Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)In 2005-2006 I taught a grammar class both semesters at a university. The class was made up of English majors (and people from other disciplines) who wanted to improve their writing and pre-service ESL teachers who needed to know about the structure of English. Due to the high cost of this book I undertook a search to find if there was any other book out there I'd rather that my students have. I didn't find one. This book is the best combination of the prescriptive and descriptive grammar I wanted that I was able to find.
If you are a linguist and you are looking purely for descriptive grammar, you could definitely start with this book, but you might want to go on to The Grammar Book (by Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman) or the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English (by Biber, et al.)
If I were teaching a descriptive-grammar class at the undergraduate level, I might consider the Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English.
Click Here to see more reviews about: English Grammar: Language As Human Behavior
This conversational, self-reflective guide helps readers understand the social judgments that accompany language use—making them feel they are active participants in shaping their language rather than passive victims of grammar rules that someone imposes on them. Supplementing traditional grammar terms with insights gained by modern linguistic analysis, it describes English as an instrument of communication, and lays the necessary groundwork for thinking about language so users can apply their knowledge of language in ways most useful to them. Explores the basics of English, beginning with a discussion of the development of a standard English language and the origins of our present day rules of English and attitudes towards usage; initiates the study of grammar, emphasizing the complex interaction between language rules and behavior; talks about how one approaches the study of the structure of a language; and finally, works from the lowest levels of grammatical organization to the highest—starting with an analysis of words and working up to the level of the sentence. Offers many different types of exercises that encourage readers to think, talk, and write about English in real-world contexts with increasing confidence and sophistication. For writers, communications professionals, and anyone interested in acquiring a better understanding of how the English language works. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
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