STUDENT BOOKS
In Focus is a corpus-informed, three-level (pre-intermediate through high intermediate) EFL course aimed at university and college students.
It is designed to build all 4 basic skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening) while also systematically developing knowledge of core, high frequency vocabulary and developing student’s critical thinking skills.
It is supplemented by a comprehensive range of dedicated digital components, which offer great flexibility and help to speed language acquisition.
In Focus 1 is designed for students at a pre-intermediate level. Each unit will help you build your knowledge about a wide range of interesting topics as well as help you think critically about these topics. You will learn about advertising, sports, population changes and living longer, robots, how people use animals, and the Internet and news. In every unit, we also provide you with useful language and expressions where needed to help express yourself better.
In Focus 2 is designed for students at an intermediate level. Each unit will help you build your knowledge about a wide range of interesting topics as well as help you think critically about these topics. You will study and discuss issues such as English as a global language, over- and under-population, salaries and drug use in sports, global warming, ideas of beauty, vegetarianism, and factory farming. In every unit, we also provide you with useful language and expressions where needed to help express yourself better.
In Focus Academic 1 follows on from In Focus 1 and In Focus 2. It is designed for students at the high-intermediate level. Each unit will help you build your knowledge about a wide range of interesting topics as well as help you think critically about these topics. You will learn about and discuss topics such as a wide range of issues including gender equality, marriage around the world, renewable energy, nuclear power, free trade, online addiction, and the influence of social media. Four of the 12 units focus on discussion, four on presentation, and four on role play and debate. Each unit gives you a useful presentation or discussion tip to help you express yourself. In every unit, we also provide you with useful language and expressions where needed to help express yourself better.
STUDENT BOOKS SAMPLES
Below is a brief introduction to the various sections of a typical In Focus unit.
CRITICAL CARTOONS
This is a short speaking activity centered on a cartoon related to the topic of the unit. All cartoons are authentic political cartoons taken from real newspapers around the world, and each was carefully chosen as being to representative of the unit topic at hand. Questions help activate schema and develop critical thinking skills.
CORE VOCABULARY
Each unit teaches 10 important words from either the New General Service List (In Focus 1 and In Focus 2) or the New Academic Word List (In Focus Academic 1). The section begins with a short reading passag on an aspect of the unit topic that contextualizes the 10 keywords. A series of learning activities focuses on developing knowledge of collocations and analyzing and understanding word parts. This gives students practice using the words introduced in the unit. It also develops vocabulary learning skills and strategies that will be useful when encountering new words not introduced in the unit. A speaking activity rounds off this section.
READING SKILLS
Students work with a longer text that gives a different or expanded point of view on the topic of the unit. This exposure to multiple points of view is a key aspect of developing skills in critical thinking. All 10 keywords appear in the second reading as well, providing additional in-context information about how the words are used. This is followed by a series of carefully structured activities including pre-reading, identifying the topic and main idea, finding supporting details, and logical reasoning. The section culminates with a short discussion.
FIND OUT MORE
Since information from various points of view is crucial to thinking critically about an issue, the pair or group activities in this section encourage students to gathering further information related to the topic. This is followed by comparison and discussion of the information collected.
CRITICAL THINKING & QUOTABLE QUOTES
Through pair, group, and open class work, students are encouraged to develop critical thinking skills, such as making inferences and ranking and categorizing data. Students then complete a writing task to express their opinion on the topic. The final page brings the contents of the unit together in a discussion about the topic. Useful language prompts help students in each unit.
The final 'Quotable quotes ' section introduces a quote by a famous person on the topic of the unit. Several thought-provoking questions on the quote conclude the unit. This section can be done in class as a short discussion activity or as a writing assignment outside the class.