Paul,

I favor using the "-al" suffix to distinguish class from function. It 
is a little subtle, and hard for older students who aren't used to 
studying about language, and for people who have internalized 
traditional grammar. But I can't think of an alternative, and it should 
work well if it is introduced and maintained in a long-term (over 
years!) grammar curriculum.

I also believe it's important to go to even-more superordinate levels, 
like "head", "modifier", and "complement".  All at the appropriate age, 
of course.

Craig raised the issue of the complexity of written texts in an earlier 
post. I believe a major reason students have trouble with these texts 
is that they don't read enough -- not enough of such texts, and not 
enough, period. I think we will find that studying grammar helps with 
reading ability, but I believe the main way to become fluent at reading 
is by reading, and progressing incrementally from easier to harder 
levels (like we used to do in school). (Granted, school readers still 
advance incrementally, but too many kids aren't doing enough reading to 
become fluent at the higher levels.)

I also remain firmly convinced that reading high-level texts is 
necessary to being able to write them. No grammar course can teach the 
full range of structures used in high-level writing. Not only is there 
variety in grammar, but there is a very large number of fixed 
expressions that occur in formal writing (such as "I remain firmly 
convinced"). Language learning doesn't stop at age 5. People continue 
to learn unconsciously probably all of their lives, but certainly very 
actively in childhood and adolescence.

Dr. Johanna Rubba, Associate Professor, Linguistics
Linguistics Minor Advisor
English Department
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Tel.: 805.756.2184
Dept. Ofc. Tel.: 805.756.2596
Dept. Fax: 805.756.6374
URL: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba

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