This study proposed (1) to verify that students of normal ability could learn structural and transformational grammar concepts presented in the format of linear programing, and (2) to test whether the students would apply the concepts in compositions so that their writing showed progress toward maturity. Participating in the experiment were 207 eighth-grade students in two schools. One hundred students studied one programed lesson per day for 22 days; the rest of the students served as the control group. Comparison of scores on objective pre- and post-tests showed experimental students demonstrating a significant grasp of the concepts and an increase in sentence-combining skills. Other results showed females scoring higher than males, able students learning more than the less able, and students learning more in one school (upper-middle economic level) than in the lower-middle school. For the second part of the study, 1000-word writing samples were obtained from all students before and after the experiment, and the papers of 114 students were randomly selected for examination. Results showed that experimental students increased their use of subordination and, furthermore, that students in the upper-middle school advanced more than the other school's students in their use of subordination. (Thirty-three statistical tables are included.) (Author/LH)