Spoken English; flourish your English written by Robert

Carmen
Reviewed by: Shireen Zada, BS8, Roll no 44271, Department of
English, Hazara University Dhodial, Mansehra..

Book review: Spoken English (flourish your language)

Speaking is an important part in any language. Speaking skills give us the ability to
communicate effectively. These skills allow the speaker to convey his message in
a passionate, thoughtful, and convincing manner. Speaking skills also help to
assure that one will not be misunderstood by those who are listening. The book
“Spoken English (flourish your language)” which is written by Robert Carmen
helps the students in improving speaking skills. This book has interesting chapters
like common errors, which will help students in avoiding all the mistakes students
usually make while speaking English. The book consists of twelve chapter:
Contractions, Pronunciation, Vowels, Stress in English Language, List of English
Symbols, Conversation, Common Errors, Tongue twisters, Phrasal verbs, Cliché,
Slangs.
The cover page of any book impacts the reader. It is the very first thing that
impress and attract the reader. The tittle page allows the reader to identify the
work at first glance. This book has an attractive and beautiful cover page includes
a beautiful photograph and the name of the book which is written in bold on one
corner of the picture. The other important thing about this book is the
arrangement of the chapters and lessons in it. The order of the chapter are very
impressive and this arrangement makes it easy for students to understand and
use this book effectively. The easy chapters which build the concept for difficult
lesson placed first and then harder and harder. Chapters are structured very
simply, in the start of every chapter there is a brief introduction of topics with
example.
The texts in the Spoken English flourish your language involve daily use
vocabulary which is important and necessary as well for student to learn that and
bring those words in use. There are many conversation on different topics like
meeting with friends, dialogue between teacher and student etc. each
conversation is taken from daily life.
Another critical component of speaking is fluency. Someone`s fluency in speaking
indicates his or her competence in that language. A person may write without
proper knowledge of grammar and sentence structure; he or she can read
without proper pronunciation, listen without proper listening skill; whereas,
speaking skills depends on the total knowledge of a language (vocabulary,
grammar, sentence structure, listening skills etc.). When we take part in an
interaction, we not only speak but also listen. If we use wrong English, we fail to
communicate properly and get an instant feedback of this failure. It is an
important part of everyday interaction. The first impression of a person language
skill depends on his or her ability to speak fluently and comprehensively. As
mentioned above the Spoken English flourish your language consists of many
conversation which help the student in practicing the fluency of the students.
Speaking has acquired great importance along the history of English teaching
since it is referred as an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves
producing, receiving and processing information (Brown, 1994; Burns & Joyce,
1997). English has become primordial worldwide for it has become a lingua
franca. Therefore, it is the main source for communicating in many fields.
Richards (1990) states that the mastery of speaking skill in English is seen as a
priority for many EFL learners across the world. Moreover, he adds that learners
consequently often evaluate their success in language learning as well as the
effectiveness of their English course based on how well they feel they have
improved in their spoken language skill. The Spoken English emphasizes on this
skill and it consists of many lesson to improve the speaking skill of the students.
Including interesting and relevant topics is critical for learner engagement and
motivation. One of the authors` interest goals is to interest students through a
wide range of interesting dialogues. Conversation topics in this book include
introduction, goodbye, what time is it, checking in, passport control, direction,
getting a room for the night, ordering a meal, what shall we do, planning for going
out etc. when contents is of interest and relevant to their lives, students will be
more motivated and interested to practice language and to become successful
speakers. According to Guthrie and Davies (2003) if students are interested in the
topics, they are much more likely to invest the necessary time and effort to
practice in second language speaking.
Although the book is very well designed in general, there are few aspects that
could be improved. While the book has many lessons and practicing dialogue,
there is no CD-ROM for the student. If there were a CD-ROM, it would help the
students in practicing the dialogues and it also would help in real pronunciation.
It also would help the students in body language and gestures. . As we all know
that testing play an important role in learning. There is no exercise at the end of
any chapter, as this would help both students and instructors benefit from this
important aspect.
Overall, the Spoken English provides a wide range of interesting and a very
important topics and relevant topics. All the important contents which are key to
practice speaking are included here. The book contain exciting content that will
motivate student and that will attract students to practice the second language.
Students who use this book will experience with words that they will encounter in
real life contexts. All in all this book will help the students to speak correct and
fluent English.