Professor Meiklejohn's Grammar and History of the English Language - 2012 (Paperback)

Professor Meiklejohn's Grammar and History of the English Language

Revised and re-edited by Fraser McKen (2012)

- NOTE: A free, abbreviated version of this book in .pdf is downloadable at www.jmdmrevision.com]

The original volume - The English Language: Its Grammar, History and Literature (1886) - had widespread popularity, reaching over thirty-five editions in the British Isles, the British Commonwealth and the United States. Since I believe that teachers of English in the 21st C. have the same interest and curiosity about the starting principles of English instruction, I have revised and re-edited this book and, in addition to presenting it on Amazon Books, I have also created a web site to advertise and market it: www.jmdmrevision.com. The web site offers a free, downloadable .pdf version of the new book, including introduction, a table of contents, a description of the original author and highlight passages of the revised text.

My edition of Professor Meiklejohn's Grammar and History of the English Language (2012) is designed as a source text for both new teachers of English and practising classroom teachers. To start with, there is a section on English grammar which includes explanations of the origin and application of terms currently used - as well as clear examples of grammatical values, most of them taken directly from English Literature. There two indexes, one at the beginning of the book and, for easy review of the terms newly introduced to most readers, another index at the end of the grammar section. There is also extensive cross-referencing of grammatical terms such that they can be learned again, if necessary, as the reader proceeds.

After the grammar section is a section on word-branching. Here Professor Meiklejohn describes how individual words have been used to form new words in English, a process which has continued for 1500 years, incorporating root words, prefixes and suffixes in common from Ancient Greek, Latin, French and Old English into the 800,000 words we use today.

Part II is a section on composition, highlighting the modern method of instruction known as "The Writing Process." The Writing Process teaches accuracy of word selection, systematic review of and editing of drafts, logical presentation of ideas, standard punctuation and the lesser known and taught art of prosody (or verse). "The Writing Process" represents the most successful advance in writing and speaking skills development to have taken place in modern English language classrooms. The contents of this book offer a platform for its delivery.

Part III is Professor Meiklejohn's original "History of the English Language." He outlines here in five chapters "The Periods of the English Language," "The History of English Vocabulary," "The History of English Grammar," "Specimens Of Written English From Different Periods" and a final chapter on the English of his own era, The Victorian Age. He concludes this history of English with the "landmark" events in the development of the English Language which extend from from Beowulf to Lord Tennyson.

Part IV, the final section, provides a set of grammatical exercises and corrections indexed to their instructional pages.

In retirement now from my own career as a teacher of secondary school English, and with time and facilities available to me for self-publishing, I am making available, for teachers and student teachers of English worldwide, my own re-edition of Professor Meiklejohn's very successful instructional book of the late 1800's and early 20th C. I believe his book still has useful work to do and that, either as student or teacher of English, you'll agree.

- Fraser McKen

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