Grattan

A Review of Azar and Hagens Basic English Grammar Textbook

Introduction
Pearson Educations Basic English Grammar (4th ed.) textbook by Betty S. Azar and
Stacy A. Hagen was published in 2014, and is specifically designed for beginning level
proficiency learners of English. The teachers edition includes an answer key, as well as a
teachers guide with supplementary materials and notes regarding implementing exercises
and introducing important grammatical structures. The authors describe the method used
as communicative in nature, geared towards having students interact with one another in
authentic contexts to generate an understanding of meaning and form (Azar & Hagen, 2014
p. ix). In evaluating this textbook, appropriateness of content and activities will be assessed
keeping in mind that this textbook is designed for beginner proficiency levels, so new
information should be reintroduced and expanded upon sufficiently. In addition,
comprehensibility of information/input will be analysed to determine whether or not the
materials that are covered are appropriate and integrated in enough ways for students to
actually retain and be able to use them.
Overview of Textbook Contents and Layout
Since there are fifteen chapters in this textbook, and the authors state that the
contents can be covered in one semester, this would require the class to cover one chapter
a week. There is a wide range of contents to cover when initiating grammar instruction,
and this is conveyed when looking through the chapters. For example, chapter one covers
singular and plural nouns, pronouns, contractions, negations, definite and indefinite
articles, adjectives, prepositions, and using the verb be. However, this amount of new
material exceeds the limit of comprehensible input beginner level students are able to
absorb in this amount of time (Larsen-Freeman & Anderson, 2011, p. 103). Giving each new
topic sufficient time so students can be exposed enough to fully comprehend it could be a
challenge if the instructor wishes to complete all the activities provided in each chapter. By
adapting or modifying the number of activities per chapter it is possible to move through
one chapter a week. The instructor can do this by only choosing certain activities to cover
in class, modifying activities to omit steps or have students work in groups to complete all
the parts, or assigning some for students to complete outside of class for homework.
There are up to as many as sixty-four activities in one chapter, each working
through a particular grammatical feature using the four language skills: listening, speaking,
reading, writing. Each chapter begin with an overview of the vocabulary being highlighted
in the activities. It then introduces the grammatical rules and explains how and where they
applies. This typically takes the form of a chart or diagram to clearly illustrate how the
forms are used. For example, chapter one goes over pronouns, so there is a table with
subject and object pronouns given in first, second, and third person singular and plural on
page 3. Next, the activities in each chapter follow a pattern that begins with learner
receptive comprehension of rules and words through fill-in-the-blank or selected response
type questions. Then reading and speaking activities provided so students can work
 Grattan 2

together in answering questions or acting out scenarios. In most chapters there is at least
one listening activity where the teacher will play an audio recording and students must
answer questions based on what is being said. Finally, every chapter ends with a free
writing activity, preceded by an example writing sample so students understand the
expectations of the task.
Themes
This textbook covers a variety of themes, which change and progress with each new
chapter. For example, chapter 3 has a central theme of morning routines to introduce and
practice simple present tense verb forms. The example sentence from one of the activities
is Karen brushes her teeth in the morning, and has a picture next to the sentence to depict
the action (p. 49). Below this example there are four portrayals of people doing common
morning activities and students are asked to write simple sentences illustrating the actions
seen in these pictures using simple present tense verbs. The verbs students must use have
already been addressed on the first page of the chapter along with the new vocabulary
words related to mornings, such as eggs and breakfast. Some of this chapters verbs are
to wake up, to make, and to wash (p. 46). Activities such as this one can be done
individually, in pairs, small groups, or as a whole class depending on how familiar the
teacher believes the students to be with these forms. For instance, if this is the very first
activity using the present tense and these new vocabulary words, the teacher might choose
to make it a whole class activity so students can get a better understanding of these new
meanings and forms before having to generate sentences on their own.
Vocabulary
Each chapter in the textbook introduces new vocabulary related to the theme(s)
being discussed in that chapter. The new words have pictures, definitions, and example
sentences to illustrate their use and meaning. These words can be found on the first page if
they are being used in the first few activities, or they can be found scattered throughout the
chapter when knowing them is necessary to complete the task. I believe the authors used
this arrangement so as to not bombard students with all the new vocabulary at once, which
can appear daunting and seem impossible to learn in a week. Once introduced, the
vocabulary from one chapter can be seen in following chapters so students are exposed to
it in different contexts and become comfortable with its meaning and use. For example,
vocabulary discussing food (e.g. apples and salad) covered in chapter 5, can be
incorporated into activities in later chapters. For beginning learners it is imperative to
incorporate new words not only in receptive tasks (i.e. listening and reading), but also
productive tasks (i.e. speaking or writing), in order for acquisition to occur.
Framework
Azar and Hagen incorporate Nation and Newtons four strands framework outlined
in Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking (2009), which are to provide meaningful input
and output, promote accuracy of structures and features, and develop students fluency.
Meaningful input relates to receptive tasks, such as shared reading or listening to stories,
 Grattan 3

