Four historical studies, carried out under the direction of Professor Raven I. McDavid and reported in this monograph, trace the various attitudes toward language study expressed in the journals (1911-63) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). For the years between 1911 and 1929, Betty Gawthrop reports a cautious questioning of the usefulness of "textbook rules" and of British Received Standard pronunciation before the introduction and tentative acceptance of linguistics. C. Michael Lightner points out that the NCTE was hospitable to research and change, defended a descriptive approach to the study of grammar, and was responsible for the publication of four major investigations of grammar between 1930 and 1945. Doris C. Meyers indicates that from 1945 to 1954 contributors to NCTE publications deplored the disparity between advanced grammatical theory and actual language instruction, resisted pressures to de-emphasize English in the curriculum, debated language permissiveness, and urged language research. In the final study, Geraldine Russell reports that from 1955 to 1963 the importance of levels of usage was generally recognized and a de-emphasis of grammar gave way to a new interest in linguistics, in reformed traditional grammar, and in generative grammar. (JS)