Cheap Textbooks

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KEY BENEFIT: Designed to keep pace with current workplace needs and the emerging 21st century culture, this book offers a lively, accessible, and user-friendly alternative for the many (including those with poor English skills) who dread the thought of barebones traditional grammar and communication instruction and its overkill of rules. KEY TOPICS: With a focus on real-world English skills that contribute to good workplace communication, this book emphasizes principles that reflect the oral and written communication of today's Standard English, as used by well-informed people. MARKET: For office managers, accountants, executives, office personnel department heads and sales people

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Intonation in the Grammar of English is written for scholars interested in language but not necessarily linguists or phoneticians. An introduction covers speech sound, locating it in relation to other phenomena and disciplines, discussing its representation and interpretation, and introducing the systems and strata which frame its analysis in terms of systemic functional linguistics. The three kinds of meaning -- textual meaning (relating language to its ever changing context), interpersonal meaning (allowing us to enact our social exchanges with others) and ideational meaning (construing the logic through which we represent the world we live in) -- are each achieved in part through intonation. We make these meanings through choices: in terms of locating the main rise or fall in an intonation contour; in terms of fitting an intonation contour to part of a clause, to a whole clause, or to more than a clause; and in terms of the shape of the intonation contour. A CD ROM integrated with the book provides examples as the systems of intonational choices are presented, and also gives examples of these systems being drawn on in different dialects of English, and in the many different exchange situations in which speakers find themselves in the course of a day.

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Interest in word-formation is probably as old as interest in language itself. As Dr Bauer points out in his Introduction, many of the questions that scholars are asking now were also being asked in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. However, there is still little agreement on methodology in the study of word-formation or theoretical approaches to it; even the kind of data relevant to its study is open to debate. Dr Bauer here provides students and general linguists alike with a new perspective on what is a confused and often controversial field of study, providing a resolution to the terminological confusion which currently reigns in this area. In doing so, he clearly demonstrates the challenge and intrinsic fascination of the study of word-formation. Linguists have recently become increasingly aware of the relevance of word-formation to work in syntax and semantics, phonology and morphology, and Dr Bauer discusses - within a largely synchronic and transformational framework - the theoretical issues involved. He considers topics where word-formation has a contribution to make to other areas of linguistics and, without pretending to provide a fully-fledged theory of word-formation, develops those points which he sees as being central to its study. The book draws on a wide range of sources, and general points are illustrated from a variety of languages. As the title suggests, though, the exposition is principally illustrated with material drawn from English, including close analysis of a number of sets of neologisms. A survey of the types of word-formation found in English is also included. Some background in linguistics is assumed, but students of linguistics and English language with no previous knowledge of word-formation or of morphology at all will find English Word-Formation an accessible and stimulating textbook.

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A new textbook written for students with no background in syntax, which introduces them to key concepts of Chomsky's Minimalist program (e.g. merger and movement, checking, economy and greed, split VPs, agreement projections), as well as providing detailed analysis of the syntax of a range of different construction types. Illustrative material is mainly drawn from varieties of English (Belfast English, Shakespearean English, Jamaican Creole, etc.). There is a substantial glossary and extensive workbook section with helpful hints and model answers.

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An analysis of the foundations of English grammar, suitable for both undergraduates and those with advanced ESOL knowledge. The book also contains tear-out exercises which tests the reader as they progress.

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This textbook provides a thorough and precise account of all the major areas of English grammar. For practical reasons the author concentrates on Standard English and only selected aspects of its regional variation. The book is written for students who may have no previous knowledge of linguistics and little familiarity with 'traditional' grammar. All grammatical terms, whether traditional or more recent, are therefore carefully explained, and in the first three chapters the students is introduced to the theoretical concepts and methodological principles needed to follow the later descriptive chapters. Nevertheless, the book is more than a straightforward 'grammar of English'. Rodney Huddleston does not espouse any formalised contemporary model of syntax and morphology, but he adopts the framework of modern 'structural' linguistics, in a very broad understanding of that term. The grammatical categories postulated derive from a study of the combinational and contrastive relationships the words and other forms enter into, and Dr Huddleston pays particular attention to the problem of choosing between alternative analyses and justifying the analysis he proposes. In this sense his book is addressed to the student of linguistics, who will find Introduction to the Grammar of English a much needed foundation for more advanced work in theoretical linguistics.

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This is an introduction to the phonology of present-day English. It deals principally with three varieties of English: "General American," Southern British "Received Pronunciation" and "Scottish Standard English." It offers a systematic and detailed discussion of the features shared by these major accents, and explains some major differences. Other varieties of English--Australian and New Zealand English, South African English and Hiberno-English--are also discussed briefly. Without focusing on current phonological theory and its evolution, the author demonstrates the importance of "theory," in whatever shape or form, in phonological argumentation. This textbook will be welcomed by all students of English language and linguistics.

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The Vox Compact Spanish and English Dictionary contains more than 85,000 headwords, phrases, and examples, including the latest additions to the language plus technical, scientific, and business terms. This bestselling reference includes a 45-page section of Spanish idioms and expressions.

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This innovative English as a Second Language (ESL) textbook helps advanced English Language Learners develop conversation skills and improve fluency by sharing experiences, reflecting on their lives, and discussing proverbs and quotations. The ESL book includes 45 thematic chapters, over 1400 questions, 500 vocabulary words, 250 proverbs and American idioms, and 500 quotations. Designed for both adult education and intensive English language students, the conversations deepen critical thinking skills and speaking skills essential to success in community college and university programs. Compelling Conversations has been used in classrooms in over 40 countries, is recommended by English Teaching Professional magazine, and enjoyed by thousands of English students.