A Communicative Course in English

Diane Warshawsky and Sandra Costinett
Donald R.H. Byrd, Project Director

Welcome to Spectrum, a six-level course designed for adolescent and adult learners of English.

• Levels 1 and 2 are appropriate for beginning students and "false" beginners.
• Levels 3 and 4 are intended for intermediate classes.
• Levels 5 and 6 are intended for advanced learners of English.

The student book, workbook, and audio program for each level provide practice in all four communication skills, with a special focus on listening and speaking in levels 1 to 4, and on reading and writing in levels 5 and 6.

(The first four levels are also offered in split editions – 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, and 4B.)

Spectrum is a "communicative course in English," based on the idea that communication–the exchange of information–is not merely an end-product of language study, but rather the very process through which a new language is acquired. To this end, Spectrum has three basic aims:

• to provide motivating materials that teach students to function in real-life situations;
• to teach only authentic English that stimulates natural conversation both inside and outside the classroom; and
• to give students a feeling of success and achievement as they learn the language.

From the very beginning, students practice language that can be put to immediate use. For example, students learn to ask for information, make suggestions, and apologize. They learn the appropriate language for different situations, such as formal speech used with strangers and informal speech with friends. Most important, they are encouraged to express their own ideas and feelings, and to give their own opinions.

Spectrum acknowledges that students can understand more English than they are able to produce. In other words, their ability to comprehend language (to listen or read) precedes their ability to produce it (to speak or write). To this end, Spectrum places great emphasis on comprehension.

Students in the beginning and intermediate levels begin each unit by listening to and reading conversations that provide rich input for language learning. Many of the functions, grammatical structures, and vocabulary items in these conversations become "active" and are practiced in the lessons that follow. However, some of the functions and structures in these conversations are "receptive"–they are intended for comprehension only–and do not become productive until later units or levels.

At the advanced levels (levels 5 and 6), each unit begins with an authentic text for reading and discussion, and provides cultural and thematic input. In addition, a realistic conversation provides context for active practice in the pages that follow.

As they engage in a variety of exercises that practice basic linguistic functions, students are guided toward the use of correct grammatical structures. Both the functions and the structures in the Spectrum syllabus are carefully graded according to simplicity and usefulness. Grammatical structures are presented in clear paradigms with informative usage notes.

• Each book consists of 14 units, divided into one- and two-page lessons.
• Each unit begins with a preview page that outlines the functions/themes, language, and forms (grammar) in the unit.
• A preview activity prepares students to understand the cultural material in the conversations that begin each unit and gives them the opportunity to contribute their own background knowledge.
• In the first lesson in each unit, opening conversations focus on comprehension.
• Thematic lessons stress productive practice through real communication.
• A comprehension lesson offers more challenging input, listening practice, pronunciation hints, and a conversation task.
• In the last lesson of each unit, reading activities provide practice in interpreting and understanding authentic models of written English.
• Review sections follow every four to six units, reinforcing material taught in preceding units.
  
  

• Divided into lessons and review sections that correspond to the lessons in the Student Book.
• Can be used independently by students at home or as additional work in class.

• Provides a wide range of suggestions for using the components of the course.
• The recommendations for teaching each exercise in the student book can be adapted to suit individual teaching styles and to meet the needs of particular students.
• Page-by-page instructions interleaved with duplicates of the Student Book pages.

• A set of cassettes for each level.
• At each level, four cassettes contain material from the Student Book: all conversations, model dialogues, and listening activities, as well as dramatization of the reading selection in each unit.
• Two more cassettes, available for the Workbook at each level, provide additional listening activities as well as pronunciation activities.

• Real-life interactions.
• Correspond unit-by-unit to Student Book.
• Available with Spectrum levels 1 and 2.

• 4-page unit for each video segment.
• Previewing, viewing, and extension activities.

• Available for each video level.

• Includes a placement test and two achievement tests for each level.