Orient Blackswan Foundation Course in Spoken English, published in two parts, is intended to help develop the oral communication skills of second language learners, especially those who have had a regional language medium of instruction at school and who have had little or no exposure to spoken english. It is primarily aimed at students preparing to enter the mainstream, which would require them to compete with those who have a stronger base in English. The book can, however, be used just as effectively as self-instructional material by persons of an older age group, who are employed or engaged in different activities of their own. The two parts of the book come with audio-CDs that give learners an opportunity to listen to dialogues in everyday situations and that provide answers to the practice exercises as well. Also included in the books are brief, easy-to-understand tips on pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and usage that learners are sure to find useful when learning to speak English. Part 2 offers learners a second and more advanced set of 25 functions that require the use of relatively complex language structures.

Dr Kamlesh Sadanand is former Professor and Head, Centre for Phonetics and Spoken English, CIEFL, Hyderabad. Besides her long years of experience in teaching, in developing ELT materials and in supervising research work, Dr Sadanand has published several papers and books. Prominent among her publications is A Practical Course in English Pronunciation (2004).

Ms Susheela Punitha is former Professor of English, Mount Carmel College, Bangalore. She has also been actively engaged in developing course materials and in conducting ELT workshops.