Natalie, 
Your experience with students in U.S.A. prompts me to write: 

Most casual teachers I meet here in Japan, usually here for a short spell
only, are intelligent,articulate and in possession of a college degree(any
discipline is sufficient for the visa). Most have very little knowledge of
formal grammar. This puts them in the curious position - of teaching English
to Japanese students who have had traditional grammar drilled into them. It
puts them at a huge disadvantage as they are unable to answer the inevitable
grammar queries.

I am in a completely different teaching position to you as I am teaching
EFL. However, over the past eleven years I have worked through dozens of
English textbooks published by Longman,McMillan,Oxford etc. and they have
all been useful and  - probably any method that works is o.k. 

In answer to you query- for a comprehensive grammar textbook I think you can
not beat "Understanding English Grammar" by Kolln & Funk. In Australia
(where I own a home) there is a grammar war raging and a couple of months
ago I noted the following comment in "The Australian": "It is clear that a
hybrid of functional grammar with aspects of structural and traditional
grammars serve students best."  This description fits "Understanding English
Grammar".

Incidentally via online study leading to a M.Ed I became enthused with
Systemic Functional Linguistics, which adds also to the teaching tool-box.

John


 Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/