Running head: TEXTBOOK REVIEW 1

Grammar Textbook Review

Lauren Porter

Colorado State University

GRAMMAR TEXTBOOK REVIEW 2

Introduction

This textbook review examines Grammar in Context 3 (6th ed.) by Sandra Elbaum

in order to evaluate the book and determine its utility for use with English as a second

language learners. Several criteria were chosen to evaluate the book and will be presented

later. This evaluation begins with a brief description of the textbook, including why it was

chosen for review. Criteria for the evaluation of the textbook are described, followed by a

detailed description of how the book fares based on the different criteria. Lastly, there is

an in-depth evaluation of the presentation of modals, which are taught in Chapter 5,

Modals and Related Expressions, in order to thoroughly examine one linguistic feature

and how it is presented in the book.

Grammar in Context 3 (6th ed.) was chosen because INTO CSU, the intensive

English program at CSU, is not fully satisfied with the coursebook they are currently

using, and had a list of series to review for possible use, including this one. Some of

INTO CSUs concerns with their current coursebook, derived from feedback by teachers

at INTO, are that it does not always focus on form and meaning of the grammar, doesnt

recycle connected grammar structures throughout the book, and that there is sometimes

too high of a requirement of cultural or linguistic knowledge for students to understand

the activities. Based on its content, the current book used at INTO is appropriate for

intermediate-advanced students at INTO. This was determined based on information

provided by INTO as to content covered at each level.

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Textbook Overview

Elbaum says, Learning a language in context, whether it be from the home, from

work, or from a textbook, cannot be overestimated (2016, p. xi). It can be gleaned from

the title of the work, as well as from the authors note, that this book focuses heavily on

language in context. Additionally, the book partnered with National Geographic to

provide captivating photos to exemplify the grammar (Elbaum, 2016, p. xi).

The book features pictures from National Geographic at the beginning of each

chapter, readings (with listening exercises), grammar charts, lesson summary activities,

writing and editing practice, and an online workbook that provides students with

interactive grammar activities. The photos provide unique visuals for students, and an

especially useful characteristic of the book is its use of tables to present grammar in each

chapter. The chapters have tables that describe use, with an explanation, patterns, and

comparisons to other related grammar structures. The use of tables seems helpful for

clarification when instructing, and they appeal to visual learners. The book does not itself

proclaim which proficiency level students it targets, but the grammar content includes the

following (listed by chapter): 1: verb review 2: present perfect and present perfect

continuous 3: passive and active voice 4: past continuous, past perfect, past perfect

continuous 5: modals and related expressions 6: modals in the past 7: adjective clauses

and descriptive phrases 8: infinitives and gerunds 9: adverbial clauses and phrases,

sentence connectors (conjunctive adverbs), so/such that for result 10: noun clauses 11:

unreal conditionals and wishes.

In the back of the textbook there are numerous appendices covering, but not

limited to: vowel and consonant pronunciation charts, noncount noun lists, the use of
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articles, lists of verbs and adjectives that are followed by prepositions, irregular verb

forms, a map of the U.S., and a glossary of terms.

Evaluation Criteria

As pointed out in Teaching materials and the roles of EFL/ESL teachers, criteria

for choosing a textbook should incorporate both program factors (concerns of the

program) as well as teacher factors (concerns of the teachers) (McGrath, 2013). The

evaluation criterion for this review focus on the concerns that teachers and INTO CSU

expressed in their request for the textbook review. The evaluation criteria for this review

are presented here in Table 1.

Table 1

Evaluation Criteria

Criteria Explanation

1. Appropriate introduction of grammar Does the book focus on form and meaning?
Is there a presentation of both meaning and
a focus on production?

2. Appropriate application of grammar Do the exercises within each unit focus on

forms the target grammar structure of the chapter?

3. Does grammar material get recycled? Is grammar learned in previous chapters

incorporated into proceeding chapters?

4. Appropriate cultural/linguistic Is there too high a level of metalanguage

knowledge for level of students used? What cultural knowledge is required
(intermediate-advanced) to complete activities?

5. Grammar used in context The book professes to be based on teaching

grammar context- does it do so frequently?
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Now that the evaluation criteria have been presented, it is important to understand

exactly how the criteria were used. A scoring scheme was adopted from Language

curriculum design (Nation & Macalister, 2010)-see Table 2 below. The scoring scheme

was designed so that the textbook was scored on the criteria presented (the particular

feature can receive a score from 1-5, with one being the lowest), but also so that each

score receives a weight (weighted 1-3, with 3 being the most important). This allows the

evaluator to thoroughly analyze the text in a realistic manner, because the criteria reflect

what I, as the evaluator, consider to be most important. It is important to prioritize certain

features in the text so that the evaluator can see how thoroughly the most important

features are being presented in the book.

Evaluation

Table 2

Textbook Evaluation

Feature/Criteria Weight Score Score x

(1-3) (1-5) Weight

Appropriate introduction of grammar 3 5 15

Appropriate application of grammar forms 2 4 8

Does grammar material get recycled? 2 3 6

Appropriate cultural/linguistic knowledge for level of 2 5 10

students (intermediate-advanced)

Grammar used in context 3 5 15

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Appropriate introduction of grammar

This criteria was weighted 3/3 because appropriate introduction of grammar

was a broad term used to cover the many sub-criteria for this piece of criterion (as

presented in Table 1). The book received a score of 5/5 for this criteria because each

chapter provides charts and tables that focus on language form/structure, examples of the

form in use with explanations (meaning), and gives plenty of room for exercises for

students to practice using (producing) the form, including in fill-in-the-blank exercises

and listening and speaking practice.

Appropriate application of grammar forms

This criteria was weighted 2/3 because although it is important that the target

grammar structure of each chapter is, in fact, the focus of the chapter, it is not the most

important criteria because if other grammar is also sprinkled into the chapter, that is okay.

