About Language

Teachers of English need to have a good productive command of the language. However, this alone is not enough; they also need to know a good deal about the way the language works. This book asks: 'What is it that a teacher needs to know about English in order to teach it effectively?' The book develops teachers' language awareness through a wide range of tasks, which involve them in analysing English to discover its underlying system.
This second edition has been fully revised and updated, incorporating recent developments in language description, whilst keeping the organisation and structure of the successful first edition. It consists of 31 units, with new material focusing on varieties of English, models of grammar, spoken grammar, and phraseology. Each unit contains up to 12 tasks and the language is illustrated with authentic sources, from corpora and websites to novels and newspapers.
About Language Second Edition is ideal for teachers on pre-service or in-service training courses, and will also appeal to academics, teachers and other English language teaching professionals who are interested in how language works. There is a full key and commentary, making the book just as suitable for self-study as it is for training courses.