Running Header: GRAMMAR TEXTBOOK REVIEW

Grammar Textbook Review

Kathleen Hamel
Colorado State University

Author Note
Kathleen Hamel, Department of English, Colorado State University

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Abstract

As I anticipate becoming an EFL/ESL teacher in the future, I must have a clear

understanding of the types of textbooks I want to provide for my students. That being said, it will
also be important for me to adapt to the textbook provided when I am required to use a course
book through a school; Cunningsworth says that teachers ...should be helped to develop
criteria...when confronted with new or unfamiliar material (as qtd. in McGrath, 2013, p.25).
Therefore, writing a review about Understanding and Using English Grammar, written by Betty
Azar and Stacey Hagen, (2009) is crucial for my future profession.
Keywords: textbook review, grammar, EFL/ESL teacher

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Grammar Textbook Review
Introduction

Understanding and Using English Grammar is a course book designed for intermediate
to upper-level students. Written by Azar and Hagen (2009), it is the last book of three in the
Azar-Hagen grammar book series intended to teach English, although there is no indication of
which English they are targeting, i.e. North American or British. The book claims that they take
a grammar based approach integrated with communicative methodologies to promote the
development of all language skills in a variety of ways (p. xi). Since it claimed to integrate
communicative methodologies, this was one of the reasons why I wanted to review this book.
As a future teacher, it is within my philosophy that students receive a communicative
approach to learning in order to promote fluency development. In order to achieve
communicative fluency, an emphasis of form, function and meaning need to be taken into
consideration when teaching grammatical topics. Although these three dimensions of grammar
are stressed, Larsen-Freeman (2003) notes that grammaring is when one applies the three main
dimensions to use grammar in a communicative way, which is my goal for my students.
Evaluative Framework
As previously indicated, Understanding and Using English Grammar will be evaluated
and is intended for intermediate-advanced English language learners. For intermediate-advanced
students, the focus of their learning should be one of form over function. Because of their level,
accuracy will need to be more centrally focused in order to provide more linguistic tools for their
fluency. For students to develop a mastery of their pragmatic knowledge, in order to strive for
focus on form, a corpus-based textbook is needed. A corpus-based textbook allows for the

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communicative accuracy that is currently being used in society; as corpuses are collections of
authentic (i.e. not created for the purposes of teaching) spoken and written texts.
These aspects will need to correlate with the communicative language approach. From
my understanding of this method, students focus will be communicating the language through
all four skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing), with speaking and listening at the core of
this method. These two skills facilitate the negotiation of meaning and provide students with
opportunity for authentic language exchange, in order to use the language with the grammatical
patterns in mind.
Out of the twenty chapters in this book, beginning with verb tense and aspect and
concluding with conditional sentences, I will be evaluating the ways in which this textbook
presents nouns in chapter seven. Specifically, the evaluation will focus on the ways in which
they are quantified since I have conducted thorough research on this topic. In order to critically
evaluate this textbook, I have adapted questions from Garingers (2002) Checklist for ESL
Textbook Selection, to serve as a basis for my criteria, which will include the following:
The textbook is based on corpora;
The exercises are appropriate for their intended user;
The activities within the textbook promote and utilize the communicative approach;
The form, function and meaning of nouns, and the ways in which they are quantified, are
provided in an accurate, meaningful, and appropriate way for the intended user.

