FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)   Q: My students only study three hours a week. How long do the units take to complete, and if necessary, can I complete each unit in a shorter period of time? A: Units generally take six hours to complete. With such a schedule, some instructors find it preferable to teach a unit over two weeks. Others have chosen to cut some of the exercises in order to cover the essential exercises in three hours. In any unit of either the Listening and Speaking or Reading and Writing books, there are some exercises that we feel can be cut because they involve either reinforcement or extension. These are: 4A (Expanding the Topic) and 4B (Linking Listenings/Readings One and Two; any exercise in section 5), Reviewing Language; 6A (Grammar); and 7B (Fieldwork). What you cut will depend on the particular goals of your course. For example, in some courses, grammar is not emphasized.   Another point to make is that many exercises can be done as homework. Depending on the amount of homework teachers are able to give, this also can reduce the amount of class time for exercises.   Q: I love the Listening/Reading Between the Lines section. How can I make the most out of that section? A: If the exercise is new to your students, you may want to do one excerpt as a class before discussing with a partner or group. Promote a range of responses by writing all students' ideas on the chalkboard. It may be useful to demonstrate to the class the concept of "brainstorming." In working through Listening/Reading Between the Lines, students should be encouraged to think freely and understand that there is no one right answer.   Small groups or pairs can work through the exercise together. There is generally a lot of disagreement and referring back to the texts to come up with answers. The teacher can then elicit different groups'í answers, encourage students to support their point of view with details from the listening or reading selection, and compare with the class. This can lead to further discussion and analysis of the text.   Q: Sometimes I cannot find some of the vocabulary words in my dictionary. What should I do? A: Certain difficult words, especially in the advanced texts, need to be dealt with because they are essential to comprehending the authentic text. They are slang or idiomatic expressions. We recommend using the Longman American Idioms Dictionary. These words and expressions would not generally be focused on for study or testing.   Q: NorthStar really encourages my students to express their feelings, thoughts, and ideas. However, I want them to speak correctly too. What are the best ways to correct them? A: Several techniques can be used. Here are some suggestions: Take notes on individual errors during group work, and make an error correction exercise out of it. After the basic comprehension work has been done, have students discuss a listening or reading selection. Before they begin, explain that you will be stopping them to correct errors in both pronunciation and grammar. You may want to ask them to acknowledge your corrections by repeating them. (This suggestion involves more time on the part of the teacher but can furnish the extensive feedback that some students are looking for.) Have the students keep a tape journal in which they record their ideas. Some assignments that can lead to tape journals are: comments on topics discussed in class reports on individual research "first drafts" of oral presentations summaries of news articles You could also have students record pronunciation exercises as a way to individualize error correction.   For all these activities, it is important to specify how long the students should speak and whether they should read prepared comments or speak extemporaneously.   When you receive the tape journals, you can give students feedback by recording a reply right after their comments. Discuss both content and form when replying.   Example   Content: Thank you for your comments about...   I agree that... , but I'm not sure I understand what you mean by...   Another interesting question to explore is...   Form: Here are a few pronunciation points to work on...   Your use of the word... was not correct...   There is a grammatical point that you need to review...