Basic English Grammar, Second Edition (Full Student Textbook) (Paperback)

by Betty Schrampfer Azar (Author) "Learn the names of your classmates and teacher..." (more)
Key Phrases: verb object preposition object, noncount nouns, zoo yesterday, United States, New York City, Far Away Land (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Now in an all-new second edition, this worktext presents basic structures and vocabulary in a step-by-step building process, along with lots of opportunity for practice through varied exercises. Covers all basic English grammar structures and concepts through clear, concise charts and examples. For beginning-level ESL learners.

From the Back Cover
Now in an all-new second edition, this worktext presents basic structures and vocabulary in a step-by-step building process, along with lots of opportunity for practice through varied exercises. Covers all basic English grammar structures and concepts through clear, concise charts and examples. For beginning-level ESL learners.

Product Details

• Paperback: 458 pages
• Publisher: Pearson ESL; 2nd edition (January 16, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0133683176
• ISBN-13: 978-0133683172
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #39,179 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #18 in	Books > Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > English as a Foreign Language > English Language Teaching > Linguistics
  #19 in	Books > Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > English as a Foreign Language > Grammar
  #23 in	Books > Reference > Words & Language > Usage

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is the finest English grammar book available., January 18, 1999

By	John Almy ([e-mail]) (California, USA) - See all my reviews

I am an ESL and GED teacher, and very proud of it. I am also a former high school dropout who did not learn to read or write beyond a rudimentary level until I was a grown man. I am very dyslexic and have attention deficit disorder, but no one knew that until I was fortunate enough to be helped by counselors at Sonoma State University. To make a long story short, English grammar has always been a nightmare for me, a bottomless pit of unfathomable rules. Because I have a fairly good ear, I learned to write by reading everything aloud and listening for mistakes. I learned to hear mistakes much like most of us can hear a bad note on the piano, but still I had no idea why they were mistakes. Knowing all of that about me, guess what I majored in in college. If you guessed English, you're right. After working as a laborer for twenty-five years, I was starving to learn how to express myself. But even after I graduated (as a Presidential Scholar) I did not have a clue about grammar, just a good ear and a heartfelt desire to write. I volunteered with Literacy Volunteers of America and loved helping people learn to read. One thing led to another and before I knew it I was teaching at a community college. I became popular as a teacher (as the former class dunce, I have lots of patience for those who have trouble learning), but I always felt ashamed that I didn't know more about grammar. Then, just by chance, I discovered Basic English Grammar by Betty Azar. Through her book, Ms. Azar has taught me more about English grammar than all of the other books I've read combined. Hers is incremental, focused, systematic, humorous, and it explains things with a clarity that absolutely works for me. And believe me, if it works for me, it will work for almost anyone. Cetainly, as you can tell from this sample of my writing, my grammar is not perfect, but still I have learned so much that I didn't know before. If anyone should actually read this review, I want you to know that I have no vested interest in this book or the company that publishes it. This is just my way of saying thank you to Ms. Azar. I was starving for knowledge, and she was kind enough to invite me to the banquet. Thank you, Ms. Azar. I hope to meet you one day and tell you all of this in person. John.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Basic English Grammar, January 5, 2001

By	Sandy Stevens-Theizen "stheizen33" (Renton, Wa United States) - See all my reviews

I have been using Betty Azar's book Basic English Grammar for many years. I find it a perfect supplementary text for other series books that focus on themes and the functional aspect of the language, but do not offer much in the way of drill practice. The fill in the blanks exercises are perfect for homework assignments, especially in the initial stages where practice with the form of the grammar structure needs to be mastered in order to create a foundation for freer expression. The writing assignments are well developed and provide students with a chance to apply on a more personal level the grammar structures they have learned. I also have found that the ORAL:BOOKS CLOSED activities have saved me hours of inventing cues on my own because they allow me to interact with the class as a whole and require that the students process the structures from listening, not the written word. If delivered in a manner that the students don't know who will be responding next, you can engage everyone in using the targeted structures to make a response, even though you call on only a selected number each time. Because drills are necessary, but can become repetitive, I further challenge the students to give their responses to their partners by asking them to "look into their partners eyes" when they respond, instead of speaking while they are reading off the page. I call this "thinking and speaking" because they must use their short term memory instead of their eyes. Hopefully this endeavor will help to move the structures that they are practicing into their long term memory, where it will be available to them outside the classroom. I am especially grateful for all the thought that has been put into the development of this beginning level book in the Azar series, as it has provided me with a strong foundation for teaching the basic structures of grammar. If it were more thematic, however, I would possibly not use it only as a supplementary text.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent, Useful Supplement, March 28, 2002

By A Customer

This is a well-organized, easy-to-understand tool for teachers and students that will serve as a helpful supplement to broad-based classroom instruction. (This evaluation of Azar's work is from the perspective of teaching EFL.)

For learning and teaching language, linguists now largely agree that "research has failed to crown any single method as superior." At the same time, researchers assert that a multi-entry program is best, one that uses as many different and varied means as possible. Therefore, if we assume that each method and tool used inside or outside the classroom for learning language is just one small piece of a large collage of methods, we will find that nearly every kind of material and method has its place.

To shrug off Azar's 'Basic English Grammar' by claiming that "It doesn't work" is to misunderstand its place in the classroom. For teaching conversation skills, it ought not in any way to be the bread and butter of a teacher's instruction; rather, interaction and dialogue that involve the five senses and (where appropriate) the whole body ought to have foremost priority. A heavy emphasis should be first placed on raw listening comprehension alone, afterwards on speaking; after that reading and finally writing. Once basic language skills have been developed in this way, teachers can introduce more formal instruction in grammar, using various exercises to practice new concepts.

And that is the place for a volume such as Azar's. The exercises are varied (from cloze passages to fill-in-the-blanks to identifying errors to oral conversation to open-ended essays and more), and the book is thick with page after page of exercises that are extensive and repetitive - exactly as language learning should be.

Because most of the exercises are written, in my case I do save this material for use only once or twice a week, or as supplementary homework for students to practice what they have already covered and practiced orally in class. In that case Azar is an excellent reinforcement for what students already know, and need be little more.

Teachers of introductory English will need to be aware that the vocabulary in the exercises may be broader than their students are presently familiar with. Also, those teaching in non-English-speaking countries should be aware that some aspects of American culture found in the exercises may be difficult for their students to understand, and therefore the instructor will need to make adjustments accordingly.

Overall, this is a helpful and enjoyable tool for training in good grammar skills.