The purpose of this experimental study was to determine whether instruction in generative grammar would produce better student writing. As a secondary aspect of the study, evaluation of all students was made for growth in knowledge of grammar apart from writing or other practical applications, whether the students had been instructed in generative…

There is considerable concern that the majority of adolescents do not develop the competence in writing they need to be successful in school, the workplace, or their personal lives. A common explanation for why youngsters do not write well is that schools do not do a good job of teaching this complex skill. In an effort to identify effective…

Three authors comment upon each other's views as expressed in previous articles on the paragraph. Francis Christensen discusses the "sentence-based" theory and compares it to other descriptions of the paragraph. A.L. Becker compares Christensen's and Paul Rodgers' views and discusses their major differences in (1) identity and variation in…

Traditional, formal grammar instruction has, at best, a negligible affect on writing improvement, but transformational-generative grammar instruction can improve syntactic versatility in writing. (AN)

The detailed method for teaching writing presented in this book consists of a highly structured program of grammar, usage, and composition, using a modified Skinnerian, easy-to-difficult technique. The first part of the book contains five chapters which discuss the problem of teaching writing, reasons for studying grammar, which grammar should be…

The author makes a case for teaching traditional prescriptive grammar for 10 weeks at the beginning of the tenth grade. (JM)

This paper describes a teaching method based on generative transformational grammar that has been successfully used in the ESL (English as a second language) classroom. The method and techniques are based on the Elgin-Rush study in which the problem of teaching basic writing skills to native English speakers was addressed. The present study…

A project to investigate the effects on the language development of secondary school pupils of a study of transformational grammar as represented in the Oregon English Curriculum involved 250 students in a large, coeducational high school near Auckland, New Zealand. The students were divided into three matched groups who studied different English…

Intended for preservice and inservice teachers at all educational levels, but especially for those in English education classes, this book examines the foundations of grammar instruction and supplies some definitions and examples of grammar usage. Part one of the book explores relevant language research, reasons for teaching grammar, the…

The traditional method of teaching writing to students in universities by correcting their errors supposes a generally well-developed sense of written language structure and formal English language discourse. The new population seeking higher education does not always possess such a background. An alternative instructional method is to use the…

When ninth-grade students are searching for help in expressing their newly discovered ideas, the principles of transformational grammar can be brought to their aid in the following ways: (1) Assign a provocative topic to the students which they are to discuss as fully as possible in one sentence. (2) Present only the kernel sentences of a…

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…

The complex nature of grammar and its relevance to teaching today are explored in the light of modern linguistics. Reviewing the development and fundamental theory of transformational generative grammar, the author points out its substantial merit and also its failure to be understood as exemplary grammatical analysis of language rather than…

This teaching grammar is designed primarily for university-level students, but may also be used for adult courses, high school classes, and in junior colleges. The text takes the transformational-generative approach to language, in which the notions of system, derivation, and relation are emphasized rather than categorization and classification.…