Until recently, candidates preparing for the Occupational English Test, plus the teachers supporting them, have faced a relative lack of high-quality published preparation materials. OET Reading & Listening Skills Builder, written by Tom Fassnidge, will therefore be a welcome addition to the growing array of OET materials, as will its companion title, OET Writing & Speaking Skills Builder (Nursing and Medicine).
Tom is an experienced OET teacher and materials writer who has worked for one of the UK’s leading OET Premium
Providers; this new title provides candidates with the techniques required for the reading and listening (all professions) sub-tests and is suitable for either self-study or classroom use.
OET Reading & Listening is divided into ten units which are organised by topic. Besides the usual clinical areas (lifestyle issues and infectious diseases), the topics also include wider issues such as training and best practice plus technology and social issues. Each unit includes a reading and listening focus plus a language/skills
focus. Beginning in Unit One with an overview of the types of texts and questions found in the reading and listening sub-tests, the reading and listening focus sections then look at each part of the reading and listening sub-tests in turn and repeat this structure throughout the remaining nine units. The language/skills focus cover the many sub-skills required for success in OET, including gist, detail and purpose and useful language such as collocations, modals, and semi-modals plus a very useful section on identifying and avoiding distractors. In total, the book provides the
equivalent of more than two complete OET Reading and Listening sub-tests. Of note is the author’s comment in the introduction that the texts and exercises are designed to be “a little easier than the real test” to help students to focus on the development of the techniques required for OET success. This reflects nicely the book’s title, although it is perhaps a little disappointing that there are no complete practice tests at the C1 level provided at the back of the book for students to gauge their level on completion of the book.
Like the Speaking & Writing volume, the hard copy edition of OET Reading & Listening Skills Builder includes additional resources, audio scripts and answer keys, making the book ideal for self-study. Furthermore, all of the book’s contents can also be accessed through Express Publishing’s own online platform and the Digibooks app. Unusually, the code for this online version is provided at no extra charge, bound in with the hard copy edition, and for student accounts is valid for 15 months from the activation date; teachers on the other hand can re-activate the apps
for free. CD recordings of the audio tracks are available separately for a small charge of just under 8 Euros.
Unfortunately, the digibook edition of OET Reading & Listening Skills wasn’t ready at the time of writing this review but the publisher states that the online/app edition will be highly interactive. The teachers’ guide for Express Publishing’s online platform is very comprehensive and perhaps almost overwhelming in its detail, while the platform itself allows students who are part of an taught group to check what has been assigned to them as homework, complete it online, have their answers automatically corrected and see their progress. Individual learners are also well catered for, being able to complete all of the book’s activities (including listening ones) online and receive instant feedback.
The book is attractively laid out in full colour, with plenty of white space on the page for the contents to breathe. Frequent blue Test Tip boxes, presented as speech bubbles, provide additional bite-size hints about exam strategies and are a strength. It was good to see learning objectives for Reading, Listening and Language and Skills presented at
the beginning of each unit; the addition of some kind of review activity or reflective task at the end of each unit or cycle of three units would have been a welcome addition.
I am very happy to recommend this and its companion Speaking and Writing volume to teachers and students who are studying independently. The focus on skills development will be particularly welcome to teachers and students who value a focus on developing their skills. Many students preparing for OET fall into the trap of thinking that exam
practice alone is the key to exam success and this book is brave in providing something quite different and for that it deserves praise and success.
Published 2020, Express Publishing.
158 pages; 31,79 Euros for print book and digital access (or 15% discount for digibook
only), currently reduced to 25,43 Euros; Audio CDs 7,95 Euros
ISBN-10: 1-4715-8693-4
ISBN-13: 978-1-4715-8693-4
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