Methodology & Philosophy

Guiding Principles

The principal objective of Hot English magazine is to offer something unique, different and fresh to the English-language market. One of the guiding principles of Hot English is to present language in a uniquely friendly and easy-to absorb manner, ensuring that language is taken in both naturally and without effort. Our aim is to make the magazine funny, light, entertaining, attractive and easy-to-read. The easy-to-read text ensures that it can appeal to a wide range of readers, and the topics covered attract readers of all ages, ranging from 16-year-olds to pensioners.

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Hot English deals primarily with spoken language. This ensures that only the most useful language is included that students of all levels will need for everyday communication. The focus on slang and more informal language also makes the product unique in that no other language-learning magazine or course book deals with this aspect of language.

World English

Hot English focuses on no particular form of English, being open to English from all over the English-speaking world. The voices on the CD include accents from Britain , America , Australian, Ireland , Scotland , Canada and many other countries.

Design

The main aim with regard to the design of Hot English is to make the magazine as attractive and accessible as possible. The design is also used as a tool for making language more understandable. In many cases, the illustration or photo corresponds directly to the linguistic item or expression, and is a way of reinforcing understanding. This is the case of the idioms and phrasal verb pages, which are designed to present language in a visually-stimulating manner.

Up-to-date

One of the principal advantages of a regularly-produced magazine is that it can provide up-to-date material. Hot English includes many articles of current interest, which will appeal directly to students.

Linguistic Explanations

Students have aspects of language explained to them principally through the glossary boxes. These contain easy-to-understand definitions in the target language. The definitions in turn correspond directly to the expression or phrase in context.

The Student's Pack is designed to give students an opportunity to practise the language. The Teacher's Pack gives teachers easy-to-use ready-made lessons.

Grammar

With regard to grammar, Hot English aims to provide students with easy-to-understand explanations of key grammatical points. Our guiding principle with regard to grammar is based on the notion that all grammar is fundamentally about choice. In effect, grammar is selected by the speaker based on the speaker's perception of a situation, or the speaker's decision as to how he/she wishes to communicate the intended message.

Lexical items

The selection of language expressions and lexical items is based on frequency of use. There is always a preference for an analysis of contextualised linguistic chunks, as opposed to discrete and de-contextualised items of vocabulary. This means that many of the glossary items to be defined include general expressions, or specific phrases taken out of the article and explained with their contextual meaning in mind.

Real Language

With all of the articles, the recordings contain features of spoken English (contractions, pauses, intonation, etc). However, the Conversations and Bar Chats offer students examples of real-time spoken conversations between native speakers, complete with all the usual discourse features such as interruptions, over-lapping, contractions, intonation, informal language, conversational markers and grammatical and lexical errors. The overall intention of this section is to raise students' awareness of some of these features. This in turn will help them when dealing with their own errors, or attempts by some language trainers to focus overly on grammatical and linguistic accuracy at all times.

Linguistic Fluency

Speaking is enhanced within the magazine in the Fluency Practice Section. This contains useful language drills with opportunities for students to practise question formation, pronunciation, rapid response and to revise aspects of basic grammar in fast oral activities that require immediate responses.