Appropriate uses of "des" and "les" in the description of individuals' physical attributes are outlined according to a grammatical model of sentence structure. Several examples of each usage are provided. (MSE)

Designed to be a resource for the myriad K-12 teachers who wonder what to do about grammar--how to teach it, how to apply it, how to learn what they themselves were never taught---this book offers an informal, hands-on approach to grammar in the classroom. The book presents teachers with ways to negotiate the often conflicting goals of testing,…

A study extended previous research on second language learners' use of interlanguage knowledge in making grammaticality judgments. The grammatical construction under consideration is the existential-presentational (E-P) sentence. This construction is described, and it is shown how, due to universal constraints of information structure, it is…

Examines the idea of a mismatch between grammaticality and acceptability. Evidence is used to refute the claim that ungrammatical but acceptable sentences are theoretically plausible in the case of the sentence, "A not unhappy person entered the room." (AMH)

This paper argues that second language instruction that aims to foster speaking skills and natural spoken interaction should be based upon the grammar of the spoken language, and not on grammars that reflect written norms. Using evidence from a corpus of conversational English, this examination focuses on how four grammatical features that occur…