Grammar for Teachers

Abstract

The first edition of Grammar for Teachers: A Guide to American English for Native and Non-Native Speakers was the result of my frustrations over many years of teaching structure courses and not being able to find an appropriate grammar text for the pre-service and in-service teachers enrolled in these classes. The students in these courses represented a variety of teaching backgrounds: pre-service teachers, ESL and EFL teachers at all levels and teaching in all types of programs, native and non-native speakers of English, content-area teachers with ESL students in their classes needing additional certification or endorsement, and many others. Some of these students had a strong knowledge of English grammar but had difficulties in applying their knowledge to real-life discourse. Other students’ exposure had been limited to lessons in “correctness,” and they were generally unaware of which language features were central to teaching ESL/EFL learners. And for some students, this was their first course in grammar. The challenge was to find a way to convey the essentials of American English grammar clearly, to engage students actively in their own learning and understanding of grammar as applicable to ESL/EFL learners, to motivate them to undertake perceptive analyses of grammatical elements and structures, and to develop an understanding of ESL/EFL learner needs and difficulties. Since the first edition, I have continued to teach these various populations of pre-service and in-service teachers. In using Grammar for Teachers over the years in my classes, I became acutely aware of many ways to substantially improve the book. In addition, many colleagues, both in the United States and overseas who were also using Grammar for Teachers, encouraged me to revise the text and offered numerous suggestions for improvement.