Business Benchmark

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Norman Whitby

Pre-Intermediate to Intermediate Student's Book with CD-ROM

Bulats edition, Cambridge University Press 2006

ISBN 0-521-67284-8, 184 pages

Teacher's Resource Book

ISBN 0-521-67285-6, 160 pages

The Business Benchmark series is a new Business English course with supplementary editions that help students prepare for the recognized Cambridge ESOL BULATS (Business Language Testing Service). The course is divided into three levels. As with the other levels, the Pre-Intermediate to Intermediate level is divided into 24 short units covering all the skills required in communicative competence. Business competence is another question. Indeed, as mentioned on the back cover, the topics are of a general nature and vary from broad issues such as cultural issues and developing contacts to investing. It is, therefore, useful for learners who are already employed and who may be seeking more of a communicative competence without necessarily seeking to refine their business skills.

The series can, however, also be useful for those who are not yet in the working world and who are seeking both vital grammar practice, vocabulary and listening exercises plus a shallow understanding of various potential business contexts. As usual, the dilemma arises when high competence

learners seek refined knowledge from both the language side of the course material as well as in-depth matter for reflection in terms of business technology. The language instructor would definitely be obliged to supplement the course material with other more specifically oriented documentation and/or use the course material as a springboard for discussions into concrete examples that the learners have certainly come across in their specific work environments. Such occasions are made available in the Teacher's Resource Book, which provides further practice into both the grammatical structures studied and the vocabulary and topics covered in each unit.

The supplementary CD along with the section dedicated to exam skills and practice are ideal for having a thorough understanding of what the potential exam candidate can expect and provides ample exercise for preparing for the test.

Vincent Vandersluis