Teacher Discussion Forums

[tomballjerry]

We are looking for advanced level textbooks for the advanced adult class in our institute. We have been using NorthStar advanced series for reading/writing and listening speaking along with Focus on Grammar advanced. We have decided to make a change next semester for this particular class. Could anyone recommend a highly challenging textbook or books that are specific to skill? We are thinking about having one class for listening/speaking, another class for writing and a third class for reading comprehension/culture studies (covering grammar in this course). There are separate teachers for each course.

[sbourque]

What kind of program is this, and what kind of listening/speaking/writing will the students need to do? If it's academic (=they're in or will be starting college in the US) I can suggest a couple of texts. If they're working adults they're probably more interested in business-oriented materials.

[tomballjerry]

The students are for the most part planning to enter the University. So, yes, I think that we would like to find some books that are as academic as possible. Of course, we're not interested in liguistic theory or anything of that nature, but we want to give them anything that would continue to improve their language skills. Some of these students will even be entering graduate school (Master's, PhD).
Our standard curriculm for every level until now has been 1 Grammar class, 1 Listening/Speaking class, 1 Reading/Writing class, and a lab class. Our level 6 class will primarily be focused on research and TOEFL. It is our level 5 class that we are focusing on making some changes in the type of subject matter they would be studying. We might drop the Grammar class and replace it with something related to cultural studies.

Any suggestions you might have about our particular situation or textbooks would be appreciated. Thanks!

[sbourque]

I've been using College Writing, level 4 in Houghton Mifflin's English for Academic Success series. It's pretty high-level but does give a good intro to writing different types of essays and reports. Along with that, we use Top 20: Great Grammar for Great Writing, from the same publisher.

I also use Mifflin's College Vocabulary, level 4 in my listening/speaking class, along with a very good text/cassette program called Learn to Listen/Listen to Learn; this really focuses on listening to college-type lectures and taking notes.

Houghton Mifflin also has a website for both teachers and students, with supplementary exercises and quizzes. Very helpful.

[jtanka]

Don't know if you're still looking for advanced texts, but I suggest you try a new 2-level listening/speaking series: Real Talk 1 and Real Talk 2 (by L. Baker and J. Tanka, Longman Publisher)

Your high-intermediate and advanced students will find the book very challenging in that it's entirely based on real English, i.e., authentic recordings of real people, not actors in a studio, speaking ESLese. The topics cover both academic and non-academic subjects, in four settings: in person, on the phone, on the radio and in the lecture hall.
Give it a try.

[Eric18]

You have many wonderful options. Let me suggest one that you may not have heard of before. Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics for Advanced ESL Students.

Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.

That's the motto of my new ESL book called Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics – An Engaging Textbook for Advanced ESL Learners. You can download free chapters and lessons at
www.compellingconversations.com today. Naturally, I hope you like the material.

Compelling Conversations:
-includes 45 thematic chapters on a wide variety of conversation topics
-asks over 1350 questions encouraging students to reflect and share
-features over 500 memorable quotations from ancient sages to modern writers
-introduces over 200 proverbs from around the world
-highlights 450 practical vocabulary words
-provides enough material for an estimated 180 hours of class time
-ends each chapter with an “on your own” exercise
-allows students to develop authentic, meaningful conversations in English
-deepens critical thinking skills
-encourages students to share experiences and insights
-engages students in authentic, meaningful discussions
-creates compelling conversations
-reduces teacher stress by providing complete, ready-to-use quality lessons.

You can also buy it as a PDF and make copies for your students. Or you can buy it from Amazon, ALTA catalog, or purchase class sets from the publisher. Check it out. See if you like the material.

Please visit and enjoy the free lessons.

[alexcase]

It might be worth thinking about an exam book for IELTS or Cambridge Proficiency to give them a good range of skills and language but with lots of academic language as well, even if they are not taking an exam.