The meanings of the words grammar and linguistics have undergone a multitude of changes in the last years, but teachers should continue to teach linguistics and formal grammar in the schools. (JH)

This introduction to the historical study of language is designed to give ninth-grade students contact with the methods of historical linguistics in a relatively limited area--the study of the lexicon. The unit begins with a consideration of recent changes in the lexicon, especially those due to technological advances which have caused the use of…

This unit is intended to give ninth-grade students a brief survey of the changes in the study of language from the time of the Greeks to the present. Organized to proceed from the teacher's introduction of a subject to class examination and discussion of an excerpt from a grammarian's work, the unit focuses on the belief that a grammarian's…

RATHER THAN TEACHING PRESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OR LINGUISTICS, NEITHER OF WHICH IS LIKELY TO INCREASE THE ABILITY TO WRITE, SPEAK, OR LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE, THE ENGLISH TEACHER SHOULD GUIDE THE STUDENTS INTO AN INQUIRY ABOUT THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE. SUCH AN INQUIRY WOULD ACKNOWLEDGE THAT LANGUAGE USAGE IS DETERMINED BY THE SOCIAL SITUATION AND THAT…

When the science of linguistics is treated as a variety of ways for searching for truth and theory, rather than as a body of established theories, it can be taught successfully in the early grades. Some of the generalizations in linguistics (e.g., the articulatory description of differences between significant sounds, of the classification of…

The approaches of traditional grammar, descriptive linguistics, and generative grammar are largely complementary rather than exclusive. Traditional grammar defines eight parts of speech according to meaning or function and concerns itself almost wholely with the written language. Descriptive linguistics postulates that English has a set of unique…

The 16 lessons in this course--the result of experiments conducted with 7th-and 8th-grade pupils at Nettelhorst School in Chicago--deal with "the relationship between language and thought, with the scientific use of language, and with some misuses of language." Each lesson has two parts: (1) a "Teacher Summary" which gives the basic semantic…

This collection of abstracts taken from issues of Resources in Education and Current Index to Journals in Education was compiled in response to the sudden and intense demand for information and materials resulting from the arrival in the United States of thousands of Vietnamese refugees. There is more material here on the teaching of Vietnamese to…

Concerned with the study of lexical changes, this unit for grade 9 is intended to develop the student's understanding of several specific ways in which the meanings of words change, of the interpersonal relationships and the social values which cause such change, and of general concepts related to language change. Discussion questions, lectures,…

This unit for grade 12 is concerned with both the methods and purposes of the historical study of phonology, morphology, and syntax in the English language. The introduction to the unit illustrates language change in Old, Middle, and Modern English versions of "The Prodigal Son" and examines the causes of current language changes as…

By building on the natural language competence of children we can make literacy an extension of their language learning.

This workbook, intended to supplement courses in the development of the English language, is based on the belief that knowledge of a language's development is best obtained by working with samples of the language in its various historical stages and linguistic branches. Material covered includes (1) facts, assumptions, and misconceptions about…

These reports deal with language as a whole: its nature, its history, its relationship to culture, its acquisition, the immediate uses to which it can be put, and the development in students of an appreciation for the ability to use a foreign language. The book is divided into three main sections: Acquisition, Application, and Appreciation. For…

This unit for the eighth grade is intended to develop, through an inductive approach, the students' understanding of the reasons for the irregularities and difficulties of English spelling. Exercises and lectures on historical background are provided to help students realize that our spelling system is based on late Middle English spelling, that…