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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ESL BOOKS #1 RECOMMENDED ESL BOOK: Norma Shapiro and Jayme Adelson-Goldstein DICTIONARIES COLLINS / COBUILD ADVANCED LEARNER'S ENGLISH DICTIONARY John Sinclair As with the Gem, the Advanced Learner's distinguishes itself from a multitude of generic and torturously difficult dictionaries. The conjugation is above the headwords, in bold, and unabbreviated. Sentence examples and additional conjugation are marked. Sentence examples are in italics and unabbreviated. The most common words in the English language are marked according to frequency. Headwords, numbers, and side notes are in blue. Special sections for phrases are lengthy. British English versus American English is highlighted. One refreshingly different and very useful feature is highlighted verb versus noun pronunciation. Usages - "can" as a verb versus "can" as a noun - are marked with boxed numbers. Usages within usages - the verb "can" meaning ability versus the verb "can" meaning permission - are marked by boxed numbers. The editors use what they call pragmatics labels in the side notes: approval, disapproval, emphasis, feelings, formula, politeness, vagueness. The introduction says of the side notes, "The information is coded for brevity, and every effort has been made to keep the coding clear and easily memorable. This edition makes the Extra Column even easier to use." I dissent. Because the side notes are in a special column instead of buried within the definition, they are easier to FIND. But because they are coded, they are no easier to USE." Perhaps the best advantage of this dictionary is that explanations are substituted for definitions. When one of my students asks me for help with an unfamiliar word, I don't quote a dictionary definition. I simply explain what the word means. Then I use the word in a sentence. Then I provide some insights through grammar and culture. That is the same strategy other teachers use, and that is the same strategy Collins/Cobuild uses. Collins/Cobuild uses it's Bank of English, a massive collection of material compiled from British and American culture since 1990. The Bank, as well as computer software, help lexicographers 1) determine the order in which words are listed, ie, in order of frequency use 2) explain what the words mean and how they are used 3) choose the best sentence examples. Most of the 75.000 sentence examples come from the Bank, which means they are direct quotes. When a student asks a teacher for help with vocabulary, the teacher doesn't have the advantage of being able to research and quote the literature of the day. They have to use, on the spot, their own knowledge of the English language. However extensive that knowledge might be, it is no match for an on-screen corpus combined with computer technology.
For more details, see this review: http://www.antimoon.com/how/cobuild-review.htm John Sinclair, founding editor of the dictionary and
COLLINS / COBUILD ADVANCED DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN ENGLISH
The Collins-Cobuild Advanced Dictionary of American English distinguishes itself from other Collins-Cobuild dictionaries by being exploratory. The publisher wants you to spend a lot of time in this dictionary. For exploring, the user is offered a CD and 6 types of "vocabulary builders": Word Web boxes have short encyclopedia style articles. Word Partnership boxes have collocation information. Word Link boxes have examples of prefixes, suffixes, and root words. Thesaurus boxes have synonyms and antonyms. Usage boxes have information about shades of meaning, cultural references, and grammar. Vocabulary builder boxes are color coded. Numbers in the Word Partnership boxes and Thesaurus boxes match the numbers in the definitions. Picture Dictionary boxes and Word Web boxes contain color photos and color illustrations. Picture Dictionary boxes are numerous but not near as numerous as the other four boxes. There are 3000 vocabulary boxes. The feature guide does not say how many of these are picture dictionaries, nor are the picture dictionaries indexed. Many of the words in the picture dictionary boxes are almost too small to read or are buried in color. "Style" labels are spoken and written; formal and informal; offensive, vulgar, and humorous; dialect and old fashion; business, computing, medical, military, legal, journalism, literary, and trademark. "Pragmatic" labels are approval, disapproval, emphasis, feelings, formulae, politeness, and vagueness. This dictionary continues the Collins Cobuild tradition of being usage oriented. For the verb come, I found 3 definitions. Within these 3 definitions, I found 24 usages. These definitions and usages are followed by definitions for 28 phrasal verbs, each definition with its own paragraph. Within these 28 phrasal verb definitions are 7 usages for come in, 5 usages for come on, 7 usages for come out, 4 usages for come through, and 7 usages for come up. In the second definition of the verb take, I found 44 usages. For the verb give, I find 21 usages within 3 definitions. For the verb go, I found 18 usages in the first definition and 16 usages in the third definition, followed by - coincidence - 28 definitions for phrasal verbs. You get the picture. Collins-Cobuild is still infected with encoded-itis. I counted 110 grammar abbreviations and notations, followed by 13 pages of explanations for those 110 grammar terms. This is a full service dictionary with blue lettered head words, IPA pronunciation, word class, highlighted full conjugation as part of the headword, high frequency indicators, easy to find sample sentences, etc. But usage numbers within the definitions are white in blue boxes, and so small that I almost need a magnifying glass. Includes an activity guide, grammar handbook, writer's handbook, speaker's handbook, TOEFL / TOEIC list, and defining vocabulary.
From the catalog: 1150 Word Partnerships, 1500 Word Links, 750 Thesauruses, 50 Picture Dictionaries. From the founding editor-in-chief, John Sinclair: "In the choice of examples, we pay careful attention to collocation - the significant co-occurrence of models of usage. Important collocations are also highlighted in the definitions, giving help with set lexical and grammatical patterns. The Cobuild defining style is modeled on the way people explain the meaning of words to each other, and it is refreshingly direct, because the definitions are just normal sentences of English with the headword or phrase in bold face. This style is not only easier to understand than the usual way definitions are written, it also allows a lot of extra information to be presented in a natural way." Note: When this dictionary was published, the Bank of English had 645 million words. See the Collins-Cobuild website for more information about the Bank of English.
LONGMAN DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN ENGLISH
The Longman Dictionary of American English is one of the most impressive dictionaries on the shelf.
Definitions include syllables and pronunciation; word class, tense, plural and singular, countable and uncountable, transitive and intransitive, linking; formal, informal, slang, old-fashioned, offensive, taboo, etc; phrasal verbs, collocations, and idioms; synonyms and antonyms; irregular verbs, conjugation and derivatives, example sentences and cross references.
Different meanings of the same word are listed separately. Different uses of the same headword are easily distinguished by numbers and color-highlighted signposts. Uses are conveniently arranged by frequency. Color is used skillfully to distinguish common words from other headwords, phrasal verbs from idioms and collocations, boxes from definitions, and to highlight signposts inside boxes and inside definitions.
Almost every page has 2 or 3 thesaurus boxes. Many of the most common words have large thesaurus boxes. Many other boxes for idioms, grammar, usage, collocations, communication, spoken only, and topic. Again, many of these other boxes are large. Numerous, large photos and illustrations.
The Learner's Handbook includes a 14 page workbook with answer key, an 18 page writer's guide, a 13 page grammar guide, and a 16 page communication guide. The Learner's Handbook is by far the most creative, visually appealing, innovative, and well arranged user's guide I've seen in any dictionary. The Learner's Handbook also includes many illustrations and makes good use of color.
The LDAE also includes a 12 page picture dictionary and a map of North America. The map includes cities, states, regions, countries, and bodies of water.
The definitions come from the 2000 most common words, otherwise known as the Longman American Defining Vocabulary. The editors use full sentence examples from the 400 million word Longman Corpus Network of written texts and recorded conversations. They also use the Longman Learner's Corpus of 8 million words from essays and exams to identify and correct common errors, allowing ESL students to learn from each other's mistakes.
The CD includes pronunciation of all example sentences, an exercise bank (including TOEFL), videos, sounds, color, and a popup dictionary for Internet use.
There are some minor problems. As with most dictionaries, conjugation is buried in the definition. I would have used dark blue instead of light blue, red instead of dark pink, and light blue instead of light purple and light pink. "Longman pioneered the use of limited vocabulary as the best way to guarantee that definitions are clear and easy to understand." Well, more than one publisher has made that claim. A.P. Cowie When I taught several ESL college freshmen classes in MACMILLAN ENGLISH DICTIONARY FOR ADVANCED LEARNERS Michael Rundell MacMillan When I taught a dictionary class in COLLINS / COBUILD ACTIVE ENGLISH DICTIONARY [ COLLINS GEM COBUILD ENGLISH DICTIONARY FOR LEARNERS OF ENGLISH ] Michela Clari Collins, Cobuild, Harper Collins, This is a very unusual dictionary. Most dictionaries use difficult words and sentences in their definitions. This dictionary uses the most common words and very easy sentences. In most dictionaries, conjugation is buried in the definition. In this dictionary, conjugation is part of the headword. In most dictionaries, conjugation is in light italics. In this dictionary, conjugation is in bold, straight letters. In most dictionaries, conjugation is abbreviated. In this dictionary, conjugation is fully spelled. In most dictionaries, the word class - noun, verb, etc - is difficult to find. In this dictionary, the word class is easy to find. The only problem with this dictionary is that it's available only in pocket size. From the introduction: "The Collins Cobuild Active English Dictionary covers the 6000 words learners of English really need to know to help them master 85% of the English language." Note: the Gem has been replaced by the Active.
COLLINS / COBUILD NEW STUDENT'S DICTIONARY
Major features that distinguish Collins Cobuild New Student's Dictionary from the Advanced Learner's and the Active/Gem: - a boxed star to indicate 3000 high frequency words - large blue-shaded areas for usage notes - small blue-shaded areas to mark different meanings and uses of the same word - absolutely the biggest grammar section I've ever seen in any regular dictionary. Includes a large picture dictionary section. As with the Active, each page has the alphabet down the side, with the letter you're using shaded. From the introduction: "The words explained in this dictionary account for over 90% of the language that is written and spoken. That is because there is a relatively small number of words which are used over and over again, while there is a larger number of words which are not used very frequently. This dictionary concentrates on the words that occur over and over again, and the entries represent the language that students really do need to know and to use. One of the primary purposes of a learner's dictionary such as this one is to provide information about those words that the user already 'knows', as well as to provide information that the user does not know. Many words have several uses and meanings, and we do not really 'know' a word until we are familiar with its full range of meaning and grammatical behaviour." Kate Woodford The Cambridge Essential English Dictionary is exceptionally easy to use. The headwords are in color, the word class and conjugation are above the definition, the definitions use conjugation, almost every definition includes example sentences or phrases - in italics, "past participle," "present participle," and "no plural" are used to clarify conjugation, many collocations and phrasal verbs - in bold. The how-to-use section is almost free of jargon, the English alphabet is on the side of every page, the International Phonetic Alphabet is at the bottom of every page. A 16 page picture dictionary illustrating food, colors, clothes, etc, a 5 page section on the most essential phrasal verbs.
OXFORD ESSENTIAL DICTIONARY
At last Oxford gives us a user oriented dictionary instead of a scholar oriented dictionary! A key represents one of the 2000 keywords. Arrows point to synomyms, antonyms, and related words. A magifying glass marks shaded speaking, pronunication, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and culture boxes. Conjugation is spelled out and not buried. Help with British / American usage, plurals, idioms, and phrasal verbs. Many photos and illustrations. 16 color picture dictionary. Study pages for prepositions, numbers, times, dates, writing letters and email, filing in forms, etc. Keyword index. Geographic index with pronuciation. CD.
From the publisher: "2000 keywords show you the most imporant words to learn. 500 notes on spelling, grammar, and speaking mean you avoid mistakes. 1100 synonyms and opposites help you learn more words. 120 pronunciation boxes. 19,000 British and American words explained in easy language. 13,000 examples help you use words correctly. 400 illustrations and photos explain difficult words. 16 color pages include topics such as food and drink, jobs and clothes. 16 study pages cover skills such as telephoning. 16 study pages cover skills such as telephoning, letter writing, and everyday conversation." BEGINNER'S DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN ENGLISH USAGE P.H. Collin, Mariam Lowi, and Carol Weiland McGraw-Hill Many dictionaries claim to contain beginner vocabulary, but include far too many words, as well as many words that are well into the intermediate and even advanced level. This dictionary contains a truly beginner's vocabulary, in volume and selection.
LONGMAN DICTIONARY OF CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH LONGMAN EXAM DICTIONARY OXFORD ESL DICTIONARY OXFORD PRIMARY DICTIONARY reviews soon PICTURE DICTIONARIES
WORD BY WORD PICTURE DICTIONARY Steven Molinsky and Bill Bliss Longman, Pearson Education, Prentice Hall
With the 2th edition, the Word by Word Picture Dictionary has been completely revised and greatly improved. The vocabulary has been significantly expanded. The presentation is much better organized. The illustrations are much clearer. The colors are much more complimentary of each other. Most of the illustrations involving people are activity oriented with maximun effect. The table of contents has 17 categories and 140 subcategories. The scope and sequence / standards correlation lists over 500 skills. The thematic index lists over 200 themes. The glossary contains all the 4000 everyday vocabulary words in the book. So you shouldn't have any trouble finding the word you need or understanding what to do with it. The 181 verbs illustrated in the book are also explained through 4 forms of conjugation: act/acted, assemble/assembled, chop/chopped, apply/applied. In addition, 57 irregular verbs are conjugated. Many chapters are a series of 2 inch squares, completely eliminating clutter. Especially welcome are chapters on audio/visual equipment, telephones and cameras, and computer parts. Pictures in the chapter on forms of identification are much larger and easier to recognize than in other picture dictionaries. Ever tried to explain to ESL students the difference between an article, a report, an essay, and an editorial; the difference between a note, a letter, and a memo? If so, you'll find the chapter on literature/writing useful. The only major flaw is the cover. The illustrations on the cover are faded, forcing buyers to squint to get a visual hint of what's in the book. From the letter to teachers: "The Word by Word Picture Dictionary is the centerpiece of the complete Word by Word Vocabulary Development Program, which offers a wide selection of print and media support materials for instruction at all levels. A unique choice of workbooks at Beginning and Intermediate levels offers flexible options to meet students' needs. Vocabulary Workbooks feature motivating vocabulary, grammar, and listening practice, and standards based activities and reading tied to national, state, and local curriculum frameworks. A Literacy Workbook is also available. The Teachers Guide and Lesson Planner with CD ROM includes lesson planning suggestions, community tasks, Internet weblinks, and reproducible, masters to save teachers hours of lesson preparation. A Handbook of Vocabulary Teaching Strategies is included in the Teacher's Guide. The Audio Program includes all words and conversations for interactive practice and - as bonus material - an expanded selection of WordSongs for entertaining musical practice with the vocabulary. Additional ancillary materials include Color Transparencies, Vocabulary Game Cards, a Testing Program, and ExamView CD Rom. Bilingual editions are also available."
