An open letter by the President of the National Council of Teachers of English; appears also in College English," vol. 32, no. 2 (November 1970), pp. 237-38, and English Journal," vol. 59, no. 8 (November 1970), pp. 1154-56. (RD)

When the science of linguistics is treated as a variety of ways for searching for truth and theory, rather than as a body of established theories, it can be taught successfully in the early grades. Some of the generalizations in linguistics (e.g., the articulatory description of differences between significant sounds, of the classification of…

Two problems which the language arts teacher encounters are the effect of science on language teaching and the nation's commitment to "excellence for all" as measured by objective examination. Scientists, who value exactness, objectivity, and control, have imposed their values on language and have attempted to construct machines that will use and…