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How English Works | |
ISBN: 0 19 431456 1
Michael Swan is one of the best writers of EFL textbooks in the business. This latest book announces itself as the winner of the English Speaking Union's Duke of Edinburgh Book Competition, and it has received some favourable reviews for its innovative style. One such innovation is that the book starts with a 'test yourself' section which takes the reader through several pages of tests of different levels of difficulty. After that, you can look at the parts of grammar which gave you the most trouble and deal with them first.
The main part of the book is divided into twenty sections, each of which deals with a different grammar point. Many of these are standard, such as relative clauses or comparatives, others are slightly unusual - for example using 'determiners' as a wider class than articles. Each section starts with a short description of a grammar point. These descriptions are clearly laid out, and easy to understand. They are separated from the main text by being placed in pale pink and orange boxes, a colour scheme which you will probably like or hate. There is a comprehensive glossary of grammar terms at the back of the book, and an answers section if you have chosen that edition. (The book comes both with and without answers - the one without is a pound or so cheaper.)
There is a lot of colour and white spaces in the book, and the exercises seem short and a bit scrappy. There are many cartoons throughout, most of which are both relevant and amusing. The reading texts are interesting, and have been taken from authentic sources. You can see examples of two pages of the text book at the OUP site , as well as a full list of contents.
Who is this book for? It has been designed for both self-study and as a class textbook, and it works well in both roles; although a few exercises are designed for groups of students rather than a person studying alone. Teachers might complain that the exercises are not comprehensive enough to give students enough practice with each grammar point, but the explanations are excellent. If you will only buy one book on English grammar, consider this one, but for each particular level of English, look at Murphy's grammar books first.
Verdict: Good, but with some flaws
Assessment 7/10