Grammar is important but be viewed as difficult and bored. In addition, in the EFL learning environment, teachers taught Prescriptive grammar or Pedagogical grammar but we forgot English is a world language which has African American English, British English, and some dialects in different areas. Thus, while teaching Grammar, we should remind our kids: Variation doesn't means wrong and language should be flexible.

However, as language instructors, we tried to introduce the best usage of the most Standard English that written or spoken by writers; meanwhile, we should know that there are grammar from different aspects like descriptive grammar, Rhetorical grammar and critical grammar.  

 different types of grammar books

Approach

Characteristics

Intended readers

Descriptive grammar

Descriptive grammar are specially designed to increase the reader's schooled declarative knowledge of grammar which included generative, functional and lexical theory. 

K12 language teachers / instructors

ESL

Prescriptive grammar

The best usage of the most standard writers and speakers so that others whose language may be non-standard, or nonnative have access to them. A prescriptive grammar: English allowed some sentences, but some writers prefer to avoid them. 

Major in English of Art 

 

ESL 

Rhetorical grammar

Understanding both the grammatical choices available to you when you write and the rhetorical effects those choices will have on your reader. Rhetorical grammar opens the door for analyzing real language use and how that language use affects readers (and listeners).

Major in English of Art 

K12 language teachers / instructors

 

 Pedagogical grammar

Make English different from other language, things that native speakers take for granted but that cause problems for nonnative speakers. Errors are an inevitable part of the translation form a first language to a second language. 

Pedagogical grammar focuses on fundamental rules of how English works and tend to focus on issues facing English language learners.

ESL

K12 language teachers / instructors

Major in English of Art 

 

 

  recommedations 

 as a basic learner  

It gives beginner English learners easy access to the vocabulary, grammar and functions of English as it is actually used in a comprehensive range of social situations.  English Made EasyVolume 1 consists of a total of 20 units arranged in groups of five. The first four units present language and provide learners the opportunities to practice as they learn. The first page of each unit has a list of all the words and phrases to be learned in that unit, together with a pronunciation guide. At the end of each unit, an interesting story which uses the language that has just been learned is presented. The fifth unit in each group contains exercises designed to reinforce the language learned in the first four units.

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photo credit 

 https://www.books.com.tw/products/F013596396?sloc=main

https://www.books.com.tw/products/F013620371?sloc=main

English Made Easy Volume One: A New ESL Approach: Learning English Through Pictures, 2013, by Jonathan Crichton and Pieter Koster 

English Made Easy Volume Two: A New ESL Approach: Learning English Through Pictures, 2016, by Jonathan Crichton and Pieter Koster 

 

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 as an EFL intermediated learner

1. Azar English Grammar series 

A set of Grammar book which introduce grammar points step by step. From “Basic English Grammar” , Fundamentals of English Grammar” to “Understanding & Using English Grammar.” Azar English Grammar book is the top one choice for EFL learners.  (English as a Foreign Language)  It is belong to both Pedagogical grammar and Prescriptive grammar which viewed English as a second language and clearly classified each grammar point with exercises. 

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( photo credit : amazon  Understanding and Using English Grammar, 1981, by Betty Azar ) 

Present grammar points with clear form or chart and offer mechanical exercises after each grammar point. Those exercises are simple but not realistic.

Example: “Past perfect & Past perfect progressive”

I___ ( feel ) a little better after I __ (take) the medicine.    (Betty Azar,  1981,  P.98-99 )

 

 

2.  English Grammar and Usage: Read Swiftly, Speak Fluently and Write Correctly, 2015, by Shirkant Prasoon 

Give a clear definition of grammar points and practice with exercises. For example, “Preposition is a word usually placed before a noun or pronoun to show its relation to ’some other word in a sentence.” (Shirkant Prasoon ,2015, ch12)

One of the key points of teaching grammar is the function. Grammar can be use in real life so teaching the usage of idioms is very important, too. For example, “Idioms may be defined as expressions peculiar to a language. They play an important part in all languages."  (Shirkant Prasoon ,2015, ch8)

General Studies Paper I: Read Swiftly, Speak: Shrikant Prasoon

(photo credit abe books  

 content 

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  as an instructor 

1.   Grammar Alive! A Guide for Teachers, 2003, by Brock Haussamen,

Explain some hot grammar questions in detail. Take ending with preposition for an example.  “The superstition that a sentence should not end with a preposition grew out of a somewhat reasonable piece of eighteenth-century advice that an effectively written sentence should not end with a weak or unimportant word. But in the nineteenth century, the advice about final prepositions hardened into a stern grammar rule, and despite the best efforts of some major writers and commentators to get rid of it, it unfortunately endures.” ( Brock Haussamen , 2003,  P. 71 )

English is a live language so does grammar. Learning Grammar through Authentic Texts can help students to connect abstract things into real world.  Take creation of style guide for an example. “Students can study a given text, such as a newspaper, in order to discover its patterns of grammar and usage. They look for its rules regarding the following: • capitalization • paragraph length • organization of information in text • the writing of numbers in text • sentence completeness • sentence length • sentence styles • punctuation choices, such as the comma before the and in a series or the use of quotation marks or italics for titles • voice (active versus passive) • use of contractions and abbreviations • beginning (or not beginning) a sentence with a coordinating conjunction • use of sexist or nonsexist language”   (Brock Haussamen , 2003,  P.16 & 17 )

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(photo credit : amazon 

 

2.  Grammar Matters: Lessons, Tips, & Conversations Using Mentor Texts, K-6, 2014, Lynne Dorfman and Diane Dougherty ​​​​​​​

It's a nice book for teahcers to teaching writing. It offered a framework of how a writing lesson plan can be set up and explain each teaching points and grammar references in detail. Take objectives for an example. “In a unit of study on opinion writing, students will need to learn that their lives are full of reasons to talk and write about their opinions and argue to sway others to change their minds or actions.” ( Lynne Dorfman and Diane Dougherty, 2014, p179  )

Take grammar Reference for an example. “Headline style, orup style, instructs writers to capitalize the first and last words of the title and allnouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinating conjunctions (if,because, as, that, and so on).  ( Lynne Dorfman and Diane Dougherty, 2014, p184  )

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( PHOTO CREDIT BOOKSTORE 

 https://www.books.com.tw/products/F013342358?sloc=main

 

 

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