The Market Leader series of books never seems to fail when teaching Business English. It’s truly the total package since it includes a hearty balance of reading, grammar, vocabulary, discussion points, listening and writing activities. The Upper-Intermediate level text is a fine example of why Market Leader is the Business English textbook leader.
"This book is a good pick mostly for classrooms. It’s easy to pick up and offers lots of vocabulary and phrases for the Upper-Intermediate student who needs to speak English on the job."
The Upper-Intermediate book is like all the others before it in the sense that it offers interesting units each filled with a wealth of language points. The activities in each unit help readers improve their Business English Skills in all 4 areas of reading, speaking, writing and listening. Throughout the book, there are 14 units covering interesting and significant topics from the general “Communication and Success” focusing on grammar and writing, to the more intricate like “Takeovers & Mergers “and “Management Styles” dealing with communication activities. Like all the Market Leader books, this book is a treat for the eyes with its thin silhouette packed with professional looking photos, images, diagrams and text. Students will be pleased upon first run-through. Each unit begins with a discussion intro which encourages conversation on a specific topic, listening segments to improve comprehension, reading exercises from The Financial Times newspaper, and grammar segments that focus more on spoken language like idioms, multi-word verbs and noun compounds. The writing activities, although engaging and useful, are mostly made for groups or at the least require a partner. The solo learner may feel like passing on these. Luckily for them, the supplementary materials Market Leader is renowned for can make solo studying thoroughly enjoyable. These consist of the interactive DVD-ROM which includes some more listening activities, video case studies that go along with the ones in the book, some more practice exercises and an iGlossary to brush up on the plethora of new vocabulary presented in the book.
Pros:
•Great balance of activities focusing on the four language skills
•Good mix of chapters that focus on several Business English scenarios (meetings, interviews, presentations, etc.)
•The Grammar Reference & Writing File in the back are great resources for brushing up on certain topics of the book
Cons:
•While there are many activities, most require at least another person and/or teacher
•Some listening segments are very long
•The Case Study activities at the end of each unit are great but require groups participation
Recommended For:
•Students who enjoy the classroom atmosphere and want to brush up on all four skills.
•Businesspeople who want a challenge as far as business and English are concerned
•Ambitious students who want to broaden their business knowledge and writing skills
Overall, I’d say this book is a good pick mostly for classrooms. It’s easy to pick up and offers lots of vocabulary and phrases for the Upper-Intermediate student who needs to speak English on the job. For a solo student it may be an upward climb but it’s a great resource to improve your reading and listening skills – for the classroom setting this book is an absolute gem.