The authors have written several other excellent ESL books, including the Word by Word Primary Phonics Picture Dictionary recommended and reviewed on this site. If you see their names on a book cover, you'll probably find quality work inside.
HEINLE PICTURE DICTIONARY Thomson/Heinle
Perhaps the most important feature of the Heinle Picture Dictionary is what they call word partnerships, or collocations: a part time job, a well-paid job, a blue-collar job, a white-collar job; look for a job, apply for a job, get a job, lose a job; angry about, confused about, embarrassed about, happy about; afraid of, proud of, tired of; frustrated by, confused by. Another important feature is the distinction between countable / uncountable, a / an / the, and singular / plural: a shopping basket versus an aisle, popcorn versus pretzels; an email message versus a computer program versus the Internet versus software; money versus a money order. This technique can also help with verbs / nouns: withdraw versus a withdrawal. Each chapter has a Words in Context box with vocabulary highlighted. From the Words in Context box of the Food to Go chapter: Do you eat at the food court? Health experts have some advice for you. Don't order a hot dog and french fries. Order a salad instead. Don't have a hamburger. Have beans and rice instead. And finally, don't order coffee or soda. Have water or juice. The difference between the city/an urban area, the suburbs, a small town, and the country/a rural area is much clearer than in other picture dictionaries. Documents are realistically illustrated. The chapter on fabrics and patterns gives examples of what type of clothes are made of what type of material. Desert, rain forest, grassland, woodland, polar, and sea have separate and well illustrated chapters. Indoor, outdoor, and winter sports have their own chapters. The Explore, Rule, Invent chapter has a historical timeline. The chapter on factory work displays industrial danger symbols prominently on the page. Cat lovers, check out one of the chapters on prepositions. Each word in the 4000 word index includes International Phonetic Alphabet spelling. Verbs in the index are highlighted. Accessories include a lesson planner with over 340 lessons marked according to 3 vocabulary levels. The lesson planner includes an activity CD-ROM. So many workbooks are perfunctory. But the Heinle Picture Dictionary Workbook includes a variety of exercises and a variety of skills. Norma Shapiro and Jayme Adelson-Goldstein One of my specialties is vocabulary. I have bought half the visual dictionaries I have found, and the other half are on my to-buy list. I have found that even bilingual people with excellent articulation skills and few pronunciation problems nevertheless suffer from a limited vocabulary, especially for daily activity. So I recommend ESL students and teachers start with a picture dictionary.
Also available: dictionary cassettes, dictionary audio CDs, interactive CD-ROM, overhead transparencies, focused listening cassettes, focused listening CDs, teachers book, workbooks, classic classroom activities. Sorry, can't comment on the accessories. Oxford has not put me on their list. See my review of the Heinle Picture Dictionary above.
LONGMAN PHOTO DICTIONARY Marilyn, Rosenthal and Daniel Freeman Longman, Pearson Education The Longman Photo Dictionary is the best basic ESL everyday vocabulary book I've found. It also has the advantage of photos, which are more vivid than the drawings many of the other visual dictionaries use. THE BASIC Margot Gramer Whereas the Oxford Picture Dictionary borders encyclopedic at 3,700 words, the Basic Oxford Picture Dictionary has 1200 of the most common everyday words. The font is straight and large, layout is simple and uncluttered, and the illustrations are easy to understand. Dorothy Kauffman, Gary Apple The content areas being social studies, history, science, and math. As with the Oxford Basic Picture Dictionary, the design is simple and uncluttered. On the left page are the words, accompanied by individual, small but colorful illustrations. On the right page is a large, full illustration containing all the illustrations from the left page. In other words, the right page is the left page in context. Rather like understanding where the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle go by looking at the box cover. A user friendly and effective strategy. EXPRESS PICTURE DICTIONARY FOR YOUNG LEARNERS Elizabeth Gray Express Publishing The Express Picture Dictionary for Young Learners uses the same format as the Oxford Picture Dictionary for the Content Areas: a large illustration containing vocabulary in situation context, small illustrations accompanied by words, the small illustrations all taken from the large illustration. Each chapter is a two page spread, with the small illustrations and the words wrapped around the large illustration, horseshoe shape. With the Oxford Picture Dictionary for the Content Areas, the large illustration is an entire page opposite the page for the small illustrations and the words. With the Express Picture Dictionary for Young Learners, the large illustrations are top and center. This means the book's binding goes through the middle of the large illustrations. It's a bit awkward, but it works. Most of the illustrations are action oriented. The illustrations in many visual dictionaries are loose and blurry. These illustrations are tight and clear. More verbs than the average visual dictionary. Plenty of rhymes. Several chapters have subcategories, always an effective strategy with vocabulary books. The activity book is large, colorful, inviting, and fun. Both the picture dictionary and the activity book have a vocabulary index. The vocabulary index for the picture dictionary includes the International Phonetic Alphabet pronunciation for each word. WORD BY WORD BASIC PICTURE DICTIONARY Steven Molinsky and Bill Bliss Longman, Pearson Education NEW E.C. Parnwell I like the original better, but the New Oxford Picture Dictionary is a good resource and is on my list of recommended visual dictionaries.
PRE-SCHOOL PICTURE WORD BOOKS MY BIG BOOK SERIES Dreamland Publications The first series is 10 books, the second is 15. Large, colorful pictures. Exceptionally vivid. ENRICH YOUR GENERAL KNOWLEDGE Dreamland Publications One sentence definitions for lower levels, paragraphs and tables for advanced levels. ENGLISH FOR EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES: A PICTURE PROCESS DICTIONARY New Readers Press ENGLISH FOR WORK ACTIVITIES: A PICTURE PROCESS DICTIONARY Lynn Stafford-Yilmaz and New Readers Press THE ENGLISH YOU NEED FOR BUSINESS: A PICTURE PROCESS DICTIONARY Mark Cunningham and Asia-Pacific Press THE ENGLISH YOU NEED FOR THE OFFICE: A PICTURE PROCESS DICTIONARY Susan Dean and Asia-Pacific Press
ENGLISH EVERY DAY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE Lawrence Zwier Asia-Pacific Press Impressive! An impressive concept and an impressive presentation. The vocabulary is simple and accurate. The layout is uncluttered. The process is supplemented by conversation. The ultimate step by step, everyday activity, verb based, ESL vocabulary book. This series is in my top 5 list of highly recommended ESL books.
INTEGRATED SKILLS
AMERICAN HEADWAY Liz Soars, John Soars Oxford University
I used American Headway extensively in Korea. If I had to sum up this textbook in one word, it would be variety. Variety of topics, people, places, events. A variety of accents, too, though some of them sound fake. If I had to sum up this textbook with another word, it would be interesting. Interesting topics, people, places, events. You won't find a lot of famous people, mostly "ordinary" people doing things your students do, will do, or want to do. The photos of people are very appealing but aren't "glamour shots." The stories, exercises, and skills blend smoothly. There's a lot of grammar, but it's not difficult, tedious, or excessive, and it's well integrated into the lessons. There's a massive amount of material in these books, and I seldom decided to opt out of an exercise because it was irrelevant, redundant, or unuseful. Depending on the level of the students and the speed of the course, and how much supplement you use, you could teach this series for two or three years. I taught one book to lower intermediate middle schoolers, with little supplement, for six months. Either the authors are prolific geniuses, or they worked on this book for a long time, or they assembled the largest editorial team in ESL publishing history.
From the publisher: "Liz and John Soars are highly experienced teachers and teacher-trainers, well-known for their contributions to EFL teaching and methodology. John was Director of Studies at International House London, where Liz was Director of Teacher Training. She was also co-chief examiner for the Cambridge/RSA DELTA examination for over five years. They are best known for the creation of the Headway series for adult learners of English. Written and developed over the last fifteen years [yes, that's a long time], the series has won international acclaim and helped redefine standards for English language coursebooks."
EXPLORING ENGLISH Tim Harris, Allan Rowe Longman
Think of Exploring English as a hilarious but extremely effective grammar boot camp. I switched to this series in Korea when I discovered that my middle school students needed remedial training. If you follow the textbook exercise by exercise, skills by skill, you will have no difficulty whatsoever recognizing whether they grasp the material and monitoring their progress. What distinguishes Exploring English from other grammar oriented, integrated skills ESL textbooks is a set of arch stereotypical cartoon characters, each with distinct and vivid personalities, lifestyles, and voices. These characters are so memorable, your students will probably be able to name and describe several of them by the end of the series. The humor of the cartoons distracts the students from the drudgery of repetitive grammar. The activity of the cartoon characters is also used to introduce vocabulary effectively.
SYNERGY Adrian Tennant, Clyde Fowle, Simon Brewster, Paul Davies, Mickey Rogers Macmillan
The authors have struck an ideal balance between comprehensiveness, brevity, and variety. No small accomplishment. The content is real world and the design is user friendly and visually appealing. Lots of visual aids. The language summary, which I call the grammar guide, is heavy on tables and light on terminology. Even a built in workbook.
PRONUNCIATION / PHONICS CLEAR SPEECH FROM THE START Judy Gilbert Now, I've seen some pretty innovative approaches to illustrating pronunciation. But this takes the prize so far. From the author's letter to teachers: "For years, teachers have been asking me to write a version of my intermediate level book, Clear Speech, that would be usable for beginners. They said that it would make more sense to help students with pronunciation early, rather than wait until they have developed habits that are hard to overcome. Also, teachers often found that their beginning students became discouraged when people didn't understand what they were saying, and of course, a discouraged student is harder to teach. Teachers who were trying to help their beginning students with pronunciation expressed frustration with the limited results they were getting from traditional methods of drilling minimal pair (e.g., ship/sheep) or asking students to "sound out" the letters in print. [ e.g. "Do you want to go to the store? / Doo yoo wahnt too goh too thuh stor?" ] They were asking for a more effective approach. All of this made sense to me. But the problems was that I just couldn't think of an approach that would work. For one thing, beginners simply don't have enough vocabulary to understand explanations. And with so much else to learn, there isn't much class time for pronunciation. One thing was clear to me: A really useful book had to be radically different from any other in the field, including my own intermediate level book." The author has succeeded beyond everyone's expectations. SPEAKING CLEARLY Pamela Rogerson, Judy Gilbert A systematic and pretty thorough presentation of spoken English. Nuts-n-bolts, yet fairly non-technical: syllables, stress, stress patterns, pitch change, syllable length, syllable structure, vowel quality, word stress, content words, structure words, rhythm, sentence structure, reductions, contractions, verb auxiliaries, disappearing syllables, consonant clusters, linking - consonant-to-vowel, linking - vowel to vowel, sentence focus, correcting information, checking information, asking for repetition, thought groups, pitch range, pitch curves, voicing, voicing and syllable length, stops and continuants, aspiration (puff of air - p,t,k.) consonant sound contrasts, vowel sound contrasts listening difficulties, listening accuracy, comprehension, getting key information, taking notes, following structure, keeping track From the introduction: "It is not necessary to pronounce every sound perfectly to be understood - only a few parts of each sentence are really important, but these parts are essential. The native speaker depends on hearing these parts clearly, therefore you need to know which parts of a sentence must be clear and how to make them clear." PRONUNCIATION FOR ADVANCED LEARNERS OF ENGLISH David Brazil From the introduction: "It is emphasized that the speakers you will hear will be participants involved in some communicative event, that is to say, they will be saying something that they think is of interest or importance to someone else. They will not be providing model sentences or lists of words for you to imitate. And your own aim will be to take part as effectively as you can in similar events in which you have your own ideas to communicate. You will not be satisfied with simply demonstrating that you have mastered an awkward vowel sound or a difficult sequence of consonant sounds. If the course is to be useful, at your level of competence, the emphasis must necessarily be upon communicative use rather than upon demonstration. It is for this last reason that the course differs in the way it is organized from most others that are concerned with pronunciation. It makes its first objective an increased awareness of how the intonation system of English is used. This can only be done if we assume that language is being used to communicate, for intonation is the means whereby we organize our language into patterns that fit the present communicative need. Part 1 of the first unit is concerned, therefore, with how speech is presented by the speaker, not as separate words, but as tone units. Tone units are the building blocks out of which all spoken communication is constructed. Thereafter, work in intonation is introduced unit by unit alongside work on individual on individual 'sounds' (the vowel and consonant 'segments' of traditional pronunciation practice). There is one very straightforward reason for doing this: in the speech of advanced learners, departures from what we regard as desirable are said to be more often matters of intonation than matters of how particular sounds are made. There is more to it than this, however. If we want to focus upon the individual 'sounds' of a language, and to do so usefully, we must take account of what happens to them when the language is used to communicate. This really means being aware of how such sounds are affected by the intonational shape of the stretch of speech they occur in. And this in turn means focusing on the tone units that we find in any sample of used language. Intonation is not, on the whole, popular among language teachers or learners. By giving it so central a place in the course, we may seem to making things harder rather than easier. Intonation has a reputation for being difficult and 'slippery.' It is true that people tend easily to lose confidence in their ability to get to grips with it. The truth may well be, however, that this is precisely because it has not been given a very prominent place in most teaching procedures. Through being left out, it has acquired the kind of mystery that so often surrounds things that we think are beyond our understanding. And mystification about something so fundamental to spoken communication as intonation is clearly not a good thing! Being aware that there is a whole area of the language you know next to nothing about hardly makes for self-confidence. This is particularly true when your told - as you probably have been told at some time - that intonation is immensely important! And building self-confidence is central to the aims of this cour." Also from the introduction: "The course is intended to be worked through one unit at a time and in the given order. This is because each unit provides information that you will need in later units.'' The conversations sound realistic and unrehearsed. At first glance, the illustrative technique makes the illustrations look cluttered. But the system doesn't take long to learn and is easy to use. ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION IN USE Mark Hancock Southern British accent. I don't know why so many bookstores carry Grammar in Use and Vocabulary in Use but not Pronunciation in Use, since it's just as good or better. And I would consider pronunciation more important than grammar or vocabulary. There's a lot of fun included with the instruction. Try this: "Where are the pears?" "Bears?!!! Did you say bears?" "No, pears. You know, fruit!" "Oh, I see. Pears with a P! They're in the pack." "What? In the back of the truck?" "No, in the pack. You know, with a P" "Oh, I see. Pack with a P! Would you like one?" "No, I'll have a peach, please." "A beach?" Or this: "There was a young waiter named Dwight, Who didn't like being polite. If you asked him for food, He was terrible rude, and invited you out for a fight." From the author about minimum pairs: "The units in Section A are not presented as minimal pairs. Vowels are paired according to their spelling, not their potential for being confused with one another. Consonants are paired mainly where they share the same place of articulation. The units were not organized as minimal pairs for two reasons: - Any sound can form a minimal pair with a number of other sounds, not just one. Organising units according to minimal pairs would therefore lead to a huge number of units and a lot of duplication. - Many minimal pairs will be redundant for any given learner, so learners need to be selective. Potentially confusing minimal pairs are gathered together in Section D4, Sound Pairs. Learners are encouraged to select from these according to their own needs." The appendix includes a list of useful and dispensable units for 26 languages For extensive minimum pair work, see Pronunciation Contrasts in English, by Don and Alleen Nilsen, Waveland Press. PRONUNCIATION CONTRASTS IN ENGLISH Don Nilsen, Alleen Pace Nilsen Waveland Press Pronunciation Contrasts in English outclasses everything on the shelf. 32 vowel contrasts, 42 consonant contrasts, and far more examples than any book I've seen. A page is devoted to each contrast. Each contrast is explained with IPA, a sound production chart, mouth diagrams, five contextual sentences, five semantic sentences, dozens of initial, medial, and final examples, and a list of languages. The minimal pairs section is followed by a multiple contrasts section. Includes a glossary, a language index, and various vowel and consonant charts. Vowel contrasts: beat/bit beat/bait beat/bet bit/bait bit/bet bit/bat bit/but bait/bet bait/bat bait/but bait/boat bet/bat bet/but pet/pot bat/but cat/cot bat/bite cut/cot buck/book but/boat but/bought pot/put cot/coat cot/caught dot/doubt ball/boil pull/pool could/code bowl/boil bout/bite bough/boy boy/buy Consonant contrasts: Mac/Wac ham/hang pack/back pat/fat bad/dad whack/hack Wac/whack west/vest Wac/rack wag/gag fat/vat fane/thane fame/shame fat/sat fat/hat vat/bat vat/that veal/zeal thank/tank thank/shank thank/sank thy/thigh than/Dan then/Zen knack/lack fan/fang tack/pack tab/dab tap/chap dash/rash dipper/zipper dab/jab lack/rack sack/shack seal/zeal chatter/shatter jack/shack jest/zest jest/chest jam/yam bag/bang gap/cap Vowel sound production chart: sound vertical position horizontal position lip rounding diphthongization tenseness Consonant sound production chart: sound voicing duration passage articulator point of articulation Sample contextual sentence: "The PILL made her PALE." - page 4 Sample semantic sentence: "Take the PILL/PAIL with water." - page 4 Sample multiple contrasts: front vowels: bead bid bayed bed bad; bean bin bane Ben ban back vowels: stewed stood stud stowed diphthongs: bead bade booed bode bide bowed buoyed lax vowels: tick tech tack tuck tock took talk Other contrasts clusters with [ l ] and [ r ]: bead bleed breed; bed bled bread [ w ] contrasted with [ kw ] and [ kl ]: wick quick click; wean queen clean [ st ] contrasted with [ zd ]: raced raised; priced prized; ceased seized; cost caused; east eased Other clusters: ending with [ d ], beginning with [ l ], beginning with [ s ], ending with [ s ], ending with [ t ], beginning with [ m ] or [ n ], ending with [ z ] Sample sound production chart - page 17: bat - low front unrounded not diphthongized lax bite - low, becoming high central, becoming front unrounded greatly diphthongized tense From the introduction: "It is the hope of the authors that, through this book, teachers of English to speakers of other languages can at last find freedom from the drudgery of locating, codifying, and recording lists of minimal pairs, and that they may expect instead to be able to devote more of their future efforts to their main endeavor: the teaching of English." The authors have succeeded beyond their expectations.
