MIDTESOL Matters
Fall 2004
Linda Butler (2004). (Series editor: M. Kathleen Mahnle). Basic Grammar Links, Reviewed by Deborah Osborne Basic Grammar Links
is a beginner’s grammar text – the first, and the newest, addition
to the four-volume Grammar Links series. There are seven units and
fourteen chapters. Material is arranged by theme. Most of the exercises
ask the student to read and then write, but some require read/speak
or listen/write modes. The text is accompanied by a tape or CD audio
package; a teacher’s manual and a CD-Rom are also available. As is the case
in all the Grammar Links books, the grammar presented in this volume
is arranged in themes which allow the appropriate contextual use
of the structure being learned. In most cases, the themes (i.e. “new
friends” for subject pronouns, the present tense of be, etc., and
“the classroom” for nouns, there is/there are, etc.) are adequate,
but predictable, and vary very little from those found in other grammar
series or in basic comprehensive texts. One thing that is different
(also found in Grammar Links 1, though not in 2 or 3) is the order
of presentation in the present tense. The progressive aspect is presented
before the simple (with the exception of be, taught in an earlier
lesson). No rationale is given, but presumably this is because there
is no variation in form as far as the present participle is concerned,
as opposed to the pesky third person –s in the simple aspect. As
a longtime practitioner of ESL, I prefer this order, and have adopted
it myself for this and other reasons; so it is interesting to find
it in a grammar text. As befits
a text of its level, Basic Grammar Links focuses on the essential,
the unavoidable and the useful. The
small number of units, and the comparative shortness of the book,
means the fundamental tense/aspect combinations are included, but nothing beyond.
There is even a truly introductory Introduction. Much of this preliminary
unit is aural, giving students the opportunity to become acquainted
with how everyday words and expressions sound as well as practice
in using them. Simple greetings, the names of numbers and the letters
of the alphabet, and printed and cursive writing are presented.
(The section on cursive would have come in very handy a few months
back, when a Japanese student who had never encountered handwriting
in English entered my class.) The presentation style is clear and
simple, without being simplified; and, the author anticipates possible
problem areas by means of “Grammar Hotspots” which point out irregularities
and inconsistencies. Whereas one might quibble with a few of them
– for instance, “goes” is given as an example of an irregular third
person singular on p. 116 – for the most part they are relevant
and noteworthy and of particular use to a novice teacher who may
not be aware of the sorts of difficulties learners experience. Basic Grammar Links
would never be mistaken for a comprehensive text; the emphasis is
definitely skewed toward the workings of English rather than the
complexities of conversation building (and the graphics are not bright
or colorful enough). On the whole, however, this book is a rare example
of exactly what it purports to be: a truly introductory grammar text
which would serve as an excellent resource for a beginner’s level
class. Deborah Osborne is originally from Vancouver, B.C., |
