Second language learners must acquire a generative system of grammar. There is, as yet, no way of describing notions in generative terms. Long-term syllabuses will have to continue to be syntactically based, but the incorporation of notions from a checklist is acceptable. (Author/JB)

Reviews research on the use of the "T-Unit" as a measure of language ability, demonstrating that the measure has limited utility in the case of second language, since it bases itself solely on syntax and does not reward speakers for sophistication in such areas as vocabulary. (Author/CB)

A review of Hunt's research to find ways of measuring the growth of syntactic proficiency in American school children explores the possibilities of applying these measures to groups of British native and non-native speakers of English and developing them for use in teaching and testing. (Author/CB)

Explores the implications of the principles and parameters theory of Universal Grammar for language teaching. Classroom acquisition depends on the provision of appropriate syntactic evidence to trigger parameter setting, and certain aspects of vocabulary are also crucial. (33 references) (Author/VWL)

Describes a strategy for guessing meanings from context and suggests ways of practicing this strategy. The strategy involves four steps: (1) determining the part of speech of the word, (2) looking at the immediate grammar, (3) studying the wider context (usually the conjunction relationships), and (4) guessing the word and checking the guess.…

The methodology used to determine readability of English texts (cloze procedure and word lists) is not applicable to foreign-language material. Linguistic variables are proposed as the basis for readability formulas. Contrastive and error analysis are possible strategies. (JB)

Discusses the relevance and validity of using language data other than English for grammatical and psycholinguistic classroom research. A practical teacher training activity is described that is designed to not only develop trainees' syntactic analysis skills, but also raise awareness of their grammatical learning style and how this style relates…

Outlines some applications of Natural Language Processing, the capacity of computers to process human language, to language teaching. The role of syntactic parsing (the assigning of grammatical structure to sentences by computer) and semantically based processing is examined. (Author/SED)

Reviews literature in applied linguistic and reading methodology and outlines a suffix-grammar as it is used in a reading course in Latin. The principles of the grammar are discussed and an example of its application in the reading course is given. (Author/AMH)

Examines the role of redundancy, as a universal linguistic feature, in language learning and teaching. (Author/AM)

Presents methods for using the Longman Mini-Concordancer on tagged and parsed corpora rather than plain text corpora. The article discusses several aspects with models to be applied in the classroom as an aid to grammar learning. This paper suggests exercises suitable for teaching English to both native and nonnative speakers. (13 references)…

Describes a study of English writing by Norwegian English-as-a-foreign-language learners. Language problems on different linguistic levels are analyzed and the theory of compensatory strategies is used to explain the process behind the production. Results show that less proficient learners have a higher number of grammatical, orthographic, and…

Examines the morpho-syntax of task-based interaction and reports some possible grammatical consequences of interaction in split and shared information tasks undertaken by adult second language learners of English. Results indicate that communication tasks for language learning can be designed to influence the use of particular linguistic…

Investigates the use of an annotation scheme in which students identify their own concerns through marginal or end-notes addressed to their teachers. The study's analysis focused on form, content, and students' views. Results indicate that students annotated mainly for syntax and lexis, in the form of confirmation requests. (21 references)…