I kept saying to my Saudi students, "Why would I be angry?" until I finally understood they meant, "Are you hungry?" I said to a beautiful young woman in "Box? What are you talking about?" I had just left an Internet caf?with this student, so I thought, "Maybe he's trying to say Windows, but isn't familiar with computer terminology." But this was a vocabulary student, and we had covered basic computer terminology the previous semester. When I heard him say "textbooks," I understood. No, he wasn't saying 'books.' He was TRYING to say 'books.' What he was saying was 'box.' The vocabulary was correct, the pronunciation was wrong. What good is correct vocabulary without correct pronunciation? So I pulled out Pronunciation Contrasts and turned to page 22: "knock/nook rock/rook crock/crook tock/took pot/put sot/soot BOXS / BOOKS" Then I said, "When you're in my speaking class, we're going to use this book." I guess I should have said, "This is one of the BOOKS we'll use." For those who aren't convinced, try the worst case scenario: You're visiting one of your friends in It's funny, but it's not funny. Buy the book. Master the distinctions.
ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION ILLUSTRATED John Trim, drawings by Peter Kneebone Cambridge
PRONUNCATION PLUS Martin Hewings, Sharon Goldstein PRONUNCIATION TASKS Martin Hewings Plus is American accent, Tasks is British. Essentially the same material. BETTER ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION J.D. O'Conner SHEEP OR SHIP? Ann Baker You will find these two books in many classrooms. And for good reason. They systematically and vividly present sound distinctions. INTENSIVE CONSONANT PRONUNCIATION PRACTICE Joan Morley Intensive Consonant Pronunciation Practice is more than worth the money. The material is extensive, systematic, well categorized, and fairly easy to understand, and includes lots of exercise and practice. This is a thick book and a lot of work went into it. There's enough content here for many, many lessons. BASICS IN PRONUNCIATION Addison Wesley HEADWAY PRONUNCIATION SERIES Sarah Cunningham and Peter Moor UP AND AWAY IN PHONICS SERIES Terence Crowther These two series introduce pronunciation, progressively present the most important English sound distinctions, and address pronunciation problems. WORKING WITH SOUNDS Zehra Shervani, Neer Taneja Sterling Press Private Limited Uses a branch strategy: lines go from root words to conjugation. WORD BY WORD PRIMARY PHONICS PICTURE DICTIONARY Steven Molinsky and Bill Bliss Longman, Pearson Education This is one of the most amazing English language learning books ever published. Molinsky and Bliss are authors of another book on my highly recommended list: The Word by Word Picture Dictionary, a close second to the Oxford Picture Dictionary. The artists are even more talented than the authors. The illustrations are vivid, easy to understand, and closely match the words. When I was in EFL PHONICS Eun Hai E Future
Very effectively combines, reenforces, and recycles words from chapter to chapter and from book to book with sentences, stories, and color illustrations. Attacks phonics from every direction with a variety of challenging exercises.
The stories are especially useful. Each story is a two page spread. Vivid color illustrations use 2/3 of the story pages. The stories are especially useful for question and answer. The stories also introduce new words with the same sounds covered in previous chapters, and recycle words used in previous books. Students at this age are not familiar with paragraphs, so each line is one long sentence or two short sentences. Try this story from the double letter vowel book: "Ray makes a train and a rail with clay. They are his toys. He likes to play with them. But his dad wants to go fishing. Ray and his dad go out to the sea in their green boat. Ray helps his dad and Dad says, 'Good boy!' There is a gray cloud in the sky. Suddenly it starts to rain. Dad puts his coat on Ray. Ray is in his bed. He has a cold. Dad gives him a nice pillow and points to the window. Ray looks out of the window. The white snow is on the tree. And their dog wags its tail under the tree. Mom comes in with a tray. There is some hot tea and toast on the tray. Mom and Dad pray for Ray by his bed." Train, rail, rain, tail, clay, play, gray, tray, pray; sea, green, tree, tea; pillow, window, snow, boat, coat, toast; toy, boy, point; look; and cloud are all used in previous chapters. Red, bed, dog, hot, and cup are used in the single letter vowel book. Ray, make, they, go, cold, out, good, start, and put rhyme with words used in the previous chapters. Make, they, and put introduce different spellings. Yellow is not used in the story but is covered in a previous chapter. In the first illustration, the dad's raincoat and hat are vivid yellow. In the second illustration, the wall and floor are yellow, as is Ray's shirt. In the first illustration, a green mountain is on the horizon. Raincoat is a combination of two words used in the story and both words are covered in a previous chapter. In the second illustration, the dad's pants and shirt are vivid green. In the second illustration, large curtains are vivid red. In the first illustration, the dad's fishing pole is red. In the second illustration, the window seal is red. Blue is not used in the story but rhymes with words used in previous chapters and has a different double letter vowel spelling. Blue also contains a double letter consonant, bl, used in a previous book. Half of the first illustration is a blue sea. A vivid blue and red checkered quilt is prominent in the second illustration. In the first illustration, the boat is solid green. Brown is not used in the story but is used in a previous chapter. In the second illustration, the dog is brown and Ray's hair is brown, as is part of the tree. Arm is used in a previous chapter. In the second illustration, the dad's arm is stretched to the window. The dad is pointing outside. The tree, the snow, the dog, and the dog's tail are outside. Out rhymes with words used in a previous chapter and has the same vowel spelling. Outside combines a new word with a word used in the story. In the first illustration, a large gray cloud is on the horizon. In the second illustration, part of the tree is gray. White is used in the double letter consonant book. Whisker is used in the double letter consonant book. In the second illustration, the dad has whiskers. Several items in both illustrations are pink. Pink is used in the double letter consonant book. Fish is used in the double letter consonant book. In the story, a suffix is added to fish. Drink and slice are used in the double letter consonant book. Ray is going to drink the tea and eat a slice of toast. Eat rhymes with meat. Meat is used in a previous chapter. Ray's name is used 7 times in this story. Tree, tray, window, and out are used twice. The ir sound is covered in a previous chapter. Circus is not used in that chapter, but in one of the other stories, circus is used 3 times.
LADYBIRD PHONICS SERIES An audio series using fun and funny stories, phonemics, rhyme, and alliteration to teach sounds, with an emphasis on verbs. The accompanying books use illustrations to tell the stories, and colors to highlight the sounds.
BARRON'S RHYMING DICTIONARY Sue Graves and Brian Moses Collins In addition to a good selection of words and a good layout, this book offers a lot of fun. PRIMARY PRONUNCIATION BOX Caroline Nixon, Michael Tomlinson Phonics manual for elementary teachers. Instructions and guidelines for teachers, photocopiable worksheets, and a CD. Plenty of insights in the introduction. Enough games to keep them busy, enough variety to keep them interested, enough challenge to advance them, enough curriculum to qualify them. BEGINNER START WITH ENGLISH SERIES D.G. Howe Many a series loses progressive structure and user friendliness after the first book. This series is consistent. STEPS TO ENGLISH Doris Kernan McGraw-Hill BASIC VOCABULARY IN USE Michael McCarthy, and Felicity O'Dell, with Ellen Shaw Examples of usage for 1200 of the most common English vocabulary. Each chapter is two pages, one page for explanations and examples, another for exercises. Most sentences are simple. A sentence is offered for each usage of the same word. Illustrations are tiny, but numerous and easy to understand. Simple design, easy to use. My first choice for advanced beginners. SIDE BY SIDE Steven Molinsky and Bill Bliss Longman Another easy, visual approach to learning English from the authors of the Word by Word Picture Dictionary and the Word by Word Primary Phonics Picture Dictionary. LOOK, LISTEN, AND LEARN - BOOK ONE L.G. Alexander Longman NEW CONCEPT ENGLISH - FIRST THINGS FIRST L.G. Alexander Longman Same publisher, same author, similar concept. CONVERSATION / LISTENING ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS FOR CONVERSATION Asia-Pacific Press Holdings Ltd Basic conversation strategies for common situations. The language in this book is simple and direct. The layout is user friendly. Each chapter has 2-5 cartoons, with blurbs, to illustrate the conversations. Most chapters have side boxes for additional expressions. Includes practice pages, review chapters, answer key, and CD. Below is the table of contents and a sample chapter, minus the graphics. The sample chapter is entitled Making and Agreeing to Requests. Notice the name Lawrence Zwier. He is the author of the picture process series reviewed on the picture dictionary page of this website, so expect the same level of quality. Also notice the name Jack Richards, who is the linguistic adviser for this book. See his listening books below. Table of Contents: Getting someone's attention, Getting someone and starting a conversation, Introducing and identifying yourself, Introducing and identifying someone else, Making small talk, Asking about someone's background, Leading into a topic, Avoiding a topic, Ending a conversation, Giving an opinion, Agreeing with an opinion, Disagreeing with an opinion, Avoiding agreement or disagreement, Saying what you like or dislike, Talking about past events, Talking about plans and schedules, Talking about what might happen, Arranging to get together with someone, Making, accepting, and declining invitations, Asking about time, Asking for and giving directions, Giving and accepting compliments, Making and accepting apologies, Making and agreeing to requests, Asking for, giving, and not giving permission, Thanking someone and responding to thanks, Checking if someone understands you, Pointing out a misunderstanding, Asking for repetition, Asking for a clearer explanation, Describing a person's appearance, Describing an object's appearance, Describing a place, Describing health and illness, Describing medicine or treatment, Answering the telephone and asking for someone on the telephone, Leaving and taking a telephone, Leaving and taking a telephone message, Dealing with a wrong number, Ending a telephone conversation Sample chapter from Essentional Functions for Conversation: 1. Make a request: A. Use can, could, or would: Can you mail these letters for me, please? Could you drop these off at the post office? Would you pass me those envelopes, please? A. Use would you mind + verb + ing: Would you mind mailing these letters for me, please? 2. Make a request more polite by: A. Making it less direct: I wonder if you could mail these letters? Would you be able to mail these letters? Would it be possible for you to mail these letters? B. Apologizing first, then making the request: Sorry to bother you, but could you take these to the post office? Sorry, but could you mail these for me? I hate to trouble you, but would you be able to drop these in the mail? 3. Agree to a request: Use the following expressions to agree to a request: (informal) Sure. OK. No problem. (more formal) Certainly. I'd be happy to. Yes, of course. Other expressions: If you don't mind, could you ... If it's not too much trouble, could you ... I'd really appreciate it if you could ... Could I ask you a favor? Could you ...? Would it be possible for you to ...? Do you think you could ...? Other expressions: Absolutely. I'd be delighted. My pleasure. You've got it. (informal) Cartoon conversations: "Can you tell me the answer to this question, please?" "Could you help me with this program?" "Would you mind giving me the answer?" "I wonder if you could give me the answer to this question?" "I'd be happy to." "I hate to trouble you, but could you help me with this program? No problem." "Would it be possible for you to give me the answer?" "Yes, of course."
