language – is a skill essential to our profession.  This is doubly true for those of us teaching English in Taiwan, where we are often communicating what we do to those of another culture and linguistic background.