Academic and Professional English

This book offers a comprehensive and structured approach to mastering English language proficiency, tailored to academic, professional, and applied communication contexts. Organized into four key sections, it begins with Impactful Speaking, which provides foundational insights into phonetics, pronunciation, discourse markers, and practical speaking scenarios such as presentations and group discussions. Structural Nuances deepens grammatical understanding through detailed analysis of sentence construction, verb usage, and syntactic accuracy. In Effective Writing, readers refine their ability to produce clear, persuasive, and professionally relevant texts, ranging from reflective essays to formal reports. The final section, Pragmatic Considerations, integrates core language skillsspeaking, listening, reading, and writingwhile emphasizing vocabulary development, test preparedness, and communicative confidence.

With practical exercises, real-world applications, and expert insights, this volume serves as an essential resource for students, educators, and professionals seeking to improve their English fluency, enhance academic performance, and succeed in global communication contexts.

Includes multilingual examples to support diverse learners and enhance cross-linguistic understanding Combines language learning theory with applied test-taking strategies Covers foundational to advanced English skills, making it ideal for learners at multiple proficiency levels

Autorentext

Rajesh Kumar is a Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai. He obtained his PhD in Linguistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to joining IIT Madras, he taught at IIT Kanpur and IIT Patna in India, as well as at the University of Texas at Austin in the USA. He has also been a Visiting Faculty member at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. His book The Syntax of Negation and the Licensing of Negative Polarity Items was published by Routledge in their prestigious series Outstanding Dissertations in Linguistics in 2006. He is currently Associate Editor of the journal Language and Language Teaching. He has been actively involved in language teaching programs at all the institutions with which he has been affiliated. The broad aim of his research is to uncover the regularities underlying both the form (what language is) and the sociolinguistic functions (what language does) of natural languages.

Karthika Sathyanathan is currently pursuing her doctoral studies in Linguistics in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT Madras. She has worked as a language education consultant with several government departments and non-governmental organizations and is presently a Senior Project Officer at IIT Madras. Her areas of interest include English Language Teaching (ELT), multilingualism, multiculturalism, and second language learning.

Inhalt

Part I. Impactful Speaking.- Chapter 1. Language Foundations: Theory and Phonetics.- Chapter 2. Pronunciation: Stress, Syllables and Aspiration.- Chapter 3. Vocabulary, Phrasal Verbs and Modals.- Chapter 4. Spoken English.- Chapter 5. Practical Communication.- Chapter 6. Presentations, Discussions and Language Tests.- Part II. Structural Naunces.- Chapter 7. Parts of Speech.- Chapter 8. Adjectives, Adverbs and Tenses.- Chapter 9. Modal Verbs.- Chapter 10. Tenses and Agreement.- Chapter 11. Questions and Embedded Clauses.- Chapter 12. Sentence Structure: Clauses and Complements.- Chapter 13. Sentence Structure: Passives, Conditionals, and Quantifiers.- Part III. Pragmatic Considerations.- Chapter 14. Core communication.- Chapter 15. Reading Comprehension and Test Preparation.- Chapter 16. Listening and Proficiency Tests.- Chapter 17. Vocabulary Development.