Suggested for high intermediate and advanced level students of ESL.

Includes bibliographical references.

Introduction

Form and Function
1. Do You Mind? -- 2. Which Utterances Are Emphatic? -- 3. Does the Sentence Tell How He Did It? -- 4. Which Utterance Has the Same Meaning? -- 5. Is the Response Affirmative? -- 6. Is an Answer Expected? -- 7. Negative or Affirmative -- 8. Did He Do It? -- 9. Who Is The Real Agent? -- 10. Who did It? -- 11. Where Is John? -- 12. Which Utterance Is More Empathetic? -- 13. Should He Do It? -- 14. What Is Your Opinion? -- 15. Can You See the Difference? -- 16. What Do These Imperatives Imply? -- 17. An Offer or a Request? -- 18. Did the Action Take Place? -- 19. Did He Leave Immediately -- 20. Does the Statement Make Sense? -- 21. Obligation or Logical Conclusion? -- 22. Is There an Assumption on the Part of the Speaker? -- 23. Which One Is Synonymous With the Statement? -- 24. Same or Different? (I) -- 25. Same or Different (II) -- 26. Which Utterances Are Synonymous? -- 27. What Does "And" Mean? -- 28. To Whom/What Does It Refer? (a and b) -- 29. Does It Express Future Time? -- 30. What Happened (Happens)

Appropriateness
31. Is It Positive, Negative, or Non-Committal? -- 32. Is It Appropriate or Nosey? -- 33. Can You Disagree Politely? -- 34. Is It Formal or Informal Language? -- 35. Which Utterance Is More Likely To Be Used Among Friends? -- 36. How Does a Student Talk to a Professor?

References -- List of Answer Keys and Grammatical Points Covered

"In learning another language, one learns the forms of the language and at the same time one learns how the forms are used. This is not an easy job because there is not necessarily a one-to-one relationship between grammatical form and function in communication. Often one linguistic form may fulfill a variety of functions and, on the other hand, one function may be fulfilled by a variety of forms. Look at the utterances below. They are called "yes/no questions' grammatically. But what is the function of each? Isn't he stupid? (Exclamation) -- Won't you sit down? (Offer) -- Do you think I'm deaf? (Protest) -- Can you believe that? (Astonishement). This shows that utterances are not confined in use to the functions suggested by the grammatical labels that we give to them. Nor does one use of the language require the selection of one particular grammatical form. For instance, a request can be expressed by a statement, an imperative, a question, etc. I hope you don't mind my using your dictionary. -- Please give me a hand. -- May I keep this copy? These Mini Checks are designed to call attention to the connection between form and function and to try to work out some generalizations governing language use. Also included are some exercises concerning the appropriateness of language use in given situations. Having grown up in a non-English speaking environment, the learner has little intuitive sense of linguistic appropriateness in English. These exercises will help him realize that in order to learn English, he needs to develop his linguistic feeling. This book is designed for use with the Ilyin Mini Check System. The System includes answer sheets, each of which accommodates three Mini Checks, and answer keys for scoring. The book is recommended for use with high intermediate and advanced level students of English as a Second/Foreign Language." (Introduction, p. vii)