A Grammar of Modern English for Foreign Students – Cyril Miller

This linguistically-oriented text, based on a transformational-generative approach is intended for advanced, adult students of English as a foreign or second language.

The book is “especially strong in (1) explaining patterns and meanings on the basis of the deep structure of English, (2) presenting the structural and semantic correspondence between related sentences, and (3) offering interesting and insightful innovations in drill types with the information presented.”

The format consists of 20 units (preceded by two preliminary units of optional review material), and may be used for either a two-semester or a three-quarter academic course.

Each unit begins with a dialog which introduces new material. Utterance discrimination and utterance contour drills provide practice in phonological perception by contrasting items from the dialog with structures previously learned. A short passage for memorization, based on the dialog, and idiomatic phrases are drilled in varying contexts.

The second part of the unit contains grammar points from the dialog, replacement drills, and explication and oral manipulation of the grammar patterns in a wide variety of drills. The third part contains a short reading selection related to the dialog and structural exercises designed to develop writing skill.