Product Description

The Frameworks of English covers everything students and non-specialists need to know about linguistic structures. Kim Ballard describes the morphological, lexical, grammatical and phonological frameworks of contemporary English in a clear and logical way, guiding readers step-by-step through the various levels. Beginning with words as the building blocks of language, Ballard investigates the internal structure of words before moving on to see how words can be combined into larger and larger units, from phrases to sentences and beyond. In addition, three chapters are devoted to the sound system of the language, showing how we produce individual sounds as well as looking at syllable structure, stress and intonation.

The second edition of this successful introductory guide:
- expands upon certain aspects of the first edition and now includes an extended chapter on discourse
- highlights the typical differences between spoken and written language choices at appropriate points throughout the text
- features exercises and suggestions for further reading at the end of each Part
- contains an enlarged glossary of linguistic terminology to aid study.

Also providing plenty of examples and helpful cross-referencing, this is an essential one-volume survey which explores all the frameworks of English and enables readers to understand these fascinating frameworks systematically.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #111827 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Review
'As a crystal-clear, well-illustrated exposition of all the linguistic nuts and bolts one would want a beginner English Language student to know, this is unsurpassed.' - Jonathan Culpeper, Lancaster University, UK

'A most effective second edition of a very well-written and invaluable book.' - Cristiano Broccias, University of Genoa, Italy

'An impressive work, which deals with fairly dense subject matter in a deft and decisive manner. There's a great deal for the novice to chew upon and plenty for those with more experience to digest'. - Ian McMechan, Ermysted's Grammar School, UK

About the Author
KIM BALLARD is the Head of English at Esher College in Surrey, UK. She was a chief examiner for A level English Language for seven years.

Customer Reviews

The Frameworks of a lesson?
I found this book a little drab in that things arent really teaching, more like preaching. In other words, it didnt help me to practice nor develop, in fact, it was rather keen on cramming everything last minute.

On a more positive note I would like to say that the contents page was usefull as well as the section on grammar in the various stages of the "nonsence subject" as it states cleverly "Those who can do, those who can't... teach".

Avoid this book if what you want is a simple way to learn the frameworks and what goes into the development, I would consider reading the similar but MUCH more elaborate book by Kauffman who touched upon more topics, in less time, and without using all that teacher-esque talk mentioned in the above review.

nothing radical, but effective
Although this book claims to be 'for students and non-specialists alike' somewhat school-masterly language such as 'be careful not to....' and 'you can avoid this mistake....', and what it covers give it away more as a book aimed at school and college students. In fact, the author is an examiner for A level English language and the book seems to be a clear, fairly light introduction for such a reader. Having said that, if you've already read a general interest book such as 'Mother Tongue' by Bill Bryson and are interested enough to want a more in-depth, systematic account then this book covers an impressive amount of information in an accurate and informative way.

In the same way that the book takes the middle line between a textbook and a popular science book, it takes a fairly traditional approach to the task of describing the frameworks of English, whilst dealing with more modern ideas such as pragmatics (what people are trying to achieve through their language) along the way. Separate chapters deal with lexis (vocabulary), grammar, discourse (structures at greater than sentence level e.g. paragraphs and conversations) and phonology (pronunciation).

The strengths of the book are the explanation of jargon in the simplest possible terms, both during the text and in the glossary, and the fact that it covers so much in one compact volume (291 large text pages). It's major weak point is the fact that takes more of a descriptive than a self-discovery approach, meaning you are less likely to remember what you've learnt. For students, the lack of any practice exercises could also be a handicap.
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It's not a book you would want to sit down and read through in a couple of days, but I found it an interesting read and learnt a fair amount despite having already read quite a lot on the subject.

A great resource book
If you're studying English Language at A Level, this book will be invaluable to you as a resource. I used this book with pretty much every piece of homework I was set, every bit of exam revision I did and for looking up anything I was unsure of in class. It has a glossary at the back which will help you to better understand linguistic terms, as well as a breakdown of the main 'frameworks' of English; Lexis, Semantics, Grammar, Discourse, Phonology etc. It is a well written, easy to understand book but still has enough relevant and useful content to aid you in your studies.

However, if you are looking for a more in-depth look at English Language (perhaps for beyond A Level), I would suggest Mastering Advanced English Language by Sara Thorne (ISBN 0-333-62832-2) which gives even more detailed information.