Basic English Grammar

I ordered this for the adult ESL class I was tutoring on a volunteer basis. I lacked good materials and was having trouble coming up with lesson plans week after week. This book helped provide me with a framework from which to teach. The lessons follow a logical progression and have wonderful exercises. Highly recommended.

I used this book last year as a supplement in the Intermediate ESL class I was teaching. The book contains thorough explanations as to why we do and say certain things. For example, I especially liked the explanation of voiced and voiceless sounds when using -ed and -s. The exercises were very good. The book didn't quickly skip from one topic to the next, as many ESL books do. This book contained several exercises for each topic, so the students had a lot of practice before being shown something new. I loved this book.

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.

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.

Azar's series of grammar books have a way of explaining grammar that shows the functions of the various grammar points, the way they are used, and the forms they are supposed to resemble, clearly and concisely. Both deductive and inductive learners can benefit from the examples and exercises given in the series of books. It's also a joy to teach with the Azar series of books because they are so clearly explained, that an experienced teacher can deduce in a glance what the exercise is trying to accomplish. Lengthy preparation time isn't necessary, which leaves more time for working with the students.