Susan J. Behrens is Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders, and Co-Director of the Center for Teaching Innovation and Excellence, Marymount Manhattan College, New York, USA. She contributes to The New York Times Learning Network and The New York Times in the First Year. Her publications include Grammar: A Pocket Guide (Routledge 2010) and Language in the Real World: An Introduction to Linguistics (with Judith A. Parker, Routledge 2010).