Parrish, B. (2009). Four point: Listening and speaking 2. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

Do we teach our learners to focus on the details or do we push them to look for the overall meaning and significance of a topic? What happens when our students who have worked so hard to do well on the TOEFL walk into an English-speaking university classroom and cannot participate? How do we teach our learners to help themselves bridge the gap between learning English in the classroom and learning in an academic setting? In her new textbook Four Point: Listening and Speaking 2, author Betsy Parrish provides a comprehensive approach to learner success in an academic setting.

The concept behind the series is to focus on the academic success of the learner, with the first level aimed at learners with TOEFL PBT scores of 440 to 480 and this text, Level 2, geared more toward learners with TOEFL scores of 480 to 520. A core idea behind this textbook is its recognition that each of the four skill areas of a language (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) is unique but that they are also intertwined and can best be learned in conjunction with each other. Level 2 focuses on listening and speaking, yet there are also reading and writing components built into its curriculum. In addition, though focusing on meaning is important, there is still a need to emphasize the basics in learning a language, such as grammar and vocabulary. To accommodate both meaning and basic skill focus, the author points out that there is “exposure of key grammar issues without overt practice activities” (p. x). So though Four Point is arranged by thematic topics, there is still plenty of subtle grammar and overt vocabulary practice.

Two types of listening materials accompany this textbook. Audio CDs play listening passages averaging 7 minutes in length, set up as lectures by one speaker on a topic, with two passages per unit. Beginning with the third unit, accompanying videos to aid the learner’s understanding on speaking projects can be found on the book’s Web site. In addition to these videos, the Web site also includes vocabulary quizzes for learners to complete.

The textbook is divided into six units of two chapters each. Each unit contains 11 sections, building from chapter to chapter and unit to unit. The author recommends that one textbook be covered in 10 to 12 weeks, although with the amount of material presented, this could easily be extended. All chapters begin with a prelistening task, and all units finish with “Rapid Vocabulary Review,” “Vocabulary Log,” and “Think About Your Learning” sections. In addition to these somewhat typical exercises, the units also have activities specifically aimed at cultivating academic success.

One specific study skill learners need in order to succeed in the academic environment is the ability to take good notes. To this end, there are multiple benefits to the “Note-Taking Strategies” section. First, the section is designed to teach note-taking skills from the beginning to more advanced techniques. Step by step, students begin with prelistening planning of what type of notes to take, and proceed to recognizing main points, details, and summarizing. Finally, emphasis is placed on teaching learners to develop their own ideas and not just copy down verbatim what they hear.

In contrast to listening and taking notes, students must also be able to process the information that they have taken in and often give opinions or ask questions for further comprehension. How to engage in these types of activities may seem daunting, but another section entitled “Synthesizing” addresses this issue. The uniqueness of this section is that it explains and then helps the learner through the necessary steps of learning how to interact in different academic environments that require speaking. These include teacher and student Q&A sessions and group discussions. The advantage of the videos on the accompanying Web site is that students can see examples of what they might do before engaging in these speaking activities.

Four Point: Listening and Speaking 2 is a much-needed textbook focusing on listening and speaking. It is designed to prepare learners of English who are considering entering an academic environment to deal with the rigors of longer listening, to synthesize information for speaking and giving presentations, and to develop study strategies for speaking and listening. Other advantages of this textbook are that the topics are academic, plenty of vocabulary support exists to help the learners, skills that are actually used in a higher education setting are taught, and each unit has a variety of activities that teachers can draw upon. For teachers seeking to advance their learners to the next level and prepare them for academic challenges, this textbook is an excellent resource.

Jana Moore teaches at Ferris University in Japan and is working on her EdD in TESOL. Her areas of research include conversation analysis, grammar acquisition, and group work studies.