This book investigates the development of essential listening and speaking skills for English language learners through a structured, content-based curriculum. Authors Angela Blackwell and Therese Naber utilize a thematic approach, organizing academic and professional content into twelve distinct areas to build linguistic proficiency. The text serves as the second level in a three-part series, designed to incrementally increase the complexity of vocabulary and pronunciation exercises as students advance.

Educators frequently utilize this series as a foundational tool for developing academic listening comprehension in classroom settings. The curriculum is noted for its consistent thematic structure, which allows for progressive skill building across the three levels of the series.