Corpus Based
The purpose of having a corpus-based textbook is to demonstrate authentic ways in
which speakers use English. Since I take a communicative approach to teaching, it is imperative

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that the textbook is based off of corpora, so that students are receiving the most accurate and
appropriate information when making decisions on how to functionally be able to use the
language. Reiterating my point above, students need a functional basis so that they improve their
skills and then be able to focus on form.
In the Introduction of the book, the authors mention that the textbook includes corpusinformed content; it specifically notes that grammar content has been added, deleted, or
modified to reflect the discourse patterns of spoken and written English (Azar & Hagen, 2000,
p. xi). However, they fail to mention which aspects are corpus-informed. While analyzing the
book, one can only guess as to what is or is not corpus-informed. It would appear as though this
corpus-informed content can be found within footnotes to pages, or endnotes to charts. For
example, following the grammar chart addressing collective nouns, the note included the
differences between American English and British English when choosing a verb with collective
nouns, when the noun is referring to a collection of individuals. The examples given, The
government is vs. The government are, display that American speakers prefer the singular verb
compared to the British utilizing the plural.
This example would be useful for students, in order to determine the most appropriate
language to use in the respective contexts but since there is no indication that this is corpus
material, it could very well be overlooked by a student, or even a teacher who might want to
point this out to students. To this end, it cannot be determined if the amount of corpus-informed
content given is adequate information, or where one might even find it.

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Intended User

As previously indicated, the intended student for this textbook has an intermediate to
upper-advanced proficiency in English. But there is no indication of how this level was
determined. As stated by the Azar-Hagen series website, the textbooks in the series include
exercises [that] are calibrated to the appropriate level (Azar-Hagen Grammar Series, 2015);
this explanation is not sufficient since I am still left to wonder what methods were used to
calibrate these levels. A useful tool that would have provided more concrete evidence of this
would have been to utilize the proficiency standards as laid out by the American Council on The
Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). The ACTFL proficiency standards are reliable, as
they are used nation-wide.
Despite this, I would overall disagree with their websites claim. On the one hand, the
content of each chapter seems as though it would be appropriate for these students. Although, the
more advanced student might find these topics to be too easy, especially towards the beginning
of a chapter. This is due to the fact that the concepts build in complexity, from simple to more
advanced throughout each chapter; as you dont want to overbear students with tasks that are too
cognitively demanding immediately after presenting new material (Ortega, 2009).
On the other hand, the exercises seem to be too simplistic for the learner. Most exercises
are fill-in-the-blank, correcting errors or simplistic listening and speaking tasks. These tasks are
necessary for a student to be able to practice form in an explicit way. However, having students
do the same tasks over-and-over again becomes tedious and could leave students bored, and
uninterested; an aspect that is unfavorable to a conducive learning environment (Ortega, 2009).
Only one exercise, at the end of each chapter, seems to fulfill requirements laid out by the
communicative approach. The exercises change by chapter, but they typically have students

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either write or speak with their classmates to fulfill a certain task. For example, in chapter seven,
students are required to make a list of controversial topics and then discuss these with fellow
classmates in small group settings. Through these tasks, students are then in the position to
negotiate meaning, and more authentic exchanges can be had (Ortega, 2009).
Even though the exercises are not the most appropriate for students, the textbook
provides a unique characteristic that is tailored to their needs. This can be shown when the book
goes out of its way to explain minor details that would otherwise be left up to the teacher. For
example, a footnote is added upon the first mention of the word, italics. Within the footnote, not
only does it provide an explanation as to the definition of italics but also provides a side-by-side
comparison as to how italic text looks vs normal text. From my experience with working with
intermediate to advanced-level students, most have no inclination as to what italicized text are;
this can pose a problem as to when these students are writing academic papers and italics are a
necessity when providing a works cited page. Thus, the inclusion of this information would be
beneficial for these students.

Nouns and their quantifiers

Azar and Hagen (2000) noted that they are starting from a foundation of understanding
of form and meaning (p. xi). Description of forms can be seen at the beginning of the chapter
on nouns, when a chart denoting inflectional morphemes are used when describing regular and
irregular plural nouns. Meaning is shown in the next table about possessive nouns when the
textbook indicates that {s} shows possession when added to a singular noun, not ending in s.
Although {-s} is commonly prescribed as a possessive noun, this is misleading since it is more
precisely described as the genitive case. Consequently, this information is not provided in the

