Clear Speech possesses authority for its content that few textbooks do. Most textbooks teach the subject. This textbook is the subject. Students easily buy into the idea that this textbook is special, and they expect to learn from it. One change that Judy Gilbert makes is that long vowel sounds are alphabet vowel sounds and short vowel sounds are relative vowel sounds. This renaming of terms is the basis for the first third of the book, provides for greater clarity and gives a good foundation for the rest of the book. There are appendices that take the students further into some of the concepts. The Teacher's Resource Book is necessary for teaching this course.

This text is designed for intermediate levels. Lower levels get stuck on vocabulary problems. ( )