Suggests using a sentence construction game to make basic writing students more aware of their linguistic ability and more comfortable dealing with grammar. Indicates that the experience helps students in revising their writing and introduces the experience of working creatively and playfully with language. (TJ)

If college freshmen know something about syntax, have practiced combining and breaking down sentences, and have learned to think in terms of deep structures and surface structures, they may be better able to understand and relieve the discomfort caused by a garbled key sentence structure. Grammar instruction in freshman composition provides a…

Argues that, from a transformational-generative perspective, errors in writing mechanics (such as run-on sentences, comma splices, and errors in subject-verb agreement) persist because writing instructors do not exploit students' language ability. Describes how transformational grammar is useful in correcting errors in sentence mechanics. (MM)

Noting that, contrary to the first conference, disagreements began to surface among the conference participants of the second conference, this proceedings contains papers presented at the second conference on the teaching of grammar (except for a preconference workshop and one paper). Papers in the proceedings are: "Keynote: Finding Reasons…

A possible application of generative-transformational (phrase-structure) grammar to the teaching of English composition at the college freshman level is described in this dissertation, which presents a potential textbook for a course on language and its relationship to culture. Topics discussed include traditional grammar, the bases of…

The traditional method of teaching writing to students in universities by correcting their errors supposes a generally well-developed sense of written language structure and formal English language discourse. The new population seeking higher education does not always possess such a background. An alternative instructional method is to use the…

To help assess the writing ability of college freshmen studying English as a second language (ESL), this study was undertaken to identify particular structures of subordination associated with writing maturity and to develop a diagnostic instrument to test student control of those structures. Following sentence-generating principles of…

Data from responses to a grammaticality judgement test by 26 learners of English as a second language at two proficiency levels were used to investigate syntactic acquisition. Four syntactic structures were examined. Results suggest that less proficient subjects use syntactic strategies, while more proficient learners use semantic-based…

The serious student of language, English or foreign, and especially the future language teacher must receive a solid training not only in theoretical but also in applied syntax. Such a course should be offered at the advanced level and deal with the syntax of the language involved in a rigorously systematic way. The search for a systematic, yet…

A computer-based set of instructional materials, designed to teach English second-language reading skills to university-level engineering students, is described and its development is outlined. The programmed units are designed to be used individually on the computer. The stages of software development included: selection of sentence units from…

Papers from the 1973 Neuchatel Colloquium in Applied Linguistics are presented. Contents are as follows: "Karttunen's Types of Implication in English and German: A Contrastive Study," W. Abraham; "The Relevance of Generative Semantics for Language Teaching," R. Dirven; "'Be' plus 'ing' Revisited," H. Adamczeski; "The So-Called Deep Structures and…