Power-up Trainer for the TOEFL ITP. Mark D. Stafford and Chizuko Tsumatori. Cengage Learning, 2010. 95 pp.
Reviewed by JohnB.Collins1RitsumeikanAsiaPacificUniversity
Foran increasingnumberof Japanesecollegestudents, success in theTOEFL test isahighpriorityandanecessityforjobandstudyabroadapplications.Attheinstitutionwherethetextbookdescribedbelowwas reviewed, theachievementofascoreof500+on theTOEFL(ITP)hasbecomeacentralgoalofuniversitypolicy.Regardlessofthemeritsanddemeritsofthispolicy,itisvitalthatteachersandstudentsareequippedwiththeteachingandstudytoolstheyneedtoachievethisgoal.Thefollowingisareviewofa textbookthatclaimstohelpJapanesecollegestudentsachieveaTOEFL(ITP)scoreof500+.Thetextbookwastrialedwithagroupofapproximately20 Japanese students atRitsumeikanAsiaPacificUniversity (APU)with a view towardsrecommendingitforwideradoptionacrosstheEnglishprogram. Thebookwas trialedduringa15-classextracurricularTOEFLpreparationcourse,duringwhich10ofthe12unitswerecompleted.Eachunitwastaughtovera95minuteclass,althoughthegrammarpracticequestions,whichcomeat theendofeachunit,weresometimesassignedashomework.Consideringthatthereare12units, inadditiontothepre-andpost-tests, thebookcouldbecompletedinaslittleas14classes.Ifeachunitweresupplementedwithlead-intasksandadditionalgrammarinstructionandpractice,aswasthecaseduringthecurrenttrial(asdescribedinfurtherdetailbelow),itcouldpotentiallytakelongertocomplete.Justhowmuchlongerwoulddependonthestudents'proficiencylevelandthereforethedegreetowhichsupplementarytasksarerequired.Giventhatthebookaimstohelpstudentsreachascoreof500+ontheTOEFL(ITP),itisthereviewer'sopinionthatthebookwouldbesuitableforstudentswithinreasonablestrikingrangeofthisscore.Inotherwords,studentsapproximatelywithina450-480scoreband,ratherthanthelow400'sorlower. Giventhecomprehensivenatureofthe119-page-longteacher'smanual,thetextbookitselfisclearlyintendedtobeusedasacourse-booktobetaughtbyateacher,ratherthanforself-study.Thestatedgoalsofthetextbook,whicharedescribedinthepreface,aretwo-fold:first,toprovideopportunitiesforlearnerstoencounteracademicandspecialistvocabulary,andsecond,todeveloptheabilitytospeedilyandaccuratelyread(orlistento)longpassagesoftextthatarecharacteristicoftheTOEFL.Thetextbookisdividedinto12unitsandbookendedwithapre-andpost-test.EachunitisbasedonathemethatcommonlyappearsintheTOEFL,includingNativeAmericanissues,theAmericanCivilWar,andcollegecampusconversations.HilkeandWadden(1997)identifiedthefivemostfrequentthemesintheTOEFLreadingcomprehensionsectionasnatural science, history, biography, social science and general interest.Biographyisnotsufficientlycoveredinthetextbookandstudentswouldrequiresupplementarymaterialsinordertobecomeacquaintedwiththeunique1Lecturer,RitsumeikanAsiaPacificUniversity(APU),BeppuCity,Oita,Japan e-mail:[email protected]
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structureofsuchtexts.ListeningtopicsfitcloselywithwhatstudentswouldexpecttoencounterintheTOEFL,namely,on-campusconversationsbetweenstudents,universitystaff,andfaculty,inadditiontolecture-styletextsincludingtheAmericanCivilWarandthenaturalsciences.Withtheexceptionofbiographies,thetextbookprovidesarangeoftopicsandthemesthatserveasasuitableastartingpointinpreparingfortheTOEFL. Therealstrengthofthisbookliesinhoweachunitisarranged.Unliketheubiquitous“all-in-one”self-studyTOEFLpreparationtextbooksthatareoftennothingmorethanacollectionofmocktests, theauthorsappeartohavemadeaconcertedefforttopresentreading,vocabulary,listeningandgrammar tasks inan integratedformat. Importantly,grammar tasksattempt tobuildonanexcerptorgrammaticalfeaturefromtheprecedingreadingorlisteningpassage.Thebook'sauthors,therefore,haveendeavoredtoplacegrammarinstructionwithina textualcontextfromwhichtounderstandthemeaningandfunctionof the targetform.While this is tobecommendedandisawelcomebreakfromthefrequentlydisjointednatureof typicalTOEFLpreparationtextbooks,thelinksbetweeneachunit'stargetgrammarpointanditslisteningorreadingtextarenotalwaysclearlyidentifiableacrossallunits.Vocabularyexercisesalsobuildandexpandupontheacademicor specialized language introduced in thepreceding text.Reading, listening,vocabulary,andgrammarstagesofeachunitthereforefollowacentraltheme.Theadherencetoacentralthemeis,regrettably,notconsistentlymaintainedinalltheunits. Teacherswillbepleasedtoseethat