GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY: A RESOURCE BOOK FOR STUDENTS. Howard
Jackson. London: Routledge, 2002. Pp. vii + 202. $25.95 paper.
This volume provides a readable, interactive, and complete
introduction to basic areas of English grammar that includes words and
sentences, parts of speech and their role in sentences, verb patterns,
clauses and phrases, and areas of vocabulary including word class, word
formation, and jargon. The text aims “to encourage
[students] to analyze the language that [they] hear
and read in [their] daily life” (pp. vii–viii). It
does so in two ways. First, concepts are presented inductively; that is,
readers are asked to work with language samples—many authentic
excerpts of written and spoken text—in order to understand the
concepts before the author explains key ideas. These interactive tasks
encourage readers to play with language, drawing on and extending what
they already know about English grammar and vocabulary. Second, it uses
grammar terminology consistently and sparingly, a wise decision given that
the book's target readers are new to the field.