New Proficiency English Book 1. [antikvár]

Introduction New Proficiency English New Proficiency English is planned as a replacement of Proficiency English, published in 1976-8, and as a logical continuation of New First Certificate English, published in 1984. In effect, it is the result of several years' experience of using the previous course and gradually adapting materials to the needs of students taught at earlier stages in the learning process by different methods from those current in the early 1970s. As in the case of New First Certificate English, my co-authors, John Pidcock and Robin Rycroft, and I have preferred to write a new course, taking this experience into account, rather than to revise the original. While some elements that have proved particularly successful have been retained - above all in Book 3, Use of English, where the revised Cambridge syllabus of 1984 for the paper shows no innovations - over 80% of the material in the course is new. By this time, it will be evident that the examination as such has not changed to a noticeable extent either in level of difficulty or in form, except in the design of the aural/oral tests (covered in this course by Book 4). The main change in approach, especially in Book 1, has therefore been to shift the emphasis away from the formal presentation of grammar towards the acquisition of skills. At the same time, the overall coverage remains the same. The main problem for teachers at advanced level and for students attempting the Proficiency examination is that the former are inclined to relax the pressure once students have passed First Certificate because the Proficiency examination is still a long way away, while the latter underestimate the difference in standard. This course has been written for students likely to attempt the examination two years after First Certificate if they attend classes five hours a week (300 hours) or three years afterwards if they attend three hours a week (270 hours). The material has been pretested and graded through use with students at each stage to allow for the time-span envisaged, but it is above all important to point out that the language-learning process should be continuous. Our experience leads us to believe that it is necessary to develop skills methodically throughout the period and that it is unwise to imagine that students can be left largely to their own devices for a year or so before making a systematic approach to the examination. The design of the course The four books comprising the new course can be used independently, in order to concentrate on a specific paper in the examination, but they have been written in such a way that they relate to each other. Book 1, Language and Composition, consists of 28 units, the last four forming a separate section intended for those students who wish to attempt the Prescribed Books option in composition. The units of the other three books have been written in parallel to those of Book I in such a way that every unit of Book 1 is supported by two out of the three possible units devoted to the skills required for Reading Comprehension, Use of English and Listening Comprehension/Interview. The chart accompanying the Teacher's Guide shows the relationship. In this way, the themes of units in Book 1 are frequently reflected in the choice of reading passages in Book 2 so that there is an opportunity for revising and expanding vocabulary; the structures necessary for the composition tasks in Book 1 are revised and practised in Book 3, and the topics for summary in Book 3 also have a thematic relationship in the majority of cases with parallel units in Book 1; the opportunities for free discussion and the listening material provided in Book 4 are also related to themes and group-work tasks originally presented in Book 1. The design of the course, comprising 24 basic units for study in Book 1, permits teachers to make a convenient break either after Unit 8, if students are studying three hours a week, or after Unit 12, if they are studying for five hours a week. The organisation of units in Book 1 The book contains 28 units, the last four, as previously stated, relating entirely to Prescribed Books. The first 24 units are divided into six stages, reflecting the different kinds of composition students may be asked to write, description, narrative, discussion, and guided composition of various kinds (a task formerly set as the last section of the Use of English paper). The stages have been designed so that students can make progress towards more sophisticated techniques in self-expression and in the later stages there is an emphasis on the need to blend techniques (for example, of IX