This book, written in an informal dialogue style, develops the thesis that of all the significant forms of art and communication, language alone has remained bound by an outdated, rigid structure--"command grammar"--that inhibits thought and expression. The book explains how language may be freed through use of Neo-Narrative, an "open structure"…

The central thesis of this book is that the laws of traditional "command grammar" are an obstruction to expression and are too difficult for a majority of people to master, as demonstrated by a progressive deterioration in general literacy skills. The book contends that the structure of the sentence is at the source of the present difficulties. It…

This book introduces a specific approach to sentence analysis by comparing traditional grammar with newer methods, including transformational grammar. The first chapter discusses the teaching of grammar and language skills and the use of standard and nonstandard dialects. Traditional grammar is defined and discussed in chapter 2. The other…

Intended for the adult who needs writing skills for career purposes, this three-part book presents principles rather than mechanical rules for achieving effective communication through writing. The first section of the book offers specific guidelines on communicative attitude, content, perspective, theme, organization, and revision. The middle…

A project to investigate the effects on the language development of secondary school pupils of a study of transformational grammar as represented in the Oregon English Curriculum involved 250 students in a large, coeducational high school near Auckland, New Zealand. The students were divided into three matched groups who studied different English…

Written as an objective critical assessment, this book is the first linguistic theory guide to categorial grammars. Categorial grammars offer a radical alternative to the phrase-structure paradigm, with roots in the philosophy of language, logic, and algebra. Their historical evolution is outlined and their formal basis is discussed, beginning…