Michael Swan (writer)

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Michael Swan is a writer of English language teaching and reference materials. He graduated from University of Oxford with a bachelor's degree in modern foreign languages [1] and has later gone for a postgraduate research degree. [2] He is the founder of Swan School of English. [3]

Contents

Biography

Major publications include Practical English Usage [4] and Basic English Usage [5] (Oxford University Press). Other books are Grammar, [6] an introductory book on why languages need grammar and what they do with it and, with David Baker, Grammar Scan [7] (Oxford University Press), a collection of diagnostic language tests.

Michael Swan is also the co-author, with Catherine Walter, of The Oxford English Grammar Course, [8] of How English Works [9] and The Good Grammar Book [10] (all with Oxford University Press), and the New Cambridge English Course series (with Cambridge University Press). In 2012 the Advanced level of the Oxford English Grammar Course won the newly established Award in English Language Teaching (ELT) Writing, conferred by the British Council in collaboration with The (UK) Society of Authors. [11]

Michael Swan's interests include pedagogic grammar, mother-tongue influence in second language acquisition, and the relationship between applied linguistic theory and classroom language-teaching practice. [12] He has written articles on all these topics, and is known for influential articles on the communicative approach and on task-based learning. [13] [14] [15]

Michael Swan is also a widely published poet. His poems have been published in several poetry magazines such as Acumen and The Frogmore Papers , as well as in the BBC Wildlife magazine. His collection When They Come For You [16] was published by The Frogmore Press in 2003, and his second collection The Shapes of Things [17] was published by Oversteps Books in 2011. In 2005 he won The Times' Stephen Spender Prize for poetry translation with his translation from the German of a section of Rilke's "Orpheus. Eurydice. Hermes". [18] He won The Poetry Society's 2010 Stanza Poetry Competition, with his poem "I Wasn't There". [19]

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. "Michael Swan | English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics". Archived from the original on 2016-11-29. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
  2. "Michael Swan - biography". Archived from the original on 2018-10-14. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  3. "Michael Swan - biography". Archived from the original on 2018-10-14. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  4. Michael Swan (21 April 2005). Practical English Usage. Oxford: OUP. ISBN   978-0194420983.
  5. Michael Swan (18 Oct 1984). Basic English Usage . Oxford: OUP. ISBN   978-0194311878.
  6. Michael Swan (24 Nov 2005). Grammar (Oxford Introduction to Language Study ELT). Oxford: OUP. ISBN   978-0194372411.
  7. Michael Swan and David Baker (10 April 2008). Grammar Scan: Diagnostic tests for Practical English Usage (3rd ed.). Oxford: OUP. ISBN   978-0194422741.
  8. Michael Swan and Catherine Walter (2011). The Oxford English Grammar Course. Oxford: OUP. ISBN   978-0194420754.
  9. Michael Swan and Catherine Walter (30 Jan 1997). How English Works: A Grammar Practice Book (With Answers) . Oxford: OUP. ISBN   978-0194314565.
  10. Michael Swan and Catherine Walter (8 Nov 2001). The Good Grammar Book (With Answers). Oxford: OUP. ISBN   978-0194315197.
  11. "British Council Teaching English". Archived from the original on 6 May 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  12. "Mike Swan's official website: English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics". Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
  13. Swan, Michael (2006). Brown (ed.). "English in the present day". Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. 4: 149–156. doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/05058-6.
  14. Swan, Michael (September 2007). "Grammar, meaning and pragmatics: sorting out the muddle". Tesl-Ej. 11 (2).
  15. Swan, Michael (Autumn 2005). "Legislation by hypothesis: the case of task-based instruction". Applied Linguistics. 26 (3): 376–401. doi:10.1093/applin/ami013.
  16. When They Come For You, The Frogmore Press, 2003, ISBN   0953138364
  17. The Shapes of Things, Oversteps Books Ltd, 2011, ISBN   978-1906856199
  18. "Winning The Times Stephen Spender prize for translation". The Times. 7 November 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
  19. "The Poetry Society's 2010 Stanza Poetry Competition". Archived from the original on 23 November 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2011.