ESL Material
Unless otherwise specified, all texts are accompanied by audiocassettes or audio CDs.
If you wish, you may choose to view this
list by level. You may scroll down or select from the following
categories:
GRAMMAR
- Basic English
- A videotape series of 35 lessons for true beginners
- Dictionary of Prepositions
- References the use of 115 prepositions (text only)
- Focus on Grammar:
Basic, Intermediate, High Intermediate, and Advanced
- An interactive grammar tutorial (see Computer
Programs section)
- Graded Exercises in English (text only)
- A comprehensive (beginning through advanced) grammar exercise
book. Answers are given in the back.
- Grammar Plus
- A high-beginning to low-intermediate grammar and listening workbook
- Intermediate English
- A videotape series of 25 lessons at the high-beginning to low-intermediate
level
- Listening Dictation
- Contains drills which reinforce basic English grammatical patterns
and develop skills in discriminative listening.
- Mastering American English (text only)
- A grammar exercise book, with answers given in the back
(low intermediate to advanced).
- Sentence Sense
- Contains 16 lessons in how to write basic sentences in English.
- Side by Side: A Core Conversation Course -
Beginning and Intermediate
- An illustrated grammar workbook based on model conversations.
- Skills Bank (under "English 403"
- enter as a visitor)
- An interactive grammar program (see Computer
Programs section) Under "Language," select
"Grammar and Usage" or choose any topic under "Writing."
SPELLING
- Basic Everyday Spelling Workbook
- Exercises in basic spelling patterns
- Practical Everyday Spelling Workbook
- Provides intermediate practice with English spelling patterns.
- Skills Bank (under "English
403" - enter as a guest)
- An interactive computer program - spelling section is
under "Language"
(see Computer Programs section)
VOCABULARY
DEVELOPMENT
- 101 American English Idioms
- A fun, richly illustrated book of idioms featuring dialogues
in which each idiom is used and paraphrased.
- 101 American English Proverbs
- A fun, richly illustrated book of proverbs featuring dialogues
in which each proverb is used and paraphrased.
- All Clear! Idioms in Context and
All Clear! Advanced
- Presents use of American idioms and two-word verbs in conversational
situations that reflect social customs.
- American Heritage Talking Dictionary
- This program offers thousands of integrated
definitions, audio pronunciations, and images. Definitions
are available for 200,000 words, including more than 90,000 spoken
word links, new images, and an integrated thesaurus and dictionary
of cultural literacy. (on CD Rom - see Computer Programs section).
- Attitudes through Idioms
- A high-intermediate presentation of idioms which reflect American
cultural attitudes, this text groups the words of each unit thematically.
- Skills Bank (under "English 403"
- enter as a guest)
- An interactive grammar program (see Computer
Programs section)
Under "Reading," select "Vocabulary Building"
or "Word Knowledge" (includes a section on idioms).
- The Slangman Guide to Street Speak 1, 2,
and 3
- A book and CD set about idioms and slang expressions. Good for
intermediate levels.
- Ultimate Word Attack
- A program consisting of five activities/games for vocabulary building.
Although not written for ESL students, this program can be helpful
for intermediate through advanced students (see Computer
Programs section).
- Wordcraft 1, 2, and 3
- Each lesson contains 10 words in context, reference sentences
with synonyms, and review tests. Interesting historical, cultural,
and scientific themes are used as a context for the introduction
of words throughout the series.
LISTENING
AND SPEAKING
- Academic Mini-Lectures
- Brief college lectures and guide sheets provide practice in note-taking
skills (advanced).
- Business Listening and Speaking
- Intermediate level text wih audio CDs covers the language of business
in meetings, marketing, negotiating, management, small business
and other topics of interest.
- Consider the Issues
- High-interest interviews from NPR (National Public Radio) programs
and accompanying exercises develop advanced listening, vocabulary,
and critical thinking skills.
- Face the Issues
- An intermediate version of Consider the Issues.
Fluent English
A book and CD for high intermediate or advanced level students who are
seeking to build fluency. Includes idiomatic expressions, phrasal verbs, practical vocabulary expansion, and grammar in context. Builds listening comprehension with natural pronunciation and intonation exercises, as well as additional practice in speaking, listening, writing, and reading. Provides essential information about living in the U.S.
Focus on Grammar: Basic, Intermediate,
High-Intermediate, and Advanced
An interactive grammar
tutorial, this program features extensive practice in a wide variety
of grammar topics. Students may click on "Listen"
to hear dialogues, which are followed by a series of comprehension
questions.
Getting Ahead in the U.S.
Practical information about living in and being successful in the U.S.
Topics include losing a job and finding one again, asking for a raise, buying a car, getting pulled over while driving, parent-teacher meetings, doing taxes, getting health insurance, using government resources like family services, and much more. Each lesson teaches advanced grammar points through dialogues, fill-in-the-blank exercises, and real life tasks such as creating an emergency plan for your family. There's also indispensable cultural information on such topics as time, communication styles, and gift giving. Book with six audio CDs.