IMPACT WORDS AND PHRASES: 1000 Words and Phrases You Need to Speak English Contributing authors: Kenny Harsch, Elizabeth Lange, Sonia Millett, Angela Blackwell, Bev Kusuya, Tim Murphey Development editors: Anne McGannon, Michael Rost Longman In a word, Impact Words and Phrases is dynamite! The cover says, "An alternative to a conventional course." Indeed. These 1000 authentic, simple, easy to learn, colloquial expressions will empower your students. 42 units, 3 chapters per unit, 10 basic phrases and 10 impact phrases per chapter. The basic phrases are ones your students probably already know, the impact phrases are the ones they should try to learn. Each chapter includes a short cartoon dialog, a brief writing exercise, and a brief discussion exercise. Each phrase is used in a sentence. All the impact phrases are used again as part of the cartoon conversation. The key word index includes the complete sentence. In the appendix, each chapter has a match-the-sentences self test, ie, match the basic phrase with the impact phrase. The appendix also includes 14 learning tips mini chapters full of very effective strategies, applying them to three units. Each learning tips mini chapter is accompanied by a cartoon. Each chapter has a page reference for the corresponding self test. The pronunciation on the audio is natural. "He and I get along well" is a little too formal. "We get along well" is much more common. A lot of people still say "I'm so ticked off," but "I'm really bummed out" is pretty close to archaic. I've never heard anybody say, "I'm very happy about the trip." Kinda reminds me of "I have money for the journey." I've never heard a native speaker say "I have money for the journey," but I've heard a lot of ESLers say it, and they probably got it from a bad book. But these are the exception. The vast majority of phrases in Impact Words and Phrases are still in common use among native speakers. The format is user friendly, but there are a couple of major problems with the design. The picture mosaics are too mod and the color use is an overdose. For teachers using the Impact course book, the table of contents includes a chapter correlation with the same color coded symbols that are used for the units. A sample chapter and a sample learning tips mini chapter are below, minus the graphics. The next time I teach conversation, I'm using Impact Words and Phrases, period. Sample chapter: basic: She's my friend. impact: She's a friend of mine. basic: He's my closest friend. impact: He's my best friend. basic: She's an acquaintance. impact: She's just someone I know. basic: He's a classmate. impact: He's a guy in my class. basic: She's a co-worker. impact: She's a woman I work with. basic: She's fun. impact: She's fun to be with. basic: He and I like each other. impact: He and I get along well. basic: She and I are similar. impact: She and I have a lot in common. basic: We do things together. impact: We hang around together. basic: We are old friends. impact: We go back a long way. Sample learning tips mini chapter: Learning Better, Tip #7 - Label Things in English Successful learners use labels to help them think in English. You have many chances to think in English. If you write down words and phrases in your home, you can see them often and learn them easily. For example, you can put English labels in different places. On your door, you can put, "It's messy, but it's cozy!" On your plant, you can put "Water me, quick! I019m dying of thirst!" TRY THIS: 1) Look at the phrases [in chapters 19, 20, and 21, neighborhood, my place, and household tasks, from the unit on home]. Choose some to describe things about your home. 2) Make labels on small cards. Tape the labels in different places in your home. 3) Read the labels often. Enjoy them. Invite your friends over to read your room! Other learning tips: Good learners talk to themselves in English. Good learners repeat what they want to learn. Good learners get other people to talk (ask questions). Good learners will try new ways of learning. Good learners try to keep talking in English. Enthusiastic learners start conversations in English. Good learners use visualization to prepare. Good learners use body movements to help them remembers. Successful learners keep a record of their learning (cassette journal). Successful learners try to have real conversations. Successful learners organize their learning (make lists). Good learners make things easier to remember (exaggerate). Good learners repeat new things they hear. Sample entry from the key word index: time I do it when I have free time - chapter 6 I had the time of my life - chapter 33 I want to have a good time - chapter 28 I'll always remember that time - chapter 24 It was a tough time - chapter 24 We could kill time at my place - chapter 4 We could spend time at the cafe - chapter 4 We could waste time at my place - chapter 4 You could use it a long time - chapter 34
NEW PERSON TO PERSON
Jack Richards, David Bycina, Sue Brioux Alcorn
LISTEN CAREFULLY
Jack Richards
TACTICS FOR LISTENING
Jack Richards
Jack Richards is a prolific author, and his books are user friendly.
DEVELOPING LISTENING SKILLS Casey Malarcher Compass Publishing Two things I like about Compass books: 1) They attack language from several angles 2) They are well designed. Each chapter in Developing Listening Skills has 8 exercises warm up, speaking practice, listening practice, short dialogs, main dialogs, short talks, listening quiz, and reading - followed by a 4 page test. Each page contains only one exercise, and each section within the exercise is clearly labeled and easily distinguishable from the other sections, making it very user friendly. Testing strategies include multiple choice, matching, cloze, description, and pictures. Everyday situations. Natural dialog. Lots of illustrations. Audio, answer key, and transcripts. LISTENING STARTER Anne Taylor, Linda Kilpatrick-Lee Compass Publishing Book one follows a set of youngsters during adventures at school, home, and the mall. Book two follows the same characters during adventures on vacation. Each chapter has 6 exercises, one page devoted to each exercise: vocabulary preview, key expressions, dialog, note taking, pair work, quiz, and homework. High frequency vocabulary of keywords, phrases, and expressions. Loaded with color, graphics, illustrations, and photos. Reader friendly font. Audio and transcript. Ideal for beginners. ACTIVE LISTENING:
Introducing Skills for Understanding - book 1
Building Skills for Understanding - book 2
Expanding Skills through Content - book 3
Marc Helgesen, Steven Brown, Dorolyn Smith
Cambridge University Press
From the introduction to Active Listening: Expanding Understanding Through Content:
"How Students Learn How to Listen:
Many students find listening to be one of the most difficult skills in English. The following explains some of the ideas incorporated into the this book to make students more effective listeners. Active Listening: Expanding Understanding Through Content is designed to help students make real and rapid progress. Recent research into teaching listening and its related receptive skill, reading, has given insights into how successful students learn foreign/second languages.
Bottom-up versus Top-down Processing, a Brick Wall Analogy:
To understand what our students are going through as they learn to listen or read, consider the bottom-up versus top-down processing distinction. The distinction is based on the ways learners process and attempt to understand what they read or hear. With bottom-up processing, students start with the component parts: words, grammar, and the like. Top-down processing is the opposite. Students learn from their background knowledge.
This might be better understood by means of a metaphor. Imagine a brick wall. If you're standing at the bottom looking at the wall brick by brick, you can easily see the details. It is difficult, however, to get an overall view of the wall. And, if you come to a missing brick (e.g., an unknown word or unfamiliar structure), you're stuck. If, on the other hand, you're sitting on the top of the wall, you can easily see the landscape. Of course, because of distance, you'll miss some details.
Students, particularly those with years of "classroom English" but little experience in really using the language, try to listen from the bottom up. They attempt to piece the meaning together, word by word. It is difficult for us, as native and advanced non-native English users, to experience what learners to through. However, try reading the following from right to left:
,now doing are you as ,time a at word one ,slowly English process you When
very is it ,However .word individual each of meaning the catch to easy is it
.passage the of meaning overall the understand to difficult
You were probably able to understand the paragraph:
When you process English slowly, on word at a time, as you are doing now, it is easy to catch the meaning of each individual word. However, it is very difficult to understand the overall meaning of the passage.
While reading, however, it is likely you felt the frustration of bottom-up processing; you had to get each individual part before you could make sense of it. This is similar to what our students experience - and they're having to wrestle the meaning in a foreign language. Of course, this is an ineffective way to listen, since it takes too long. While students are still trying to make sense of what has been said, the speaker keeps going. The students get lost.
The Warming Up activities in Active Listening help students integrate bottom-up and top-down processing by engaging them in active, meaningful prelistening tasks. In doing so, the learners "activate" their previoius knowledge of the topic as well as relevant grammar and vocabulary.
Thanks to Brian Tomlinson for suggesting the brick wall analogy to explain bottom-up/top-down processing. Our model for content-based instruction, while differing from one proposed by William Grabe, was influenced by his work."
From the introduction to Active Listening: Introducing Skills through Understanding:
"Although their processing strategy is a negative, students do come to class with certain strengths. From their years of English study, most have a relatively large, if passive, vocabulary. They also often have a solid receptive knowledge of English grammar. We shouldn't neglect the years of life experience; our learners bring with them a wealth of background knowledge of many topics. These three strengths - vocabulary, grammar, and life experience - can be the tools for effective listening.
The Warming Up activities in Active Listening build on those strengths. By engaging the students in active, meaningful prelistening tasks, students integrate bottom-up and top-down processing. They start from meaning, but, in the process of doing the task, use vocabulary and structures (grammar) connected with the task, topic, or function. The result is an integrated listening strategy."
Note: The authors are not saying that bottom-up is an inherently bad learning strategy. They simply saying that bottom-up is not appropriate in every situation. Another way of understanding this analogy is micro/macro: bottom-up can be compared to micro, top-down can be compared to macro.
DAILY ACTIVITIES, LIFE, WORK, CULTURE
SURVIVAL ENGLISH / BASIC SURVIVAL
Peter Viney
Macmillan
Extremely practical, extremely realistic dialogs, visual tools, and exercises. Visual friendly. Extremely visually appealing, with large color visual tools and large color photos everywhere. Easy to recognize color icons indicate topics for chapters and CDs for exercises. 48 chapters in each book. Student's book appendix includes transcripts, communications activities, grammar files, vocabulary files, culture files. Teacher's manual includes lesson plans, practice book answer key, mid-course and end-of-course tests with answer keys and transcripts, communication activities answer key. Accessories include audio CD, practice book, and online bilingual wordlist.
Visual tools include plane ticket stub, plane seating chart, flight menu, Immigration form, regional map, state flags, family tree, public transportation brochure, business card, business itinerary, webpage, street map, hotel phone directory, American bill-coin currency conversion table, cruise itinerary, fast food menu, company management organization chart, restaurant menu, airline flight coverage chart, hotel laundry form, photo shoot itinerary, marketing questionnaire, email screen, minibar menu, cruise cabin room floor plan, TV channel guide, hotel registration card, resume-profile, product advertisement, hotel feedback form, appointment book, security announcement, security questionnaire, mall directory, customs form, time zone map, room service form, product brochure, product statistic label, employees profile table, theater reservation sales form, emergency room medical form, car rental rate table, hotel checkout form, flight departure board, hotel floor directory, conference room floor plan, duty free shop allowance table.
An awful lot of planning and work went into these books!
PEOPLE LIKE US / PEOPLE LIKE US, TOO
Simon Greenall, Miles Craven
Macmillan
People Like Us is a rare and valuable book. Most culture textbooks are designed for lecture courses, this one is designed for communication courses. Most culture textbooks provide us with general facts and insights, this one shows us how to establish a relationship with people. Most culture textbooks are research oriented, this one is activity oriented. People Like Us shows us how to explore, how to understand, how to relate, how to accept, how to appreciate, how to benefit, and yes, how to be careful. In the process, our perspective on the world is broadened and we learn how to understand our own culture. Based on 2-hour interviews with 10 people from around the world. Audio is authentic and transcripts are unedited. Integrated skills and integrated activities. Visual friendly. Visually appealing with many large color photos and many large color visual aids. Student book includes communication activities, unit notes, chatfile for language functions and exponents. Teacher's guide includes lesson plans, answer key for the student book, creative photocopiable activities for 16 select chapters, 2 progress tests with answer keys, and transcripts. 36 chapters in each book, including 4 review chapters.
Chapter titles: Greetings, Name and Address, Home Comforts, Buying Food, Family Life, Dating, Personal Space, Gestures and Customs, The Language of Clothes, Time Off, Friends, Food and Drink, Teachers and Students, Gift-giving, Complaining, Going on Vacation, Special Occasions, Work Customs, Weddings, Cultural Identity and Values, Face, People Like You, Meetings and Negotiations, Holidays and Festivals, Men and Women, Table Manners, School, Homeland, Ancestors, Time, Appearance, Home Visits, World Music, Folk Stories, Making Complaints, Money, Religion, Restaurants / Bars / Cafes, Cell Phones, Annual Events, The Individual and Society, Superstitions, Travel, Children and Childhood, Politics, Street Food / Fast Food / Snacks, Expressing Feelings, Medical Matters, Meal Times, Games and Sports, The Media, Shopping, Values, Directions and Dimensions, Etiquette, Town and Country, Crime and Punishment, Personal Contacts, Proverbs, Arts and Culture, Transportation, Saying Goodbye.
ACCESS READING: Reading in the Real World
Tim Collins
Thomson / Heinle
Access Reading helps adult learners meet EFF, SCANS, and CASAS standards through a series of well organized, thorough, accessible selections and exercises with an integrated skills approach. Designed to prepare students for their roles in the community, family, and workplace. Includes a scope and sequence table of contents, a standards table of contents, a reading strategies table of contents, a teamwork exercise section, a vocabulary index, and a skills index. A portfolio and skills checklist help students and teachers monitor progress. Vocabulary index includes unit and page numbers. Skills index includes subcategories. Plenty of pictures, illustrations, and boxes. Visual friendly format. Supplementary tools include instructor's manual, tape / CD, and website.
