TO DISPEL THE MYSTERIES SURROUNDING LINGUISTICS, ENGLISH TEACHERS SHOULD UNDERSTAND CERTAIN FEATURES OF THE LANGUAGE AS THEY ARE PERCEIVED BY THE LINGUIST. THE LINGUIST SEES LANGUAGE AS "A SYSTEM OF PATTERNED VOCAL BEHAVIOR BY MEANS OF WHICH MEN COOPERATE IN SOCIETY." BY USING RIGOROUS SCIENTIFIC METHODS, HE STUDIES REPRESENTATIVE AND AUTHENTIC SAMPLINGS OF THE LANGUAGE, FIRST ANALYZING THE SPOKEN FORM OF IT. TO DESCRIBE ORAL ENGLISH ADEQUATELY, THE LINGUIST MUST (1) PROVIDE A PHONEMIC INVENTORY BY BREAKING UP THE CONTINUUM OF SOUND INTO UNITS OR PHONEMES, LARGELY THROUGH THE TECHNIQUE OF MINIMAL PAIRING, (2) ANALYZE LANGUAGE FORMS BY ISOLATING MORPHEMES THROUGH THE TECHNIQUE OF RECURRENT SAMES, (3) DISTINGUISH THE ORDER OR SYNTAX OF THE LANGUAGE, AND (4) RELATE THE ELEMENTS OF A CONSTRUCTION TO EACH OTHER THROUGH IMMEDIATE CONSTITUENT ANALYSIS TO NOTE INTIMATE CONNECTIONS OF EITHER INDIVIDUAL MORPHEMES OR SENTENCE PARTS. APPLYING SIMILAR METHODS OF APPRAISAL, THE LINGUIST NEEDS TO DEVISE WRITTEN SIGNALS--OFTEN INADEQUATELY RECORDED IN STANDARD ENGLISH WRITING--WHICH PARALLEL THE INFLECTIONS, PRONUNCIATIONS, STRESS, AND INTONATION SIGNALS APPARENT IN ORAL LANGUAGE. (THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN "LANGUAGE, LINGUISTICS, AND SCHOOL PROGRAMS, PROCEEDINGS OF THE SPRING INSTITUTES, 1963." CHAMPAIGN, ILL., NCTE, 1963.) (JB)