Review

Reviewed Work(s): Prentice Hall TOEFL Prep Book by Lin Lougheed

Review by: Mary R. Miller
Source: The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 71, No. 2 (Summer, 1987), pp. 209-210
Published by: Wiley on behalf of the National Federation of Modern Language Teachers
Associations
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/327226
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 Reviews: MLJ, 71 (Summer 1987) 209

tionary, and a sectionclasses.

on Inhandwriting
either case, additional effortimprove-
may be
needed for using this
ment. While there is nothing amazingly complex little
inherently wrong
workbook the way
in working on handwriting, the its author intended.
author's stress
The second portion of
on editing skills in connection the workbook
with explains
controlled
TOEFL fully, while the at
composition seems misguided third part
this consists of
level o
language mastery wherefour diagnostic
process tests with is
TOEFL-like
- or answer
should
sheets. The principal
be--much more important than questionthe
here, however,
product
is whether
Genuine Articles, while or not the tests cover
exposing the most com-
learners to a
monly testedalso
variety of print materials, areas of leads
TOEFL. Forthem example, to
are the functions
respond to six different English subjunctive and or parallel struc-
purposes:
tures usually
instruction, description, an important aspect
processes, of the
narrative,
TOEFL test? Otherwise, there
persuasion, and classification. The is little excuse
exercises
for including
stress summarizing skills withthem in a thisview
workbook. toward
being able to organize theand
The fourth information
instructional portion of the pre
sented in the texts. workbook consists of 140 pages of exercises
All three are attractive paperbacks and are covering listening, grammar, vocabulary, read-
replete with up-to-date black and white photo-ing, and essay writing. The new TOEFL essay
graphs, drawings, maps, and charts. Since therequirement applies to everyone. The reviewer
has not heard the tapes, but assuming that they
instructor of intermediate level second language
learners is constantly in search of new readingare acceptable, students should probably buy
materials, these three texts are a welcome addi-
them unless their teacher is a native speaker of
tion to available professional resources. standard American English. For students who
rarely, if ever, hear natively spoken English,
DONALD N. FLEMMING the tapes are a must. The instructional portion
Keene (NH) State College of the workbook is the weakest part of the
volume. Not only is far too much attempted,
but the underlying premise seems to be that
language learning results from imitation, in
spitePrep
LOUGHEED, LIN. Prentice Hall TOEFL of brief and sometimes quality explana-
Book.
tions.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986. Pp.
The fifth
xvi, 304. $9.95, paper. Accompanying and sixth parts of the workbook
tapes,
$40.00. consist of the tapescripts and diagnostic work-
sheets, respectively.
While positive features such as the diagnostic
As the title indicates, this workbook
testsisand
designed
full information concerning TOEFL
to prepare the student for TOEFL can (Test of Eng-
be very important to overseas students, the
failurestudent
lish as a Foreign Language). That this of this workbook lies in its uncontrolled
is likely to reside overseas is evident from
ambition the
to be all things. That is a commend-
listing of Prentice-Hall overseas sales offices,
able but unrealistic urge, as the author admits
the diagnostic tests, the section explaining
in the preface. In my opinion, the workbook
TOEFL, and the teacher instructions. shortchanges the student in the area where the
Although the table of contents specifies a text need is greatest: learning enough English to
with thirteen parts, it is better considered as pass the test. However, the student is likely to
consisting of six. The first part, the preface, ad- understand his/her shortcomings much better
dresses the two intended audiences: the lone, thanks to the diagnostic tests.
unaided student on the one hand, the teacher American teachers going abroad to teach
and class on the other. The solitary student is English need not be deterred by such shortcom-
accorded a single page of instructions on how ings, for the skimpy instructional material can
to use the book, the teacher more than eight. be easily supplemented with their own crea-
Among other matters, teacher users of the tions, but the less well-prepared teacher with-
workbook are given instructions about allocat- out native fluency will definitely need addi-
ing time and pacing the progress of their tional dependable material. Furthermore, the

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 210 Reviews: MLJ, 71 (Summer 1987)
solitary student may instructor.
remain stalled
Occasionally at the
the forms stu-
themselves
dent instruction page, arewhich in itself
not well reproduced is a them
(p. 46), making kind
of diagnosis of the ability to
difficult to read
read; English
this technical prose.
flaw can presum-
This workbook has its good
ably be correctedpoints
in subsequentbut it is
printings.
not equally appropriate Theor useful
strengths of theintext all contexts.
are numerous. The
convenience of having so many important
MARY R. MILLER
forms together is enough to ensure this book's
University of Maryland popularity; the clear and concise definitions of
vocabulary items and the thorough explana-
tions of the forms themselves add to its value.
Moreover, the introductions to the forms often
ROGERS, LOUISA. Book of Formsforcontain helpful
Everyday information for the applicants;
Living.
Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook, 1985. for instance, the students are cautioned that
Pp. 75. Paper. "filling out the [Alien Relative Immigrant Visa
Application] is not a guarantee that your rela-
tive will be allowed to immigrate"; they are also
The Book of Forms for Everyday Living is written towarned that "There is a $35 fee for filing this
help learners fill out twenty-four important application. You will not get your money back
forms that are an unavoidable part of life in theif your application is turned down" (p. 50).
US. The book consists of five units: Employ-Additionally, the lessons often end with the nice
ment Forms, Money Matters, Consumer touch of some words of encouragement, such
Needs, Government Applications and Forms, as "Good luck with your interview" (p. 9) for
and Personal Concerns. Included are such use- the application for employment.
ful forms as an application for a social security The Book of Forms will be a welcome addition
number, personal checks and a checkbook to the ESL classroom. Merely having a collec-
register, a charge account application, a driver's tion of these forms will simplify the job of the
license application, and a change of address instructor, while the carefully constructed les-
form. A "Personal Fact Sheet," to help sonsthe that accompany them greatly increase
learners get organized, precedes the unitstheir
on usefulness to both teacher and learner.
forms; by filling this in, the students compile
a list of personal information to refer to as they
SANDRA PLANN

Tacoma Community College

complete the forms in this book as well as other
real applications. A final section, which con-
tains duplicates of some of the more common
forms, provides additional practice in filling
them out.
CRAWSHAW, BERNARD E. ET AL. Joue
The individual lessons consist of a brief ex-
Quatre-vingtsjeux en classe pour quatre nivea
planation of the form plus definitions of diffi-
rents. Lincolnwood, IL: National Text
cult vocabulary. The form itself is then pre- 1985. Pp. 128. Paper.
sented, and line-by-line instructions follow on
WHELPTON, TONY & DAPHNE JENKINS. Le
how to fill it in.
Right: French. Examination Revision in
The weaknesses in the book are minor. At
Essex, England: Longman, 1984. Pp. 96.
times the level of language used in the line-by-
$3.95, paper.
line explanations of the forms will be difficult
for many of the students who I imagine will be
the primary users of the book, namely adults Jouez le jeu! is a well-organized collection of
in survival-level or in vocationally oriented eighty
ESL classroom-tested games for teaching
programs. For instance, on the application French.
for Divided according to levels that cor-
a lease, we find the following: "The next line respond to first-year, second-year, third/fourth
is for the name of the agent for the owner, year, and advanced, the games progress from
usually a property manager such as Shoreline short, simple ones taking only five or ten min-
Property Management Co." (p. 56). However, utes to longer, more complex activities lasting
this sort of difficulty is easily clarified by up to forty-five minutes. The book includes a
the

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