4 out of 4 stars
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If you teach conversational American English to immigrants or international students at an intermediate level, Compelling American Conversations: Questions and Quotations for Intermediate American English Language Learners by Eric Roth and Toni Aberson with Hal Bogotch is the ideal textbook for you. Made up of fifteen chapters, each addressing a specific theme, this book helps language learners engage meaningfully in conversation with other people and express themselves naturally in American settings and contexts.
As this book is geared towards intermediate speakers, it focuses on building vocabulary, promotes conversational English and introduces the differences between cultures through the analyses of proverbs and thought-provoking quotations. There is a wealth of “why” questions that students must answer, “on your own” exercises and “seek and share” homework activities at the end of each chapter which encourage learners to work autonomously.
The conversations in the book are based on real-life themes such as identity, friendship and handling stress, as well as certain aspects of American culture such as sports, fashion and job interviews. I particularly liked the fact that the writers show they understand that it can be stressful to be an immigrant in a country where the official language is not your mother tongue. The realistic questions and themes make a change from the books I, as a foreign language English teacher, have had to use which have no basis in reality at all, making them profoundly boring and useless in the classroom. The activities help students develop fluency and confidence in their abilities. I disliked most the use of proverbs in the exercises as intermediate learners of English often have trouble finding the equivalent proverbs in their own language due to their inability to thoroughly understand the complex logic of proverbs in a foreign language, making them dependent on the teacher in this exercise when they should be moving towards autonomy at their level.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars because it does what it says on the cover – it delivers compelling American conversations, and it does so in an ordered and logical fashion. It makes for interesting classroom conversation that doesn't insult adult learners' intelligence and it is exceptionally well-edited. I noticed no errors in the text at all. A lower rating would be unfair to the amount of work and professional expertise that has gone into creating this book.
Compelling American Conversations is an invaluable resource for English second and foreign language teachers and students. Although it is pitched at an intermdiate level, learners of higher levels will also benefit from using it. I'd recommend this book to all teachers looking for oral comprehension and expression activities to incorporate into their syllabus as it sparks authentic conversation, builds necessary skills and promotes critical thinking for language learners in need of American English.
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Compelling American Conversations
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This textbook is a good one for English learners. Thanks for your review.