listeningmaterialsaresupplementedwithanumberofclassroom-friendlygap-fillandpair-worktaskswhich,ifsetupasgroupactivities,couldgosomewaytomakingTOEFLlisteningclassesmoreinteractiveandenjoyable.Onesuchtask,asdescribedin thebook, involves studentspracticingaTOEFL(partB) listeningsection styleextendedconversationbylisteningtothetextwhilereadingtheEnglishtranscript,beforeattemptingtorole-play theconversationwithapartnerusingonly theJapanese translationasascaffold.Readingskills,unfortunately,arenotdealtwithinasimilarway,thatistosay,pre-readingtasksarelimitedtopre-teachinganumberofvocabulary items,which, to thebook'scredit,areprovided in thepagesfollowingeachreadingtext.However,inordertogiveweakerstudentsagreaterchanceoffullygraspingthecentralideasofthetexts,teacherswouldneedtoprovidelead-intasks,suchasdictoglossorreadingpredictionandbrainstormexercises. Intermsoffulfillingitsstatedaims,thetextbookdoesprovideopportunities,albeit limited,forstudentstoencounterspecializedandacademicvocabularythroughreadingandlisteningtexts,andthereforefulfillsitsfirstaim.Thebook'ssecondaim,tohelpdeveloptheabilitytospeedilyandaccuratelyread(orlistento)longpassagesoftext,isunderstandablymoredifficulttofulfill.IndeedinthecaseoftheTOEFLreadingsection,withitsemphasisonefficienttimeusage,accuracywillalwayscomeattheexpenseofspeed,andvice-versa.Acompromisemayhavebeenfoundinthewayinwhichgrammaris introducedviaanexcerptfromtheprecedingtext–anexcerptwhichstudentsareencouragedtounderstandindetail inorder tograspthe targetgrammarpoint.Theauthorsof thisandfuture languageproficiencytestpreparationtextbooks,andindeedlanguageteachers,couldbenefitfromexploringthisintegratedapproachfurther.
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Thetextbookoffersarefreshingbreakfromthe“beat-the-test”orientationwhichhasbeenidentifiedinthepopularLongmanTOEFLpreparationseries(Thonus,1990);indeedreferencestospecifictest-taking“strategies”arekept toaminimum.Whileanumberoftest-takingstrategiesaredescribedintheteacher'smanual,suchinformationisintroducedsimplyas“tips”whichalsoincludegeneralstudyskillssuchasusingadictionaryandreadingnewitemsofvocabularyaloud.Thetextbookisnotwithoutitsshortcomings.Asdescribedabove,someunitsaremoresuccessfulthanothers in termsof skills integrationand the adherence to a continuouscentral theme.Furthermore, thegrammarexercisesmightnotprovideenoughstructuredpractice forweakerstudents.Thiscouldbedealtwithbysupplementingmaterialsfromothersources, includingtheLongmanseries.Perhaps thegreatestdrawback,however, isalsooneof the textbook'sgreateststrengths: the teacher'smanual.At119pages in length, it is longer than the textbook itself. Itprovidesextensivesupplementarygrammarexplanations,comprehensiveanswerkeys,andalsoteachingtips.However, themanual is,unfortunately,onlyavailable inJapanese.AhighdegreeofJapaneseproficiencywouldberequiredof teachers,notonly toget fulluseof the teacher'smanual,butalsotounderstandthebulkofthetaskinstructionsinthetextbookitself.Inthecaseofsuchteachersbeingunavailable,otheroptionscouldincludetranslatingimportantsectionsoftheteacher'smanualintoEnglish,orprovidingexcerptsforstudentstouseasself-study,particularlyanswersandexplanationstostructure/writtenexpressionquestions,whicharedenseingrammaticalmetalanguage. Overall,thisbookserveditspurposewellandprovedpopularwiththestudentswithwhomitwastrialed.IntermsofTOEFLscoreimprovement,thepre-andpost-testswerebothadministeredandshowedanaveragescore improvementof11.4%-althoughhowthis translates intoactualTOEFLperformanceisquiteanothermatter.AsAldersonandHamp-Lyons(1996)haveindeedpointedout,thereisverylittleempiricalevidencetosupportclaimsthatsuchpreparationcoursesareactuallybeneficial(p.294).Dependingonhowitwereadopted,andalsoontheavailabilityof Japanese-proficient instructors, this textbookcouldmakeapositive addition toTOEFLinstructionbyallowingforamoreintegratedteachingapproachandprovidingabreakfromthemonotonous “beat-the-test”styleofdrillsandexerciseswhichstudents,andteachers,havesooftenencountered.
ReferencesAlderson,J.C.,&Hamp-Lyons,L.(1996).TOEFLpreparationcourses:astudyofwashback.Language Testing
13(3),pp.280-297.Thonus,T.(1990).ReviewofLongmanpreparationcoursefortheTOEFL,byDeborahPhillips,TESOL
Quarterly 24(3),pp.516-518.Hilke,R.,&Wadden,P.(1997).TheTOEFLanditsimitators:analyzingtheTOEFLandevaluatingTOEFL-preptexts,RELC Journal 28,pp.28-53.
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