where students focus on the understanding messages and ideas being expressed through
language. Meaningful output relates to productive tasks, such as writing a letter or giving a
presentation, where students focus on using language to convey messages and ideas.
Language-specific learning also known as form-focused instruction is centered around
learning the rules regarding the use of features found in the language. This includes time
spent intentionally on pronunciation, spelling, grammar, vocabulary and discourse
features. In addition, this strand emphasizes language learning and use strategies such as
receiving feedback about writing, and creating vocabulary cards. While this is an important
strand, especially regarding grammar, it should not take away from the amount of class
time devoted to the other strands. The fourth strand is fluency in all four language abilities,
which requires there to be no unfamiliar input, but a focus on meaning. Some activities that
promote fluency are repeated reading/listening, retelling stories, or free writes. (Nation &
Newton, 2009, p. 1-9)
Through analysis of Basic English Grammar I have found activities in each chapter
that target each of Nation and Newtons four strands. For example, each chapter has
activities where specific grammar features are directly addressed by completing dialogues,
providing translations, or filling-in-the-blanks. There are activities in each chapter with
meaning focused input such as short readings and audio recording listening sections with
comprehension questions afterwards, in addition to meaning-focused output activities
where students must tell a story, write a note, or have a conversation. Fluency practice is
not as integrated as the other strands since this textbook is for beginners and the amount
of familiar content is limited. However, there are still activities in later chapters where
previously learned material is repeated either receptively or productively.
Four Language Skills
This textbook highlights the importance of students being exposed to authentic
spoken English, and this edition includes audio recordings with slow, easy to comprehend,
tracks that are incorporated in the exercises. Each chapter incorporates three to four
listening activities where students must answer questions based on the audio clips they
listen to. The addition of listening materials found in many newer textbooks, is valuable for
integrative classes that incorporate listening practice into their daily lessons. For situations
where students may be learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and may not be
exposed to much spoken English, the involvement of appropriately timed, and properly
leveled listening recordings can help improve their ability to understand the language over
time. In a beginning level classroom the speech rate should be slow and articulate in order
for students to comprehend the language being used. In addition to the rate of speech, the
language features used in the recordings must be geared towards the proficiency level of
the students listening to them, so if the students have not covered past tense, there should
be no past tense verbs in the listening exercise. The listening materials provided by this
textbook are appropriately timed and use language features that beginner learners can
understand.
 Grattan 4

