Review

TESOL Quarterly  30(4), pp. 788-789 (1996).

Systems in English Grammar: An Introduction for Language Teachers. Peter Master. 
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents, 1996. Pp. viii + 488.

Systems in English Grammar: An Introduction for Language Teachers (SEG) is a textbook
designed for a grammar course for future ESL teachers or for regular classroom teachers 
who are likely to have nonnative speakers of English in their classes.  The book is divided 
into five units that cover the major grammatical structures of English: Unit 1 deals with 
words and phrases; Unit 2 covers auxiliaries, tenses, negation, modals, and questions; Unit 
3 covers subjects and objects, pronouns, determiners, and adjectives; Unit 4 covers 
adverbials and prepositions; Unit 5 covers coordination, subordination, and complements. 
The book focuses particularly on aspects of grammar that are useful to ESL teachers. For 
example, the chapter on modals includes extensive discussion and exercises related to the 
meanings of modals and how negation and tense affect those meanings. Such material is 
usually not found in grammar textbooks designed for native speakers of English.    

The explanations in SEG are very clear and methodical, with ample examples and summary 
charts. Perhaps the best feature of the book, however, is the number and quality of the 
exercises it contains. Almost every page includes an exercise on the grammar point 
explained in the previous section. Furthermore, because the book contains an answer 
key for all the exercises, teachers can assign exercises for students to complete and 
check at home. The most interesting and innovative exercise type in the book involves 
analyzing errors of the kind a nonnative speaker might make. At the beginning of such 
an exercise, students are given a list of the various aspects of the construction that a 
learner might get right or wrong. Instead of simply correcting the error, a trivial 
exercise for native speakers, students must first list the many aspects of the 
construction that the learner got right. These exercises not only encourage a supportive 
approach to error correction but are also a very good test of whether or not students have 
understood the concepts covered in the chapter.    

I have few complaints about Master's book. It contains several typographical errors, and, 
almost inevitably, in some places I would have chosen different terminology or analysis, 
but these are minor problems. It is unfortunate that the book could not be laid out more 
spaciously. However, given the amount of material covered in the book and the inclusion 
of the answer key, it would probably not have been possible to change the presentation 
without making the book into two volumes, greatly increasing the cost for students. 

Overall, SEG is the best text I have found for an undergraduate grammar course, 
particularly for future ESL teachers. Students who have successfully completed a course 
using this text will be well equipped to provide coherent answers to most grammar 
questions from ESL students and will have the necessary knowledge to research for 
themselves aspects of grammar not covered in this text. 

KATHARINE D. HUNT 
University of Washington/Seattle Pacific University

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