Dear Brandi,

I am a new subscriber to this list as well.  I teach writing to students
with learning disabilities, and I am keenly interested in this grammar
debate.  I tend to agree with the person who said that there isn't one
right way.  My feeling is that students should have more than one tool at
their disposal. Some people can write intuitively; they don't know the
names of language parts, necessarily, but they know how to string words
together in a rich, meaningful way.  For those students who don't have this
ability, other approaches are neccesary.  I am in favor of teaching grammar
as one of many approaches to writing.

Would you send me the names of books you've read by Constance Weaver
and Rei Noguchi?  Have you read Noam Chomsky?

Good luck with your research.  I'd love to continue talking to you.

Jo Friedmann