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most accurate way. In line with Delahunty and Garveys (2010) description of the genitive, it can
be used to interpret more than the ownership of something. Along with this, the genitive
inflection is used with noun phrases, not just nouns (Delahunty & Garvey, 2010). Introducing
this concept as a possessive noun could then limit the functional dimension. This then leaves the
pragmatics of the language up to question; do they ever end up addressing it?
The answer to that question is no. When looking at the chart describing using a few and
few, and a little and little, we see which one is used when using count or noncount nouns. In
addition to this, it is shown that there is a positive connotation to a few or a little and a
negative connotation for few or little. Although this chart provides examples of how they are
used, there is no indication of when one might be more appropriate than another. For example,
Celce-Murica & Larsen-Freeman (1999) describe that a few or a little can be the first
utterance in a discourse and few and little require more context in order to be the appropriate
choice (p. 331). This information is necessary for students at this level, so they ...can explain
when it is used or why it has been used instead of another structure with the same meaning
(Celce-Murica & Larsen-Freeman, 1999, p. 5).
Another missing element is the use of the communicative approach, as mentioned above.
It would appear that the exercises that are titled Lets talk would provide these opportunities to
students. However, the title is misleading since most would not lead to authentic conversation
because the tasks are highly-conventionalized, leaving little to no room for authentic
communication. Therefore, in this aspect, the text is lacking in the presentation of meaning for
students.
In addition to this, the lack of the functional aspect leads me to believe that in order to
provide students with information in an accurate, meaningful and appropriate way, supplemental

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materials would be for this textbook. According to the Azar-Hagen Series website (2015), it
indicates that this series is course neutral, implying that is intended to be able to be
accompanied with other materials in order to provide more grammar practice. So they do not shy
away from the fact that, in order to successfully achieve the communicative language approach,
this book will need to be supplemented. McGrath (2013) reaffirms this by saying, From the
textbook writers perspective...seems to be a given that teachers will understand and accept that
they cannot just use the materials as they are (p. 45). Therefore, it is essential for teachers to
evaluate their textbooks in order to know what additions need to be made.

Conclusion
Based upon the criteria laid out, this book does not adequately suit the intended user. It
would appear that each criterion is touched upon but not adequately represented in the text. The
text has corpus information but this information is never explicitly stated as such indicating that
user of the textbook wont know where to find this content. Despite the fact that the material
seems to be appropriate, the exercises do not match this standard and appear to be
oversimplified. Although the material may be appropriate, it is not complete because it presents
some information inaccurately and it does give information about the functional dimension of
grammar. Yes, form should have a greater focus over function, but functionality does need to be
addressed. In order for students to be able to use the correct form, a proficiency in functional use
is necessary. And finally, the lack of attention on emphasizing communication between students
is minimal, therefore not enabling students to be proficient at grammaring. In summation, a
teacher would need to supplement this book in order to satisfy the criterion presented in this
paper.

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References

Azar, B.S., & Hagen, S.A. (2009). Understanding and using English grammar (4th ed.).
White Plains, NY: Pearson Longman.
Azar-Hagen Grammar Series. (2015). Retrieved from
http://product.pearsonelt.com/azar/
Celce-Murcia, M., Larsen-Freeman, D. (1999). The grammar book. Boston: Heinle
Cengage Learning.
Delahunty, G. P., & Garvey, J. J. (2010). The English language: From sound to sense.
Fort Collins, CO: The WAC Clearinghouse.
Garinger, D. (2002). Textbook selection for the ESL classroom. ERIC Clearinghouse
on Languages and Linguistics. Retrieved from
http://mcael.org/uploads/File/provider_library/Textbook_Eval_CAL.pdf
Larsen-Freeman, D. (2003). Teaching language: From grammar to grammaring.
Boston: Thomson Heinle.
McGrath, I. (2013). Teaching materials and the roles of EFL/ESL teachers. New York:
Bloomsbury.
Ortega, L. (2009). Understanding second language acquisition. London, UK: Hodder
Education.