Generative grammar is highly abstract，an d it is not designed with its application to language teaching in mind. It is no surprise，then，that generative grammatical analyses of English are mostly of no use in teaching English grammar to learners of English. Nevertheless，there are a few constructions that seem to be better taught using the analysis of generative grammar. This paper shows that complex-sentence wh-questions and complex-sentence relative clauses are such constructions. We will first examine how traditional English grammar books in Japan describe these constructions. Pointing out some difficulties with these descriptions，I will show how these constructions can be taught using the insights of generative grammar. This can be done with very few technical terms，a l though the operation of “wh-movement" needs to be introduced. By showing how wh-movement takes place，w e can expect learners to understand that complex-sentence wh-questions and complex-sentence relative clauses can be formed by the same mechanism，an d why they have the word order that they have.
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