Recommends teaching Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" by using a grammatical approach to the reading. (TJ)

A study of the relative effectiveness of three approaches to teaching selected aspects of English grammar to 299 10th-grade students of average ability (17 class-size groups) was made in Lane County, Oregon. Five groups were taught using structural linguistics concepts; six groups employed traditional methods, materials, and approaches; and six…

Since clauses are the largest functional components of a sentence, their analysis can increase attention to sentence structure and stylistic variation. Students can learn to distinguish main clause types by naming the verb forms used (transitive, intransitive, equational, and passive). Once students have mastered the recognition of main clauses,…

Discusses the continuing controversy over how to teach grammar. Finds that the traditional, structural, and transformational approaches each have their strengths and weaknesses, with none clearly better than the others. Suggests that the teaching of grammar, while not the key to improvement in written English, will always have a place in the…

Examines the techniques and strategies that have been found helpful in making the transition from heavily structure-based English courses to a more communicative approach in Sri Lankan schools. Stresses that the teachers throughout the system need to be reoriented, citing that however strong their knowledge of structure, the students are unable to…

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 study summarizes the kinds of English grammar currently taught in American secondary schools and describes the effects of curriculum proposals by scholars upon the teaching of language and composition. A survey of grammar from classical Greek and Roman times to the present precedes a description of specific types of grammar (e.g.,…

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…

The notion of a functional syllabus has received widespread attention in recent years, so much so that in many cases it is being used where it is not suitable. One question is to what extent the functional syllabus may provide a framework for learning language structure, as it is difficult to impose any kind of structural organization on a…

An appeal for a reappraisal of the role of linguistics and traditional grammar in the secondary school is made in this article. A case is made for a return to traditional grammar in the teaching of English at all levels prior to graduate school. Five writing models with student assignments based on creative imitation illustrate the kind of…

This book is intended for teachers who are familiar with the basic techniques of teaching a foreign language and who would profit by suggestions on helping learners acquire a general communicative ability, which would enable them to cope with everyday situations. The starting point is a discussion of a communicative view of language and language…

The A-LM German materials are analyzed in terms of their weakness and positive features, and suggestions for their use and adaptation are presented. It is argued that: the basic dialogue is almost unusable; the structure drills are repetitive and often not challenging; the taped arrangement of the listening exercises is awkward; the dialogue…