Because learners need stepping stones before being able to construct new knowledge, resorting to metaphors, analogies, and cartoons should, by building up a sense of meaningfulness, facilitate the internalization of abstract concepts. This research is designed to improve - via models familiar to the learners - the understanding of the syntactic architecture of English and thus ensure a lasting assimilation. A systematic linguistic treatment of English grammar, using medical metalanguage, is illustrated, geared toward French-speaking health professionals and students. Adapted from the source document. (LLBA 2000, vol. 34, n. 2)