Academic Listening Encounters: Life in Society is an intermediate to high-intermediate text that uses a sustained content approach to help students develop the listening, note-taking, and discussion skills they need to take college coursed in an English-speaking environment. It introduces them to stimulating topics within the field of sociology, including high-interest topics such as peer pressure, gender roles, and the influence of the media. Listening materials include a variety of warm-up activities, informal interviews, and a formal academic lecture for every chapter. Students practice crucial listening skills, such as listening for the main ideas, listening for detail, and listening for organizational phrases. The materials also serve as stimuli for discussion and note-taking activities. Pre-listening tasks expose students to vocabulary they will encounter in the interviews and lectures, and help them build background knowledge of the topic.