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The Grammar Book: An ESL/EFL Teacher's Course
In this highly acclaimed revision, grammatical descriptions and teaching suggestions are organized into sections dealing with Form, Meaning, and Use. THE GRAMMAR BOOK, Second Edition helps teachers and future teachers grasp the linguistic system and details of English grammar, providing more information on how structures are used at the discourse level.
854 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1983
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840 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
July 28, 2012
Now I know what book to use as a main reference when I become an English instructor. I have been using a lot of books in the library mainly for research and note taking. When I heard of this book from my cousin, I knew I had to have it.
This book justifies further what the students learned since elementary until high school through detailed descriptions, semantic diagrams, and a well-organized flow of topics. I did my first read, and I was not able to understand some topics since I have not taken courses in the uni that will tackle those topics. On the other hand, it was able to clarify topics that I usually get confused.
This is a great book for those probably not only those studying to become ESL/EFL Teachers, but also to those who want to understand this language better.
This book justifies further what the students learned since elementary until high school through detailed descriptions, semantic diagrams, and a well-organized flow of topics. I did my first read, and I was not able to understand some topics since I have not taken courses in the uni that will tackle those topics. On the other hand, it was able to clarify topics that I usually get confused.
This is a great book for those probably not only those studying to become ESL/EFL Teachers, but also to those who want to understand this language better.
April 29, 2016
I read this book and did the exercises as part of the course requirements for a class, Advanced Grammar for TESOL.
Such a thorough and helpful book, written especially for TESOL. The features I found most helpful were:
*Division of chapters into sections on Form, Meaning, and Use
*Explanations of underlying principles for students to apply, rather than lists of words to memorize
*Teaching suggestions at the end of each chapter
Such a thorough and helpful book, written especially for TESOL. The features I found most helpful were:
*Division of chapters into sections on Form, Meaning, and Use
*Explanations of underlying principles for students to apply, rather than lists of words to memorize
*Teaching suggestions at the end of each chapter
April 12, 2011
It is comprehensive for a grammar book.
February 18, 2016
The book is written in a way that is dense and dry. I didn't find it to be very helpful.... I am well-versed in English grammar, yet I found this book confusing and hard to read.
(try: How English Works by Curzan & Adams; Doing Grammar by Morenberg; or Language: Its Structure and Use by Finegan)
(try: How English Works by Curzan & Adams; Doing Grammar by Morenberg; or Language: Its Structure and Use by Finegan)
Want to read
July 20, 2013Chapter 2 was my first assignment for class THE STRUCTURE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. Prof. Felicia Steele is rocking our world with this class, 4 hours per day! I will end up reading about half of this book and many more articles in 10 days of class.
August 22, 2017
A thorough and insightful book for any grammarian. This book is particularly useful for ESL/EFL/English instructors. Although it can seem dense at times, this book offers comprehensive insight into English grammar.
August 5, 2021
As dry and informative as you would expect it to be. Heavy on usage studies and complicated explanations, light on exercises for instruction.
February 24, 2020
I'm in a TESOL program currently. You need to have this book if you want to teach ENL/EFL. I read the whole thing, and it was the most comprehensive treatment of English grammar that I have yet found. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
For my rating system, I only give five stars to masterpieces or truly exceptional works. I give most works three stars. To me, this is a masterpiece in learning how to teach grammar. Do yourself a favor and read the whole thing. It will be well worth your time.
For my rating system, I only give five stars to masterpieces or truly exceptional works. I give most works three stars. To me, this is a masterpiece in learning how to teach grammar. Do yourself a favor and read the whole thing. It will be well worth your time.
February 4, 2022
This book covered all the difficulties of learning English if you are not a native speaker. I had to make up the exercises to go with each problem, but I enjoyed it and my pupil progressed nicely.
July 19, 2024
The best grammar book for ESL teachers. It’s my grammar bible. I have everything I need in it. Amen
July 8, 2010
An amazing reference book.
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"In order to do so, we will need to take into consideration how grammar operates at three levels: the subsentential or morphological level, the sentential or syntactic level, and the suprasential or discourse level. Traditional structural accounts have dealt with grammar at the subsentential and sentential levels." (p. 2)
***
"Giving students reasons for why things are the way they are can aid students in learning English grammar, we believe." (p. 4)
***
"What ESL/EFL teachers should be helping students do is be able to use the structures of English accurately, meaningfully, and appropriately. Thus, ESL/EFL teachers might better thign of what they do as teaching "grammaring" --a skill-- rather than teaching grammar as an area of knowledge." (p. 6)
***
"Any explicit grammatical information should be a means to an end, not an end in itself. If a student can recite a rule but can't apply it, we will have failed in our 'grammatical' effrots." (p. 6)
***
"No less important to language teachers than understanding the content of what they are teaching is an understanding of the process by which the content is learned." (p. 7)
***
"We submit that what would assist learners to be able to do so is abundant practice with the particular target form." (p. 7)
***
"Which dialect of English is considered Standard English is really more the result of historical sociopolitical factors than linguistic ones. Thus, there is no inherently superior dialect. It is true, however, that those who can use the standard dialect of any language enjoy access to opportunities that others lack. This alone is a good reason for helping students in an ESL context become bidialectal if Standard English is not their native dialect." (p. 8)
***
"Students' learning challenges will depend not only on what knowledge they bring of their native language or dialect but also upon what they already know about English. Since the most effective instruction builds on what students already know, ESL/EFL teachers should cintinually assess what their students know about English and know how to do in English." (p. 10)
--
"In order to do so, we will need to take into consideration how grammar operates at three levels: the subsentential or morphological level, the sentential or syntactic level, and the suprasential or discourse level. Traditional structural accounts have dealt with grammar at the subsentential and sentential levels." (p. 2)
