Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics- An Engaging ESL Textbook for Advanced Students

Compelling Conversations is an effective tool for teaching conversational English to ESL students. However, it's combination of topic prompts to promote conversation and intriquing quotations to inspire thought make it a great tool for any composition instructor.

Having trouble coming up with a good prompt for your college comp. class free-write assignment? Compelling Conversations will provide you with seemingly endless choices.

I strongly recommend this book for any instructor interested in promoting conversation in and out of the classroom, and for any student interested in improving their English language conversational skills.

Many advanced ESL students, while relatively proficient in reading and writing, are lost when it comes to engaging in in-depth conversations in which they must go beyond pleasantries and use their newly-acquired language to express ideas, recount experiences, and support their opinions. Compelling Conversations gives teachers the tools to help students do just that, providing an easy-to-use, straightforward framework that nudges students into authentic, and, as the title suggests "compelling" conversations. After using this book consistently, students not only will be more fluid and confident in their ability to converse on a more-than-superficial level, they also will have gained an awareness of how their peers view the world.

Contains a wide variety of chapters on personal, leisure, and societal topics. Each unit has dozens of questions and quotations to keep students engaged. After selecting a chapter, I suggest you give your students the freedom to choose the questions to discuss amongst themselves (you can't cover them all!). As a teacher, I've found the textbook suitable for young adults who have an upper-intermediate (CEFR B2) English level (not just advanced). Compelling Conversations is a great addition to the library of any conversational English school.

I'm always very creative in "creating classes" for my students. However, there are days you're not inspired or run out of time, or lack patience to prepare anything. So this book is a great resource in leading EFL conversations.
I just wish there were more pages...

This book is a much-needed tool for ESL instructors. If you have the opportunity to use this text in your classroom, you won't be sorry! The era of photocopied vocabulary lists read by rote is thankfully over, thanks to textbooks like Compelling Conversations. With delightful international proverbs and real-world questions about their own experiences, students practice in class and gain the confidence required to enter the nuanced, fun and engaging depths of the English language. This text offers students and teachers alike the opportunity to truly connect through language, conversation skills should be taught in ESL class as outlined by Roth.
- Denise M.

Decent ESL Conversation book, and is well set up. Good topics. LOVE the proverbs, idioms & quotations offered and the conversation starters. My only critique? I would give this book a 5 star plus rating if it had some creative activities offered, of which it has none (either for in-class use or for homework). The teacher will have to come up with these on their own.

Compelling Conversations is masterful in the way it not only teaches one to speak clearly, but more importantly to listen. Engagement through the use of quotation and proverb is brilliant. The authors use subtlety and cleverness to drive language learning deep into the soul of the student. I chose the title of this review from an English proverb found in the text. It illustrates perfectly the winning method that makes Compelling Conversations an essential ally in the advanced teaching of ESL. Bravo, Mr Roth.

Very interesting book that is great read from cover to cover. This book is good for both teaching and simply enjoying for thought provoking ideas. Learning can be fun and interesing with compelling conversations!!

These conversation starters are not just for ESL students but for anyone who is a bit shy or has trouble speaking around people. The questions are engaging and interesting and draws people into a variety of diverse subjects ranging from "Does your dog have a personality?" to "Have you ever had to hire/fire someone or work for a crazy boss?" The book also has may jokes, quotes and proverbs that often bring common day improper english into the mix. A must have book!

This one book has enough content to keep ESL conversation teachers going for a long time!
Activities are relevant and excellent platforms for students learning English as a
second language and also American culture and communicative style, a tremendously difficult
challenge. I have trained ESL students for more than 20 years and think this book has a
place in every ESL educator's classroom.

Super duper!! The quotes are outstanding: well-chosen & thought-provoking. The questions really do help my students get the ball rolling . . . to have compelling conversations of their own. Truly one of the most useful resources I have ever come across. Now, if I could only get my administrator to pony up for a set of 25 copies!

This book is extremely rich in content. It contains deeper and more provocative questions than we usually find in advanced conversational texts. The authors provide an enormous variety of conversational topics, with 45 chapters and 30 or more questions in each chapter. ESL teachers will happily discover this book stimulates students to talk and encourages them to share their personal stories.

Educators who find this book useful, would also enjoy What's Up America?, a cultural guide for Advanced ESL students.

Highly recommended.

I found Compelling Conversations to be a great resource when planning out my conversation lessons. The idea of using quotes and proverbs to generate discussion is very good and accessible for all levels of second-language learners. I came to rely on quotes quite heavily later on when designing my own lesson plans. Thumbs up to Eric for producing such a great resource book!

Advanced students who are in need of authentic conversation practice will benefit well from using this book. The content is varied, authentic, and relevant. The questions under each topic create a stable, thorough framework for personal sharing. The result is that students get meaningful practice and experience a really supportive atmosphere. I often use the book as a 'warm-up' tool to get students engaged in speaking, and it compliments the dryer ESL texts by having more depth.

Compelling Conversations is masterful in a way that is not only teaches one to speak clearly, but more importantly to listen. It is well designed and full of interesting material for the adult learner of Conversational English as a Foreign Language.

This book is perfect for every ESL student that wants to improve their speaking skills in a fun and engaging way! The best part of this book is that it is not boring like most ESL books are and it expands classroom communication to another level! It is also a great way to learn more about the American culture. The book makes the most out of the students' time in class and it supports them to develop their communication skills and explore topics that are not always addressed in class! It is definitely a unique book!

I led a discussion club in Kazakhstan for five years and this was one of my go-to books for topics and themes. It has different sections to stimulate discussion or keep the conversation going including quotations, discussion questions, and assignments or tasks. I actually borrowed the format to introduce other topics of discussion. So it's a really nice go-to book to get students talking.