Navigating English Grammar: A Guide to Analyzing Real Language

An engaging and fresh take on the rules and politics of English grammar, written in lively prose. It goes a step further than most books on grammar by providing an overview of the field, with a discussion of historical and current debates about grammar, and how we define, discuss, and approach it.Presents a novel, inquiry-based approach to understanding speakers' unconscious knowledge of English grammarMakes lucid connections, when relevant, with current linguistic theoryIntegrates language change and variation into the study of grammarExamines historical sources of socially evaluative perceptions of grammar, as 'good' or 'bad', and notions of language authorityProvides syntactic explanations for many modern punctuation rulesExplores some of the current controversies about grammar teaching in school and the role of Standard English in testing and assessment Read more