However, it is important that the proclaimed grammar feature does, in fact, receive the

most focus. The book received a score of 4/5 because, though it mainly focuses on the

explicit grammar form, it is impossible (due to the nature of syntax) for a book to only

require knowledge of the form being explained in the chapter to complete exercises.

Does grammar material get recycled?

This criteria was weighted 2/3 because although recycling material to increase

exposure to grammar features is important, classes must meet learning criteria for

different structures, which means that a certain number of new language structures must

be presented in the time allotted for the class. In this sense, the book cannot focus too

heavily on recycling material because then enough new material may not be presented.

The book received a score of 3/5 because there is evidence of some recycling of forms
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(for example chapter 4 compares the past perfect continuous with the present perfect

continuous learned in chapter 2), but this sort of repetition is not frequent in the text.

Appropriate cultural/linguistic knowledge for students levels

This criteria was weighted 2/3 because although it is important for there not to be

an excessive use of metalanguage, and it is helpful for students to have the appropriate

cultural knowledge to complete the exercises and understand, the teacher can compensate

misunderstandings by using synonyms for metalanguage, and compensate for a lack in

cultural knowledge by providing a brief amount of background information. The book

received a score of 5/5 because there was little to no use of metalanguage, and because

the book introduces the content topic at the beginning of the chapter (and all language

form instruction, and production, is related to the content). When the content for the

chapter is introduced, a small history of the subject is provided, when necessary.

Additionally, the language structures presented closely follow the structures taught at the

intermediate-advanced levels at INTO.

Grammar used in context

This criteria was weighted 3/3 because the name of the book is Grammar in

Context and the book professes to teach grammar contextually. The book received a score

of 5/5 because it does, in fact, teach the grammar structures and have students produce

the grammar structures in relation to the context introduced at the beginning of each

chapter. The book says it, presents grammar in interesting contexts (Elbaum, 2016, p.

xii), but because interesting is a subjective term, this aspect of the context was not

taken into consideration for the evaluation. It seems more appropriate for instructors
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(who are more familiar with students interests) to evaluate if the context would be

interesting for the students.

Examining Modals

The book introduces modals in Chapter 5 and then discusses modals in the past in

Chapter 6. For this review, the presentation of modals in Chapter 5 will be the focus.

Here the critique of the description of modals will in part be compared to the description

of modals in The Grammar Book (Larsen-Freeman & Celce-Muria, 2016). The textbook

will be evaluated to see if modals are presented in context (as the book purports), if

metalanguage is scaffolded for the intermediate-advanced level, if students are given

plenty of examples, if students are given plenty of space for practice with production, and

if there are any linguistic description discrepancies.

The theme for the chapter is technology, and the book does present the modals in

context. The chapter begins with a reading passage related to technology with examples

of modals bolded in the text to draw learners attention to the form. There is plenty of

space for students to practice production within the chapter; there are listening exercises

and fill-in-the-blank passages where students are asked to change maybe statements into

the modals provided underneath the blank line. Additionally, there are numerous tables

with the examples of the modals in use and, next to that, an explanation.

The chapter presents tables, and then chances for production. The modals are

presented in different tables regarding their function. For example, the first table gives an

overview of the modal verbs. However, the book does not list the modals shall and will,

which are presented in The Grammar Book (Larsen-Freeman & Celce, Murcia, 2016, p.

139). Not including these modals is a disadvantage for students because they are frequent
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in Standard English. The next tables move on to discuss first modals of possibility, then

necessity/obligation, expectation, advice, suggestion, negative modals, ability/possibility,

logical conclusion, probability vs. possibility, and continuous modals. While this is a very

practical way to approach modals because it divides the modals based on meaning, these

are not always firm lines. However, it is a good way to rid the book of metalanguage

related to the functions of modals.

Where the text seems to fall short is by not describing the difference between

modals and phrasal modals. It presents the modal verbs (Elbaum, 2016, p. 135) making it

appear to the learner that this is an exhaustive list of modals, but doesnt mention

anything about different forms of modals (phrasal modals). However, they are introduced

in Table 5.3 (Elbaum, 2016, p. 137), with no explanation as to their different form.

Because there is no explanation at all as to the new forms, students may be confused

about them. A more comprehensive way to present the modals would be similar to The

Grammar Book, which presents each modal and their equivalent (by semantic meaning)

phrasal modal next to them. This would be an easy table for the textbook to add to the

chapter.

Overall, the book does a good job scaffolding the material but does not make the

distinction between modals and phrasal modals, and also doesnt present all of the

modals.

Final Notes

Overall, based on the evaluation of the textbook presented in Table 2 and the

further examination of Chapter 5 on modals, the textbook does a good job of what it

claims to, which is to present grammar in context. There is plenty of space for
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production, and (although it is a subjective evaluation), seems to provide interesting

content for the learners. The book falls short in the area of recycling grammar material

throughout the chapter. Additionally, Chapter 5 on modals did an overall good job of

presenting the materials, but the lack of inclusion of some modals and lack of distinction

between modals and phrasal modals, is concerning. The lack of distinction (or a clear

table outlining the forms) may lead to an overwhelming amount of (unexplained)

information in the chapter for the students.

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References

Elbaum, Sandra N. (2016). Grammar in context 3 (6th ed.). Boston, Massachusetts:

National Geographic Learning.

Larsen-Freeman, D. & Celce-Muria, M. (2015). The grammar book: Form, meaning,

and use for English language teachers. U.S.: Heinle Cengage Learning.

McGrath, Ian. (2013). Teaching materials and the roles of efl/esl teachers:

practice and theory. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Nation, I.S.P., & Macalister, J. (2010). Language curriculum design. New York, NY:

Routledge.