Interesting Blogs on Linguistics and Grammar

GRAMMAR BLOG
http://spandg.blogspot.com/
Grammar Blog approaches language oddities and mishaps with a lighthearted, irreverent tone. Gez Daring, Daniel Gray, and Tom Knowles started this blog as a continuation of the linguistic gibes they shared during their time at the Univ. of Newcastle upon Tyne, in England. Many posts include photographs of errors spotted in everything from literature to signage, to which the bloggers respond with often snarky corrections. Readers contribute their own photos of spelling errors and mistakes in grammar. While this is primary British English, there are useful and clever references to American English as well. You should enjoy and understand this despite the "other English."
MOTIVATED GRAMMAR
http://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/
Motivated Grammar abandons the traditional idea of grammar as a strict set of rules. Gabriel Doyle, graduate student in linguistics at UC, San Diego, rails against linguistic prescription, or the notion that arbitrary but established grammar standards should be closely followed. Each of Mr. Doyle's posts reads like a self-contained grammar lesson, posting a question, discussing the issue, and arriving at a conclusion. You'll enjoy this one!
LANGUAGE LOG
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll
Professors in linguistics, Mark Liberman of the Univ. of Pennsylvania and Geoffrey Pullum of the Univ. of Edinburgh started this blog in 2003. They and other contributors often touch on popular culture and current events in their discussion of language. With multiple posts each day, this blog covers a broad swath of linguistic issues. Translation and the comparison of language are popular topics on this blog, with one series of recent posts debating why English texts are much longer than their Chinese counterparts. Do some scrolling on this one, and you will be sure to find one of great interest which will give you something to really think about and come back for more. All three of these blogs were listed in the BLOG WATCH Section by Lydia Serota in the Wall Street Journal, Monday, June 9, 2008 in Section R16.

Posted by Robin Bosworth

ESL: Grammar/Verb Conjugator

http://www.verbix.com/webverbix/ Conjugate Verbs Online

WebVerbix is a free on-line verb conjugator. It's an online version of a more feature-packed shareware product called Verbix for Windows. There may not be a lot of uses for conjugating verbs, but for some students, it is helpful. There are ancient languages listed as well as modern.

ESL: Writing: Resources

http://academic.reed.edu/writing/esl_resources.html ESL Writing Resources: Doyle Online Writing Lab

Topics include:

English as a Second Language Resources
General Interest sites for ESL students
Basic Tips for ESL Students: Writing for an American Academic Audience (Purdue)
Writing an American Academic Paper (Dartmouth)
Grammar and Style pages for ESL students
ESL Grammar links A few pages identifying the eccentricities of the English language.
ESL Idiom Page Lists, meanings, and examples.
Phrasal Verb Page Lists, meanings, and examples.
Activities and Study Guides
Complete List of English Irregular Verbs (Susan Jones) A list of irregular English verbs with quizzes.
Focusing on Words Learn English vocabulary by studying selected poems and stories.
Grammar Safari (U. of Illinois) Provides ESL students with ideas for practicing the rules of English grammar.
Interactive English Language Exercises Exercises on grammar, vocabulary, and idioms.
Interactive Language exercises on the Web (Ruth Vilmi)
Quiz Center Quizzes on a variety of subjects designed for ESL students: history, people, grammar, slang, writing, world culture, etc.
Self Study Quizzes for ESL Students Quizzes on grammar, reading comprehension, writing etc. geared toward problems frequently encountered by ESL students.

Diagramming Sentences

http://members.cox.net/teachro/

Do you ever wish you had a site that will help with diagramming sentences? Here it is~!

Adult ESL Lesson Plans

http://www.palmbeach.k12.fl.us/adultesol/high.html

This is another site that really has too many aspects to adequately describe. It is developed for Adult ESOL students, and is well designed to determine the skill levels from Literacy to Advanced , along with specific topic areas such as Workforce Development, Consumer Ed, Grammar, Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing etc. I like that it is developed by classroom instructors, and that topics such as Life Skills are incorporated into the context.