What is the real value of understanding grammar?  I've never thought that
it had anything to do with avoiding superficial "errors."  Just as a
person who understands terms like mammal and reptile is likely to pick
up more from a visit to a zoo than the guy who lumps all animals into
the same category, a person who understands the terms noun and
verb, subject and predicate etc. is likely to absorb more from language --
or so it seems to me. If this is true, there should be a higher
correlation between the understanding of grammatical terminology and
general vocabulary than between knowledge of other terminologies and
general vocabulary.  I'm wondering if anyone in ATEG knows of any research
bearing on this hypothesis.  Or if anyone has any thoughts on testing it
empirically.  (Thought you might enjoy a sentence fragment!)

Great conference, btw.