Grammar: a friendly approach

• Do you feel that your writing lets you down?
• Do you have problems turning your thoughts into writing?
• Do you randomly scatter commas throughout your written work and hope for the best?

You are not alone - and this book is just what you need!

This is a grammar book with a difference. It brings grammar to life by giving examples of grammatical problems in the contexts where they arise by including a soap opera. As the characters' grammar improves, so will yours.

It blends a story about three students - Barbara, Kim and Abel - with advice on specific areas of grammar. The characters' story builds throughout the book, but each chapter can be read separately if readers want to focus on specific grammatical issues.

The book examines and clearly explains aspects of grammar, language use and punctuation such as:

• Academic language
• Standard English
• Correct use of tenses
• Active and passive voices
• Sentence construction and punctuation
• When and where to place an apostrophe
• Using grammar checkers

There are exercises to encourage the reader to relate the issues to their own practice and experiences, as well as an extensive glossary which defines the terms that are used throughout the book.

Grammar: A Friendly Approach is based around issues at university but students from schools and colleges will also love this irreverent look at the rules of grammar: Their teachers and tutors will also see rapid and noticeable improvements in students' written work.

Christine Sinclair is a lecturer in the Centre for Academic Practice and Learning Enhancement at the University of Strathclyde. She works with both staff and students on all aspects of teaching and learning. She has also worked at the Universities of Glasgow and Paisley and is a philosophy graduate from the University of Stirling. When she first graduated, she became a journalist on a women’s magazine. When she came back into education, she also began to study again so that she could understand what students were experiencing. She has a PhD from the Open University, with a thesis entitled Students and Discourse: an Insider Perspective. This book is based on her experiences as a student in a completely new subject – mechanical engineering. Christine has already completed one book for the Open University Press: Understanding University: a Guide to Another Planet.