This article discusses grammar and its place in elementary English teaching. The article's eight sections are as follows: (1) Some People Expect a Lot of Grammar; (2) Standard and Non-Standard; (3) How Do Children Learn Grammar? (4) What Can the Teacher Do? (5) What Should We Tell the Children? (6) Grammar and the Organization of Meaning in Text;…

Vocabulary development includes learning to recognize, comprehend, and produce alternative ways of communicating a word, an image, or a concept. Instruction in such language alternatives can increase the effectiveness of students' communication skills, making their vocabulary usage more appropriate, precise, descriptive, and interesting.…

The wide gap that exists between linguists and English teachers accounts for some of the difficulty involved in determining whether or not students "have a right to their own language." Linguists generally concern themselves with cognitive sufficiency; whereas, English teachers, concerned with behavioral sufficiency, encounter language…

Many Puerto Rican children currently enrolled in English as a second language (ESL) classes speak Puerto Rican English (PRE). Their speech is characterized by nonstandard features, including some from Black English. Because of actual or historical interference from Spanish, they do qualify for ESL enrollment, yet their language problems are…

This monograph explores the conflicts in attitudes toward language that occur and in which English teachers may be asked to uphold forms and conventions of traditional grammar standards while they have linguistic training and knowledge that support a more flexible language usage. Chapters deal with conflicts in attitudes toward language, language…

In addition to providing a short history of the idea behind and duties of black paraprofessionals in the English classroom, this paper explains how a seven-week skills course was developed to help paraprofessionals develop the necessary Standard English writing and speaking skills, and details many of the excercises used in the course. The paper…

Discusses five recent books about language that address issues that arise in classrooms with an increasing number of diverse dialects and varied home languages. Discusses the complexities of language, misunderstandings in the Ebonics controversy, socioeducational issues, and classroom ideas for teachers. Describes two web sites. (SR)