TEXT:  Focus on Grammar: An Advanced Course for Reference and Practice, second edition;  by Maurer; Longman 2000

ATTENDANCE:  Click on this link to see VERY important information.

GRADES:

• Attendance can affect your final grade. Be sure to read the section above carefully.
• Numerical equivalents
• Homework must be handed in on the day it is due. Late homework will only be accepted if you are absent, and hand it in on the same day that you return to class. Late homework will be marked, but will receive a grade of zero.
• No make-up tests or classwork will be given or accepted.

 

 

HOMEWORK/PARTICIPATION.........20%

CLASSWORK/QUIZZES.....................30%
(Be sure to study the content of weekly gerund/infinitive quizzes and past participle quizzes.)

MIDTERM EXAM.................................20%

FINAL EXAM.......................................30%

IMPORTANT NOTE:  In order to pass to Level 4 Grammar, you must have passing grades on all verb tense assignments, verb tense quizzes, and midterm exam/final exam verb tense sections.

In this course, we will quickly review:

• modal auxiliaries (can, could, may must, might, should)
• infinitives and gerunds
• real conditions
• expressions of quantity with count/non-count nouns
• all verb tenses in active and passive voices

• past perfect and future perfect tenses
• past modal forms
• subordinate clauses:  adjective, adverb, and noun clauses, including reported speech and common subordinators
• participial adjectives

OBJECTIVES:

By the end of the term, you should be able to do the following.

• understand and use all verb tenses in statements, questions, and negatives
• understand the meanings and use  present and past forms of modal auxiliaries
• understand the meaning of and use real conditions
• be able to use gerunds or infinitives as complements to verbs, and in other functions
• understand and use adjective, adverb, and noun clauses, including reported speech
• understand and use common subordinating and coordinating conjunctions
• be understood in spoken and written English using all of the structures above

You will find lots of practice software, especially "Focus on Grammar,"  in the Learning Center.  A word of warning, however:  the Advanced series, although it goes with our textbook, may have some grammar points that are too difficult.  These are covered in level 4 and level 5 grammar.  Be sure to check the contents of the software before you get into it.  For review, the Intermediate and Upper Intermediate levels should be fine.

For quick practice, here are on-line links.  Links with an asterisk (*) are especially good, I think.

*English Language Centre Study Zone (University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)
This has an excellent variety of fun exercises, and very clear explanations.
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/grammar.htm

*Englishzone Grammar Page
This has a good selection for Level 2, including conditionals.
http://members.home.net/englishzone/grammar/grammar.html

*Englishpage.com
This site is commercial, but has a very complete explanation of types of verbs (e.g. stative, transitive), as well as exercises.
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbtenseintro.html

Grammar Modules from Monash University
http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/sif/Tutorials/Grammar/Table_of_contents_grammar/table_of_contents_grammar.html

Karin's ESL Partyland--The Quiz Center
Choose the medium section in grammar for Level 2, or browse through.
http://www.eslpartyland.com/quiz%20center/quiz.htm#Grammar

NetGrammar
If you have time, browse through this site--it has reading listening, vocabulary, and writing help related to grammar.  There are also several levels, so be careful.  Problem:  it's difficult to locate specific grammar points to practice.
http://busboy.sped.ukans.edu/~allenq/netgrammar/

Dave Sperling's ESL Quiz Center
Test your knowledge of a vareity of grammar points (nouns, prepositions, verbs) with these quizzes:
http://www.pacificnet.net/~sperling/quiz/#grammar

Grammar Quizzes (Self-Study Quizzes for ESL Students)
Recommended: Articles, Plurals, Pronouns, Verbs, Word Choice (includes comparatives/superlatives and verb-related items)
http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/grammar.html

Interactive Javascript Quizzes for ESL Students
Get a percentage score when you test yourself.
http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/js/