Explains how puns work and how they are formed. (RL)

Reprints an article originally published in 1932. Discusses the development of S. Leonard's book "Current English Usage." Suggests that the monograph stands as a symbol of a spirit and attitude in the teaching of English which will have far-reaching influence in determining the course of study and content of English instruction in the future. (RS)

Deliberately pedagogical in its orientation, this book presents the essentials of English structure in a framework derived from modern linguistic theory and in a way that should be comprehensible to beginning students. The book is intended to offer students an understanding of what is involved in the scholarly study of language as they acquire an…

To understand decisions made concerning language usage in "Webster's Third New International Dictionary," it is necessary to realize what standard usage is and how it changes. The definition of standard usage, given in 1932, as that language used by well-educated persons remains valid and depends more and more on professional writers for guidance.…

Argues for a more active role for the college English instructor in helping students write and speak standard English more effectively. (SW)

Analysis of adult discussions reveals a lack of fit between pedagogical grammars and actual usage. (JH)

Literary artists manipulate language. If educators could develop in their students the same sense that language is manipulable, they could help them to better appreciate literature. Emily Dickinson's poem "I Like to See It Lap the Miles" could be approached by changing it on several levels--graphics, phonics, syntax, and semantics--and…

APPROPRIATE ENGLISH USAGE SHOULD NOT BE DETERMINED BY RIGID AND ARTIFICAL REGULATIONS SET UP BY SCHOLARS MORE INTERESTED IN DEMONSTRATING THEIR OWN SUPERIORITY THAN IN DESCRIBING THE WAY LANGUAGE IS ACTUALLY USED. INSTEAD, GOOD ENGLISH SHOULD REVEAL ITSELF AS "THE PRODUCT OF CUSTOM" AND SHOULD CHANGE WITH "THE ORGANIC LIFE OF THE LANGUAGE." THUS,…

THE SCIENCE OF LINGUISTICS CAN, IF INTELLIGENTLY APPLIED, AID THE TEACHER OF ENGLISH IN CONVINCING STUDENTS THAT LANGUAGE IS A MEDIUM THEY CAN CONTROL BY LEARNING ABOUT ITS STRUCTURE. KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROCESSES BY WHICH CHILDREN LEARN LANGUAGE WILL LEAD ENGLISH TEACHERS TO RECOGNIZE THE STRENGTH OF BEHAVIOR PATTERNS IN USAGE AND NONSTANDARD…

Today's inclusion of semantics within the overall language design offers proof against the earlier mistaken view that semantics was irrelevant to the study of language. Sociolinguistics have reassessed language as a social matrix that encompasses the sum of linguistic variation present in a given community. Variability in language is described by…

This book traces the historical development of current attitudes toward language usage and, by examples and quotations, shows the steps in attitude change, including the creation and abandonment of rules. The book is based on the premise that standard English usage is open to different interpretations, and supports this premise with references to…

The identification and study of 20 syntactical patterns responsible for much of the structural ambiguity found in literary composition can develop in students an audience awareness. When they realize that such constructions as "a dull boy's knife" and "the club will be open to members from Monday to Thursday" can be misinterpreted, they take more…

This paper reports on a study in which the speech and the writing of college freshmen were compared. Spoken samples were gathered from classroom discussion; written samples were taken from pieces written on the discussion material in a later class session. Spoken and written samples from an "A" student, a "B+" student, a "B" student, and a "C"…