THE ENGLISH CURRICULUM CAN BE MADE MORE EFFECTIVE BY CONSIDERING THE SIGNIFICANT PART PLAYED BY THE COMPONENT OF GRAMMAR. THE NATIVE SPEAKER OF ENGLISH POSSESSES AN INTUITIVE KNOWLEDGE OF THE RULES OF GRAMMAR AND YET CANNOT EXPLAIN WHAT HIS INTUITION KNOWS. THEREFORE, A PRECISE, ECONOMICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE LANGUAGE MECHANISM AND HOW IT FUNCTIONS IS NEEDED. THIS DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE--MORE SPECIFICALLY, OF THE SENTENCE--IS ATTEMPTED BY THREE APPROACHES TO GRAMMAR. THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH, CRITICIZED FOR BEING PRESCRIPTIVE RATHER THAN DESCRIPTIVE, CONCENTRATES MORE ON SURFACE DEVIATIONS AND FLAT DIAGRAMING THAN ON THE ESSENCE OF GRAMMAR. THE STRUCTURAL APPROACH, AIMED AT BEING DESCRIPTIVE RATHER THAN PRESCRIPTIVE, ANALYZES THE STATE OF LANGUAGE--NOT ITS LEVELS OF OPERATION--BY POINTING OUT STRUCTURAL SIGNALS WHICH INDICATE SENTENCE PATTERNS AND PARTS OF SPEECH. THE GENERATIVE-TRANSFORMATIONAL APPROACH IS CONCERNED WITH DESCRIBING THE DEEP AND SURFACE STRUCTURES OF SENTENCES AND EXPLAINING THEIR RELATIONSHIPS, THUS PROVIDING A CLEARLY DEFINED NORM OF THE LANGUAGE PROCESS. (THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE "ILLINOIS ENGLISH BULLETIN," VOL. 55, NO. 2, NOVEMBER 1967. IT IS ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH, 508 SOUTH SIXTH ST., CHAMPAIGN, ILL. 61820, $0.60, ORDER NO. 25350.) (JB)