In Diane Larsen-Freeman’s textbook, Gramma Dimensions: Form, Meaning, and Use, chapter 7 discusses the aspect of similarities and differences of English grammar. The chapter has four focus sections that overall outline the goals for the chapter. Within each focus section, there are a couple exercises related to that goal for the chapter. The goals for chapter 7 are to use comparatives and superlative to express differences, understand the meaning of ‘as…as’ and ‘not as… as,’ form sentences with ‘as…as/ not as… as,’ and use these variations to make tactful comparisons. There is not a brief paragraph explaining the goals for each specific chapter, but rather a bullet point list on the side of the first page of each chapter, stating the objectives.

At the start of chapter 7, there is an opening task that goes over information learned from the previous chapter as a review, as well as a warm up for that chapter’s activities. The focus exercises for chapter 7 incorporate various types of activities for the learner to utilize, including fill in the blank, chart matching, short answer, modeling sentences, and filling in a chart. At the start of the chapter, the exercises consist of simple tasks with a lot of context clues provided. This allows for the student to learn the knowledge before thoroughly applying it to their English use. These exercises at the start of the chapter are more structured and include fill in the blank and chart matching. Once you get to the end of the chapter, the exercises are all blank charts or sentences that the student must then be able to fill in. This allows for the student to apply their knowledge to more complex activities that are not extremely structured. Lastly, at the end of the chapter, there is a section geared toward the student accessing their English abilities. This is the “Use Your English” section that gives options for the student to complete activities that revolve around either speaking, writing, researching, reflecting, or listening. For example, at the end of chapter seven in the ‘Use Your English’ section, Freeman provided an interesting activity for the student to research on the web and compare facts between Russia and the United States. The students are to write five sentences comparing the two countries and present them to the class.  

In my opinion, this chapter creates a well-rounded lesson for an intermediate ESL student learning about comparatives and superlatives. Freemans chapters mostly consist of only grammar exercises for the ESL students. I would like to see some more explanation within each chapter as to explain exactly what the exercise are intended to help teach them how to do. For example, if a student started working on some chapter 7 exercises in this text but didn’t know what a comparative grammatical marker is, then they wouldn’t know how to complete the exercises. If there was a brief explanation at the beginning of each chapter explaining what grammatical skills are going to be used, I think it would be a major plus to Freemans textbook.