The term "clause" is not only applied to structures which comply with formal prerequisites, containing a subject and a predicate conveyed by a finite verb, but also to such structures which are analysable into clause elements. The verbless clause is a structure containing no verb element at all (either finite or nonfinite), usually…

This article investigates the lexical and discourse features of English text and discourse with automated computer technologies. Specifically, this article examines the cohesion of English text and discourse with automated computer tools, Coh-Metrix and TEES. Coh-Metrix is a text analysis computer tool that can analyze English text and discourse…

When being a student in grade school as well as in high school (1934-1946), grammar was heavily emphasized in English/language arts classes, particularly in grades four through the senior year in high school. Evidently, teachers and school administrators then saw a theoretical way to assist pupils in writing achievement. Grammar and writing were…

Discusses and illustrates three rule sets suitable for presenting generative grammar to beginners; and appendix to the author's article with the same title in the February 1970 (No. 13) issue, pp. 39-53; see TE 200 767. (Editor/SW)

The purposes of the study were to conceptualize and operationally define three classes of the skills by which knowledge is acquired from written language, and determine whether the skills represent homogenous classes of behaviors and are hierarchically related. (Author/DG)

Article gives examples of proper sentence structure and syntax. (GB)

Although research studies have found young children to be aware of patterns in language, this innate power is not being encouraged in them during their elementary school years. If they are to gain control of structure in their writing and to utilize vocabulary gained through reading experiences, then a carefully planned program for syntax study in…

After considering the implications of the back-to-the-basics movement, the author concludes that there is little value in going "back" to approaches such as those typical of traditional grammar instruction. Instead, he suggests that sentence combining offers a basic approach to the teaching of writing. An experiment which began with four classes…

This article reports on the results of two international systematic research reviews which focus on different aspects of teaching grammar to improve the quality and accuracy of 5-16-year-olds' writing in English. The results show that there is little evidence to indicate that the teaching of formal grammar is effective; and that teaching…

The value of a transformational model of syntax can be illustrated by comparing the taxonomic grammatical description of a complex sentence to a transformation-oriented description of the same sentence. The taxonomic approach, an immediate constituent analysis, requires 10 steps to break the sample sentence into its grammatical components; the…

Part two of a series on the teaching of English to adults. (DS)

Discusses the importance of helping college composition students to become stylistically competent. Cites a study comparing the essays of 32 college students and 27 skilled adult writers; concludes that syntactic maturity correlates with writing quality and that teachers should begin instruction by emphasizing syntactic skills. (RL)

The "Write a Sentence Test" was developed for use in the evaluation of student writing abilities in association with a project in Memphis, Tennessee. This paper discusses ways of administering and scoring the test, decisions concerning modification of the test, and experiences when the test was administered to sample subjects. All forms…