A+book+I've+used

Adapted from:

Case, A. (2005, January). Natural Grammar. Retrieved from Teflnet: @http://www.tefl.net/reviews/natural-grammar.htm

(Click on the book to see an example page)
 * Natural Grammar **
 * Scott Thornbury **
 * Oxford University Press **
 * Reviewed by: Alex Case **
 * Review date: January 2005 **

Even before I opened this book, I was convinced that I was looking at something that was going to cause a real impact in the world of EFL. To __start__ with the author, Scott Thornbury, is one of the most influential people in EFL today. The other __thing__ was that this book is an ambitious attempt to make students (and teachers) look at grammar in an entirely different way. Still, "influential" is not the same as useful for a particular group of students and "ambitious" is not the same as successful - so who should actually pay money for this book rather than just waiting for its impact to be felt on the next editions of classroom course books like Headway?

This book is subtitled "the keywords of English and how they work". It __looks__ at 100 of the most used words in English and examines their "grammar" through the words and structures they are commonly found with. __Each__ word is given a two-page spread of explanation and practice exercises, and the words are arranged alphabetically, from "a" to "you" via "back", "can", "did", "for", "get", "had", "if" etc. Each page looks at what words can go with that key word - that is grammar patterns (e.g. determiner + of + determiner + NP) and collocations (any of, all of, fond of, proud of etc.). Just by arranging the entries under those unusual headings, the book __manages__ to bring together the seemingly unconnected worlds of traditional grammar and collocation.

By doing __this__, it should hopefully persuade students who wouldn't buy a book named "Improve your Collocations" to improve their skill in this vital part of the language. It also __means__ that it deals with important language which might "slip between" grammar and vocabulary books. For example, I learnt that "can" is often found with verbs of perception and cognition, what adverbs commonly go with the passive and "returning or reversing" as a description of the meaning of "back". It also __deals__ with language I haven't seen covered elsewhere like the everyday structures "come and get it", "wait and see" and "if you ask me".

The explanations are well written (but involve quite a lot of grammar-jargon) and the accompanying exercises are short and fairly varied. __All__ in all, a high level student who works their way through this book should find that they have managed to polish up their "traditional grammar" whilst expanding their vocabulary use.

My first __question__ would be whether such a student would be likely to pick up this book in the first place. I can't __imagine__ many of my Intermediate students picking up a book that says it deals with the words "most", "make" and "look", let alone the Upper Intermediate and Advanced students this book is aimed at. Not being experts on linguistic theory, they are more __likely__ to think they need to improve their grammar and/or vocabulary than their collocations and use of "key words", and are likely to connect improvement with difficult structures and less used words rather than mastering the kinds of words dealt with here.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">As a teacher, I am much more convinced that they need the language here, but I would still have __difficulty__ choosing a particular page to give a student for homework. I can’t __say__ that it has ever popped into my head that a student "really must learn how to use the word been". Possibly that is a weakness of the way I have been trained and how I have been taught to think by the other materials I have used, and therefore what things I am looking for when I listen to my students.</range id="526347708_3">

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">I will certainly think of this book and its categories when I am monitoring students from now on, and keep it close. I would also like to include it in future teacher training sessions, although I am not yet sure how. As an aspiring materials writer myself, I certainly find it packed with information I will try to include in my lessons - I am just not __convinced__ that many of the pages of this book will make it into my class as they stand. In __summary__, a book for anyone who is looking for something different.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Useful phrases

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">To start with …

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">The other thing was that this book is …

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">It looks at …

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Each … is given a (2) page spread of …

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">The book manages to …

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">By doing this, it should hopefully …

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">It also means that it deals with …

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">All in all, …

<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">My first question would be whether …

<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">I can(’t) imagine …

<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">(Not) being … they are more likely to think that …

<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">… (won’t) have difficulty (choos)ing …

<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">I can(’t) say that …

<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">I’m (just not) convinced that …

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">In summary, …