This paper describes a demonstration of a totally integrated discovery procedure to present sentence-combining practice. This practice makes students aware not only of the complex structures but of the usage and style related to each structure. Guidelines for the execution of the practice include: (1) the use of a sequence of questions by the…

Grammar can have meaning and be of use to the learner depending upon the methods of instruction that are being used. The eight traditional parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverbs, prepositional phrase, conjunction, pronouns, and interjection) can be made useful for learners by giving concrete, semi-concrete, and abstract examples when…

Certain aspects of transformational grammar can be effectively applied to the ESL classroom. The use of the "there" insertion rule in explaining declarative sentence patterns is described as an example. (AG)

The writing of ESL students, while sophisticated in some respects, often contains fragments and run-ons. Because these students have no reliable, self-monitoring system for analyzing their writing and because they believe they are communicating effectively, they fail to recognize their difficulties in forming complete sentences. This paper…

This document traces the history of sentence combining, from Ney's study in 1966 and Mellon's study in 1969 to recent research conducted by Ney and supported by the Research Foundation of the National Council of Teachers of English. Studies by O'Hare (1973), Ney (1975), Combs (1975), Perron (1974), Green (1972), Hunt and O'Donnell (1969), Miller…

This paper describes a set of sentence meaning skills which has been identified to help teachers better focus their instruction in reading comprehension. The specific skills in the sentence meaning strand are developed through two sets of objectives: an analysis aspect, where the focus is on identification and understanding of details, and a…

An assignment to write a comment in less than fifty words encourages conciseness and precision. (JH)

Sector analysis (in which the three parts of a simple sentence are the subject, predicate, and sentence adverbial) provides clear steps for developing literal questions. Research indicates that those based on the predicate lead to more learning and better understanding. (JM)

First part of a continued article. (DS)

Gives a grammar presentation complemented by a variety of exercises on the use of the subjunctive as opposed to the use of the indicative, on the use of the auxiliaries, on verb aspect, and on the conditional mood. (MES)

Offers a method of substituting new words for the words in a well-known phrase to demonstrate the power of syntax. (TJ)