The Skills series

The Skills series• A new six-level skills-centered English course

for young adults and adults based on the highly successful, award-winning Skills in English series.

• Preparation for English medium study in tertiary level education.

• Comprising- Starting Skills 1 & 2.- Building Skills 1 & 2.- Developing Skills 1 & 2.

The Skills series• Content focuses on language competencies

as defined by the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEF).

• The whole series takes students from beginner to independent user/proficiency.

• Content extends to the level required for study in English-medium at universities.

• CEF A1–High B2/Low C1.• IELTS 2–6.5.

Title Level CEF IELTS Listening Speaking Reading WritingStarting Skills 1

False beginner to elementary

A1–A2

2.0–3.0 Texts with a maximum of 400 words

Speaking and writing tasks are short paragraphs

Texts a maximum of 250 words

Speaking and writing tasks are short paragraphsStarting

Skills 2False beginner to elementary

A2 3.0

Building Skills 1

Pre-intermediate to intermediate

A2–B1 3.0–4.5 Texts increase over two levels to a maximum of 800 words

Combined with writing assignments to encourage paragraph writing up to ten paragraphs in length

Texts increase in length and difficulty to a maximum of 500 words, with separate section for longer reading passages

Assignments combined with speaking tasks to encourage writing up to ten paragraphs in length

Building Skills 2

Pre-intermediate to intermediate

B1 4.0–5.0

Developing Skills 1

Intermediate to upper-intermediate

B1–B2 5.0–6.0 Texts increase over the two levels to a maximum of 1,000 words

Combine with writing development, leading to short essay-type writing assignments

Texts increase in length and difficulty to a maximum of 700 words, with separate section for longer reading passages

Development combines with speaking tasks, leading to short essay-type writing assignments

Developing Skills 2

Upper-intermediate to proficiency

B2/low C1

6.0–6.5

The Skills series• A comprehensive and flexible, multi-level,

skills-based English course.• Covers the four key skills (listening, speaking,

reading and writing), in addition to vocabulary and grammar.

• Provides detailed teaching plans for all lessons, plus methodology notes and language and culture notes.

The Skills series• Focuses on the real grammar found in

academic texts.• Helps students to understand and produce

complex sentences.• Focuses on the grammar required in

academic English.• Teaches academic skills from the lowest level

using accessible, relevant and motivating texts based on ten key knowledge themes.

The Skills series• Each level includes:- a Course Book with audio CDs.- a Teacher’s Book.- a Workbook with audio CDs.

The Skills series• Each level is organized into 12 units.• Ten with a defined thematic focus and two

Review units at the halfway and end point of the level.

• In Starting Skills and Building Skills there are 12 lessons per unit.

• In Developing Skills, each unit contains 10 more integrated lessons.

Theme-based units

• Themes help in building knowledge as well as language skills.

• Underlie all aspects of human knowledge as defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica.

The Skills series• Correlated to the Garnet i-Test, an

electronically delivered placement test of English language competence and performance.

• The i-Test is an instant, accurate and secure test of English ability.

• The i-Test is easy, fast and reliable.

The Skills seriesAvailable online will be: • Starting Skills, Building Skills and Developing

Skills tests.• additional information and exercises.• An author blog and forum for interaction

with the authors.

Starting Skills 1• CEF A1–A2• IELTS 2.0–3.0• 120–160 hours of

material• Teaches 200 new key

words• Improves competence in

basic general and academic English skills

Starting Skills 2• CEF A2• IELTS 3.0• 120–160 hours of

material• Teaches 200 new key

words• Improves competence in

basic general and academic English skills

Course Book• 12 Units per level• Ten theme-based units & two revision units• Each unit has 12 lessons • Each lesson is one page and is focused on a

discrete skill

• Level 1 includes 3 audio CDs• Level 2 includes 4 audio CDs

Course Book• Discrete skill focus• Skills checks simply

explain and test skills related to the lesson.

• Content level-appropriate, reflecting the needs of students.

• 4-colour.

Course Book• Variety of activities

e.g., wordsearches• Skills checks use

examples to highlight and reinforce teaching points.

