美國各小學及幼稚園均設有ESL(English as a Second Language)課程，在特定時段將每年新報到的外籍新生集中到一個教室，由資深老師為他們補習美語，幫助他們在一至二年內從無到有學會美語。因此，一個外籍學生的美語程度可以從他在ESL課程中的進步情形作指標；當學生從ESL課程結業時，代表他已經具備融入美國學校生活和學習溝通０障礙的能力了。每個外籍新生入學時學校會先檢定他們的美語能力，再決定要進入怎樣的ESL班級上課，如果學生一舉通過ESL結業標準，就可以省去ESL課程，直接銜接正常課程上課。
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction by Karen-Jane Hills
Preface & Acknowledgements
Table of Contents
1. Terminology and Definitions
-Word -Verb -Phrase -Clause -Sentence -Ungrammatical Sentence
2. Overview
-The Structure of the English Sentence
3. Phrases
-Different Kinds of Phrases
4. Dependent Clauses
-Different Kinds of Dependent Clauses
5. Types of Sentences
-Different Kinds of Sentences
6. Verb Tenses
-Verb Tenses -Non-continuous Verbs
7. Voice
-Structures & Usage of the Two Voices
8. Infinitives & Gerunds
-Infinitives -Gerunds -Verb-verb Combinations
9. Phrasal Verbs
-Structure of Phrasal Verbs -Function of Phrasal Verbs -Different Kinds of Phrasal Verbs
-Some Commonly Used Phrasal Verbs
10. Subjunctive Mood
-Usage of Subjunctive Mood -Structures Used for Subjunctive Mood
11. Hope and Wish
-Usage of “hope” -Usage of “wish”
12. Conditional Clauses
-Different Kinds of Conditional Clauses -Mixture of “Dreams” and “Facts”
-A Possible Transformation
13. Mixture of Real & Unreal Expressions
-Real & Real -Unreal & Unreal -Unreal & Real -Real & Unreal
14. Structures of Urgency
-Verbs of Urgency -Adjectives of Urgency -Nouns of Urgency
15. Auxiliaries
-Some Common Traits Shared by All the Auxiliaries -The Confusing “have”
16. Modals
-Kinds of Modals & Their Meanings
17. Past of Modals
-Structure of Past of Modals and Their Meanings
18. Nouns
-Countable & Uncountable Nouns -Collective Nouns -Quantity Nouns
-Ways to Form Plurals -Portions of Nouns -Subjective-Verb Agreement
-Noun-Pronoun Agreement
19. Articles
-General Usage of Articles -Generic Expressions of Nouns
20. Noun Phrases
-Different Kinds of Noun Phrases
21. Noun Clauses
-Different Kinds of Noun Clauses - Abridgement of Noun Clauses into Noun Phrases
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