A Concise Grammar for English Language Teachers

This greatly revised and expanded edition remains the firm favourite of those requiring a user-friendly yet precise treatment of ELT grammar. It is eminently suitable for ELT teachers in training, e.g. on a CELTA course, or indeed for those on shorter courses or being self-taught for teaching online.

The book’s main strength is its clear and concise treatment of problem areas commonly encountered by EL teachers, e.g. verb tenses, conditionals, phrasal verbs, relative clauses, -ing form (gerund), the passive, and much more. Most chapters start with a visual breakdown of the grammar point(s) in question.

Further content includes teaching notes with practical suggestions, examples from online and printed materials, activities which need no lesson planning, inductive tasks + key, a list of levels from A1 to C2, phonemes + examples, and a helpful index.

There is also a chapter on error analysis, showing a model grammar lesson, demonstration of board drawings, controlled practice, and pair-work. The layout is extremely clear, with effective use of colour, diagrams, and innovative tables.

Penston rejects stuffy academic language and entertains in a unique teacher-to-teacher way, with many examples which, while neatly covering grammar points, often raise a smile. This is not to say accuracy suffers, in fact Penston occasionally provides data from linguistic corpora to support points succinctly made.

No English teacher will fear grammar with this book to hand!