A discussion of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teaching focuses on the relationship of lexical items to the syntactic situations in which they may occur, and the importance of teaching this relationship to language learners. First, common errors made by ESL students that are attributable to lack of syntactic context knowledge are identified. Included are these error types: verb + preposition, adjective + preposition, noun + preposition; transitive vs. intransitive verbs; direct objects; causatives; verb + complement(s); and connectors. Then the usefulness of some specific current ESL reference books and texts to inform teachers and students of this aspect of lexicon is discussed. These include dictionaries, handbooks of usage, and textbooks. Finally, ways in which the classroom teacher can present this important but difficult-to-generalize information are examined, using specific situations and possible alternative classroom treatments. A number of overhead masters used in presentation of the paper are included, and the handout offered is appended. (MSE)