English 900 Book 1
By: Edwin T. Cornellius Jr.; William D. Sheeler
Contributors: Alex Kenné (illustrator)
Series: Collier MacMillan English Program
Publisher: Collier MacMillan Publishers
Published: 1964
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Number of pages: 146
Subjects: English as a Second Language; Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books
First sentence: PREFACE
English 900, a course for adult students of English as a second language, contains material from beginning through intermediate levels of study. The whole series consists of textbooks, workbooks, and tape recordings, with a teacher's handbook.
English 900 is one of the basic instructional courses in the Collier-Macmillan English Program. Included in the Program is a series of graded readers in which five are keyed to the vocabulary and structure of each study unit in the basic texts of English 900.
The series takes its name from the 900 base sentences presented in the six textbooks. The sentences cover the basic structures and a basic vocabulary of the English language. They are introduced at the rate of fifteen in each study unit, or a hundred and fifty in each book, and are numbered consecutively from Base Sentence 1 in the first unit of Book One through Base Sentence 900 in the last unit of Book Six. These structures provide "building blocks" for all of the material studied in the series, e.g., there are approximately four variation sentences for each base sentence. As a part of his mastery of English, therefore, the student practices and learns approximately 3,600 variation sentences in addition to the basic 900 patterns.
There are ten study units in each textbook in the series. Each study unit contains a group of fifteen base sentences related to a meaningful situation. In Book One of the series, the typical study unit begins with the presentation of the fifteen Base Sentences together with Intonation patterns. Questions and Answers follow and give the student practice in pairing and matching the base sentences into conversational form. Substitution Drills introduce the variation sentences, using vocabulary and grammatical substitution techniques. These early sections of the unit provide the pronunciation practice and drill material needed for the mastery of language forms. The Conversation section consists of short dialogues giving the student the opportunity to practice the new lesson material in informal conversation in the classroom. Exercises in each unit can be used as oral and written drills for all of the materials introduced in the unit.
Units in the succeeding books in the series (Books Two to Six) contain Base Sentences, Intonation practice, Substitution Drills, Conversation, and Exercises, and, in addition, certain new features. Beginning with Book Two, a Reading Practice section is added to each unit, and, beginning with Book Three, a Verb Study section.  Books Four, Five, and Six include Participation Drills for classroom use, and Books Five and Six present Grammar Study materials and review exercises.
Each textbook includes a Key to the exercises and a Word Index which lists in alphabetical order every word introduced in the book, and cites the sentence and unit number in which the new word first occurred.  There are special Review Units in Books One through Four.
A companion Workbook is available for each of the six textbooks, and a series of 180 pre-recorded tapes has been prepared for language laboratory use. English 900 Workbooks are unique in that they have been programmed for use by the student as home study material to reinforce classroom work. The Workbooks "test" the student on the textbook materials, and review the important points in each unit that he may not have mastered in class.
For classes that meet for three to five hours a week, each textbook in the series provides material for approximately three months of Study.
Suggestions for teaching the course, as well as detailed descriptions of all of the materials in English 900, have been given in the Teacher's Manual which accompanies the series.
A wide range of material has been created for the Collier-Macmillan English Program by the Materials Development Staff of English Language Services, Inc., under the co-direction of Edwin T. Cornelius, Jr. and Willard D. Sheeler. English 900 was prepared under the direction of Edwin T. Cornelius, Jr., with Joyce R. Manes as Project Editor.
Description: The Collier-Macmillan English Program is unique in providing a wide range of integrated but varied material to meet the differing needs of  students of English as a second language.
Following the audio-lingual method, based on the findings of modern linguistics, it offers practical and skilled help, first in speaking and understanding; English, and then in reading and writing it.
English 900® is a full basic course within the program, which includes supplementary readers; courses for specialized interests; practice, reference, and remedial material.