***
"Giving students reasons for why things are the way they are can aid students in learning English grammar, we believe." (p. 4)
***
"What ESL/EFL teachers should be helping students do is be able to use the structures of English accurately, meaningfully, and appropriately. Thus, ESL/EFL teachers might better thign of what they do as teaching "grammaring" --a skill-- rather than teaching grammar as an area of knowledge." (p. 6)
***
"Any explicit grammatical information should be a means to an end, not an end in itself. If a student can recite a rule but can't apply it, we will have failed in our 'grammatical' effrots." (p. 6)
***
"No less important to language teachers than understanding the content of what they are teaching is an understanding of the process by which the content is learned." (p. 7)
***
"We submit that what would assist learners to be able to do so is abundant practice with the particular target form." (p. 7)
***
"Which dialect of English is considered Standard English is really more the result of historical sociopolitical factors than linguistic ones. Thus, there is no inherently superior dialect. It is true, however, that those who can use the standard dialect of any language enjoy access to opportunities that others lack. This alone is a good reason for helping students in an ESL context become bidialectal if Standard English is not their native dialect." (p. 8)
***
"Students' learning challenges will depend not only on what knowledge they bring of their native language or dialect but also upon what they already know about English. Since the most effective instruction builds on what students already know, ESL/EFL teachers should cintinually assess what their students know about English and know how to do in English." (p. 10)
March 4, 2013
If you've ever been presented with dilemmas such as the following, then you'll know what to respond with when you begin to understand the gist of the course offered through use of this textbook:
"I don't understand why, especially in conversation, people use the pronoun 'that' in place of a person (who should be referred to as a 'who'), as it is not correct grammar. Even in conversation, people should always use 'who' and not 'that', regardless of the circumstance"
One of the most important aspects of this textbook is to make sure readers know the difference between prescriptive and descriptive grammar, to know when a student is truly devising an ungrammatical construct versus simply using his or her prescriptive grammatical sensibilities to utter usage or words, the *content* of which suggests recognition of the lingual importance of a particular grammar while its *rendition* is what is at stake. While none of these terms are lingual or grammatical-based, reorientation to the language of these two topics helps to further compartmentalize the suggested categories.
Once this is done, the textbook takes a topic-by-topic approach per field of grammar to enlighten readers to these prescriptive and descriptive differences. This is done very concisely, with pertinent, divergent, detailed examples with accompanying descriptions, the metalanguage of which makes it a easily digestible source of information. Although at first there seems to be an overbalance of information per-page, once the format is understood, one can glean what information they want from any chapter with relative ease. Bookmarking key concepts, philosophies, and the resultant perspective and descriptive rules in this text is essential, as readers sometimes encounter easily transferable information at the most interesting of times.
"I don't understand why, especially in conversation, people use the pronoun 'that' in place of a person (who should be referred to as a 'who'), as it is not correct grammar. Even in conversation, people should always use 'who' and not 'that', regardless of the circumstance"
One of the most important aspects of this textbook is to make sure readers know the difference between prescriptive and descriptive grammar, to know when a student is truly devising an ungrammatical construct versus simply using his or her prescriptive grammatical sensibilities to utter usage or words, the *content* of which suggests recognition of the lingual importance of a particular grammar while its *rendition* is what is at stake. While none of these terms are lingual or grammatical-based, reorientation to the language of these two topics helps to further compartmentalize the suggested categories.
Once this is done, the textbook takes a topic-by-topic approach per field of grammar to enlighten readers to these prescriptive and descriptive differences. This is done very concisely, with pertinent, divergent, detailed examples with accompanying descriptions, the metalanguage of which makes it a easily digestible source of information. Although at first there seems to be an overbalance of information per-page, once the format is understood, one can glean what information they want from any chapter with relative ease. Bookmarking key concepts, philosophies, and the resultant perspective and descriptive rules in this text is essential, as readers sometimes encounter easily transferable information at the most interesting of times.
December 14, 2010
For a book on how to teach GRAMMAR to ESL students, this was pretty interesting! I love that the authors get into the historical WHY of grammar, provide creative teaching activities, and include a lot of comparisons of English to non-English languages. This book is good at explaining the nitty-gritty in beautiful charts and funny examples, but by no means does it ignore the bigger picture. Way to go, Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman!
July 18, 2013
This book is helping a lot with the kinds of explanations that my students expect me to have for them. I like the fact that the intended audience is the teacher, but communicating these ideas to the students is kept in mind. I find that I come away with better ideas about how to teach something even if I don't choose to use the suggested strategies.
July 13, 2015
It might be obvious that I didn't read every chapter but only those related to my homework or the topics we were researching in class. It is a huge book and it's no wonder it is referred to as "The Bible" by many English teachers.
November 22, 2021
I adore this book. What a helpful and practical deep dive into the structures of the English language. It is deep enough to provide technical understanding to most language teachers and will satisfy many who simply want to understand the language better.
Read
November 9, 2007so many things that would bore you to tears if I tried to tell you
March 21, 2008
Grammar
August 4, 2011
this book really help me to my project
September 27, 2012
Excellent source for teachers of ESL or EFL.
April 8, 2015
im ganna tell u after i finish .
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
October 13, 2015need to read book immediately
Want to read
May 20, 2008the bible of grammar. "In the beginning was the word..."
Currently reading
March 1, 2013cooL
Read
March 19, 2018While fairly technical, this book gives guidance on grammar rules that may otherwise be difficult to find and teach.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews