Learning to communicate clearly and effectively is vital in order to function in society, and English has become the globally accepted link language. It has, therefore, become essential to master it. ‘Spoken English A Foundation Course’, published in two parts, is intended to help develop the oral communication skills of learners who have had a regional language medium of instruction at school and who have had little or no exposure to spoken English. The book can also be used effectively as self-instructional material by persons of an older age group, who are employed or engaged in other ways.

The books are written by Dr Kamlesh Sadanand, former Professor and Head, Centre for Phonetics and Spoken English, CIEFL, Hyderabad and Ms Susheela Punitha, former Professor of English, Mount Carmel College, Bangalore. Besides her long years of experience in teaching, in developing ELT materials and in supervising research work, Dr Sadanand has published several papers and books. Prominent among her publications is A Practical Course in English Pronunciation (2004). Ms Susheela Punitha has also been actively engaged in developing course materials and in conducting ELT workshops.

A special edition for the Intermediate students of Andhra Pradesh was launched on 12 September 2007 by the Chairman, Andhra Pradesh State Council for Higher Education, Professor K C Reddy. The books have been tried out in seventy government junior colleges in the state, where they were found to be useful as teaching and learning materials.