The Ideas of English Grammar - Softcover

Buckmaster, Robert A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1974088715 ISBN 13: 9781974088713

Verlag: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017

Inhaltsangabe

In this groundbreaking book, independent language researcher and teacher trainer Robert Buckmaster tackles the problems of English pedagogical grammar by re-imagining English grammar as a system of distance, meaning and conventions: G[DMC]. Current pedagogical grammar is marred by exceptions and special uses: past forms are used in present time; short cut rules avoid focusing on word and form meaning; and grammar rules are imprecise and difficult to operationalize. It is a retrospective grammar of language analysis, not one of language in use. Learners struggle to understand the complexities of English grammar and fail to use the language to the full potential. The usual excuse has been that the forms (e.g. the present perfect) are difficult and need to be taught and retaught. But what if the interpretation of grammar which has been taught is at fault? What if we have, in fact, made the task difficult because of the analysis which is presented to learners? What if there were a different, more internally consistent view of English grammar which could be taught instead?In fact there is: it is a prospective grammar to use to understand language as it happens. This new grammar sees tense as not being about time but about distance: time distance, reality distance and formality distance. All words have meanings but some also have form meanings, and these form meanings combine and add to our understanding of speaker meaning. And language conventions govern much of English grammar - like word order and collocations. The Ideas of English Grammar introduces the five key distance ideas, eight form meanings, the key modal/modifying verb meanings, the concepts of distance between words and in sentences and utterances, the conventional pathways of verbs and nouns, the conventions of questions and time phrases, and includes an analysis of conditionals (seven of them) and reported speech. The book also touches on a new model of language – the Associative Model - and considers some key principles from that model: the Placement and Start Here principles. All this is supported by hundreds of clear example sentences, tables and diagrams.This is a completely new, wholly coherent and internally consistent, and teachable system of English grammar which avoids the problems and pitfalls of traditional grammar. All teachers, trainers and coursebook writers will benefit from re-examining English grammar with the help of this re-imagining of English grammar.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Rob Buckmaster is an independent language researcher, teacher, teacher trainer, consultant, and writer. He has been working in English language teaching since 1991, and has taught and trained widely in central and eastern Europe, central Asia, northern and southern Africa. He first taught in Warsaw for ten years: at private language schools, and for the British Council. While in Poland, he completed his Certificate, Cambridge RSA Diploma, and Advanced Diploma in Language Teaching Management. He then moved to Estonia to manage the Justice and Home Affairs Peacekeeping English Project for the British Council. While there, he trained police and border guard teachers from all over the region, and completed his Masters in Education in E-Learning with a Distinction. After closing all the Peacekeeping projects in Estonia and Latvia in 2006, he moved to Latvia and taught for International House Riga before becoming Director of Studies for five years. He now works freelance for Buckmaster Consulting and McIlwraith Education. Rob Buckmaster is the author of 'Teaching English: Being the best' (with Emma Valahu), and of numerous article on teaching English. His work can be seen at www.rbuckmaster.com. He is the founder of the English Ideas Project: www.englishideas.org. He currently lives in Latvia with his family.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2017
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1974088715
• ISBN 13: 9781974088713
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 246
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Manufactured by Amazon on behalf of the author; https://www.amazon.de/hz/contact-us; ; c/o Amazon Media EU S.à.r.l., 38 Avenue John F. Kennedy; Luxembourg; L-1855; Luxemburg