Linguistics for L2 Teachers (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Linguistics for L2 teachers by Larry Andrews Fernando Rubio Linguistics for L2 teachers. By Larry Andrews. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2001. Pp. xvii, 146. The book is intended as an introduction to some general aspects of language and linguistics for teachers of English as a second language (ESL) or bilingual teachers. The target audience is teachers who have not had the opportunity to study the English language formally. With that in mind, it is hard not to appreciate the reader-friendly format and writing style that Larry Andrews has adopted for this book. The author avoids technical terminology whenever possible and illustrates every concept presented with an array of examples. The book includes a preface and six chapters. Each of them opens with a prereading section that acts as both an advance organizer and a good excuse to provoke discussions about the topic in the chapter. At the conclusion of every chapter the section called ‘For discussion’ provides a series of well-thoughtout questions to help students reflect on what they have read. I especially liked the ‘Be a linguist’ sections that are scattered throughout the text. These activities ask the student to think about the way English is used in real life and give readers an opportunity to check what they have read in the chapter against everyday use. Ch. 1 gives an introduction to the main features of human language as well as a tongue-in-cheek review of some of the myths about its origins. In the second chapter, A illustrates the different processes of word formation as they apply to English and talks about attitudes towards language change and the importance of knowing how to use a dictionary. In this chapter, A introduces an idea to which he will come back throughout the book, the notion that there is an inseparable connection between language and the cultural context in which it is produced. Chs. 3 and 4 follow the same sociolinguistic perspective. A emphasizes the distinction between ‘usage’ and ‘use’ and, once again, shows a preference for a definition of ‘good English’ that strays from just grammatical correctness and takes into account the context in which language occurs. In Ch. 4, A tries to illustrate the relationship between social conventions and language use. Here, I found the author slipping into what seems like a pointless effort to find a logical explanation (sometimes not very credible) of how some language conventions came about. The chapter regains a more convincing tone when A introduces the reader to some of the principles of pragmatics. Ch. 5 discusses language change and variation and what causes them. The author reminds us of the linguistic irrationality of considering some dialects superior to others and encourages the reader to look at change and variation as evidence of the vitality of the language. The final chapter is an overview of semantics in which A, once again, calls attention to the arbitrariness and the contextual dependency of the process of meaning creation. This book is definitely not intended for the initiated and its discussions, at some points, may seem a little superficial or obvious. But considering the audience for which it is targeted, this may be more a virtue than a fault. A’s short book manages to give an overall view of some of the most basic concepts in linguistics which will be extremely useful to any ESL teacher who wants to understand the social nature of language. Fernando Rubio Southern Oregon University Copyright © 2002 Linguistic Society of America