-
- Interactions Access, Interactions 1 and
2 (cassettes only)
- Audio cassettes to accompany listening texts.
- Just Joking: Stories for Listening and Discussion
- High-beginning level listening text with audio CD presenting varous humorous stories.
- Listening Dictation
- Exercises reinforcing basic grammar and developing skills in discriminative
listening.
-
- Listen to Me! (cassettes only)
- Audio cassettes to accompany a beginning listening text.
- Presenting in English
- For advanced ESL students, this text with cassette teaches how
to give speeches and presentations; it covers topics such as how
to get started, various techniques, using visuals, voice, and
key language, and handling questions.
- Top-Up Listening 1, 2, and 3
- A beginning to low-intermediate listening text with accompanying
audio CD.
- Whattaya Do?
- Conversations exemplify patterns and themes in American Business
English.
- Whattaya Hear?
- Conversations exemplify patterns and themes in American humor.
- Whaddaya Say?
- Guided practice in relaxed English.
AMERICAN
LITERATURE/ READERS
- American Short Stories
- A text containing ESL adaptations of six famous short stories with vocabulary help and sentence pattern exercises. Students may request ccompanying cassettes by the title of each story.
- *South of the Slot * Gift of the Magi * The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky * An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge * The Black Cat * Rip Van Winkle
- Anecdotes in American English: Elementary,
Intermediate, and Advanced
- Short, humorous stories followed by comprehension questions and
short grammar exercises.
- Cambridge English Readers
 Cambridge English Readers detailed listing (.pdf)
- Connections Readers: Intermediate
- Readers to accompany the video course Connect With English.
Intermediate level has a base vocabulary of 1,500 words. - A: Room and Board -
B: Alone Together
C: On the Farm - D: A Family Secret
- The Heinle Reading Library
- The Heinle Reading Library detailed listing (.pdf)
- Jamestown Classic Short Stories
- 23 short stories which have been adapted for ESL students, each
including a glossary of words and expressions and the key concepts
of the story. Jamestown Classic Short Stories detailed listing (.pdf)
- Longman Classics
- A series of simplified classics written to various levels of reading
proficiency for ESL students (no tapes available). Longman Classics detailed listing (.pdf)
-
- Oxford Bookworms
- Oxford Bookworms title list (.pdf)
- Oxford Dominoes
- Oxford Dominoes title list (.pdf)
- Penguin Readers
- Penguin Readers title list (.pdf)
- Reading for Real: Start Up through Advanced II Levels
- A series of readers based on articles treating high interest, real life topics. Audio CDs to accompany articles are available.
PRONUNCIATION
- American Accent Training
American Speechsounds
This software program enables students to customize their lessons
according to their native language background and the phonetic
system which they prefer to use. Students may listen and
record their own voices Sounds are presented in initial,
medial, and ending positions, and students may practice pronunciation
of phonemes, words, phrases, and sentences. (see Computer
Software section)
- Breaking the Accent Barrier
- A videotape by David Alan Stern on accent reduction, emphasizing
muscularity and intonation.
- Jazz Chants: Old and New
- Exercises which set everyday English to jazz rhythms for conversational
stress and intonation practice.
- Perfect English Pronunciation
- Two sixty-minute videos / DVDs presenting pronunciation drills:
one video / DVD provides practice for consonants and the other
for vowels.
- Pronouncing American English
- Sounds, stress, and intonation for intermediate students of ESL.
This text introduces students to the International Phonetic Alphabet
and uses it throughout. It contains diagrams with instructions
for how to produce each sound and presents aural discrimination
drills.
-
- Pronunciation Pairs
- Pronunciation exercises for high-beginning to intermediate ESL
students. Contains many illustrations and animated conversations.
Provides simplified instructions for the production of each sound.
- Small Talk
- More Jazz Chants, conversational American English with
musical rhythms for practice of stress and intonation patterns.
- Targeting Pronunciation
- Intermediate through advanced pronunciation practice.
CULTURAL
AWARENESS
101 American Customs (book)
For video on American culture, see the Video/DVD section which follows.
For information on American idioms, see the Vocabulary
section.
VIDEOS and
DVDS
The materials listed below may be helpful supplements for certain
ESL classes, although not all were written expressly for ESL students.
- Attitude: DVDs 1-5
Listening and pronunciation practice with interesting subjects
-
- Basic English
- A videotape series of 35 lessons for true beginners
- Basic Writing Skills with Cicely Tyson
- Helpful hints in writing.
Tape 1: Words and sentences (16 min.)
Tape 2: Paragraphs and meaning (36 min.)
Tape 3: Letters and memos (33 min.)
- Body Language: An International View (DVD: 23 minutes)
- An inside look at the variety of global styles in nonverbal communication.
