Author offers suggestions to simplify the teaching of grammar. (MB)

THIS TEST--"DOUBLE-BASE TRANSFORMATIONS"--WAS DESIGNED BY THE OREGON CURRICULUM STUDY CENTER FOR AN EIGHTH-GRADE LANGUAGE CURRICULUM. IT IS INTENDED TO ACCOMPANY CURRICULUM UNITS AVAILABLE AS ED 010 155 AND ED 010 156. (MM)

THESE TWO TESTS--"EXPANSION OF PHRASE STRUCTURE RULES" AND "SINGLE-BASE TRANSFORMATIONS"--WERE DESIGNED BY THE OREGON CURRICULUM STUDY CENTER FOR AN EIGHTH-GRADE LANGUAGE CURRICULUM. THEY ARE INTENDED TO ACCOMPANY CURRICULUM UNITS AVAILABLE AS ED 010 153 AND ED 010 154. (MM)

These two units of the Minnesota Project English curriculum employ transformational grammar in an attempt to make eighth-grade students aware of fundamental facts about their language. Concepts taught in the first unit are (1) that an infinite number of English sentences exists, (2) that a few basic transformations are the basis for a large number…

This study proposed (1) to verify that students of normal ability could learn structural and transformational grammar concepts presented in the format of linear programing, and (2) to test whether the students would apply the concepts in compositions so that their writing showed progress toward maturity. Participating in the experiment were 207…