A positive aspect of the articles is that they are still relevant in today's business world, in spite of being some four years old at this stage. They also deliberately set out to provoke opinions, with the result that the student rarely gets bored by simply reading and answering comprehension questions. Although much of the learning is based on repeated reading of the article, searching for synonyms and eliciting meanings of words through a careful study of the context, it is rare that the student loses attention. This is achieved by judicious use of 'open' stimulus questions, and by other methods such as use of pictograms to provide definitions for terms or phrases. It is a tangential, but nonetheless important, aspect of the book that it is very well presented, and its attractive layout seems to make it popular and fun for students to do home study.

Business Matters is also available with a cassette and teacher's book. Certainly, the tape can generally be seen to be superfluous, as it simply reads aloud the articles laid out at the start of the units. Whilst this is useful for students to listen to in advance of a given session, and prior to reading the article in order to gauge their progress, in practice this rarely happens. The tape, therefore, is rather a luxury item and could be improved if there was scope within the book for listening exercises. Similarly, whilst the teacher's book contains some useful hints on preparation, the exercises within Business Matters are generally self explanatory, and render such a book almost useless.

As stated above, the most positive aspects of the book in terms of feedback from students is that it really keeps their attention and makes for enthusiastic home-learning. As this is vital when attempting to improve the overall standard of the student's English, this must be a prime concern when choosing a text book. Students - almost universally - have enjoyed the articles, both in terms of the subject matter and in the good combination of readability and challenging new words and concepts. Several units, such as those on mergers and international co-operation, are highly relevant to large percentage of my students, tend to get a very positive response. Finally, it must be said that students who are at the level at which this book is aimed tend not to want endless pages of grammar tables, and Business Matters avoids this. Every unit contains a section on business grammar, but it does so in a way relevant to that unit's article. In this way, the teacher is able to elicit correct grammar, or indeed teach it if it is new concept, and introduce tables, etc., as is deemed appropriate for the student / group.

Initially, some students do say that the instructions for the exercises could be clearer. This occasional lack of clarity has been confusing for home-learners. However, the teacher should be able to exaplain the way the book works quite easily (e.g. 'Word-dominoes', which confuse some students), and there is also a brief introductory article explaining the methods the author seeks to employ.

For what the Business Matters tries to do (that is, build up words and phrases, word partnerships and fixed expressions), it is the most useful book I have come across. It does not concentrate strongly on grammar, rather reading, comprehension and activation (through a 'fluency work' exercise in each unit.) Nevertheless, as difficult grammar arises it does address these issues, but leaves it for the teacher to decided how much detail is necessary in its teaching, As many of the students at this level require sharpening their business language, and grammar revision rather than learning, they seem to appreciate what this book contains, rather than complaining about what it lacks. For a teacher, both in its ability to 'drum home' new lexis in an interesting way, and for its strength as a home study textbook, Business Matters makes an excellent book for Intermediate / Upper Intermediate business students.

Helsinki, 19th April 2000