As an ESL teacher I've had many encounters with the Breakthrough Plus series, especially when I would take on conversation classes in my past schools and institutes. Having used this book since the beginning of my teaching career I can say that it is one of the few books that I have relied on for such a long time.
Breakthrough Plus 3 is a course book for intermediate level students who want to improve their communication skills. The book provides a number of activities which help students practice all four language skills, but a strong emphasis is placed on speaking. As you flip through the chapters you will notice that the book follows a very specific structure. Each chapter begins with a picture and students are encouraged to analyze and discuss what they see in the image. After doing this, students move on to a series of conversation questions which then relate to a listening activity following the exercise. During this activity students must analyze a recorded dialogue between two or more people and afterwards new grammar and vocabulary structures are introduced and practiced. This specific structure carries on until the final chapter, but each chapter places a strong focus on conversation and speaking skills.
"Breakthrough Plus is an engaging communication-focused course that builds young adult and adult learners' confidence to use English." Miles Craven (Author)
The best part about this book is that students learn grammar without realizing it. Rather than practicing important grammar structures through drills or exercises, students are encouraged to use them while working on the speaking activities. From personal experience I have noticed that this method of teaching grammar is an extremely effective way of learning and retaining important grammar structures. Even though the book focuses most of its attention on conversation activities each chapter comes with brief reading, writing, and listening activities to complement the speaking activity. If you are a teacher who wants to put extra emphasis on any of these complementary skills, you may have to use another course book. The strength of this book is definitely its speaking activities.
The book also comes with online support and interactive activities. Each book comes with a special code that teachers can use to log in to the ‘Digibook’ application on the book’s website. The Digibook offers interactive worksheets, tests, and video interviews which help students continue practicing their language skills outside of the classroom.
Both teachers and students will find great use in this book. I would recommend Breakthrough Plus 3 to students who are working with a private teacher or a small group class and want to move on to the upper intermediate level. Independent learners should steer clear of this book because they will not be able to work with 80% of the content on their own. For lower level students I would also recommend Volume 1 and 2 in the Breakthrough series.
