Longman New English Listening and Speaking (Student's Book. Lower Level)

Author: Hergenberger et al. [USA]
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: Longman New English Listening and Speaking is a listening and speaking textbook specifically written for Asian English learners by Longman Publishing. Since its publication, it has quickly become a popular textbook for learning English listening and speaking in Asia. Due to its widespread popularity among learners, the textbook has been revised several times based on extensive feedback from students and teachers, making it even more perfect. The New Gold Edition being introduced this time is the latest version of this series.
Target Audience: This textbook is primarily intended for adult learners, especially those who have studied some English but still struggle to communicate directly with foreigners in daily life or work. The series consists of two volumes, with the beginner level as the starting point. Upon completion of this series, English learners will be able to communicate fluently with foreigners on topics related to daily life or work.
Writing Objectives: The primary objective of this textbook is to develop learners' English communicative competence. Communicative competence refers to the ability to flexibly use English based on the context of communication, the purpose of communication, and the audience. To this end, the textbook is based on the following principle: learners can only master English through genuine communication; it emphasizes "learning by using" and highlights "learning for use."
Key Features:
1. Authentic, natural, and idiomatic learning materials. This textbook aims to teach learners how to use English fluently and correctly in social life, work, or leisure activities. The content is closely focused on basic communicative functions and topics, providing real, natural, vivid, and practical oral materials. All the materials are authentic and commonly used in learners' communication, making them immediately applicable.
2. Close integration of communicative functions, topics, and language learning. Each unit of the textbook includes one or more key functions (e.g., self-introduction, asking personal information, greetings, expressing doubts, apologizing, etc.), teaching students how to initiate, develop, and conclude conversations in daily life, as well as how to express their opinions. Functions and topics are closely linked, with grammar and vocabulary learning incorporated. Through repeated listening and speaking exercises, the textbook lays a solid foundation for students to participate in various communicative activities.
3. Balanced emphasis on listening and speaking, integrating language learning with skill development. Effective communication requires understanding the other person first. The textbook starts with listening, designing various listening tasks to repeatedly train learners' listening comprehension skills, enabling them to communicate based on what they understand. Meaningful communication also requires sufficient language support. This textbook integrates language learning with the development of listening and speaking skills, incorporating language learning into conscious communication. It allows learners to experience and understand the expressive function of language structures in meaningful contexts, avoiding rote memorization and mechanical application.
4. Innovative and engaging activity design, rich in inspiration and challenge. The textbook places great emphasis on learners' personal experiences and journeys. Many activities, tasks, and exercises are based on learners' own experiences, providing highly inspirational and challenging oral practice. The goal is to give learners opportunities to use the language they have learned to narrate their experiences and express their thoughts and opinions, thereby internalizing the English they have learned and truly achieving practical application.
5. Rich and practical content, closely related to daily life. Each unit covers a specific topic, with content that is both rich and idiomatic. Additionally, numerous pictures, tables, and illustrations vividly present the language materials and communication scenarios, undoubtedly sparking learners' interest and greatly enhancing the textbook's practicality.
6. Well-structured unit organization, following a progressive learning principle. The textbook is designed to transition from listening to speaking, with pair role-playing dialogues as its core. "Information gap" exercises are interspersed, combined with personal experience activities, to increase learner engagement and training effectiveness. Language review modules highlight key knowledge and structural practice. Group activities are mostly fun tasks, emphasizing interaction among learners. While they include "operational" instructions, they are also challenging, aiming to build learners' confidence and improve fluency. Personal activities in each unit are application-based exercises, incorporating listening, reading, and writing, serving both as review and reinforcement while emphasizing the integration of learning and application.