Text reordering, text rewording, text recording, and text researching offer students who must use prescriptive grammar books the opportunity to observe, analyze, manipulate, and enjoy language. (Author/RL)

Written for the educated reader cognizant of ordinary grammatical terminology or able to look it up in a dictionary, this booklet discusses why grammar seems so intractable. The booklet begins by offering two reasons why more diligent instruction in English grammar will not improve students' knowledge: (1) what is presented as English grammar…

As an emotional topic, concern with acceptable usage of language has never been far from the public consciousness, but the public's willingness to abide by educators' views on the necessity of teaching usage rules has varied over the years. The situation we face is not a new one--the eighteenth century saw the initial widespread concern with…

THROUGH THEIR LOSS OF FAITH IN TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR, MEN HAVE "SINNED" AND CONTRIBUTED SLIGHTLY BUT IMPORTANTLY TO THE CREATION OF AN AMORAL AND RELATIVISTIC SOCIETY. PROMPTED BY THE SIN OF INTELLECTUAL PRIDE, SOME LINGUISTS SEEM TO ASSUME THAT GRAMMATICAL PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED BY RATIOCINATION ALONE. IGNORANCE OF THE PAST--ANOTHER SIN--AND…

A conscious understanding of the grammar system can have value for student writers. Unfortunately, the positive value of teaching grammar in an instrumental, or functional, way has been overshadowed by the negative and irrelevant data concerning "formal grammar." However, if teachers were to use "rhetorical grammar" and emphasize the importance of…

The advantages and weaknesses of conventional grammar and structural linguistics are the subjects of this pamphlet. Reasons given for the widespread attack on conventional grammar are that it has resulted in repetitive and time-consuming instruction, has not improved the students' language skills, has been confused with language usage, and does…

Because the use of "good" grammar is directly related to status in American society, changes in grammatical usage are made slowly and cautiously. Current American linguistic attitudes are derived from two aspects of the early New England school tradition: the development of lexicography initiated in this country by Noah Webster, and the…

Changes in concepts of usage as illustrated in 111 high school English language textbooks published from 1923 to 1963 formed the subject of this study. The textbooks were placed in one of four groups according to publication date: 1923-1940, 1941-1952, 1953-1958, and 1959-1963. The purpose of the grouping was to determine whether certain usage…

During the first half-century of the existence of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the teaching of grammar aroused furious debate among its members. In 1924, Charles C. Fries assembled a panel of six language scholars to answer three questions: (1) What should English teachers know about the English language? (2) Do the usual…

Presents the opposing viewpoints on grammar study, phonics and whole language instruction, and the role of information in English language arts. (SRT)

An overview of language concepts suggests applications of linguistics to the teaching of English at all levels of instruction. Traditional grammar, with its emphasis on syntax and written language, is discussed and then compared to generative grammar, with its emphasis on transformational theory. A discussion of usage summarizes the changes in…

Four historical studies, carried out under the direction of Professor Raven I. McDavid and reported in this monograph, trace the various attitudes toward language study expressed in the journals (1911-63) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). For the years between 1911 and 1929, Betty Gawthrop reports a cautious questioning of the…

This paper argues that second language instruction that aims to foster speaking skills and natural spoken interaction should be based upon the grammar of the spoken language, and not on grammars that reflect written norms. Using evidence from a corpus of conversational English, this examination focuses on how four grammatical features that occur…