Understanding Language Use in the Classroom

It is clear that a proper understanding of what academic English is and how to use it is crucial for success in college, and yet students face multiple obstacles in acquiring this new 'code', not least that their professors often cannot agree among themselves on a definition and a set of rules. Understanding Language Use in the Classroom aims to bring the latest findings in linguistics research on academic English to educators from a range of disciplines, and to help them help their students learn and achieve. In this expanded edition of the original text, college educators will find PowerPoint presentations and instructor materials to enhance the topics covered in the text. Using these additional resources in the classroom will help educators to engage their students with this crucial, but frequently neglected, area of their college education; and to inform students about the unexamined linguistic assumptions we all hold, and that hold us back. You can find additional materials on the Resources tab of our website.

Susan J. Behrens is Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders, and Director of the Center for Teaching Innovation and Excellence, Marymount Manhattan College, New York, USA. She contributes weekly lessons on writing and English composition to The New York Times in Education (nytimesineducation.com). Her other publications include Grammar: A Pocket Guide (Routledge 2010) and Language in the Real World: An Introduction to Linguistics (with Judith A. Parker, Routledge 2010).