Michael Swan is a writer of

English language teaching Teaching English as a second language (TESL) or Teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) are terms that refer to teaching English to students whose first language is not English. The terms TESL, TEFL, and TESOL distinguish betwee ...

and reference materials. He graduated from

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

with a bachelor's degree in modern foreign languages and has later gone for a postgraduate research degree. He is the founder of Swan School of English.

Biography

Major publications include ''

Practical English Usage ''Practical English Usage'' is a standard reference book aimed at foreign learners of English and their teachers written by Michael Swan. Published by Oxford University Press, it has sold over 2 million copies since the first edition was publishe ...

'' and ''Basic English Usage'' (Oxford University Press). Other books are ''Grammar'', an introductory book on why languages need grammar and what they do with it and, with David Baker, ''Grammar Scan'' (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'', of ''How English Works'' and ''The Good Grammar Book'' (all with

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

), and the ''New Cambridge English Course'' series (with

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

). 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. Michael Swan's interests include pedagogic grammar,

mother-tongue A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

influence in second language acquisition, and the relationship between applied linguistic theory and classroom language-teaching practice. He has written articles on all these topics, and is known for influential articles on the communicative approach and on task-based learning. 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 ''BBC Wildlife'' is a British glossy, all-colour magazine about wildlife, operated and published by Immediate Media Company. It produces 13 issues a year. ''BBC Wildlife'' was launched in January 1963 as ''Animals Magazine'', edited by filmmaker ...

'' magazine. His collection ''When They Come For You'' was published by The Frogmore Press in 2003, and his second collection ''The Shapes of Things'' was published by Oversteps Books in 2011. In 2005 he won ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

Stephen Spender Prize for poetry translation with his translation from the German of a section of Rilke's "Orpheus. Eurydice. Hermes". He won

The Poetry Society The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...

's 2010 Stanza Poetry Competition, with his poem "I Wasn't There".

References

External links

Michael Swan's home page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swan, Michael Linguists of English Living people English male poets Year of birth missing (living people)