New Studies in the Teaching of English Grammar. ERIC Topical Bibliography and Commentary.

Contemporary syntactic theory rejects the idea that prescriptive grammar can provide students with any insights into how language works. For generative grammar, a term for the aggregate of methodologies which currently dominates modern linguistics, rules determining the grammaticality of a sentence do not relate in any way to the rules which make up "good grammar." Prescriptive grammar has also suffered assaults from specialists in American dialectology. Proponents of grammar instruction have by no means ignored attacks, and it might be argued that the controversies of the past several decades have had a positive effect on grammar teaching. Current theoretical and methodological perspectives show that the field of grammar is undergoing a major self-renovation. The essays reviewed in this topical bibliography and commentary show that new studies in the teaching of grammar usually reflect the insights of contemporary linguistic theory and sociolinguistics. The bibliography/commentary concludes that the work of Tony Burgess shows that though it has undergone a vigorous assault, and though teachers' organizations discourage its use, grammatical instruction has been difficult to erase from the English curriculum. Lists 3 Internet resources and 10 references. (NKA)