Analysing English Grammar

A practical step-by-step introduction to the analysis of English grammar, taking an integrated approach to function and structure.

Analyzing the Grammar of English offers a descriptive analysis of the indispensable elements of English grammar. Designed to be covered in one semester, this textbook starts from scratch and takes nothing for granted beyond a reading and speaking knowledge of English. Extensively revised to function better in skills-building classes, it includes more interspersed exercises that promptly test what is taught, simplified and clarified explanations, greatly expanded and more diverse activities, and a new glossary of over 200 technical terms. Analyzing the Grammar of English is the only English grammar to view the sentence as a strictly punctuational construct—anything that begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, a question mark, an exclamation mark, or three dots—rather than a syntactic one, and to load, in consequence, all the necessary syntactic analysis onto the clause and its constituents. It is also one of the very few English grammars to include—alongside multiple examples of canonical or "standard" language—occasional samples of stigmatized speech to illustrate grammar points. Students and teachers in courses of English grammatical analysis, English teaching methods, TESOL methods, and developmental English will all benefit from this new edition.

An engaging and fresh take on the rules and politics of English grammar, written in lively prose. It goes a step further than most books on grammar by providing an overview of the field, with a discussion of historical and current debates about grammar, and how we define, discuss, and approach it. Presents a novel, inquiry-based approach to understanding speakers' unconscious knowledge of English grammar Makes lucid connections, when relevant, with current linguistic theory Integrates language change and variation into the study of grammar Examines historical sources of socially evaluative perceptions of grammar, as 'good' or 'bad', and notions of language authority Provides syntactic explanations for many modern punctuation rules Explores some of the current controversies about grammar teaching in school and the role of Standard English in testing and assessment

A textbook for an upper-division undergraduate course on the structures of modern English or modern English grammar, focusing on pedagogical grammar rather than on linguistic theory. Assumes no previous study of grammar or linguistics. The eclectic approach encompasses traditional, structural, and t

This book provides a concise introduction to work in syntactic theory, drawing on the key concepts of Chomsky's Minimalist Program.

Analyzing Grammar is a clear introductory textbook on grammatical analysis, designed for students beginning to study the discipline. Covering both syntax (the structure of phrases and sentences) and morphology (the structure of words), it equips them with the tools and methods needed to analyze grammatical patterns in any language. Students are shown how to use standard notational devices such as phrase structure trees and word-formation rules, as well as prose descriptions. Emphasis is placed on comparing the different grammatical systems of the world's languages, and students are encouraged to practice the analyses through a diverse range of problem sets and exercises. Topics covered include word order, constituency, case, agreement, tense, gender, pronoun systems, inflection, derivation, argument structure and grammatical relations, and a useful glossary provides a clear explanation of each term. Accessibly written and comprehensive, Analyzing Grammar is set to become a key text for all courses in grammatical analysis.

Introducing English Grammar introduces readers to the methodology and terminology needed to analyse English sentences. The approach taken is in line with current research in grammar, a particular advantage for students who may go on to study syntax in more depth. All the examples and exercises use real language taken from both standard and non-standard geographical areas and dialects, and include excerpts from Australian and British newspaper articles. Students are encouraged to think about the terminology as a tool kit for studying language and to test what can and cannot be described using these tools. This new edition has been fully updated and features: an expanded introduction; new texts and exercises that include data from social media; revised material on 'Grammar at work' and 'English worldwide'; more suggestions for further reading at the end of the book; updated online resources with extensive further reading and answers to the exercises, which can be found at https://www.routledge.com/9781138635319. Written for readers with no previous experience of grammatical analysis, Introducing English Grammar is suited to anyone beginning a study of linguistics, English language or speech pathology, as well as to students whose interests are primarily literary but who need a better understanding of the structure of English.