Workbook• Follows structure of Course Book.• 8 pages per unit.• Additional activities for further practice.• Provides opportunity for students to

independently apply previously learned skills to new contexts.

• Contains audio CD

Starting SkillsIn Starting Skills students learn to:•define and describe objects.•identify key factual information.•predict information when listening to a talk.•speak about charts and graphs.•discuss key facts in the past.

Starting SkillsIn Starting Skills students learn to:•identify key parts of speech.•read factual information and encyclopedia entries.•write accurately using basic sentence patterns.•use key spelling rules.

Building Skills 1• CEF A2–B1• IELTS 3.0–4.5• 120–200 hours of

material• Improves competence in

English skills for college or university study

• Based on Skills in English series

Building Skills 2• CEF B1• IELTS 4.0–5.0• 120–200 hours of

material• Improves competence in

English skills for college or university study

• Based on Skills in English series

Course Book• 12 Units per level• Ten theme-based units & two revision units• Each unit has 12 lessons • Each lesson is one page and is focused on a

discrete skill

• Contains 4 audio CDs

Course Book• Book Map gives an

overview of what is learned in each unit.

• Skills Map shows individual skills learned in each unit.

Course Book• Colour-coded tables

make grammar points easily understandable.

• Teaches the grammar necessary for academic study.

• Grammar is syntax-based as academic English is syntactic rather than tense-based.

Workbook• Follows structure of Course Book.• 8 pages per unit.• Additional activities for further practice.• Provides opportunity for students to

independently apply previously learned skills to new contexts.

• Contains 2 additional audio CDs.

Building SkillsListening skills include:•predicting what comes next.•understanding spoken spellings and definitions.•following instructions.•identifying names.•identifying important words.•listening texts increase over two levels to a maximum of 800 words.

Building SkillsSpeaking skills include:•asking about meaning and pronunciation.•checking sounds in a dictionary.•giving personal information.•expressing likes and dislikes.•requesting, accepting and rejecting help•speaking tasks combined with writing. assignments to encourage paragraph writing up to ten paragraphs in length.

Building SkillsReading skills include:•predicting content from illustrations. subheadings and topic sentences.•word attack skills.•locating information.•transferring information.•reading texts increase in length and difficulty to a maximum of 500 words, with separate section for longer reading passages.

Building SkillsWriting skills include:•ordering information.•referring.•describing habits and routines, location and places.•writing assignments combined with Speaking tasks to encourage writing up to ten paragraphs in length.

Building Skills• Key vocabulary introduced in context for

success in skills development.• Clear grammar input supports skill

development.• Comprehensive revision of grammar arising

throughout the units.

Developing Skills 1• CEF B1–B2• IELTS 5.0–6.0• 120–200 hours of material• Develops skills acquired in

Starting Skills and Building Skills

• Prepares students for tertiary-level study in English

Developing Skills 2• CEF B2• IELTS 6.0–6.5• 120–200 hours of material• Develops skills acquired in

Starting Skills and Building Skills

• Prepares students for tertiary-level study in English

• Takes students to high B2 level competency in the CEF

Course Book• 12 units per level• Ten theme-based units• Two review units• Each unit has 10 lessons• Lessons integrate skills to a greater extent

than in Starting Skills and Building Skills• Contains 4 Audio CDs

Workbook• Follows structure of Course Book, reinforcing

integrated structure of course.• 8 pages per unit.• Additional activities for further practice.• Provides opportunity for students to

independently apply previously learned skills to new contexts.

• Contains audio CDs

Developing SkillsCourse Features:• more reading and writing tasks at a

paragraph level. • integrated unit structure focusing on two

skills per unit to provide extended practice.• topics structure organized to provide more

in-depth skills development.• systematic development of vocabulary.

Developing SkillsCourse Features:• listening texts increase over two levels to a

maximum of 1,000 words.• reading texts increase in length and difficulty

to a maximum of 700 words, with separate. section for longer reading passages.

• speaking tasks combined with writing development leading to short essay-type writing assignments.

The Skills series