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The Five-Minute Linguist: Bite-sized Essays on Language and Languages takes a new approach to making accurate and up-to-date knowledge about language accessible in a non-academic way. Leading linguists each tackle an intriguing question, and explain it in straightforward, delightful prose. There are 60 short, informative and provocative essays adapted from the scripts of a popular U.S. public radio series on language. The essays are written with a light touch that has been highly successful in reaching an audience of intelligent non-specialists. Authors: E. M. Rickerson and Barry Hilton. (273 pages)
Level: Gymnasiet  from the1st year/Linjefag

Contents include: 1. Why Learn about Language? Robert Rodman; 5. Do All Languages Come from the Same Source? Allan Bomhard; 10. Where did Writing Come From? Peter Daniels; 11. Where Does Grammar Come From? Joan Bybee; 14. Do Animals Use Language? Donna Jo Napoli; 15. How does the Brain Cope with Multiple Languages? Henk Haarmann; 16. Does our Language Influence The Way We Think? Geoffrey Pullum; 18. Is British English the Best English? Orin Hargraves; 19. Why do People Fight over Language? Paul Garrett; 20. What does it Mean to be Bilingual? Dora Johnson; 24. Why do Languages Die? Christopher Moseley;  26. Why do American Southerners Talk that Way? Walt Wolfram; 27. What Causes Foreign Accents? Steven Weinberger; 33. Is Elementary School too Early to Teach Foreign Languages? Gladys Lipton; 37. Is Spanish Taking over the U.S.? MariaCcarreira; 41. Are Dialects Dying? Walt Wolfram; 48. Where did English come from? John Algeo; 57. Do you have to be a Masochist to Study Chinese? Barry Hilton.

A fascinating and entertaining book with lots of inspiration for the teacher about the interaction of English with other languages. Melvyn Bragg shows us the remarkable story of the English language: from its beginnings as a minor guttural Germanic dialect to its position today as a truly global language — embracing elements of Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Hindi and Gullah. English is democratic, ever-changing and ingenious in its assimilation of other cultures. English runs through the heart of world finance, medicine and the Internet. English is understood by around two thousand million people across the world. This is a story of power, religion and trade, but also the story of people, and how their day-to-day lives shaped an extraordinary language. (354 pages)
Level: A/B/Linjefag/Inspiration til Almen Sprogforståelse

• Australian English •Caribbean English • Estuary English • Received Pronunciation • Scottish English •US Regional Dialects •Political English •The Corpus Revolution •The Influence of Shakespeare •The King James Bible •The Sound System of English •The Nature of the Lexicon

A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then pulls out a gun and shoots the waiter. “Why?” groans the injured man. The panda shrugs, tosses him a badly punctuated wildlife manual and walks out. And sure enough, when the waiter consults the book, he finds an explanation. “Panda. Large black and white mammal native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.”

Who knew grammar could be so much fun? Through sloppy usage and low standards on the internet, in email, and now text messages, proper punctuation has become an endangered species. In Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Lynne Truss says that it is time to look at our commas and semicolons and see them as the wonderful and necessary things they are. This is a book for people who love punctuation and get upset when it is mishandled. It sold over 3 million copies worldwide in hardback. From the invention of the question mark in the time of Charlemagne to George Orwell shunning the semicolon, this lively books makes a powerful case for the preservation of a subtle and invaluable system.
Level: Information and inspiration for any English teacher

25% discount for the rest of 2010!

25% discount for the rest of 2010!

An overview of the linguistic characteristics of varieties of English around the world. The book also includes a chapter on "Lesser-known Englishes", but the main emphasis is on the central varieties. Lots of compact and schematic information, but somewhat technical as the book makes extensive use of phonetic transcription and terminology. Comparisons across the varieties provide a comprehensive guide to differences in phonetics, phonology, grammar and vocabulary, providing a useful resource for teachers of English as a foreign language.. In this fifth edition the authors have added a new discussion of what Standard English really is, as well as an outline of typologies of varieties of English including ELF 'English as a lingua franca'. (176 pages)
Level: A (especially STX)/Baggrund for Almen Sprogforståelse/Linjefag

How does the English language work? Written in a clear and easy-to-follow style, this introductory textbook is based around three core topics in the study of language:

Word: English words, how they fit into sentences, their internal structure, their meaning and how they make up vocabularies for various purposes.

Sound: the sound systems of English, its phonetics and phonology, and English intonation and stress patterns.

Sentence: English sentence structure and introductory English grammar.

