Teacher Discussion Forums

Hi all,

I'm looking to adopt an all-skills course book (with a healthy dose of writing) for a High Intermediate level class (TOEFL ~500) that I teach. The course is geared to Ss preparing to enter mainstream university credit courses. Every course book that I look at is either not academic or challenging enough, or not the right level of English. I used Oxford's Explorations 2 course book and it was too lightweight for my keen Ss. Any recommendation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Judi

Hi

This is not a coursebook, but a workbook called Check Your Vocabulary for ACADEMIC ENGLISH.
Author David Porter, pub Peter Collin Publishing (2001) ISBN 1-901659-53-4

It's full of exercises such as word substitution, choose the best word, making collocations. Each unit (there are eleven) follows the same format, which can be a bit tedious, but it is a good addition to an EAP course or Study Skills course.

It's aimed at Upper Intermediate but I'm not sure how accurate this is. I've used about 3 of the units with my 3rd year Chinese university students. I teach writing and I focus on what I call academic writing which is based on the IELTS writing exam, if you know it. I don't teach IELTS, I have a free hand on my syllabus so that's what I focus on.