create an understanding of U.S. institutions, policies, attitudes, and values for ESL students.The text:*improves reading skills by engaging learners in readings pertaining to important events in modern U.S. history*increases learner proficiency in high-frequency vocabulary words and their derivatives*enhances formal and informal writing skills via personal responses to events portrayed in the text*improves formal presentation, informal discussion, and personal speaking skills in class discussions and more structured situations*enhances listening skills via peer and instructor interaction*provides interaction with authentic cultural artifacts from the 20th century, including literature, poetry, artwork, sculpture, photography, speeches, etc., and makes explicit their contextual importance.Each unit of What Makes America Tick? consists of a Link to Today section that examines the current effects of history on the life of today's target language speakers. A second edition will be published in 2012.

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