Sample from the skills and sequence table of contents, Book One, Chapter Two, Around Town: Reading: Read a profile of an immigrant family. Reading Strategy: Use the first sentence of each paragraph to find the main idea. Graphic Organizer: Use a chart to organize information. Study Skill: Staying organized. Sample from the standards table of contents, same book, same chapter: EFF: Become and stay informed. Form and express ideas and opinions. Work together. Promote family growth and development. Strengthen the family system. Do the work. Work with others. SCANS: Teach others. Work well with people. Understand social systems. Acquire and evaluate data. Interpret and communicate information. Serve customers. CASAS: Communicate in interpersonal interactions. Communicate personal information. Use the telephone book. Use community services. Understand basic safety procedures. Use community services to achieve community integration.
Chapter titles from the reading strategies table of contents: Use pictures and the title to find the main idea. Use the first sentence of each paragraph to find the main idea. Scan for specific dates and times. Read and draw conclusions. Use pictures and captions to find the main idea. Use background information to help you read. Use related words to help you read. Scan for specific information. Use the context to figure out new words. Read and make inferences.
Exercises: accessing information [pre-reading], giving voice [discussion], accessing information [post-reading], taking action, bridging to the future, community connection, family connection, work connection, enriching your vocabulary [grammar], study skill, review, your portfolio, summing up [skills checklist].
Instructor's manual includes: Teaching notes for key parts of every unit, answer key for all exercises and teamwork activities in the student book, reproducible test for each unit and a reproducible answer sheet to help students prepare for standardized testing, information about scientifically based research on learning and reading strategies (including multiple intelligences and diverse learning styles), placement information, lesson plan suggestions, assessment strategies.
TASK READING
Evelyn Davies, Norman Whitney, Meredith Pike-Baky, Laurie Blass
Cambridge
EXTREMELY practical, in-the-trenches selections: forms, maps, directories, lists, signs and symbols, timetables / schedules, ads, announcements, itineraries, questionnaires, memos, fliers, posters, editorials, menus, profiles, obituaries, travel guides, excerpts, tickets, entertainment programs, even dictionary entries, telegrams, and comics. The exercises are practical, too. The book is in 3 parts: reading for information, reading for meaning, reading for pleasure. Includes conversations between two foreign college students, Roberto from Brazil and Machiko from Japan, as they acquire and apply reading skills in a variety of everyday situations.
From the teacher's notes: "Most modern courses in English as a second or foreign language offer teachers a communicative syllabus, which gives as much importance to the functional uses of the language as to its linguistic forms. This book aims to support and complement such courses, by recognizing reading as a communicative rather than a passive activity. But developing real communicative ability in a foreign language, and being an active reader of it, requires from the learner more awareness and consciousness of learning strategies, than does reading in the native language. Task Reading, therefore, emphasizes these approaches to reading in a foreign language: 1) Transfer of reading skills from the native language to English. 2) The use of authentic or realistic source texts. 3) Pre-text orientation, especially the identification of reader and writer intent."
LEARNING ENGLISH MADE SIMPLE
Sheila Henderson
Broadway Books
Simple and easy, yet thorough and detailed. Everyday activities in context. Conversation, vocabulary, grammar, reading, and culture in one book.
WORD BY WORD PICTURE DICTIONARY, by Steven Molinsky and Bill Blass, Cambridge
HEINLE PICTURE DICTIONARY, Thomson/Heinle
OXFORD PICTURE DICTIONARY, Norma Shapiro and Jayme Adelson Goldstein
LONGMAN PHOTO DICTIONARY, Marilyn Rosenthal and Daniel Freeman
NEW OXFORD PICTURE DICTIONARY, E.C. Parnwell
ENGLISH FOR EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES, by L
ENGLISH FOR WORK ACTIVITIES, by Lynn Stafford-Yilmaz and
THE ENGLISH YOU NEED FOR BUSINESS, by Mark Cunningham and
THE ENGLISH YOU NEED FOR THE OFFICE, by Susan Dean and
ENGLISH EVERY DAY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, by Lawrence Zwier, Asia-Pacific Press
more soon
Also see the picture dictionary section, especially the picture process dictionaries by THESAURUSES
COLLINS NEW SCHOOL THESAURUS
OXFORD COLOR THESAURUS
SCHOLASTIC CHILDREN'S THESAURUS, by John Bollard
AMERICAN HERITAGE STUDENT THESAURUS, by Paul Hellweg
AMERICAN HERITAGE CHILDRENS'S THESAURUS, by Paul Hellweg
MILES KELLY FIRST FUN THESAURUS, by Cindy Leaney
MILES KELLY JUNIOR THESAURUS, by Cindy Leaney
KING FISHER FIRST THESAURUS, by George Beal
GOLDEN BOOK FIRST THESAURUS, by Harreit Wittels, Joan Greisman
From the introduction to King Fisher First Thesaurus, by George Beal: "After their nice supper, the kittens went to sleep on a nice cushion. It was then that I considered now nice it was of that nice woman next door to offer to look after them when we are away having a nice time. We must buy her a nice present, perhaps a nice straw hat so that she can have a nice time sitting in her nice garden. Doesn't that sound flat and repetitious with all those nices?
Here's an alternative version: After their delicious supper, the kittens went to sleep on a comfortable cushion. It was then that I considered how thoughtful it was of that kind woman next door to look after them when we are away having an enjoyable time. We must buy her a super present, perhaps a smart straw hat so that she can have a pleasant time sitting in her lovely garden."
From the introduction to Golden Book First Thesaurus, by Harriet Wittels, Joan Greisman: "You will find this book useful, helpful, practical, handy, valuable, and beneficial. That is its aim, purpose, goal, object, and target."
VOCABULARY AND USAGE
LONGMAN ESSENTIAL ACTIVATOR
LONGMAN LANGUAGE ACTIVATOR
MACMILLAN PHRASAL VERBS PLUS
COLLINS COBUILD ENGLISH USAGE
COLLINS COBUILD IDIOMS DICTIONARY
COLLINS COBUILD PHASAL VERBS DICTIONARY
VOCABULARY IN USE series, by Michael McCarthy, Cambridge
WALK, AMBLE, STROLL: Vocabulary Building Through Domain Names, by Kathryn Trump, Sherry Trechter, De Ann Holisky, Thomson/Heinle
ENGLISH VOCABULARY ORGANIZER, by Chris Gough, Thomson/Heinle
AMERICAN VOCABULARY PROGRAM, by John Flower, Michael Berman, Ron Martinez, Mark Powell, Thomson/Heinle
LEARNERS COMPANION TO ENGLISH VOCABULARY, by George Davidson, Learners Publishing
READING AND VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT series, by Patricia Ackert, Linda Lee, Thomson / Heinle
A GOOD TURN OF PHRASE: Advanced Idiom Practice by James Milton and Virginia Evans, Express Publishing
ENGLISH IDIOMS IN USE, by Michael McCarthy and Felicity O'Dell, Cambridge
AGAINST ALL ODDS: Speaking Naturally with Idioms, by Marie Hutchison Eichler, Thomson / Heinle
ALL CLEAR! : Advanced Idioms and Pronunciation in Context, by Helen Kalkstein Fragiadakis
IDIOMS ORGANIZER, by John Flower, Thomson/Heinle
ENGLISH SOCIAL INTERACTION: Everyday Idioms, by Betty Kirkpatrick, Learners
ILLUSTRATED EVERYDAY IDIOMS WITH STORIES, Casey Malarcher
101 ENGLISH IDIOMS, by Harry Collis, MacGraw-Hill
IDIOMS AT WORK, by Vera McLay, Language Teaching Publications
REALLY LEARN 100 PHRASAL VERBS, Oxford
PHRASAL VERBS ORGANIZER, John Flower, Thomson/Heinle
A GOOD TURN OF PHRASE: Advanced Practice in Phrasal Verbs and Prepositional Phrases, , by James Milton, Bill Blake, and Virginia Evans, Express Publishing
WORD BY WORD PICTURE DICTIONARY, by Steven Molinsky and Bill Bliss, Cambridge
HEINLE PICTURE DICTIONARY, Thomson/Heinle
OXFORD PICTURE DICTIONARY, by Norma Shapiro and Jayme Adelson Goldstein
LONGMAN PHOTO DICTIONARY, by Marilyn Rosenthal and Daniel Freeman
NEW OXFORD PICTURE DICTIONARY, by E.C. Parnwell
ENGLISH FOR EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES, by L
ENGLISH FOR WORK ACTIVITIES, by Lynn Stafford-Yilmaz and
THE ENGLISH YOU NEED FOR BUSINESS, by Mark Cunningham and
THE ENGLISH YOU NEED FOR THE OFFICE, by Susan Dean and
ENGLISH EVERY DAY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, by Lawrence Zwier, Asia-Pacific Press
English Idioms in Use presents 1000 common idioms in 60 units. Each chapter has 2 pages. One page for vocabulary, explanations, and examples, one page for exercises. Numerous cartoons vividly illustrate the difference between literal and intended meaning. Makes very good use of visual tools: idiom-meaning-example tables, other types of tables, diagrams, clips, blurbs. Answer key, index, no audio. For an introductory study of English idioms, whether at home or in the classroom, this is your first choice.
Inclusion criteria: "The 1000 or so idioms which are worked on in this book were all selected from those identified as significant based on computer searches of huge language databases: the CANCODE corpus of spoken English, developed at the University of Nottingham in association with Cambridge University Press and the Cambridge International Corpus of written English. These databases show us how the idioms have actually been used by native speakers of English in conversations, newspapers, novels, and many other contexts. The idioms selected are all also to be found in the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms where additional examples and usage notes will also be found."
The authors do not elaborate on this statement: "The exercises pay particular attention to checking your understanding of the idioms and how they are used because this is more important for learners than being able to actively use the idioms." Perhaps because ESL speakers need to understand native speakers, who use idioms liberally, but are generally advised to use standard vocabulary until they achieve native fluency.
A Good Turn of Phrase appears to be a much briefer treatment than other idiom textbooks, but actually it packs about the same amount of material and the same amount of variety into a much smaller space, yet it is by far the most visual friendly and visually appealing of any I've seen. This is an impressive accomplishment.
Includes of variety of exercises: discussion, rewrite, explain, question and answer, fill in the blank, matching, multiple choice, crossword puzzle. Texts include a variety of formats: letters, ads, reviews, profiles, testimonies, news, features. Conversations include a variety of relationships and settings: doctor / patient, teacher / parent, cop / criminal, journalist / politician, landlord / resident, detective / suspect, clerk / customer, supervisor / employer, business partner / business partner, husband / wife, father / daughter, friend / friend; phone, office, conference room, shop, outdoors. Includes conversations, example sentences, texts, and many color pictures. Glossary includes translation, and is conveniently arranged by chapters numbers and idiom number. Each chapter is devoted to a single topic, but the topics are not indicated in the table of contents, at the beginning of each chapter, or anywhere else. Teachers Book includes answer key; 3 tests, each with 2 alternative versions. No audio.
Against All Odds attacks idioms from a variety of angles: "Get Ready - prepare. Get the Gist - understand the general meaning. Zero In - focus on the most important part. Get Your Bearings - become oriented. Tune In - focus on sound; listen. Get Down to Business - begin the most important work. Put It All Together - combine for complete use. Keep the Ball Rolling - continue the activity. Put a Fine Point on Them - focus on details. Check It Out - look for answers or information." Uses cartoons, pictures, transcripts, translations, explanations, examples, proverbs; role play, skit writing, discussion, question and answer, true / false, multiple choice, circle. The author appropriately chose the above idioms for study strategy section headings. But she wisely avoided using idioms as chapter titles: time, plans and schedules, cooperation, finances, authority, understanding, decisions, opportunity, persuasion, determination, relationships, competition, creativity, control, foolishness. Also: "The number of idioms per chapter has purposely been limited to 15-17 so that students can truly acquire them for active use." Put It All Together exercises combine skit writing and role play, and might work better as homework assignments. As impromptu classroom exercises, many of them might be too much of a challenge for anyone but native speaking theater or creative writing majors. The first page of each chapter has a large cartoon or picture. Cartoons are excellent, picture quality leaves much to be desired. Glossary includes translations; usage, grammar, and background notes; lesson numbers.
All Clear! contains extensive presentation, extensive examples, and extensive exercises for 200 high frequency words. It utilizes dictation, question & answer, guess the meaning, group discussion, role play, chain story, skit writing, journal, and games. Several cartoons in each chapter illustrate well the difference between literal and idiomatic meaning. Pronunciation makes up a good 1/3 of the book, and is vividly illustrated. The author makes a convincing case for her selection of vocabulary: "For years, as I heard people use common expressions, I wrote them down on scraps of paper wherever I was. The master list lived on my refrigerator door, but I had notes in the living room, by the bed, in my purse, at work, in the car, etc. The list grew to contain over 400 expressions, about 200 of which appear in this text." The skit writing and chain story exercises should be especially effective, as well as fun and challenging for the students. She places some emphasis on crosspuzzles, and I must confess, I've never seen great value in crosspuzzles. Textbook includes an alphabetical index with matching lesson numbers. Accessories include transcripts, tapes, CDs, and Macintosh computer assisted software. Beginner and intermediate version are also available.
ILLUSTRATED EVERYDAY IDIOMS WITH STORIES
Casey Malarcher
Compass Publishing
Illustrated Everyday Idioms with Stories has 600 common idioms explained with definitions, sample sentences, short dialogs, illustrations, and stories. There are two books, so that019s 1200 idioms, 1200 definitions, 1200 illustrations, and 2400 sample sentences. The first book has 15 chapters with 20 idioms in each chapter, the second book has 30 chapters with 10 idioms in each chapter. Each chapter has a story page containing all the idioms in the chapter, each idiom highlighted by bold italicized font within the story. Each chapter in the first book has an exercise page with 5 matching questions and 5 multiple choice questions. Each chapter in the second book has two exercise pages. The first exercise is 10 multiple choice questions, the second exercise is cloze dialog with 6 blanks. So that019s 45 stories and 75 exercises. Some of the definitions are simple short sentences, some are synonyms, some are other idioms. The stories in the first book are international folk tales, the stories in the second book are comical situations. The illustrations are color, include a blurb, are vivid, and are often funny. The idioms in the first book are alphabetized. The introduction to the first book does not explain the criteria for grouping the idioms. Neither introduction includes a criteria for selecting the idioms. The design is by Design Plus. If I ever edit a dictionary or textbook, I019m going to hire Design Plus. I can distinguish the definitions, sample sentences, dialogs, and illustrations in my sleep. I019d be hard pressed to design a more user friendly page. Sorry, no teachers guide or other support. But the book attacks idioms from so many directions and is so easy to use, do you need a support package? 101 ENGLISH IDIOMS is one of the few books that uses cartoons to help ESL students understand nonstandard language. The visual is very user friendly: one page for each idiom, the idiom in large print at the top of the page, the translation in smaller print and in parenthesis under a large cartoon, and the idiom in context through a story or conversation at the bottom of the page. No difficulty finding the idiom, no possibility of confusing the idiom with the translation. In the story/conversation, both the idiom and the translation are in bold font.
