All Clear Listening and Speaking 3, 2nd edition
Fragiadakis, Helen Kalkstein. (2007). All Clear Listening and Speaking 3, 2nd Edition. Boston: Thomson Heinle.
Cameron Jaynes
Nearly a decade after the first edition was released, All Clear has now been integrated into a three part series with All Clear Listening and Speaking 3 (formerly All Clear Advanced) as the highest level text. Designed for advanced students, All Clear 3 employs integrated skills in order to allow students to comprehend and use idiomatic expressions and lexical chunks. An attractive, light, and portable book, it embraces the fundamental aspects of Communicative Language Teaching.
Each of the eight chapters follow a similar format, opening with a ‘warmer’ to set up the theme of the chapter and followed by a listening (not authentic yet “natural”) dialogue which introduces the lexical items for the chapter. Transcripts of the dialogue are provided with the target language in bold, and in following sections stress patterns are indicated with accent marks. After a quick comprehension check and paired recitation of the dialogue, a thorough explanation of the target phrases is provided. Students are then treated to a progression of exercises to ensure their grasp of the ‘chunks’. Beginning with matching, continuing to gap fill, error correction, and culminating in completion of another dialogue; there is sufficient opportunity and repetition to help concretize the terms. The remainder of the lesson is a hodgepodge of listening and speaking activities in and out of pair and group formats and involving role plays and panel discussions designed to allow for free-practice of the intended phrases. Potential writing assignments and suggested supplementary internet research ideas are located at the end of each chapter.
While the well-intentioned attempts to bring the ‘real world’ into the class via on-line research assignments are well structured and interesting, this provides a distinct problem for many classroom contexts and compositions. Regrettably not every student has the time for homework assignments, nor does every student have access to the internet. In the event that students do have time and access, many of the activities could be interesting and rewarding. Students are encouraged to engage in self-discovery by researching lexically or thematically related idioms. Also, research of additional (provided) thematic concepts associated with that of the chapter, e.g., ‘elevator etiquette’ could provide interesting conversation fodder for the following lesson.
At the end of each chapter are ‘contact assignments’ and ‘expression collection’ activities which require the student to venture forth into the world and ask native speakers the meaning of additional phrasal verbs, and to “Every week, find three expressions from the real world that are new to you [the students]” (p.18). The text assumes that the students have access to native speakers (as in an ESL setting) who are willing to explicate the meaning and use of grammatical items, and furthermore that the students are in an environment that allows them to eavesdrop on native speakers and transcribe their idiomatic findings.
Criticisms aside, given the appropriate classroom context, cultural inclinations, or inhibitions these activities could prove to be quite enjoyable and enriching for the ESL classroom environment. The advanced level, general language of the lessons, and chapter themes such as homelessness, violence in the media, and kids’ behavior in public, suggest that All Clear 3 would lend itself to an older audience and would be suitable for a university or advanced secondary level course.
All Clear 3 is a quality text that goes to great lengths to make idiomatic phrases more accessible to the advanced learner. Its contextual examples and explanations of idioms and phrases are thorough and effective. Background and overviews of not only ‘meaning’, but also ‘form’ and ‘use’ allow students to acquire a deeper understanding of the target language. The integration of reading, writing, listening, and speaking provide ample opportunity for students to integrate the phrases into their active vocabularies. All Clear 3 has many strengths and is worth taking a look at.
Reviewer
Cameron Jaynes is an EFL teacher who is currently a graduate student in the MA-ESL Program at the University of Minnesota.
