Make academic lectures accessible to students by developing their listening and note-taking skills through a series of diverse lectures with Contemporary Topics.

The new, fourth edition of  Contemporary Topics  expands on its highly respected approach to developing academic listening and study skills. Organized around realistic college lectures, the text guides learners through carefully sequenced activities in skills such as note-taking, focusing attention, intensive listening, and vocabulary building.

Why is architect Frank Gehry's work notable? What principles should journalists be following today? What are the keys to owning a successful restaurant?

You'll find the answers to these and other questions in  Contemporary Topics 2,  which features college lectures from several academic disciplines, including architecture, media studies, and culinary arts.  Contemporary Topics 2  prepares students for the challenge of college lectures with practice in a wide range of listening, speaking and note-taking skills and strategies. The lectures (available on CD and DVD) were filmed in realistic academic setting before line student audiences. 

Course Features

• Corpus-based vocabulary drawn from the Academic Word List
• Practical listening and note-taking strategies
• Note-review practice that allows students to analyze their note-taking skills and consolidate their understanding of the lecture
• Academic research and speaking tasks: presentation, discussions, and role plays

New to this edition :

• New subject areas, presented as one-on-one academic lectures, emphasize professional applications such as software engineering, multimedia design, information technology, urban planning, and social psychology.
• Learning Outcomes listed at the outset of each unit let students know the goals of each unit and what their learning experience will be.
• New audio interviews with topic experts provide context for the upcoming unit lecture.
• Bottom-up listening and pronunciation exercises emphasize important principles and improve realtime perception.
• An oral presentation activity, supported by specific preparation and delivery strategies, concludes each unit and includes the opportunity for peer evaluation.
• Proficiency assessments composed of short academic audio lectures and multiple-choice exams simulate TOEFL-style test format for practice on high-stakes tests.
• New Essential Online Resources include audio, video, and teacher materials (assessments, teaching notes, answer keys, audioscripts, presentation points, and more).