Authors: Koenraad Kuiper and W. Scott Allan. (364 pages)

The companion website (see page 308) already offers a great range of usable teaching resources and is still being developed (2010). The website, like the book, is divided into four sections: Introduction, Words, Sounds, Sentences. On the website these learning modules contains powerpoint files available for downloading. They are summaries of what is in the book and provide headings for taking notes. They are also used for the mini-lecture Quicktime movies each of which presents a topic from a section of the book. Students can either watch the movie before reading the relevant section of the book ... or watch afterwards for revision ... or the teacher can just expand the mini-lecture with material from the book. Finally there are MP3 sound files. These are short and aim to get you thinking about language issues, or they provide additional material on related topics.

NB! While there is more material in many sections than a gymnasium student will need ... and teachers will need to sort out what they want to use, the combination of book and multimedia offer a great range of flexible teaching possibilities!

Level: Gymnasiet/Almen sprogforståelse/Linjefag

Reports, essays, CVs, and letters all require correct spelling in order to get the message across in clear and straightforward English.
Adaptable or adaptible? What is the difference between assent and ascent, dual and duel, or forbear and forebear? How do you make the plural of halo? Is it halos or haloes? Actually it's both, but not so for potato, the plural of which is potatoes.
Knowing the difference between easily confusable words, making plurals, and adding endings are just some of the aspects of spelling that confront us with endless pitfalls. This easy-to-use A-Z guide does what no spellchecker can do: it gives immediate access not only to individual word spellings but also to general rules that will help students develop good spelling. The book covers the topics with simple and helpful rules and also offers advice on how to use apostrophes and hyphens, and the differences between British and American spelling.

• A-Z section highlights 2,000 words with difficult spellings, frequently confused words and other common mistakes that a spellchecker does not spot.
• Additional material includes rules for spelling, advice on beginnings and endings such as '-ible' or '-able', and notes on American spelling.
• The guide is based on evidence of actual spelling mistakes, and includes many newer words.
• Accessible design — attractive and simple to use.

New edition! Covering all the major punctuation marks in turn, this book helps students express themselves in a clear, accurate and effective way. It is structured to enable the reader to build up knowledge from chapter to chapter or to simply dip into it if specific information is required. It covers everything from semi-colons to inverted commas, giving step-by-step guidance on how to use each mark and how to avoid common mistakes. There are helpful examples of correct and incorrect usage and exercises that enable you to practise what you've learned. Author: Stephen Curtis. (171 pages)
Level: A Teacher's Resource/Library/Depot

The classic guide to language problems in English:

“Grammar Scan” er omdøbt til “Practical English Usage Diagnostic Tests” men er stadigvæk den samme bog!

This book includes diagnostic tests at Upper-Intermediate, Advanced, and Expert levels to check students’ knowledge of key aspects of English grammar and usage. The tests help students identify the topics they need to study or revise. The answer keys refer students to the in-depth explanations in the relevant sections of Practical English Usage. Authors: Michael Swan and David Baker.
Level: A+/Linjefag

This is a user-friendly practical guide which is aimed at helping students maximize their potential during their time at university. It provides resources to help them develop a wide range of good study habits. The book contains sensible suggestions, self-check tables and lots of illustrations. For the English teacher its main attraction is the many checklists about written English: “Structuring an Essay”; “Framework for an argumentative essay”; “Framework for a ‘compare and contrast’ essay”; “Characteristics of reports”; “Writing a case study” etc. Author: Stella Cottrell. (295 pages)
Level: A Teacher's Resource/Library/depot

Contents: Preparing for university — Identifying your skills — Intelligence and learning — The CREAM strategy for learning — Working with others — Research skills — Writing for university — Developing your writing — Projects, dissertations, reports and case studies — Critical analytical thinking — Memory — Revision and exams — Planning your next move.

Bill Bryson's dictionary provides a straightforward and very readable  guide to the pitfalls and hotly disputed issues of written English. The entries are discussed with Bryson's wit and common sense, and illustrated with examples of questionable usage taken from leading British and American newspapers, with occasional references to Samuel Johnson and Shakespeare etc. A glossary of grammatical terms is included and there is an appendix on punctuation.
Level: Library/Depot/Any language teacher

This bright and amusing book contains advice, tricks and techniques to help young or old students remember the often-confusing rules of English grammar. Cheerfully illustrated, this book should encourage your students to improve their English skills in a lively way. It points out common mistakes and misspelt words in written English, showing how they can be avoided and presents grammatical rules in a visual and highly digestible form. Packed with quizzes, tests, games and tips, as well as Internet links. Photocopy a section for your students when they run into a problem.
Level: Gym/HF/C+