RATHER THAN TEACHING PRESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OR LINGUISTICS, NEITHER OF WHICH IS LIKELY TO INCREASE THE ABILITY TO WRITE, SPEAK, OR LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE, THE ENGLISH TEACHER SHOULD GUIDE THE STUDENTS INTO AN INQUIRY ABOUT THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE. SUCH AN INQUIRY WOULD ACKNOWLEDGE THAT LANGUAGE USAGE IS DETERMINED BY THE SOCIAL SITUATION AND THAT MANY STUDENTS NEED TO BE, IN EFFECT, BI-LINGUAL, ABLE TO SPEAK ONE TYPE OF ENGLISH AT HOME AND ANOTHER AT SCHOOL. THE TEACHER SHOULD ENCOURAGE THE STUDENTS TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NATURE OF DIALECT DIFFERENCES, VARIETIES OF LANGUAGE SITUATIONS, USES OF LANGUAGE, AND WAYS THAT "CORRECTNESS" IN LANGUAGE IS DETERMINED. BY SUCH QUESTIONING, STUDENTS AVOID REVIEWING THE SAME CONCEPTS EACH YEAR AND ARE INVOLVED IN PURSUING ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS THAT INTEREST THEM, THAT ARE SIGNIFICANT IN THEIR LIVES, THAT TEACH THEM TO BE INDEPENDENT THINKERS, AND THAT AFFORD THEM OPPORTUNITIES TO USE LANGUAGE AND THUS BECOME MORE SKILLFUL WITH IT. (THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN "STATEMENT, THE JOURNAL OF THE COLORADO LANGUAGE ARTS SOCIETY," VOL. 3 (MARCH 1968), 25-32.) (JS)