English Language Myths by Brown, Adam;

Long description:

The aim of the book is to dispel beliefs about

English which are held by English teachers in Singapore, Southeast Asia and

beyond. These beliefs are either wide of the mark or stated too strongly.

However, they are widely held, and thus are taught in schools and in exercise

books, and appear in tests and examinations. The 30 chapters (corresponding to

30 myths examined) cover the nature and status of English, grammar, morphology,

pragmatics, spelling and pronunciation. The approach adopted shows that many of

the beliefs held by teachers are not substantiated by what speakers of English

actually do. Quotations from literature, reference books and from corpus data

are given to support the analysis. The author is an authoritative figure in his

field, and has many years of experience in training English language teachers in

Southeast Asian countries. The discussions that focus on Southeast Asia and

Singapore in particular make this book very relevant to both English language

teachers and students in the region.

Table of Contents:

English Language Myths:

30 Beliefs that Aren't Really True                 

                 

Introduction

                 

Acknowledgements 

                 

Abbreviations

Myth 1       

Singaporeans are not native speakers of English 

Myth 2       

Singapore English is British English 

Myth 3       

Singaporeans can switch easily from Singapore colloquial English to Singapore

standard English 

Myth 4       

How come? is a Singapore expression 

Myth 5       

Singapore English is short and sweet 

Myth 6       

Singapore English has no grammar 

Myth 7       

You can't use more than one tense in a sentence 

Myth 8       

The present tense means present time 

Myth 9       

Use the present tense with today 

Myth 10     

Use the present tense with every 

Myth 11     

All goes with plural expressions 

Myth 12     

After and, use plural verbs 

Myth 13     

When representing future time, would is the polite form of will 

Myth 14     

Shall adds force to your writing 

Myth 15     

The past perfect is used for events that happened a long time ago 

Myth 16     

It is more formal to use you and I than you and me 

Myth 17     

The word examination in the expression an examination hall is an

adjective 

Myth 18     

Good at is used to focus on a particular subject. Good in is used

when you need to specify depth and scope 

Myth 19     

You can't begin a sentence with because, but, and or also 

Myth 20     

Kindly and please are intechangeable 

Myth 21     

It is good style to use expressions like Please be informed and Please

find enclosed in business writing 

Myth 22    

All -us noun endings become -i in the plural 

Myth 23    

Accomodation and maintainence are spelt this way 

Myth 24    

An (not a) should be used whenever the following word begins with a,

e, i, o, or u 

Myth 25    

The is pronounced /  / in

British English, /  / in American English 

Myth 26    

RP is the model for pronunciation 

Myth 27    

Singapore English is syllable-timed 

Myth 28    

Singaporeans speak with a narrower pitch range than others 

Myth 29   

All questions are said on a rising intonation 

Myth 30   

Flower and flour are pronounced differently 

               

References

               

Index of topics and words

               

Index of authors and works quoted