New Ideas Specific Skills Textbook Speaking (Level 3) (Zhang Zixin) With Audio Cassette

Author: Zhang Xin Zhen, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: "New Ideas Comprehensive Skills Textbooks" are specifically written by the PETS Research Team for the "National Public English Test (PETS)." The entire series consists of 20 volumes, providing targeted training and guidance in listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills for PETS Levels 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 candidates. This series has the following four features:
Novelty — The entire textbook series follows a student-centered teaching philosophy, integrating the communicative principles of the PETS exam to enhance candidates' language communication skills through training. Unlike traditional models that emphasize language structure, this series focuses on the practicality of language communication. Its novelty lies in the alignment of communicative functions with candidates' communicative needs: oral communicative functions meet candidates' spoken communication needs, writing techniques align with candidates' written expression needs, and reading and listening comprehension methods satisfy candidates' information acquisition needs.
Authority — Members of the PETS Research Team are well-versed in the PETS exam syllabus, question setting, and scoring criteria, having conducted specialized research in these areas. Therefore, the entire series closely aligns with the syllabi of all PETS levels, accurately capturing the exam principles and requirements for language skills at each level. The main authors have all studied abroad and possess deep expertise in foreign language teaching and testing. They are responsible for designing and writing the language skills for each level, ensuring the authority of the textbooks.
Applicability — This series is tailored to the specific needs of PETS candidates, considering their self-study habits. It not only teaches knowledge but also includes skill expansion exercises, vocabulary notes, practice questions, and answers. While the speaking component is designed for pair training, the listening, reading, and writing components are aimed at individual learners. Thus, the explanations and exercises in each volume are tailored to the needs of the target audience.
Engaging — The series uses humorous English stories, cartoons, games, and interesting anecdotes as materials, making it lively, visually appealing, and enjoyable to learn. This approach effectively motivates readers and enhances learning outcomes. This speaking textbook is completely designed according to the characteristics of the PETS Level 3 Speaking Test. It consists of three main parts: (1) Stories, (2) Exercises, and (3) Cartoons. The story section includes audio recordings by British and American experts for listening and speaking practice. Each part provides reference answers for exercises.
Considering the requirements of the exam syllabus and candidates' needs for English communicative functions, and aligning with the format of the speaking test, which involves candidates discussing pictures, this textbook meets candidates' needs in the following four aspects:
1. Familiarity with the exam format
2. Familiarity with exam content
3. Language expression
4. Active communication
Author Introduction: Zhang Xin Zhen, Ph.D., is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the English Department of Beijing Foreign Studies University. Born in 1957 in Shaoyang City, Hunan Province, he obtained a Ph.D. in English from the Department of English at Louisiana State University in the United States in 1991 and taught English writing courses there for six years. From 1992 to 1993, he served as a postdoctoral visiting scholar at the Sorbonne (University of Paris IV) in France. Since 1998, he has been teaching at Beijing Foreign Studies University. He has published one monograph on literary criticism and ten papers on literary criticism and English writing in Western and Eastern academic journals. Domestically, he has published one textbook on English writing (funded by the National Education Commission's Excellent Young Teachers Project in 1995) and several papers on literary criticism and English writing pedagogy.