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1. General educational objectives:
a. to stimulate interest in gaining knowledge;
b. to raise social consciousness;
c. to develop an active civic attitude to the problems discussed;
d. to teach students to learn more on their own; to make students
understand that self-education is a driving force in gaining knowledge;
2. Language objectives:
a. to broaden reading and conversational vocabulary;
b. to develop reading skills using authentic material;
c. to improve communication skills; to increase conversational fluency;
3. Cross-cultural objectives:
a. to provide a better understanding of the mainstream culture of English-
speaking countries;
b. to raise awareness of cultural diversity;
c. to present patterns of communication and culture that contrast with
Ukrainian patterns.

FEATURES OF “EFL TOPICS & BEYOND”
1. Each book of the series is devoted to one particular content; i.e.,
language skills, vocabulary, and cognitive skills are integrated into the
study of one particular subject area, thus benefiting students from the
coherence of the unifying topical content and language.
2. The series offers meaningful communication based largely on authentic
material. Learners are involved in real-life communication tasks
arranged around themes relevant to university students.
3. The series provides a wide selection of topics from which both
instructors and students can choose. It can be used as an entire
curriculum of materials or a supplementary text, depending on the
learners' specific needs.
4. The series provides several choices for Intermediate-low/-mid/-high;
however, Upper Intermediate learners can also benefit from it.
5. The text integrates different types of readings - essays, short stories,
newspaper articles, and short learning texts - with questions for
discussion, vocabulary development, writing, and various related
activities that can be either instructor- or learner-directed.
6. The series includes a selection from short fiction by both British and
American writers.
7. The readings raise sociocultural awareness and help develop
communicative competence.
8. The series provides an introduction to some general patterns in English-
speaking cultures. Learners are introduced to some basic values that are
used to compare cultures. Opportunities are given to express opinions
on cross-cultural differences.