Click on the cover of each book below to see its contents.

   This nine-book course consists of three stages: Elementary, Intermediate, and Advanced. The course was designed with two main objectives in mind:

1. to prepare students for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL^®), the most widely recognized international test that evaluates non-native speakers' level of competence in English and
2. to facilitate students' understanding of the spoken English of modern American media, principally TV, and enable them to use its expressions and speech patterns. In this way, students develop the ability to communicate naturally and effectively in current American English.

   The main sources used in the selection of the basic vocabulary of the course were:

1. Paul Nation's adaptation of the classic high-frequency word list known as the General Service List (GSL) containing the 2284 most commonly used words in the English language and
2. the Academic Word List (AWL) consisting of 570 words selected because of the frequency with which they appear in a broad range of academic texts.

   The following table* illustrates the importance of these words for the understanding of various types of speech and writing.

WORDS	CONVERSATION%	FICTION%	NEWSPAPERS%	ACADEMIC TEXTS %
First	84.3	82.3	75.6	73.5
1001 to 2000	6.0	5.1	4.7	4.6
AWL	1.9	1.7	3.9	8.5
	92.2	89.1	84.2	86.6

* This table is an adaptation of Table 1.7 in I. S. P. Nation, Learning Vocabulary in Another Language, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2001, p. 17.

   In order to accomplish its second main objective, CCLS also made use of its own list of 5461 words and expressions when choosing the vocabulary used in Password: Effective_Communication (PEC). This list was extracted from CCLS's extensive corpus of approximately 5000 minutes of transcriptions of current American sitcoms. During the course students will learn over 1350 of the most useful words and expressions on this list.

   Clearly, mastery of the vocabulary presented in Password: Effective_Communication will guarantee the learner an exceptional level of communicative competence in both general and academic English. 

   It should be pointed out that, at all levels of the course, the vocabulary presented is accompanied by the grammatical structures essential for communication. All of the material is presented in a dynamic, engaging way that respects the cultural aspect of the English language and ensures that the students' experience is a pleasant and enjoyable one.

   Each level of the course consists of a Textbook, a CALL Workbook and a special Listening Comprehension Practice book, material designed to develop students' competence in the four basic language skills. More Oral Practice, a supplementary self-study workbook and CD-ROM, reinforces the work done in class and helps students get a head start on their English by facilitating the development of their oral skills.