English for the Energy Industries Teacher's Book (Board book)

"A well-designed ESP teaching and learning resource that would be an excellent teaching tool to any EFL/EAP tutor who has a limited knowledge of this cognate area." Journal of the English for Specific Purposes Special Interest Group "This book, as its name suggests, is specifically aimed at people who require technical English applicable to the oil, gas and petrochemicals industry. The book is aimed at pre- and low-intermediate level students and takes a comprehensive look at all aspects of the industry. It consists of 9 units and covers, in detail, the following topics: giving basic information, such as personal details, asking questions, and describing objects, equipment and jobs within the industry; calculating and measuring; describing equipment and how it works. These range from workshop tools to pumps and measuring devices; giving instructions and warnings. This covers how something works, for example, a crane, identifying problems and finding solutions; describing systems, for example, heating, electrical, and alarm systems and the use of simple diagrams relating to these systems; describing procedures and processes within the industry; safety, for example, identifying hazards and reporting accidents; making comparisons; and giving advice using formal and informal technical expressions. The units are split into 10 lessons after which there is a review section so tha the student can test himself to check that the main points have been understood. Unfortunately, I have not had the chance to use the book in any of my courses and therefore it is difficult to assess properly what the book would be like to use. However, there is a lot of material packed into the book and I did like the format of the book in that each unit consists of various tasks for the students to do, alone or in pairs. There is a lot of information for the student to absorb and, at times, I think it is quite demanding for pre- to low-intermediate students. They certainly won't have the time to be bored! A teacher's book and audio cassette or CD are also available." Vivienne Dietrich for the ELTAF Newsletter, Issue 50, Summer 2009 "As the use of English as a second language expands worldwide, so does the publication of books to satisfy the English language training needs of a target community. English for the Energy Industries: Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals is evidence of this development and makes a claim that one can be extremely selective in deciding the course material for developing communication skills in a specific industry, instead of depending on more standard materials usually described as 'Technical Communication'. Garnet has published this titles to cater to the needs of language learners in the oil and allied industries. This book manages to cut to the essentials, maximising learning with minimum tasks. In the teacher's book introduction, it is noted that 100-145 hours are needed to finish the course to achieve the desired level of competence in order to manage an 'English-speaking workplace'. Further, the gap of 45 hours can be managed by the teacher by incorporating 'additional material' befitting 'individual or group work depending upon the size and nature of the class'. The teacher's book is good enough to make precise functional hints for the use of the student's book. Apart from having content for developing the basic communication requirements like listening, speaking, and writing skills with the help of vocabulary and sentence structures typical for the industry, this course material includes two CDs to enhance standard pronunciation of the users. In my opinion, not only people preparing to work in the oil, gas and petrochemical industries, but also students of Industrial Chemistry and Chemical Engineering can immensely benefit by using the comprehensive material provided in the course book and supplementary CDs to achieve the desired level of communication competency in the workplace. It is worthwhile to note that the black and white pictorial presentations given sequentially in the book will stimulate the students' visual perception and work as a motivating factor to use it as a self-study book. Though this course book will be highly beneficial if used in the classroom, it can be used outside as self-study material." Dr Prasanta Kumar Panda for KnowGenesis IJTC, Vol 3, Issue 1, March 2008