Contemporary Topics (4th Edition)

Authors: Helen Solórzano, Laurie Frazier, Ellen Kisslinger, David Beglar, Neil Murray; Series Editor: Michael Rost


Levels: 4 levels | TOEIC®: 550 - 850 | CEFR: A2 - B2 | GSE: 40 - 66

Language: American English

 

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Description

Online Teaching Tips

Contemporary Topics expands on its highly respected approach to developing academic listening and study skills. Organized around realistic college lectures, the text guides learners through carefully sequenced activities in skills such as note-taking, focusing attention, intensive listening, and vocabulary building. It also helps students evaluate their interests and explore possible career paths.

For the Introductory Level, please refer to Introductory Contemporary Topics (3rd Edition) - Introductory.

  • New subject areas, presented as one-on-one academic lectures, emphasize professional applications such as software engineering, multimedia design, information technology, urban planning, and social psychology
  • Learning Outcomes listed at the outset of each unit let students know the goals of each unit and what their learning experience will be
  • New Tune In audio interviews with topic experts provide context for the upcoming unit lecture
  • Hear the Language bottom-up listening and pronunciation exercises emphasize important principles and improve realtime perception
  • An oral presentation activity, supported by specific preparation and delivery strategies, concludes each unit and includes the opportunity for peer evaluation
  • Proficiency assessments composed of short academic audio lectures and multiple-choice exams simulate TOEFL-style test format for practice on high-stakes tests
  • Vocabulary drawn from the Academic Word List ensures that students are exposed to essential academic language
  • New Essential Online Resources include audio, video, and teacher materials (assessments, teaching notes, answer keys, audioscripts, evaluation rubrics for assessing student presentations, and more)
I highly recommend Contemporary Topics. It is a superb multi-media course that engages students’ interests and stimulates their intellectual curiosity with its content and language integration. It facilitates effective and efficient classroom teaching with a variety of individual, pair and group activities which motivate my class of about 50 students and encourage participation while keeping them on their toes. I teach a Practical English Conversation course using Contemporary Topics in the first year at Osaka University and my students love this book.

Rieko Nishida, Associate Professor, Osaka University




There are quite a few things I like about Contemporary Topics. The accompanying DVD is quite amazing. The seven-minute virtual-lecture in each unit is so realistic that it is as if students are actually taking the class shown in the video. What’s more, each lecturer is a specialist in the topic which makes the lesson even more authentic and effective. Honestly, I don’t think we English teachers can prepare all that is offered in the DVD.

Masashi Takemura (Professor, Department of English, Hokusei Gakuen University Junior College)




We had a major change in the curriculum for the 2016 enrolment at the School of Sociology, Kwansai Gakuin University. Our mandatory English programmes in the language education module were subject to a systemic reform. We chose Contemporary Topics as the textbook for all 30 classes of freshmen in the Sociology Department from among the vast amount of domestic and foreign titles for five reasons:


(1) One topic per chapter from a range of disciplines including Humanities and Social Sciences, especially Sociology.

(2) The course serves especially well for the purpose of helping our students develop their listening skills as a larger number of them would later study abroad in English speaking countries as part of the Top Global University Project we have adopted at our university.

(3) It consists of four levels which cater to the different proficiency levels of the 650 students we newly enrol each year.

(4) It equips the teachers well with supplementary components such as DVDs, CDs, Teacher’s Pack.

(5) It comes with video materials for students available as streaming

Yasutoshi Mori, Professor, School of Sociology, Kwansei Gakuin University