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[dmb]

Ok guys(shameless i know but it will save me some work)
Which books would you recommend for Academic English programs(programmes)- All levels and all skills.

[molly farquharson]

Interactions and Mosaic. Possibly Grammar Dimensions. I hear some people are happy with Focus on Grammar and Northstar, but I have never used them. I think Interactions and Mosaic are the best-- contextual, somewhat demanding.

[whynotme]

grammar dimensions is great....you can use 'academic writing' by Leki ..cant remember the name something LEKI by C.U.P....a guy in our school is using "E.A.P Now"by Longman and looks very happy...i was using a book called "Introduction to Acdemic Writing"Addison-Wesley Publishing...it is the kind of book that can attract turkish students but a bit old...

[justme]

I've found Northstar pretty good, especially at the lower levels. I haven't used Focus On Grammar much, but I liked it when I did-- I found it much more descriptive than prescriptive, and its focus is more on meaning and use than on form. However, it's for this same reason that most of the Turkish teachers I work with are having a hard time with it. Also, it's very dense for a grammar book, and for lack of time people are skipping the most useful and interesting stuff in favor of the form and filling-in-blanks sections. For sake of time, Focus on Grammar could actually be used as a primary coursebook.

Northstar is similar-- its focus is meaning, use, and description, and the texts are appropriate for academic preparation. The other main focus is building skills, and it's pretty good for that. The vocabulary is varied and mostly useful, and the texts and activities are challenging. One of my complaints about it is that a lot of the topics are dreadfully boring, from the top of list of Most Inocuous EFL Topics. There is also a lot of repetition of topics across the levels, so for the rest of my life I never want to talk about the environment, endangered animals and people, food, or transportation again-- they're all done at least twice, but at least the students mostly seemed to like it more than I did. Also, the books are intended for ESL courses in the States, so I find the focus on American culture to be too strong and not especially interesting for students-- they really don't need to learn about Thanksgiving and the I Love Lucy Show. But I hear they're coming out with an international edition, and there's even some talk of making a Turkish edition.

I don't recommend the Northstar Listening & Speaking book, and I never could figure out a way to use the Writing Activity book in class. The Listening book's texts are pretty lame-- not enough lecture-style/note-taking activities, but a lot of things like TV shows and radio programs, and the activities are repetitive. I'm often so bored by the material that I can't even pretend to try to make the students interested. Also, the listenings are pretty easy.

One other thing is that there seems to be a huge jump in level between Intermediate and High Intermediate...

Ok, so that's not much of a recommendation, but out off the other books I've used, this one, though not without it's negatives, is pretty good...

[dmb]

Thanks for your suggestions. I am familiar with most of them. My problem though is the course will be preparing Students for entry into UK universities. Most EAP books that I know of are geared towards a US market.
Also, in the past I have found that the weakest skill for Turkish students is listening. Do you agree?
I vaguely remember a book called Selected Listening(it was quite a few years ago) Is anyone aware of it and know the publisher?

[dmb]

Has anyone ever used(or supplemented) with a Cambridge series called Academic Encounters. There are seperate books for writing, listening and reading.