Fb2 A Student's Introduction to English Grammar ePub

When I started studying Tibetan, I discovered pretty quickly that my understanding of English grammar was a little too rusty. While I found help for my affliction on several excellent grammar websites, I wanted a grammar book to throw in my bag with my other study materials; one is not always connected.

Of the seven grammars I considered, "A Student's Introduction to English Grammar" is the hands-down winner. The book is well written, clear, to-the-point and based on recent research rather than 19th century grammar dogma. It includes an overview that maps the rest of the book, individual chapters on each of the major components of English grammar and a decent glossary. I find the technical definitions of terms, wealth of examples and clear structure are almost always just what I need to decode the mysteries of grammarian thinking and understand the key differences between English and Tibetan grammar.

I recommend that book to anyone interested in linguistics or studying a foreign language and for whom English is their first language. I don't believe it is well-suited for English language learners; they would likely be better served by a grammar like Yate's "Master the Basics".

"A Student's Introduction to English Grammar" by Rodney Huddleson and Geoffrey K. Pullman is a condensed version of the authors' magnum opus The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (CGEL). This would be a good (4-star) textbook for linguists and advanced English majors; it would be a poor (2-star) choice for students in Freshman English classes, education majors, or anyone who needs to learn the prescriptive rules of traditional English grammar.

In brief, this book is written by linguists who believe (quoting Henry Smith): "Whatever is in general use in a language is for that very reason grammatically correct." Of course, there are many linguists who agree with this philosophy; however, there are many linguists and English teachers who do not. On nearly every page of this book the authors promote their own preferences as being absolutely correct, while bullying anyone who disagrees with them.

In this book (as well as the CGEL), the authors describe (as anthropologists might) how people actually speak in the English language. In their philosophy, if people speak a certain way, they must be correct. If you adopt the practices endorsed by the authors, your future employers may conclude that you have been poorly educated.

The authors classify their textbook as a "descriptive" grammar (a grammar that explains how people actually use the language), as opposed to a "prescriptive" grammar (a grammar that establishes rules of usage). And yet the authors stop describing and start prescribing rather too often. In such cases they prescribe their own rules based on personal preferences. I value their insights and think that many of their ideas are original and helpful. However, I did not like the tone of voice they used when talking about other professionals who have different ideas. For example, the authors refer to people who use traditional grammar as "pompous." They portray books by educators who teach traditional grammar as being "deeply flawed" and charge such authors with giving "bad advice." It is possible to have disagreements among professionals without bullying and hurling insults.

Pros:
- Superb book for students of linguistics or English majors taking a course in English Syntax.
- For the most part, this is an excellent textbook: the subject matter is developed systematically and logically, the text is organized and displayed in a manner that enhances rapid learning, and the writing is succinct, lucid, and clear.
- Bravo to the authors for providing a condensed version of their much larger book.

Fact of Life:
- This book is a textbook: it is not for casual weekend reading. To learn the subject matter, most folks will need to read each chapter multiple times, preferably under the guidance of a professor, with drills, exercises, quizzes, and examinations.
- Poor choice for anyone who wishes to learn how to speak and write customary English using "traditional" rules of grammar. If you need to develop the skill set required to successfully write such things as a dissertation, class reports, journal articles, government reports, technical manuals, corporate documents, legal papers, or the like, then you will be better served by a "traditional" (prescriptive, rule-based) grammar book. This book should never be used for a core-curriculum freshman English class.

Cons:
- Answers for the book's Exercises are not provided by the publisher. You might be able to find some notes on the exercises (by various professors) with a little web browsing.
- The book's Glossary is insufficient.

I have two copies of the book. It's written clearly and well-organised. It's helped me understand basic English syntax and morphology. Of course, this book may not be suitable for those who pursue a book on English usage, since this one is concerned with 'the grammatical system of English'. As an English teacher in Thailand, I adopt some points from the book in my classroom, and both my students and I found them very useful. For example, I used the concept of 'perfect' as a secondary tense to explain how the perfect tense works in English. My students quickly grasped the usage of what is traditionally classified as 'present perfect', 'past perfect', and 'future perfect'. The emphasis on the distinction between categories and functions is also useful when I want my students to analyse sentence structures. In a nutshell, I highly recommend this book for English teachers as well as students of (English) linguistics. It's one of the best introductory texts on English grammar ever published! :)

Many reviewers have used words 'traditional grammar' and in this book too authors have used them when highlighting differences with so called 'older tradition' of grammar. Compare this to some other branch of study such as physics where it would be absurd to talk about 'old physics' vs. 'new physics' because any new development or new improvement automatically becomes part of the mainstream physics and older concepts are discarded.

This book represents advances in the study of grammar. Authors have demonstrated that many grammar rules that we take for granted don't even pass very simple tests.

I hope that some day the grammar described by authors will be taught in middle and high schools.

In first chapter authors say that "Grammar rules must ultimately be based on facts about how people speak and write. If they don't have that basis, they have no basis at all." and, in my view, this test is not passed by countless books on grammar out there most of which are just reprinted year after year without any change.

very good

I've been studying from this book religiously, and I can't recommend it more. Its advice is concise and well researched, the examples are pellucid, and the style is accessible. This is a very very good book for anyone wanting to get a better grasp of grammar. It would be an especially good book for undergraduates to read - not Strunk and White. The book goes into a lot of depth without becoming overly theoretical. Great, Great book. Buy it!

Essential for any professional teacher of English as a second language.