- Breaking the Accent Barrier (60 min.)
- A videotape by David Alan Stern on accent reduction, emphasizing
muscularity, stress, and intonation.
- Connect with English
- An ESL telecourse consisting of 48 fifteen-minute story episodes,
this series features natural language in a drama surrounding important
life issues within the American cultural setting. Accompanying
texts are available for use with the videos in the areas of grammar,
listening comprehension, and conversation, along with scripts
and readers.
- Crossroads Café
- An ESL telecourse consisting of 26 half-hour
episodes, this humorous drama also includes Word Play
and Culture Clips presentations. The language is natural
and reflects accents of various immigrant groups while providing
information on diversity and social adaptation.
- English Punctuation I-VII (20 min.
each)
- Tape 1: Ending the sentence
Tape 2: Dividing the sentence: commas
Tape 3: Dividing the sentence: semicolons and colons
Tape 4: Dividing the sentence: dashes and others
Tape 5: Apostrophes, hyphens, and italics
Tape 6: Other marks
Tape 7: Review
- Focus on American Culture (2 hours)
- A video containing special news programs from ABC News, which
focus on the major issues and trends within American society and
culture.
- The Heart of the Matter: Listening, Speaking and Critical Thinking
-
- How to Take Essay Tests (15 min.)
- Strategies for predicting and answering essay questions using rhetorical patterns. Complete summary outline given at end.
- Intermediate English
- A videotape series of 25 lessons at the high-beginning to low-intermediate level.
- Perfect English Pronunciation (60 min. each)
- Two videotapes / DVDs presenting pronunciation drills.
Tape 1: How to pronounce consonants
Tape 2: How to pronounce vowels, diphthongs, word endings
- Putting Ideas in Order (20 min.)
- This tape instructs students in the steps to writing an effective
outline.
- Read, Write, and Research (30 min.
each)
- This series of 24 videotapes takes students through each stage
of preparing a research paper. Many topics are also applicable
to writing regular essays, essay exams, and reports as well. A
writing skills videotape bibliography is available for a more
detailed listing of the tapes. Of particular interest are the
videos on preparing an outline (Tape 6), writing an argumentative
essay (Tape 7), composing on the computer (Tape 9), and editing
(Tape 14).
- Video Review for the TOEFL (2 hours
each)
- Section 1: Listening Comprehension
Section 2: Structure and Written Expression
Section 3: Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension
-
-
Voices of Experience: Cross Cultural Adjustment (DVD: 38 minutes) - Culture shock, personal changes, teaching styles, homesickness, pre-departure expectations...these life experiences are shared through the personal voices of more than a dozen international students and business people.
- Write It Right: It All Starts with Paragraphs
- Tape 1: (19 min.) Part 1 - First steps; Part 2 - Outlining
Tape 2: (17 min.) Part 3 - Choosing the right words; Part 4 - Unity, coherence, emphasis, and completeness
Tape 3: (17 min.) Part 5 - Subjective writing; Part 6 - Objective writing
- Writing for Results
- This motivational video is a great remedy for those students who
presume that they can "get by" in the working world
without writing. Employees from a variety of professions are interviewed
regarding how much and what types of writing they have to do for
their jobs. Then, "ten steps to good writing" are presented.
COMPUTER
SOFTWARE
- American Speechsounds
- This software program enables students to customize their lessons
according to their native language background and the phonetic
system which they prefer to use. Students may listen and
record their own voices Sounds are presented in initial,
medial, and ending positions, and students may practice pronunciation
of phonemes, words, phrases, and sentences.
- Focus on Grammar:
- Basic, Intermediate, High Intermediate, and Advanced
An interactive grammar tutorial, this program features comprehensive
lessons and extensive practice in a wide variety of grammar topics.
It includes reference materials such as grammar notes, charts,
and an appendix, as well as exercises in writing, reading, listening
comprehension. The Review Tests are presented in the style of
the TOEFL Structure and Written Expression section. It may be
used alone or in conjunction with the textbook by the same name.
- Longman English Interactive 3
An interactive software program appropriate for ESL 422 and 122 (Low Intermediate to Intermediate). Includes many video segments.
- Skills Bank (under "English 403" - enter as a guest)
- This program offers tutorials in English skills. The Language
Arts section presents lessons and quizzes covering the parts of
speech, grammar trouble spots, spelling rules, punctuation rules,
and capitalization. The Reading section presents lessons and quizzes
covering Vocabulary (etymology, roots, affixes), Word Knowledge
(homonyms, antonyms, synonyms, and idioms), and Comprehension
(main ideas, text analysis, similes and metaphors, hyperbole and
personification).
- Ultimate Word Attack
- This program offers five different activities for vocabulary development.
Students can choose the level of difficulty of the words and the
part of speech desired (adjectives, nouns, or verbs).
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