Norbert Schmitt

Focus on Vocabulary 1: Bridging Vocabulary is a research-based vocabulary textbook that gives intermediate to high-intermediate students hands-on preparation for understanding mid-frequency vocabulary, such as that found in novels, newspapers, films, and social and workplace settings. Through excerpts from popular material and well-crafted exercises, English learners focus on mid-frequency vocabulary — 504 word families in all. To help students reach a fuller understanding of the new vocabulary, each chapter provides a series of exercises on word meanings, word families, and collocation.   Features  Seven units focus on a variety of subject areas, such as the mind, design, celebrity, and the environment. The start of each main chapter features an Assessing Your Vocabulary Knowledge section, which helps students determine their level of familiarity with that chapter's twenty-four target words. Students reassess their familiarity with the words at the end of the chapter. Each main chapter carefully recycles the target words a minimum of four times in the reading passage and throughout the sections that follow: Reading Comprehension, Word Meaning, Word Families, Collocation, and Expanding the Topic. At the end of each unit, a Strategy Practice chapter offers tips for dictionary use, essay writing, and other vocabulary-related tasks.  

  Focus on Vocabulary 2: Mastering the Academic Word List is a research-based vocabulary textbook that gives high-intermediate to advanced students the advantage they need to succeed in academic environments. Through excerpts from college texts and well-crafted exercises, English learners study the Academic Word List – the most frequently used words in academic texts. To help students reach a fuller understanding of the new vocabulary, each chapter provides a series of exercises on word meanings, word families, and collocation.   Features  Seven units focus on a variety of subject areas, such as social change, consumer behavior, natural resources, and music. Each main chapter carefully recycles the target words four times in reading passages and vocabulary-building exercises. NEW!  Reading Strategies are designed to give students the tools they need to better comprehend the materials they read. Activities include recognizing an author’s point of view and synthesizing information from multiple readings. The collocations exercises – based on the 179-million-word New Longman Corpus – reflect how academic words are actually used in real contexts. Expanding the Topic sections provide additional reading, discussion, and writing activities that broaden students’ understanding of vocabulary. Strategy Practice chapters offer tips for dictionary usage, information about word roots and affixes, and methods for expanding students’ word knowledge.