Grammar should be taught for its own sake, not as a means to improving student writing because, in fact, it doesn't.

Suggests grammatical problem solving, grammatical worksheets, and grammatical poetry as ways of helping students acquire grammatical fluency. (DD)

Describes some of the time-honored answers from old education journals that are still relevant to contemporary questions on English education. (AN)

Discusses grammar programs, most of which are aimed at business or technical English. Although many search for common word/phrase errors and provide statistical summaries of word usage, others are being developed which will provide a thorough contextual analysis of business English. (JN)

The complex of factors governing mood choice in Spanish is reexamined. Mood choice is determined by the basic semantic values expressing the content of an utterance. The influence of comment, reaction, emotions, doubt, and uncertainty on mood choice are explored. (PMJ)

Discusses ways to insure that the current emphasis on grammar, concrete structure, and explicit simplicity do not edge out the development of writing that is forceful and engaging. (FL)

Discusses two student essays on the same topic, one of which is very successful, whereas the other fails to pass. Argues that the successful student is able to construct a powerful authoritative textual and discoursal identity for himself. Uses systemic functional grammar to demonstrate how he has recourse to the linguistic features of authority…

Evaluates CorrecText, Houghton-Mifflin's computer-based grammar checker that fully parses sentences and finds errors in grammar, style, and usage. Argues that, while CorrecText is an improvement over similar programs, it still cannot accommodate the syntactically ambiguous nature of English. Limits current design's usefulness to unedited prose.…

Suggests that distinguishing between a second-order reflective mentality and a first-order factive mentality is central to the perception of voice. Shows that the particular language interests of compositionists can lead to new understandings about grammar and the relationship between language form and language use. (MG)

Discusses the prevalent trend in American English to verbify, that is to convert nonverbs into verbs. Offers criteria to help decide when to use verbified words. (SR)

This study examines the effectiveness of written error corrections versus reformulations of second language learners' writing as two means of improving learners' grammatical accuracy on a three-stage composition-comparison-revision task. Concurrent verbal protocols were employed during the comparison stage in order to study the learners' reported…

This paper investigates the effect of explicit grammar instruction on grammatical knowledge and writing proficiency in first-year students of French at a UK university. Previous research suggests that explicit grammar instruction results in gains in explicit knowledge and its application in specific grammar-related tasks, but there is less…

As a new faculty member, the author was invited by colleagues to help protect a resource they believed was essential to their instructional program. The importance of teaching grammar in a didactic fashion as a precursor to student writing constituted an unchallenged belief in the department. Faculty members were committed to the notion that…