Relevant Linguistics: An Introduction to the Structure and Use of English for Teachers (review)

Since linguistic diversity in elementary and secondary classrooms in the United States is on the rise, it has become increasingly important for teachers to have better insight into the nature of human language and into the structure and use of the English language. Many education programs now require future teachers to enroll in a linguistics class. These students, however, often end up in a traditional introductory course and tend to become frustrated with the textbooks. They may complain that they fail to see a connection between the subject matter and their chosen profession, or they object to the use of too much jargon. Relevant linguisticsis written with this specific audience in mind: it highlights the areas of linguistics that are most relevant to teachers and often states explicitly why specific information is useful in the classroom context.

This is definitely not a standard introductory linguistics textbook: at the beginning of the book, the author indicates that the balance between completeness and simplicity was hard to maintain, especially in the area of syntax. He readily admits that sharper students may notice occasional oversimplifications and bring them up in class. He urges the instructor to use such observations as opportunities to have a classroom discussion and possibly as invitations for further exploration.

There are other differences from traditional textbooks: first, in order to capture the students’ attention better, most of the examples and exercises focus on English. Only occasionally is foreign language data used to illustrate differences between English and the other language. Second, the author takes care to avoid linguistic jargon as much as possible, but makes sure that relevant linguistic terms are still covered. Finally, some topics, for example, semantics and language change, are only briefly addressed.

Following an introductory chapter on the kind of work linguists do, the nature of language, and the relevance of linguistics, there are six chapters dealing with phonetics, phonology, morphology, morphophonology, syntax, and language variation. Each chapter contains quick exercises within the text, which enable students to apply a newly learned concept immediately and to check their comprehension. At the end of each chapter, there are additional exercises, intended to be completed after a classroom discussion of the chapter. There are additional readings related to each chapter at the end of the book. These provide a deeper look at topics covered in the text or cover areas not addressed in the text.

I have no doubt that this textbook addresses a real need in the college classroom: it teaches the basics that every educated person should know about linguistics and encourages the reader to think scientifically about language. It is a solid choice for students who are not likely to continue in linguistics, but who need to work with language.