Grammar books
In the last issue of iT's for Teachers we asked publishers to send us books for short courses. We received only a couple of titles, which seemed to demonstrate that there was a real gap in the market. The same cannot be said for grammar books. When we asked the same publishers to send us their new grammar titles we lost count of the books we received.
There are a lot of grammar books out there and some of them are classics. In "First Impressions" our policy is to focus on new titles, so keep in mind that this is not a definitive list of what's available. Our main focus is on grammar study books that students can use in the classroom or for self-study.
We're
starting with a new title from Marshall Cavendish, the pre-intermediate
level of Real English Grammar (2006) by Hester Lott. The publisher
says it "offers a fresh and original approach to the teaching of
English grammar", and we agree. Out of all the books we looked
at, this one seemed the most original.
Making a grammar book look attractive and easy to use is a real challenge. Many of the titles we looked at were extremely hard to follow. Real English Grammar has gone for a simple formula and sticks to it throughout. Each two-page section starts on a right page with a presentation. One of the book's great strengths is that language is first presented in context using a text and accompanying image.
Whereas many grammar books start with the explanation and then give examples, Real English Grammar does things the other way round, allowing students to see how the language works before it is analysed. There is a wide variety of text types, and they all have an authentic feel. All the texts are available on CD and are read aloud by a variety of voices and accents.
The texts lead on to the grammar explanations. The practice exercises follow on the next page, which is a nice idea because students can refer to the explanations only by turning back to the previous page. Every exercise is contextualised and there are a good variety of exercise types with a refreshing absence of decontextualised one-line sentence level practice exercises, common in many grammar books. The exercises are supported by visually attractive colour photographs and illustrations.
The two-page format does mean that some of the pages are crowded with text, but the big advantage is that the book is easy to use. There is a teacher's book available that provides an overview of the methodology, sample lesson plans and a full answer key. A detachable booklet containing the answers to all the exercises is also available for students using the book for self-study.
We felt that there was occasionally too much detail in the grammar explanations for this level, but the fresh approach and clean design had us all giving the thumbs-up to Real English Grammar.
Cambridge University Press has published several new grammar books over the past 12 months. Before we come to the Cambridge Grammar of English, which is a reference book rather than a study book, here are some first impressions of some of the other Cambridge titles we looked at.
Language
Links (2005) by Adrian Doff and Christopher Jones is a beginner/elementary-level
grammar and vocabulary book for self-study. The book follows the route
of a traditional course book rather than a supplementary grammar book
and is designed to be used in tandem with a course book. The book aims
to "combine grammar, vocabulary and phrases to give the range of
language learners need to communicate effectively in English."
Apart from the links between grammar, vocabulary and phrases, there
are also highlighted links in the book designed to direct learners to
related language areas, allowing them to choose their own learning path
through the book and progress at their own pace. We found the links
a bit distracting and felt the book would benefit from a "how to
use this book" section. However, all the language is carefully
contextualised and each double page ends with a nice "write in
your own language" section.
Grammar
in Practice is a series of exercise books by Roger Gower. There
are six books ranging from beginner to upper-intermediate levels, and
the latest titles are for levels 5 (2005) and 6 (2006). These are small
books for busy people. They're perfect for people who want to sit on
the underground or bus and practise grammar in small doses. Each book
has 40 units of quick grammar exercises with regular test sections.
The language is presented in nice contexts and all the explanations
are very succinct. Grammar in Practice is for learners who don't
need full explanations because they have probably already studied the
language. This is a book series for adults who need a reminder of what
they have learned as well as some additional practice.
We liked theses books a lot. The practice comes in nice mini bites and the grammar is presented in a relatively low-key style. Units have titles such as "We're having fun" rather than "The present continuous". The order in which the grammar appears isn't immediately obvious, but, as these are mini bites, students can dip into this book and do the exercises in any order they prefer. The exercises also allow for some personalisation.
Grammar
for PET (with answers) (2006) by Louise Hashemi and Barbara Thomas
covers the grammar needed for the Cambridge PET exam, and develops listening
skills at the same time. PET is the increasingly popular second-level
Cambridge ESOL exam for intermediate learners at Level B1 of the Council
of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
The grammar in the book is presented in context with a listening, which is a nice feature, although it does mean that each unit has to be started when there's some audio equipment to hand. All the explanations are clear and contained, and the amout of detail seems very appropriate for the level. There's plenty of contextualised practice and lots of PET-style practice. The book is very much aimed at the late-teenage and young-adult markets and includes references to youth culture, such as a text about the group Coldplay.
Grammar
Tour (2006) by Derek Sellen is a reference and practice book and
CD for elementary to intermediate-level students published by Vicens
Vives/Black Cat. The idea of the book is to take learners on a tour
of the main grammar points necessary for studying English from lower-elementary
to the level of Cambridge ESOL PET and beyond. The tour consists of
132 two-page units focusing on one area of grammar. Each unit contains
language points on the left page followed by exercises on the right
page. Each unit kicks off with a cartoon that, depending on your sense
of humour, you will often find either amusing or politically incorrect;
they are certainly memorable. Unfortunately, the cartoons sometimes
fail to support meaning. On the plus side, the layout is clear and the
explanations break things down to make learning easier. There are pair-work
exercises for classroom use and enough self-study exercises to keep
students busy. There's also a useful CD-ROM that offers more than 100
interactive grammar exercises with instant scoring and grammar reference
windows.
Grammar Tour can be used as the basis of a course by following the units in sequence, as a supplement to a main course book to reinforce grammar points in class, or as a reference and exercise book for home study.
Destination
B2 Grammar & Vocabulary (2006) by Malcolm Mann and Steve Taylore-Knowles
is a grammar and vocabulary book for students preparing to take any
CEF B2 (Vantage) level exam such as Cambridge FCE. Published by Macmillan,
the book alternates between units dedicated to grammar and vocabulary.
We liked the idea of the alternating units but found the visual presentation
confusing and weren't sure how to use the book even though we had the
teacher's edition. However, it's a good source for First Certificate
practice exercises.
Finally, even though we are focusing on grammar study books, we can't end a review of new grammar books without mentioning the Cambridge Grammar of English, which was published in March 2006. Compiled by Ronald Carter and Michael McCarthy, this reference book is labelled as "the ultimate authority on English as it's really used". It is the book's coverage of both spoken and written English that makes it so important.
The
book has a two-part structure. In the first section, A-Z entries give
more attention to lexico-grammar and other language areas that tend
to be neglected in other grammar references. The second section covers
traditional grammatical categories such as tense, clause structure and
parts of speech. The accompanying CD-ROM includes the whole book as
well as audio recordings of all example sentences.
Writing in the IH Journal, teacher-trainer Roger Hunt calls the Cambridge Grammar of English the most significant book to be published in the field of grammar for a very long time and goes on to say, "This must be the first time that I have read a grammar book cover to cover, and I found myself fascinated throughout. If this doesn't represent a very strong recommendation to you to read this book then nothing will!"
The publisher says the book is a "must-have" for any serious learner or user of the English language. No doubt it will soon be added to the definitive list of grammar books.
You will find links to publishers mentioned in this article below.