Outlines three senses of the term grammar, why some type of grammar should be taught, the three types of grammatical description that can be taught, and four procedures and four conditions for teaching any type of grammar. (Author/JM)

Recognition that students at Midwestern State University, Texas, lacked a basic level of linguistic skills prompted an inductive approach to the teaching of grammar, in which nonsense words were used to introduce concepts of English usage. Working in small groups, students arranged the nonsense words to form sentences which "sound[ed] like…

This paper is divided into the following five sections, each of which considers an aspect of teaching grammar: the importance of teaching English grammar, teaching the patterns of words and sentences, the functions of words, making sentences, and a curriculum proposal for teaching standard English in the elementary grades through high school. (LL)