The chapters are arranged by concepts and topics: It's a Zoo Out There, The Body Has Many Uses, People Do the Strangest Things, Clothes Make the Man (and Woman), When Things Go Wrong, When Things Go Well, Do Your Best, You Don't Say. Includes an alphabetical index of idioms. Some of the most vivid illustrations, interestingly enough, are about money.
But there are some serious problems. A lot of the illustrations don't match the translation or need to more accurately match the translation. Some of the illustrations contain elements from the story/conversation, some do not. Several of the translations are not accurate, and a few of the idioms are not common.
Another problem is the pronoun problem: 'shoot off one's mouth' instead of 'stop shooting off your mouth', 'jump down one's throat' instead of 'don't jump down my throat', etc. The use of the pronoun 'one' is generally considered awkward.
From the foreword:
"Nonnative speakers of English can reach a point in their knowledge of the language where they feel comfortable with standard literary speech; however, they're liable to find themselves in hot water when confronted with idiomatic expressions. When hearing an idiom or colloquialism, they may feel frustrated and confused, since the true meaning of the idiom generally cannot be determined by a knowledge of its component parts. In many cases, an attempt on the part of the learner to tie down a definition of an idiom that would work in all instances is a futile undertaking.
When used by native speakers, idioms sound natural and fit the occasion, since Americans instinctively feel the imagery and impact of what they are saying. A non-native speaker of English, on the other hand, may know the basic meaning of such expressions as "I gave it my best shot!" or "dressed to kill," but still not be able to use them appropriately.
It is hoped that the natural tone of the language of the situations in which the idiom is presented will help to convey the feeling of the idiom and the circumstances under which it may be used. The illustrations graphically depicting the meaning of the components of the expressions not only add an element of humor, but also serve to highlight the contrast between the literal and actual meaning of the idioms as presented in the text."
In some cases, 101 English Idioms fails. In some cases, it partially succeeds. In some cases, it succeeds overwhelmingly. What we need is another edition of this book. Same technique, more precision.
My favorite illustrations are for 'straight from the horse's mouth', 'cat got your tongue?', 'play it by ear', 'snow job', 'feed someone a line', 'cough up', 'fork over', '[who] spill[ed] the beans [?]', 'scratch someone's back', 'turn someone off', 'dressed to kill', 'give someone the slip', 'lemon', 'got up on the wrong side of the bed', 'feel like a million dollars', 'bury the hatchet', 'clean getaway', 'toot one's own horn', 'give it one's best shot', 'money talks', 'let sleeping dogs lie', 'shape up or ship out', 'bark worse than one's bite', and 'put your money where your mouth is' - and if you want to know why, buy the book!
Phrasal Verbs Plus is extremely user friendly. Color highlighting, large and bold font, numbers, symbols, indentation, and boxes are used effectively to distinguish headwords, phrases, definitions, usage, word class, and frequency. Conjugation is spelled out, in bold font, under the headword, in color highlighted boxes, rather than in italics, abbreviated, and buried in the definitions. Most common phrasal verbs are in red. Large red usage boxes for common phrasal verbs. Numerous effective cartoons. Conjugation, pronunciation; formal versus informal, British versus American, offensive / impolite / disapproval, humerous, old fashioned, literary; passive form, fixed expression, derivatives, transitive / intransitive, syntax, collocations, synonyms . Diagrams and tables for the common particles around, away, back, down, in, into, off, on, out, over, through, up. Index of single word equivalents. 25 page language guide with articles by 7 experts. When you reach for a phrasal verbs desk reference, reach for the Macmillan Phrasal Verbs Plus.
See also the picture dictionary and beginner sections.
READING / WRITING / GRAMMAR
READING KEYS
Miles Craven
Macmillan
Reading Keys is by far the most visually appealing reading textbook on the market, and one of the most user friendly. Well organized format. Interesting articles on important and relatable subjects. Good exercises on targeted vocabulary. Good use of color, blurbs, and cartoons. Numerous, large, quality photos. Key skills study sheets. Activity sheets. Vocabulary index. 3 books: introducing, developing, extending. What more could you ask of a reading textbook?
Targeted skills: previewing, identifying cohesion, inferring meaning, identifying the topic, scanning, identifying time order, understanding the main idea, skimming, separating fact and opinion, identifying cause and effect, guessing meaning from context, using a dictionary, recognizing parts of speech, word groups, synonyms, suffixes, connecting words, prefixes, antonyms, words with different meanings.
Miles Craven is co-author of People Like Us, a must for anyone using culture in an ESL classroom.
ACTIVE SKILLS FOR READING
Neil Anderson
Heinle & Heinle/Thompson Learning
I've seen many reading textbooks, and have been impressed with very few. This is by far the best. The series is progressive. The articles are not too long, the vocabulary and concepts are not too difficult, the topics are usually not boring or irrelevant. The teachers manual begins with a technical but easy to understand introduction to reading skills, including the author's approach: ACTIVE - Activate prior knowledge, Cultivate vocabulary, Teach for comprehension, Increase reading fluency, Verify reading strategies, Evaluate progress. Exercises include discussion, comprehension, speed, fluency, and vocabulary. Multiple choice, matching, true/false, circle, and fill in the blank are all used. Every chapter has skill boxes and vocabulary boxes. Each chapter in the teachers manual includes background notes on the topic. In the back of the students book are a speed chart, a comprehension chart, a skills index, and a vocabulary index. A wide range of skills, tasks, and tools, a systematic learning approach, a progressive structure, a user friendly format, and reader friendly material combine to make this an ideal textbook.
EASY TRUE STORIES
Sandra Heyer
Longman
Easy True Stories is designed to provide low skill, low vocabulary students with maximum comprehension at maximum speed through basic, integrated strategies. 20 human interest stories, several of them touching, are told through simplified versions of newspaper and magazine articles. The first page of each chapter is a wordless comic strip that tells the story visually. The second page is a 125-175 word story accompanied by a large photo. The third and fourth pages are vocabulary, comprehension, discussion, and writing exercises. The introduction offers VERY practical classroom insights and suggestions for teachers trying to compensate for the students' level, including listening, speaking, grammar, drawing, and technology. Appendix includes story background, teaching tips, and answer key. Easy True Stories turns the tables on limitations, minimizing handicaps and maximizing resources, giving teachers and students the advantage.
STORIES WORTH READING, SKILLS WORTH LEARNING
Betsy Gassriel, Gail Reynolds
Thompson / Heinle
Stories Worth Reading, Skills Worth Learning uses by far the most integrated approach of any reading textbook I've found. The pre-reading page of each chapter tells the story with a series of wordless comics. Pictures, maps, graphs, charts, timelines, questionnaires, puzzles, and so on are put to good use throughout each chapter. At the end of each chapter is what the author calls One Step Forward: further study through Internet, library, encyclopedia, photos, movies, journals, music, posters, design projects, community activity, guest speakers, parties, art, interviews, television, presentations, taste tests, and so on. The stories are interesting, the exercises are diverse, the layout is well organized. Each chapter is accompanied by a corresponding CNN video clip. The instructor's manual includes answer keys, handouts, and video transcripts. READING ADVANTAGE
Casey Malarcher
Thomson / Heinle
High beginner to high intermediate. 4 books, 20 lessons per book, 200-600 words per article. "All readings are based on a carefully-considered word list and include the most commonly used words in written English, as well as everyday phrases and idioms. Key vocabulary, phrases, and idioms are recycled both within each book and from book to book, ensuring that learners understand and remember what they have learned." Reading Advantage keeps the reader's interest with many fascinating articles. By far the best teacher's manual of any reading textbook I've seen.
READING AND VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT
Facts & Figures
Thoughts & Notions
Cause & Effect
Concepts & Comments
Patricia Ackert, Linda Lee
Thomson / Heinle
"Up to 12/24 words are introduced in each lesson. These words appear in boldface type. Those underlined are illustrated and/or glossed in the margin. All of the new vocabulary items are used several times in the lesson, and then systematically recycled throughout the text." Expands vocabulary from 300 to 2500 words. 5 articles per theme. Answer key, video transcript, CNN video, activity website, and ExamView Pro for customized tests and quizzes.
READINGS FOR TODAY
Themes for Today - beginner
Insights for Today - high beginner
Issues for Today - intermediate
Concepts for Today - high intermediate
Topics for Today - advanced
Lorraine C. Smith, Nancy Nici Mare
Thomson / Heinle
Two articles per topic, skills table, skills index, a variety of exercises - including dictionary skills and cloze test. CNN video, college edition InfoTrac, and ExamView Pro for customized tests and quizzes. Instructor's manual: teacher notes, answer key, video transcripts, and assessment.
VISIONS: Language, Literature, Content
Mary Lou McCloskey,
Thomson
Visions is by far the most skills based reading textbook I019ve seen. It is also by far the most task based. More space is devoted to skills and tasks than to reading material.
The Visions table of contents includes title, author, genre, skill, and content area. Before each chapter is objectives, use prior knowledge, build background, build vocabulary, text structure, reading strategy. After each chapter is reading comprehension, build reading fluency, listen - speak - interact, elements of literature, word study, grammar focus, from reading to writing, across content area. Under objectives: reading, listening, grammar, writing, content.
Under reading comprehension: recall facts, identify activity, identify mood, draw conclusions, interpret, compare and contrast, determine sequence of events, identify how many, identify missing elements, analyze, make inferences, paraphrase text, explain why, understand author019s perspective, connect your experiences, form questions, determine characteristics, identify themes, analyze character relationships, understand tone, analyze text types, evaluate author019s style and methods, use context clues, connect ideas, identify steps in a process, recognize character traits, raise questions, ask questions, revise questions, analyze causes and effects, identify the main idea, analyze illustrations, understand the author019s purpose, understand features, make judgments, respond, reflect, understand character motivation, present an opinion, understand plot, recognize character traits, predict, connect themes, identify steps in a process, find similarities and differences across texts.
Under text structure: poem, personal narrative, folktale, personal narrative, excerpt from a novel based on a true story, interview, fable, except from a novel, excerpt from a nonfiction book, song, excerpt from a diary, play, excerpt from a personal narrative, informational text.
Under reading strategy: compare and contrast, diagram, read aloud, visualize, underline, cause and effect table, fact versus opinion, main idea, details, timed silent reading, outline, make inferences, timeline, cause and affect chart.
Under build reading fluency: word recognition boxes, key phrase boxes, echo reading, reading chunks, adjust reading rate for quotations, repeated reading, listen to audio, scanning, memorization, reading aloud to engage listeners.
Under elements of literature: genre, first person point of view, author, purpose, rhyme, instructions, characterization, free verse, motivation, personification, theme, visuals with captions, repetition, tone, problems and resolutions, headings, traits, motivations, and points of view.
Each unit is followed by an expand and apply section: listening and speaking workshop, viewing workshop, writer019s workshop, projects, further reading. At the end of the book is a 6 page skills index.
So many skills so clearly identified and such a variety of activities so well connected to the skills. And all this is just from surveying the first book in a series of four. If you019re a reading teacher who wants to go into the classroom prepared, Visions is your textbook.
INTERACTIVE READER PLUS FOR ENGLISH LEARNERS
McDougal Littell / Houghton Mifflin
A good reading textbook has a lot of study support. The more support, the better. Of course, these helps double as a lesson plans. Check out this story and the accompanying support, minus the graphics.
"Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros What they don't understand about birthdays and what they never tell you is that when you're eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six,, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one. And when you wake up on your eleventh birthday you expect to feel eleven, but you don't. You open your eyes and everything's just like yesterday, only it's today. And you don't feel eleven at all. You feel like you're still ten. And you are - underneath the year that makes you eleven. Like some days you might say something stupid, and that's the part of you that's till ten. Or maybe some days you might need to sit on your mama's lap because you're scared, and that's the part of your that's five. And maybe one day when you're all grown up maybe you will need to cry like if you're three, and that's okay. That's what I tell Mama when she's sad and needs to cry. Maybe she's feeling three. Because the way you grow old is kind of like an onion or like the rings inside a tree trunk or like my little wooden dolls that fit one inside the other, each year inside the next one. That's how being eleven years old is. You don't feel eleven. Not right away. It takes a few days, weeks even, sometimes even months before you say eleven when they ask you. And you don't feel smart eleven, not until you're almost twelve. That's the way it is. Only today I wish I didn't have only eleven years rattling inside me like pennies in a tim Band-Aid box. Today I wish I was one hundred and two instead of eleven beacuse if I was one hundred and two I'd have known what t say when Mrs. Price put the red sweater on my desk. I would've known how to tell her it wasn't mind instead of just sitting there with that look on my face and nothing coming out of my mouth. "Whose is this?" Mrs. Price says, and she holds the red sweater up in the air for all the class see. "Whose? It's been sitting in the coatroom for a month." "Not mind," says everybody. "Not me." "It has to belong to someboday," Mrs Price keeps saying, but nobody can remember. It's an ugly sweater with red plastic buttons and a collar and sleeves all stretched out like you could use it for a jump rope. It's maybe a thousand years old and even if it belonged to me I wouldn't say so. Maybe beacuse I'm skinny, maybe beacuse she doesn't like me, that stupid Sylvias Saldivar says, "I think it belongs to Rachel." An ugly sweater like that, all raggedy and old, but Mrs. Price believes her. Mrs. Price takes the sweater and puts it right on my desk, but when I open my mouth nothing comes out. "That's not, I don't, you're not....Not mine..." I finally say in a little voice that was maybe me when I was four. "Of course it's yours," Mrs. Price says. "I remember you wearing it once." Becuase she's old and the teacher, she's right and I'm not. Not mine, not mine, not mine, but Mrs. Price is already turning to page thirty-two, and math problem nunmber four. I don't know why but all of a sudden I'm feeling sick inside, like the part of me that's three wants to come out of my eyes, only I squeeze them shut tight and bite down on my teeth real hard and try to remember today when I am eleven, eleven. Mama is making a cake for me for tonight, and when Papa comes home everybody will sing Happy Birthday , happy birthday to you. But when the sick feeling goes away and I open my eyes, the red sweater's till sitting there like a big red mountain. I move the red sweater to the corner of my desk with my ruler. I move my pencil and books and eraser as far from it as possible. I even move my chair a little to the right. Not mine, not mine, not mine. In my head I'm thinking how long till lunchtime, how long till I can take the red sweater and throw it over the schoolyeard fence, or leave it hanging on a parking meter, or bunch it like a little ball and toss it in the alley. Except when math period ends Mrs. Price says loud and in front of everybody, "Now Rachel that's enough," because she sees I've shoved the red sweater to the tippy-tip corner of my desk and it's hanging all over the edge like a waterfall, but I don't care. "Rachel," Mrs. Price says. She says it like she's getting mad. "You put that sweater on right now and no more nonsense." "But it's not-..." "Now!" Mrs. Price says. This is when I wish I wasn't eleven beacuse all the years inside of me - ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one - are pushing at the back of my eyes when I put one arm through one sleeve of the sweater that smells like cottage cheese, and then the other arm through the other and stand there with my arms apart like if the sweater hurts me and it does, all itchy and full of germs that aren't even mine. That's when everything I've been holding in since this morning, since Mrs. Price put the sweater on my desk, finally lets go and all of a sudden I'm crying in front of everybody. I wish I was invisible but I'm not. I'm eleven and it's my birthday today and I'm crying like I'm three in front of everybody. I put my head down on the desk and bury my face in my stupid clown-sweater arms. My face all hot and spit coming out of my mouth because I can't stop the little animal noises from coming out of me, until there aren't any more tears left in my eyes, and it's just my body shaking like when you have the hiccups, and my whole head hurts like when you drink milk too fast. But the worst part is right before the bell rings for lunch, that stupid Phyllis Lopez, who is even dumber than Sylvia, says she remembers the red sweater is hers! I take it off right away and give it to her, only Mrs. Price pretends like everything is okay. Today I'm eleven. There's a cake Mama's making for tonight, and when Papa comes home from work we'll eat it. there'll be candles and presents and everybody will sing Happy Birthday, happ birthday to you, Rachel, only it's too late. I'm eleven today. I'm eleven, ten, eight, seven, six. five, three, two, and one, but I wish I was one hundred and two. I wish I was anything but eleven, because I want today to be far away already, far away like a runaway balloon, like a tiny "o" in the sky, so tiny-tiny you have to close your eyes to see it...... Before You Read: Connect to Your Life. What was turning 11 like for you? Or, what will turning 11 be like? Use the word web below to explore your thoughts. Jot down words and phrases that come to mind.
Key to the Story. What Do You Think? Have you ever felt that time passes too slowly or that it takes too long to grow up? Read the following statement from Eleven. "And when you wake up on your eleventh birthday you expect to feel eleven, but you don't." What would you say to Rachel, the character in the story who feels this way? Write your response in the balloon.
Preview: This short story hells how a girl named Rachel feels about turning 11 years old. What will happen on her birthday when Rachel gets a "present" she doesn't want?
As The Story Begins - It is Rachel's eleventh birthday. - Rachel describes how she feels about being eleven years old.
As The Story Continues - Rachel's teacher finds a sweater in the coatroom. - All the students say the sweater is not theirs. - Someone says the sweater belongs to Rachel.
As The Story Ends - Rachel pushes the sweater to the edge of her desk. Her teacher tells her to put the sweater on. Another student remember that the sweater is hers.
Focus: Rachel describes what turning eleven years old is like. Mark It Up: As you read, underline statements that tell you about Rachel's feelings. And example is highlighted.
Focus: Read to find out what Mrs. Price, Rachel's teacher, does that upsets Rachel.
Focus: Rachel looks at the ugly, red sweater on her desk. Notice how the sweater makes her feel. Mark It Up: As you read, underline details that show how Rachel reacts to the sweater.
Pause and Reflect: Do you agree with Rachel's feelings about birthdays? (Connect) YES / NO because ______ .
Pause and Reflect: 1) Mark It Up. Why does Rachel wish she were 102 instead of 11? Find the answer in the text and circle it. (Clarify) 2) Place a check mark next to the three details below that correctly describe the sweater. (Clarify) - plastic buttons - blue - ugly - stretched out - wool
Reading Check: What does Rachel mean when she says that her birthday party at home will be "too late"?
English Learner Support - Language. Pronouns: Find the sentence in blue type. In this sentence, the pronoun this refers to the "red sweater" mentioned later in the sentence. The teacher is asking, "Who is the owner of the red sweater?"
English Learner Support: Vocabulary. Tippy-tip: The word tip means "end." Tippy-tip means "a little beyond the tip." When Rachel pushes the sweater to the tippy-tip corner of her desk, the sweater starts to fall over the edge of the desk.
English Learner Support: Vocabulary. Idiom: The phrase holding in means "not expressing" or "not showing." Rachel has been feeling sad since this morning, but she has not cried until now.
More About: Tree Rings - If you cut down a tree and look a the top of the stump, you'll see many circles or rings. Each ring represents one year of the tree's life. The tree produces a new ring every year.
What Does It Mean? When Rachel says that all of her younger selves are "pushing at the back of my eyes," she means she is going to cry.
Words to Know: expect - verb, to look forward to something that is likely to occur except - preposition, other than; but sudden - adjective, happening without warning invisible - adjective, impossible to see; not visible
If all this isn't enough, there's 33 pages of academic and informational reading, followed by 47 pages of test preparation strategies:
ACADEMIC AND INFORMATIONAL Analyzing Text Features: Reading a Magazine Article, Reading a Textbook Understanding Visuals: Reading Graphs, Reading a Transit Map, Reading a Diagram Recognizing Text Structures: Main Idea and Supporting Details, Problem and Solution, Sequence, Cause and Effect, Comparison and Contrast, Argument Reading in the Content Areas: Social Studies, Science, Mathematics Reading Beyond the Classroom: Reading an Application, Reading a Public Notice, Reading a Web Page, Reading Technical Directions, Reading Product Information (warranties), Reading a Train Schedule TEST PREPARATION STRATEGIES Successful Test Taking, Reading Test Model: Long Selections Reading Test Practice: Long Selections Reading Test Model: Short Selections Reading Test Practice: Short Selections Functional Reading Test Model: Return / Exchange Form Functional Reading Test Practice: Instructions for Placing a Classified Ad Revising and Editing Test Model Revising and Editing Test Practice Writing Test Model Writing Test Practice Scoring Rubrics STRATEGIC READINGS
Jack Richards, Samuela EcKstut-Didier
Cambridge
Some authors and editors, in an effort to make a reading textbook as enjoyable and useful as possible, cram too many features on a page and do not pay enough attention to overall arrangement. The unintended result is a disorienting, jigsaw puzzle, treasure hunt effect: here a feature, there a feature, everywhere a feature; part of a story on one page and the remainder of the story on a another page; half an exercise in one column at the bottom of the page and the other half of the exercise in another column at the top of the page. Strategic Reading has fewer features and a simpler design, but doesn't compromise enjoyment or usefulness: one page for a chapter introduction, one page for an article, one page for comprehension check, one page for vocabulary expansion, consistently arranged subheadings and subsections. Relevant topics, interesting articles, plenty of pictures. Veteran author Jack Richards has once again given us a textbook with a user friendly format and quality material.
FAR FROM HOME: Reading and Word Study
AT HOME IN TWO LANDS: Intermediate Reading and Word Study
William Picket
Thomson / Heinle
Far from Home and At Home in Two Lands are about "everyday problems and progress, hopes and fears...problems and opportunities, successes and failures, virtues and flaws of a wide variety of people." Almost every reader can relate to almost every character in almost every story. Either it fits them or it fits someone they know. The relateability of the stories makes vocabulary building easier. Teacher's guide: textbook answer key, review tests with answer key, transparency masters.
OUR OWN STORIES
OUR OWN JOURNEYS Norine Dresser Longman In Our Own Stories, immigrants encounter American culture. In Own Our Journeys, westerners encounter other cultures. Inevitably, this leads to culture class. The latter part of each story is devoted to mutual understanding. Each chapter includes comprehension, vocabulary, discussion, and writing exercises, as well as a "culture capsule" background article. Our Own Journeys includes a "dictionary discoveries" section. You'll be hard pressed to find a better collection of articles on intercultural understanding in easier to understand language. If all these stories are true, an awful lot of research went into these books.
RETHINKING AMERICA: A Cultural Reader
M.E. Sokolik
Thomson / Heinle
Rethinking America is an excellent selection of snapshots of American culture, the best I've seen in any textbook. 3 books. Intermediate, high intermediate, and advanced. Extensive almanac. Instructor's manual includes transcript of CNN video. Instructor's manual: sample lesson plan, textbook answer key, video transcripts, skills index.
TASK READING
Evelyn Davies, Norman Whitney, Meredith Pike-Baky, Laurie Blass
Cambridge
EXTREMELY practical, in-the-trenches selections: forms, maps, directories, lists, signs and symbols, timetables / schedules, ads, announcements, itineraries, questionnaires, memos, fliers, posters, editorials, menus, profiles, obituaries, travel guides, excerpts, tickets, entertainment programs, even dictionary entries, telegrams, and comics. The exercises are practical, too. The book is in 3 parts: reading for information, reading for meaning, reading for pleasure. Includes conversations between two foreign college students, Roberto from Brazil and Machiko from Japan, as they acquire and apply reading skills in a variety of everyday situations.
From the teacher's notes: "Most modern courses in English as a second or foreign language offer teachers a communicative syllabus, which gives as much importance to the functional uses of the language as to its linguistic forms. This book aims to support and complement such courses, by recognizing reading as a communicative rather than a passive activity. But developing real communicative ability in a foreign language, and being an active reader of it, requires from the learner more awareness and consciousness of learning strategies, than does reading in the native language. Task Reading, therefore, emphasizes these approaches to reading in a foreign language: 1) Transfer of reading skills from the native language to English. 2) The use of authentic or realistic source texts. 3) Pre-text orientation, especially the identification of reader and writer intent."
ACCESS READING: Reading in the Real World
Tim Collins Thompson / Heinle Access Reading helps adult learners meet EFF, SCANS, and CASAS standards through a series of well organized, thorough, accessible selections and exercises with an integrated skills approach. Designed to prepare students for their roles in the community, family, and workplace. Includes a scope and sequence table of contents, a standards table of contents, a reading strategies table of contents, a teamwork exercise section, a vocabulary index, and a skills index. A portfolio and skills checklist help students and teachers monitor progress. Vocabulary index includes unit and page numbers. Skills index includes subcategories. Plenty of pictures, illustrations, and boxes. Visual friendly format. Supplementary tools include instructor's manual, tape / CD, and website.
Sample from the skills and sequence table of contents, Book One, Chapter Two, Around Town: Reading: Read a profile of an immigrant family. Reading Strategy: Use the first sentence of each paragraph to find the main idea. Graphic Organizer: Use a chart to organize information. Study Skill: Staying organized. Sample from the standards table of contents, same book, same chapter: EFF: Become and stay informed. Form and express ideas and opinions. Work together. Promote family growth and development. Strengthen the family system. Do the work. Work with others. SCANS: Teach others. Work well with people. Understand social systems. Acquire and evaluate data. Interpret and communicate information. Serve customers. CASAS: Communicate in interpersonal interactions. Communicate personal information. Use the telephone book. Use community services. Understand basic safety procedures. Use community services to achieve community integration.
Chapter titles from the reading strategies table of contents: Use pictures and the title to find the main idea. Use the first sentence of each paragraph to find the main idea. Scan for specific dates and times. Read and draw conclusions. Use pictures and captions to find the main idea. Use background information to help you read. Use related words to help you read. Scan for specific information. Use the context to figure out new words. Read and make inferences. Identify cause and effect. Use headings to scan for information. Use the context to predict the meaning of new words. Learn to take notes. Question the information in a reading. Distinguishing fact from opinion. Ask and answer 'wh' questions. Understand a process. Distinguish between main ideas and details. Skim for the main idea.
Exercises: accessing information [pre-reading], giving voice [discussion], accessing information [post-reading], taking action, bridging to the future, community connection, family connection, work connection, enriching your vocabulary [grammar], study skill, review, your portfolio, summing up [skills checklist].
Instructor's manual includes: Teaching notes for key parts of every unit, answer key for all exercises and teamwork activities in the student book, reproducible test for each unit and a reproducible answer sheet to help students prepare for standardized testing, information about scientifically based research on learning and reading strategies (including multiple intelligences and diverse learning styles), placement information,
lsson plan suggestions, assessment strategies.
EXPLORING FUNCTIONAL TEXTS
Diane Henderson, Jenepher Snell, Le sow Ling
Learners
Similar to Access Reading, Task Reading, and Survival English - graphs, timetables, lists, diagrams, maps, plans, charts, advertisements, posters. The illustrations are adequate, though not near as realistic, but the exercises are better. For example, in the chapter entitled Rules for Passengers: "Imagine you are the owner of a ferry. You transport people from the mainland to an island and return. the journey takes about one hour. Passenger safety and comfort are your first priorities. Complete the information about the ferry in the table below. Then write a list of 10 rules for your passengers. Write a paragraph explaining what passengers must do in the even of the ferry beginning to sink."
CHALLENGING COMPREHENSION PRACTICES
Redspot Publishing
Extremely visual friendly and extremely user friendly. Paragraph summaries on the side of the page. Answer keys upside down on the same page as the exercises. One major exercise is for the whole article, one major exercise is for a selected section of the article. The other exercises are for individual paragraphs. 3 units - reading skills, answering skills, speed / accuracy.
