John Langan has taught reading and writing at Atlantic Cape Community College near Atlantic City, New Jersey, for over twenty years. The author of a popular series of college textbooks on both subjects, he enjoys the challenge of developing materials that teach skills in an especially clear and lively way. Before teaching, he earned advanced degrees in writing at Rutgers University and in Reading at Rowan University. He also spent a year writing fiction that, he says, “is now at the back of a drawer waiting to be discovered and acclaimed posthumously.” While in school, he supported himself by working as a truck drive, a machinist, a battery assembler, a hospital attendant, and an apple packer.

Steps & Skills系列包括阅读、写作、听力、口语等分册，旨在帮助学习者循序渐进地提高英语语言技能。本系列全部为原版引进，作者均为在语言教学与教材编写领域有丰富经验的专家。教材编排新颖，讲解生动，由浅入深，有助于学习者打下扎实的语言基础，同时增强英语思维能力。本系列既可用于课堂教学，也适合自学提高。
注重基础，系统性强：介绍提高英语阅读能力的十大技巧，由基础阅读向高级阅读过渡，配有大量练习与测试题。
材料丰富，趣味性强：选篇难度适中，内容引人入胜，辅以形式多样的阅读活动，帮助学习者加深理解。
锻炼思维，挑战性强：系统的阅读训练与启发性的思考活动有助于学习者提高推理、分析与判断能力。
使用方便，实用性强：讲解重点部分配有中文，便于学习者理解和掌握。各章内容安排合理，从讲解、举例、练习到测试，便于教学与评估。