Marshall,
  I had in mind a test of learning where a student demonstrated knowledge of grammar, both identifying and producing the forms or structures taught.  Counting T-units or their length wouldn't test a student's knowledge of specific forms, nor would it test their use of those forms in writing.  The test of application I have in mind would compare a student's writing  before and after writing instruction to identify the grammatical structures a student uses and their frequency.  This test should be simple and quick enough that a classroom teacher could use it without undue burden.  I also have in mind a reading test which would identify a student's difficulties with interpreting grammatical structures.  For instance, many students have difficulty understanding relative clauses.  The pre-test might have passages with questions answerable correctly only upon correctly understanding relative clauses.  The post-test performance would identify the degree to which a student's
 reading skill had improved through instruction in relative clauses.  Student performance differences on the reading and writing tests could be compared to each student's pre and post-test performance on the grammar knowledge test.  It might be especially useful to examine the effects of automaticity on transfer of knowledge, so the tests should have a fluency measure, not just an accuracy measure.  That is, a student who can identify relative clauses at the same rate as the instructor is much more likely to be able to apply that knowledge than a classmate who is accurate but slow.
   
  Scott Woods
  

Marshall Myers <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
  Scott,

I suppose you're not talking about the use of 
transformational-generative theory (in very simplistic form) as it 
applied to sentence-combining, the panacea for teaching students how to 
write more syntactic complex sentences. Sentence-combining was a hot 
topic in the late 70's and early 80's and some still employ it. I use it 
in my style classes, for example. Max Morenberg (of our list) wrote an 
excellent text for that technique that many writing teachers like me use 
today.

Researchers then used counting t-units as a way of measuring students's 
acquistion of syntax skills.

Marshall

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