Spotlight On Fce Student Review 4u1i6j

Taller de Comunicación Escrita (2016) 1 Sheila B. Mignolet

Spotlight on FCE Student’s Book Jon Naunton and John Hughes Heinle, Cengage Learning (2009) Pp. 240 and PIN code ISBN 978-1-4080-0762-4

1. Introduction Spotlight on FCE is a student’s book published by Heinle, designed for foreign students of English that want to sit for Cambridge’s First Certificate in English. The 240-page book, accompanied by a PIN code to access follow-up online activities, is aimed at students with an intermediate or advanced level of English and can be used in class or for self-study. All in all, I recommend this book as it displays various strengths that I consider suitable for students and teachers to contribute to the L2 learning experience. 2. Format The book’s first pages consist of an illustrated map of the book, a chart comparing the revised exam and the old exam, an introduction, an overview of the exam and a FCE glossary. Following these, the book is divided into sixteen units that provide relevant and meaningful contexts for the teaching points that are to be dealt with in them. Moreover, each unit includes seven corners destined to specific training on vocabulary, grammar, use of English, reading, listening, speaking and writing. This book also offers the sections: grammar reference, speaking files, writing guide, tapescript, useful expressions, information files, phrasal verbs, wordlist, and irregular verbs. 3. Contents Within the set format for each unit described above, the student will be exposed to a wide range of different exercises, tasks and activities. Each unit begins with the presentation of a significant topic – such as festivals around the world, crime and social responsibility, etc. – and an activity aimed at inferring some ideas about this topic. Following this, a reading or a listening activity is presented for students to grasp more details about the topic. After that, a series of activities are introduced in order to provide students with an in-depth understanding on the topic. Vocabulary and grammar points – drawn from the previous activities – are given specific sections where students and teachers are

Taller de Comunicación Escrita (2016) 2 Sheila B. Mignolet

expected to work together and analyze these aspects of language. Even though each section ends with either a writing activity or a group speaking activity, these skills are also devoted exhaustive analysis in later units. Furthermore, the book comes with a PIN code that students can use to get further training online. All in all, this material provides a complete set of resources and activities that can be adapted to the class or students’ specific needs. 4. Skills Work As this is a book specialized in preparing students for the FCE, the emphasis is on helping learners practice the four skills – speaking, listening, reading and writing – following the parameters set by the examination board. Even though language is always presented in suitable contexts, certain aspects of it – relevant for the FCE – are given a more in-depth analysis than others. The listening ages often feature English speakers of various nationalities, giving students a general idea about accents and pronunciation patterns. The speaking and writing activities, although tailored to meet the examination’s needs, usually offer topics and ideas that students may find interesting to explore and develop. In a similar fashion, the reading activities consist of fostering students’ ability to read for different purposes. 5. Learner training There is a strong and explicit focus on learner training throughout the book. Students are encouraged to continue working on their own outside the classroom and to make connections between the points of view presented and their own opinions. They are given suggestions on how to approach the learning of specific skills and how to improve their own learning methods. The advice given in each section of the book often raises awareness of some peculiarities of language. 6. Conclusion Finally, Spotlight on FCE is a book that I strongly recommend since it presents students and teachers with suitable contexts for second language development. The strengths of this book lie in the harmonious balance between communicative activities and relatable contexts, and more structural tasks aimed at mechanizing particular aspects of the language. It is a book that will provide students with specialized tools to both improve their language use and be ready to sit for the FCE. Furthermore, teachers can make use of this material whether their students are taking the FCE exam or not, since most of the activities can be adapted to regular class work.