Each year more biblical and theological materials are published in English than in any other language. No matter which country our students come from or which language they speak natively, most non-native speakers of English find it moderately challenging to exceedingly difficult to read theological publications written for native English speakers.
The primary goal of our ETE Student Textbook is to help ESL/EFL learners become more proficient at reading theological publications written in English. We do this by providing instruction to bridge the gap between their current command of the English language and the very specific language demands placed on these learners as they seek to comprehend theological articles and books written in English.
Our emphasis is on helping ESL/EFL learners acquire the key reading skills that good readers use every day. These include strategies (i.e., procedures, techniques) for comprehending the type of language used in the classroom and in scholarly writing, developing a broad general vocabulary, expanding their academic vocabulary, and figuring out complex grammatical structures used in academic writing.
Our secondary goal is to introduce important concepts and terminology used in theological writing. Through a series of readings, learners are introduced to the key themes found in introductory theology books, thus giving them a solid foundation for continuing their study of theology from books written for native-English speakers. In addition, for each major topic they will learn many of the most common terms used in theological writings.
See the Contents for more detailed information about the focus of each chapter and the appendixes, and see the Preface for an overview of the book. See Student Text: Selected Sections to view pages from the Student Textbook.