READING RITES: Improve Your Reading Skills series
Mervyn Blake EPB / SNP / Panpac Table of contents: Reading for Meaning - skimming for the gist, understanding the big picture, being sensitive to paragraph structure, reading by phrase. Answering Questions - Answering the specific question, inferring from the text, expressing it in your own words. Summary Skills - understanding what is required, finding relevant points, note-making / re-expression, the write-up.
SCORE IN COMPREHENSION
Graemie Spencer Shinglee Publishers Table of contents - Comprehension Skills: Mastering the Grammar of Answers, alternative ways of answering a question, using a main clause to answer a question. Selecting Relevant Information, match the information with the mark scheme, removing irrelevant phrases from within sentences, spotting the answer with synonyms. Interpreting Text: making an intelligent guess, find the clue, two kinds of inference, logical inference (deduction), empirical inference (induction), inference in the question. Vocabulary Skills: Words, Phrases, and Sentences. Discovering the Clue, Looking for synonyms at the location, looking for context clues, same word, different meaning. Substituting Similar Phrases, recognising similar meanings, recognising grammatical equivalence, replacing adverbs, choosing the correct grammar, answers which are not permissible, grammar and meaning. Understanding Difficult Text, sophisticated language, idioms, imaginative language, looking for links. Summary Skills: Introduction. Purpose and Relevance. Listing, what is a list, practise listing, fluent writing exercises, text based exercises. The Scoring Zone, finding the scoring zone in a passage. Using Your Own Words, sentence level practice, using simple language, paragraph level practice, imaginative language. Interpreting the Passage, interpreting descriptive details, imaginative language in discursive passages, interpreting examples.
GET IT RIGHT! English Reading Comprehension
Toh Weng Choy, Phyllis Chew Oxford University Press / Singapore Skills: "Skimming: to the the gist of the passage; Scanning: to extract specific details from the passage; Peripheral perspective: to draw inferences from given information; Word Building: to enlarge the repertoire of words; Eliciting and rewriting: to write a terse, well-directed summary." Taxonomy: "These skills to a large extent meet the main areas of the Barrett taxonomy: Literal comprehension, Reorganisational comprehension, Inferential comprehension, Evaluative comprehension, Appreciative comprehension."
READING COMPREHENSION BUILDER
Research & Education Association Press Preparation for standardized exam - SAT * ACT * AP * GRE *GMAT * LSAT, etc. Each chapter has 3 sections - diagnostic test, review / drills, vocabulary list. Tests and drills included answer keys. Tests include detailed explanations.
Table of contents: vocabulary enhancer, basic reading comprehension, reading for content, reading for style, reading short passages, reading medium passages, reading long passages, attacking critical reading questions, mini tests.
GRAMMAR IN USE
Raymond Murphy
Let's face it. Grammar is difficult. Show me an ESL student whose favorite class is grammar. Even native speakers don't like grammar. And let's face it. Most grammar books are difficult and boring. Essential Grammar in Use is about the best solution yet.
NATURAL GRAMMAR
Scott Thornbury
Oxford
Terminology free. A rare feature among grammar books.
Richard Marius, Harvey Weiner
McGraw-Hill
WEBSTER'S INSTANT WORD GUIDE
PUNCTUATION POWER
Marvin Terban
Scholastic
THE SCHOLASTIC DICTIONARY OF SPELLING
Marvin Terban
Scholastic
READING, WRITING, AND SPELLING
Colin Clark
Brown Watson
MY BIG BOOK OF READING AND SUMS
Colin Clark
Brown Watson
DICTIONARY GUIDES AND WORKBOOKS
MACMILLAN ADVANCED LEARNERS DICTIONARY WORKBOOK - Adrian Underhill
Of the handful of dictionary aids on the market, Adrian Underhill's workbook for the Macmillan Advanced Learners Dictionary is by far the most visual friendly, user friendly, innovative, interesting, insightful, useful, and challenging. Includes a class activities section, a chapter on the World English Corpus, and an answer key. Each chapter includes a "interesting facts" box. Table of contents: Finding words in the dictionary; Red words and black words [word frequency]; Introducing concordances [corpuses]; Pronunciation and stress; Grammar information, Finding and exploring meanings; Collocation, idioms, and phrasal verbs, Choosing the right word; Language study [etymology and metaphors]; Working with texts
LONGMAN DICTIONARY SKILLS HANDBOOK - Janet McAlpin
COLLINS COBUILD LEARNER'S DICTIONARY WORKBOOK - Bill Mascull
COLLINS COBUILD ENGLISH DICTIONARY WORKBOOK
COLLINS COBUILD JUNIOR DICTIONARY SKILLS WORKBOOK
COLLINS COBUILD FIRST SCHOOL DICTIONARY SKILLS WORKBOOK
COLLINS COBUILD PRIMARY DICTIONARY SKILLS WORKBOOK
COLLINS COBUILD SHORTER SCHOOL DICTIONARY SKILLS WORKBOOK
OXFORD ESL DICTIONARY WORKBOOK
OXFORD STUDENT'S DICTIONARY WORKSHEETS
OXFORD ADVANCED LEARNER'S DICTIONARY RESOURCE BOOK
CAMBRIDGE DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN ENGLISH STUDENT ACTIVITY BOOK
COLLINS COBUILD IDIOMS DICTIONARY WORKBOOK
COLLINS COBUILD PHRASAL VERBS DICTIONARY WORKBOOK
GRADED READERS
Sometimes called graded readers, sometimes called simplified novels or simplified classics, sometimes called guided readers, sometimes called adapted readers. Universally accepted classic novels, as well as popular and intriguing recent short stories. With a vocabulary as few as 300 words and as many as 5000, they allow readers to enjoy stories at their own level. Most come with a teachers manual, activity book, CD, cassettes, or some combination, but getting your hands on these aids can be a chore. They can be used to teach reading, listening, literature, drama, and sometimes culture. They are available from several publishers.
Hienemann information about its Elementary Level readers provides some insight into the adaption process:
" Information Control: Stories have straightforward plots and a restricted number of main characters. Information which is vital to the understanding of the story is clearly presented and repeated when necessary. Difficult allusion and metaphor are avoided and cultural backgrounds are made explicit.
Structure Control: Students will meet those grammatical features which they have already been taught in their elementary course of studies. Other grammatical features occasionally occur with which the students may not be so familiar, but their use is made clear through context and reinforcement. This ensures that the reading as well as being enjoyable provides a continual learning situation for the students. Sentences are kept short - a maximum of two clauses in nearly all cases - and within sentences there is a balanced use of simple adverbial and adjectival phrases. Great care is taken with pronoun reference.
Vocabulary Control: At Elementary Level there is a limited use of a carefully controlled vocabulary of approximately 1,100 basic words. At the same time, students are given some opportunity to meet new or unfamiliar words in contexts where their meaning is obvious. The meaning of words introduced in this way is reinforced by repetition. Help is also given to the students in the form of vivid illustrations which are closely related to the text. "
From the Scholastic website:
" What Is a Leveled Book Collection?
A leveled book collection is a large set of books organized in levels of difficulty from the easy books that an emergent reader might begin to the longer, complex books that advanced readers will select. In some schools, the collection is housed in a central area. There are multiple copies of many books. There might be ten levels for grades K-3 and three or four levels for each later grade.
A leveled book set has several advantages, including the following:
It is also crucial to provide variety within each level. Readers who experience only one kind of book may develop a narrow range of strategies for processing text. Instead, we want young readers to use their skills in a flexible way for many different purposes.
A leveled collection may be constructed simply by gathering a large set of books and working with colleagues to evaluate the texts. Using your experiences in teaching children, you will find that you can place books along a continuum of difficulty. Of course, your initial rankings should be tested with children over a period of time. Gradually, categories will become more stable. Many groups of teachers have worked with their collections over several years, periodically coming together to discuss books, revise levels, and add new books. As you discuss books, you will discover that you are also talking about the children and their reading behavior. You will be getting to know both the books and the readers.
No single aspect or characteristic of text can be used to evaluate reading material. In placing a text along a gradient of difficulty, many factors are considered.
The Black Cat Guide to Graded Readers, by Robert Hill, explains the differences between extensive reading and intensive reading:
"ELT methodology distinguishes two different kinds of reading, which are often presented as opposites: extensive and intensive reading.
EXTENSIVE READING means reading in quantity and in order to gain a general understanding of what is read. It is intended to develop good reading habits, such as reading without worrying about every single detail, and to encourage taking pleasure in reading. Vocabulary and structures, although not consciously studied, are unconsciously acquired through high exposure to language. In short, it is intended to resemble reading for pleasure or information in the mother tongue.
INTENSIVE READING is generally done at a slower speed with short passages, and requires a higher degree of understanding than extensive reading. It is task driven: the passage is generally accompanied by comprehension questions intended to develop reading subskills and/or accompanied by language activities focused on vocabulary and structure.
The following comparison sets out the differences in reading styles and methodology:
Extensive reading: The main aim is fluency in reading.
Intensive reading: The main aim is accuracy in reading. Extensive reading: Long texts - complete books, stories, articles.
Intensive reading: Short texts, generally extracts from longer texts, from one paragraph to a maximum of 2 or 3 pages. Extensive reading: Quick, unrepetitive reading. It does not involve going back over the text.
Intensive reading: It usually involves going back and rereading some points in the text. Extensive reading: No comprehension questions after reading.
Intensive reading: Comprehension questions after reading. Extensive reading: The reader should not study lexical / structural aspects of the text.
Intensive reading: Probably followed by activities on lexical / structural aspects of the text. Extensive reading: Usually done outside class, alone, without the guidance of the teacher.
Intensive reading: Mostly done in class, under the guidance of the teacher." My favorite graded reader so far is Sunnyvista City, an Oxford Storylines, level 3, by Peter Viney. The plot and sentences flow smoother than any I've read. Even with a vocabulary of only 1000 words, the actions and explanations are clear and succinct. The dialog is simple but crisp. There are enough characters to flesh out the story but not so many as to overwhelm us. The mystery unfolds at just the right pace, not so slow as to lose our interest and not so fast as to lose our comprehension.
Another favorite is Simon Decker and the Secret Formula, an Express Publications, ELT Graded Reader, level 1, by Jenny Dooley. Some day, this story is going to make a good movie.
The Missing Scientist is an interesting and enjoyable story. But the format corresponds to the detective assigned to the case: slow, thorough, and methodical. Much space is devoted to dry, tedious, detailed, and often unnecessary accounts of what the characters say, do, and think. Almost all of this paragraph, for example, could be eliminated: "She led them to the lift. When they got to the fourth floor, she took them to a flat. She unlocked the door and opened it, and then stood back to allow the detectives to enter the sitting room. As soon as they were inside the flat, they saw that something was wrong." This would be sufficient: "When she took them to the flat, they immediately saw that something was wrong." The plot is standard operating procedure. Key events are not fully exploited for dramatic effect. Even the pronouns are generic. All of this might be wearisome to native readers, but is to the advantage of ESL readers, who might not have the same exposure and practice.. So if you're a native reader, forgive the drudgery. And if you're an ESL reader, expect a workout.
The most challenging I've read so far is I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov, one of the most ingenious and prolific writers of all time. In I, Robot, the people who design and work with robots deal with one major, unexpected crisis after another. Applying the 3 laws of robotics, robot pschology, logic, and detective work, they must outwit their creations - and they don't always succeed.
Cambridge's Jojo's Story, by Antoinette Moses, is the story of a orphan refugee, told simply but vividly through the eyes of a 10 year old boy. Frightened, he does little more than hide, convinced that the soldiers who annihilated his family and village are on the verge of returning. Soldiers arrive, but they are wearing blue hats. Reluctantly, he bids farewell to his deceased family and the only home he has every known. The foreign soldiers take him to an orphanage. He is befriended by Chris, a British photographer, and Dr. Nicky, the orphanage physician from Doctors Without Borders. His parents warned him about "the people on the other side of the river." But not until he sees the handiwork of these people does he begin to realize how evil and dangerous his fellow man can be. Painfully, he compares the happiness and activity of his farm and village before the battle with the stillness, destruction, and smell of death after "the people on the other side of the river" have left. He also describes the deep psychological wounds of the other children at the orphanage. He relates the relentless horror of the war as it gets closer and closer, to the very yard of the orphanage. He takes the UN to task for seemingly not pursuing its stated mission. He also wants to know why Chris would want to tell the stories of children on the other side of the river, and why Nicky would want to treat them. He compares the condition, clothes, and weapons of the UN soldiers - there strictly to provide humanitarian aid and forbidden to fire unless fired upon - with those of his battleworn countrymen. When soldiers of Jojo's country arrive at the orphanage, the plot takes a heartbreaking turn, followed by a disturbing surprise ending. The author gives Jojo a consistently simplistic and limited perspective, often with humorous results. This is a risky technique, but in this case, it's very effective. Jojo's Story is testimony, not commentary. There are no monologs, no philosophying. The world is viewed through the eyes of the story's most important and most vulnerable character. Readers are left to draw their own conclusions. This strategy is also effective. Many times I've had to read a review to understand a story because it is so sophisticated or so subtle. By contrast, the implications of Jojo's Story are immediately recognizable. We never learn Jojo's nationality, not even his region. Nor are we offered geographic names or family names. Jojo represents a multitude of children all over the world and all through history. This is a powerful, timeless story with universal lessons. It's hard to imagine how the orphan refugee story could be told better. I wouldn't change one word. I say this without exaggeration or hesitation: Jojo's Story is destined to become a classic. Winner of the 2004 Extensive Reading Foundation award, it deserves both the Pulitzer and Noble prizes. It is one of the best and most important books of all time, and belongs in every literature, reading, and English classroom in the world - indefinitely.
PENGUIN READERS
What a selection!!! The catalog cover sums it up: "Something for everyone!" Whereas
Recommended Penguin Readers:
Level 1 - 300 words
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain
The
The Crown - M.R. James
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
Amazon Rally - Eduardo Amos and Elisabeth Prescher
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
Brown Eyes - Paul Stewart
Marcel and the Shakespeare Letters Stephen Rabley
The Missing Coins - John Escott
Run for Your Life - Stephen Walker
The Wrong Man - Kris Anderson
Level 2 - 600 words
The Call of the Wild - Jack London
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - Anita Loos
The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling
Anne of Green Gables - Lucy Maude Montgomery
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift
Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson
Black Beauty - Anna Sewell
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