Evaluation of an Eng-lish Grammar Hand-

bookThe Writer’s Brief Handbook

Fifth editionBy Alfred Rosa and Paul Eschholz

The Purpose and Theoretical Orien-tation

O For college writersO Presecriptive+Descriptive “If offers clear definitions of important terms and concepts as well as helpful explanations of the rules and principles underlying effective written English.”O “We believe The Writer’s Brief Handbook

is the best concise yet comprehensive reference…”- Appropriate

The Purpose and Theoretical Orien-tation

O The book introduces some advice on avoiding bias in writing

O Bountiful and carefully chosen writ-ing examples for students

O Some of additional important featuresO ① user-friendly, multifaceted access system -tabbed dividers, complete chapter outlines, a color-coded, fold-out menu at the back ② writing process orientation -covers all stages of the writing process in depth with visual graphics for students

The Purpose and Theoretical Orien-tation

O ③ more students and professional writing

examples than any other hand-book ④ computer tips and checklists-help present helpful reminders for students while writing and conducting re-search

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The Purpose and Theoretical Orien-tation

Handling Usage Issues

O How does the book handle the changing nature of English?

-bountiful writing samples -extensive internet source (http://www.ablongman.com/rosa) -a separate publication, Exercise Book for The Writer’s Brief Handbook

O American English - Dictionaries and Thesauruses The New American Webster Handy College Dictionary, The Oxford American Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus, Merriam Webster College DictionaryO Document Design- different formats

and formality levels

How does the handbook handle vari-ation?

How does the handbook handle vari-ation?

O Latest MLA, APA, and Chicago Man-ual Documentation and Manuscript Format Guidelines- extensive up-to-date models. Basic formatting infor-mation for academic manuscripts is provided with sample student re-search papers for each style- style

differences

Addressing the special needs of non-native speakers of EnglishO ESL Basics tab

O Verbs/Nouns, quantifiers and articles/Adjectives and adverbs/Prepositions and prepositional phrases/Parts of sentences/Special problems/Confusing words and phrases

O Familiar terminology

Coverage and coverage adequacy

O Coverage- good -color coded themes -very organized and user friendly -detailed explanation and graphics -great writing samples and explana-tion

Well handled partsO Complete writing samples O Explanations with the writing sample

(page number)O Special kinds of writing-Business let-

ter, resume, checklists for academic writing

Weak partO ESL - Very brief

Physical FormatO Easy to use, simply designed. Color

coded tabsO Very well organized (especially De-

tailed Contents)O Index and table of contents exists.

Easy to useO Tabbed sections (color coded)- very

convenient

O Clear explanation- brief definitions and plenty and ample examples

O No pocket manualO Folded manual- very detailed and

long

Physical Format

RecommendationO Very helpful grammar book -Plenty examples and details -Wide range of themes but well or-ganized -Tabs are very convenient