For speaking practice a variety of teaching methods are used to get students talking.
Approximately half of the activities in each chapter incorporate speaking skills in some
form or another. There are pairwork exercises, which entail students to partner with one
another and work through problems and then share their answers with the class. For
example, chapter 14 exercise 14, gives directions for one student to provide an adjective or
adjective phrase and the second student must think of a noun to complete the phrase with.
One example in the textbook has the first student say a quiet, the second speaker then
completes the noun phrase by adding whisper (p. 389). There are multiple small group
and whole class Lets talk exercises in every chapter so students have varying ranges of
listener group sizes. This textbook also provides a variety of ways for students to interact
with each other and the instructor through collaborative tasks and student discussion.
Making sure beginning level learners are not only being asked to speak in front of the
whole class, but in smaller groups and in pairs, is one way to help them become more
confident in their speaking abilities. Also, many of the activities allow the students to
choose the topics while using the targeted structures, which promotes student interest and
engagement since it is tailored-to-the-individual, while still working on the grammatical
elements.
For reading and writing practice, every chapter ends with an exercise where the
students must read a sample paragraph and then answer a prompt with various
components. For example, chapter 7, where count and noncount nouns are taught, provides
a story describing a scene at a park that the students should read and use as a model for
their written responses to the free write. The example paragraph starts off with, There are
many people at the park. Two girls are walking two dogs. The wind blows a mans hat off
(p. 198). Below this example there is a picture of a farm scene, and students are asked to
write a paragraph incorporating all the fundamental writing aspects they have learned in
the course thus far. Some of these are indenting, capitalizing when beginning sentences,
punctuation, correct spelling, and making sure there is at least one verb in each sentence
(Azar & Hagen, 2014, p. 190). Included in each chapter is a table that introduces the new
features targeted in that specific chapter. For example, in chapter 7 the appropriate use of
the determiners a, an, and some to modify count and noncount nouns is addressed since
those determiners are the main focus of the chapter. The table also refreshes the students
memory on what they have learned in previous chapter, such as remembering to add plural
markers at the end of nouns (Azar & Hagen, 2014, p. 223).
Integration and Collaboration
This textbook incorporates activities that integrate multiple language skills at once.
Reading and listening, speaking and writing, reading and writing, and listening and
speaking activities are all found throughout the textbook integrating receptive and
productive abilities. There are also some activities that highlight all four language skills, as
in chapter 10 exercise 49 page 332 where students must listen to a play, then read it out
loud as a class with volunteers reading each part. They are then given a handout with a
 Grattan 5

similar play structure, but with blank spaces where students must work in small
groups/partners to fill in the blanks creating their own play about the same characters, and
then check each others grammar with a different partner. In addition, this textbook
provides modifications/additions for activities; as with the previously mentioned activity
where the instructor has the option of continuing the use of the original play by having the
students perform it in front of the class, or asking the smaller groups to write and perform
their own versions of the play (Azar & Hagen, 2014, p. 333). Activities where students can
be imaginative, funny, or competitive usually help keep them engaged in the lesson, and I
think this textbook does a good job with integrating language skills in the majority of
activities.
The textbook also includes games in each chapter where students can work in
groups to complete a task and the group with the most correct answers wins. In my
experience observing ELL classrooms, it appears that students get very involved in tasks
that have a winner and loser. They seem to have more energy and willingness to
participate, and this engagement can motivate them to try harder to answer correctly for
their teammates. This form of motivation can liven up a challenging grammar concept by
allowing the students who grasp the idea to work with the students that may be struggling
to understand it. Collaborative tasks are essential to nurture a cooperative and helpful
environment where all learners feel comfortable enough to participate and contribute.
These types of tasks are found in Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) and in
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), where students work together to accomplish
tasks (Larsen-Freeman & Anderson, 2011, p. 158). Approaches to teaching that encourage
peer-correction and support help cultivate a classroom where learning is not only
attainable through the instructor, but through classmates as well. When students feel that
they can rely on and give help to their peers, the classroom can help foster an environment
where students are comfortable enough with one another that they are not afraid to ask
questions or make mistakes. Most of this textbooks activities can be completed as
individual, peer, or whole class work and this gives the teacher flexibility in lesson planning
to ensure collaborative tasks are included in every class session.
Conclusion
Through extensive analyses of this textbook, with the abundance of grammar topics
covered, instructors may have to adapt some activities to complete its entirety in a
semester. The activities provided allow students to engage in receptive and productive
learning, as well as work collaboratively to accomplish tasks. All four language skills are
targeted, providing a well-balanced approach to grammar acquisition with attention given
to accuracy and fluency. For Academic English programs, this textbook could be used in a
grammar course since it incorporates listening/speaking as well as reading/writing
exercises with an emphasis on language features, forms, and meanings. Real-world
scenarios and discussions are incorporated in the activities, which encourage student
engagement and interest. Overall, Basic English Grammar is a suitable book for the target
 Grattan 6

learner group, and its discussion of various grammar topics is detailed enough for students
follow along with guidance and assistance from the instructor.






































 Grattan 7

Resources
Azar, B., & Hagen, S. (2014). Basic English Grammar 4th edition. Pearson education.
Larsen-Freeman, D., & Anderson, M. (2011). Techniques and Principles in Language
Teaching 3rd edition. Oxford university press.
Nation, I. S. P. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL reading and writing. Routledge.