Conrad, S., & Biber, D. (2009). Real grammar: A corpus-based approach to English. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.

This relatively short text―150 pages―targets 50 grammatical structures that are common in writing and speech and that warrant further study by advanced students already well versed in English grammar but who may still have trouble using certain constructions appropriately. These 50 structures, organized into 11 groups, range from the predictable (verb tenses, modals, passive voice, various clause types) to those normally not featured in most grammar books (discourse markers, incomplete sentences, and transition words). Both instructors and students engaged in self-study can follow the text sequentially or can skip from topic to topic as needed. The text provides an online answer key for most of the practice exercises, a valuable addition for self-study.

Each unit is short, usually three to four pages in length, and follows the same format throughout. The title of each unit starts a typical, authentic sample of the structure to be examined, while the subheading provides the “official” name of the structure(s) to be described, analyzed, and practiced. The first section of each unit poses the question, “What have you learned from your grammar textbook?” This contains a succinct summary of the structure as it is customarily explained in traditional English grammar texts. And I do not exaggerate when I call this section “succinct,” because there may be only three to five lines that sum up the structure along with a few examples. It is worth stressing two points about Real Grammar: First, it is not, nor does it pretend to be, a comprehensive reference grammar; second, the target audience is truly advanced ESL students who are looking to go beyond “typical” grammatical explanations and fine-tune their understanding of how English is “really” used in writing and speech.

The focal point of each unit lies in the second section, “What does the corpus show?” The authors summarize how each structure is used in the corpus and state their findings in terms of the grammatical forms (e.g., “simple present tense”), language functions (e.g., “making polite offers”), and, occasionally, frequency charts to show how often the structures appear in various forms of speech and writing. The section of the unit might also include cautionary “Be careful!” points so the student does not get tripped up by overgeneralizing a rule (e.g., “Do not use the simple past if you are asking for information, not making an offer” [p. 1]).

The third section of each unit of Real Grammar provides various types of application exercises: “notice in context,” which allows students to see the structures as drawn directly from the corpus; analysis activities, which require students to identify terms, contrast similar constructions, and proofread for errors; and practice activities, which lets students apply what they have learned in different ways.

Though the concept of Real Grammar is reminiscent of Ann Raimes’ Grammar Troublespots (2004), it goes well beyond the field of academic English as it considers four separate registers: conversation, fiction writing, informational writing, and academic writing. Furthermore, the authors point out that the corpus used―“a huge database of 330 million words from a wide range of real-life sources such as books, newspapers, and magazines” (Longman Corpus Network, n.d.)―often provides some unexpected results, at least for native speakers: “The corpus findings, especiallyFrequency Information, may not be consistent with your intuition” (p. ix). As such, students will be exposed not only to the ways in which native speakers express certain concepts but also to how often these constructions actually appear in this extensive database. Likewise, instructors will find these points informative, especially when they seem counterintuitive.

A real strength of Real Grammar is its attention to language register. In each unit, mention is made when there are distinctions in structures used in three types of writing (informational/newspaper, fiction, and academic). Moreover, significant attention is given to the grammar of speech: informal usage, incomplete sentences, amplifiers and downtowners, nonsexist language choices, and discourse markers (“well, oh, look, and okay” [p. 109])―topics that are often overlooked in more conventional grammar textbooks.

Though the authors undoubtedly had some difficult choices regarding which 50 structures to include in Real Grammar, a few topics seem to be of somewhat less value than other potential candidates. For example, a curious choice includes “though” and “anyway” (Unit 28), and two units (20 and 50) are dedicated to indefinite and imprecise noun phrases (“stuff,” “things,” and “something like that”) while eschewing topics such as indefinite articles and quantifying determiners. However, these choices, in particular, focus on spoken English and how it often differs significantly from formal grammatical rules. There is little doubt that every unit offers valuable practice in understanding the form and usage of authentic language, whether written or spoken.

By using corpus research as the basis of content, Real Grammar offers a fresh approach to addressing a select number of grammatical structures. It is an interesting choice as an ancillary tool in advanced writing or speaking classes, a useful reference for instructors and for self-study by advanced students of English.

REFERENCES

Longman Corpus Network. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2010, from www.pearsonlongman.com/dictionaries/corpus.

Raimes, A. (2004). Grammar troublespots. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Dennis Bricault, dbricault@northpark.edu, is professor of Spanish and director of ESL programs at North Park University, Chicago. His research interests include materials development for upper-division grammar courses in both Spanish and English.