Learner English Mini Review

Learner English- Michael Swan and B. Smith- CUP

In my opinion, Michael Swan is the EFL ‘voice of good sense’. While people continue debating the influence of first language on student production, he has provided us with a book that gives us a practical guide to speakers of different languages, their first languages, and common mistakes they make. The book is divided into 22 chapters giving information on speakers of languages from Spanish to Swahili. Each chapter starts with statistical information on the language before going on to give data on common mistakes and misunderstandings in sections on, for example, grammar, vocabulary (e.g. false friends) and pronunciation. If you teach a variety of nationalities, especially 1 to 1, it is well worth reading each chapter a couple of times- once to prepare yourself for a first lesson and again after a couple of weeks to remind yourself of things still worth tackling. After reading 3 or 4 different chapters the point of how many problems occur with every nationality also becomes clear (a point some would think would be an argument against such a book).