As a beginning-programming instructor, my students have little difficulty understanding language syntax and operation - much like the "language lawyers" mentioned. Their recurring problem is not correct syntax, it's internalizing the process of expressing a solution to a problem using that syntax. They have few unto no examples of what a program - a real, functioning, well written program - looks like.
Indeed, programming is writing: it's expressing the solution to a problem using a formalized language. Understanding how the program works is one thing (and yes, all too often this is a problem); a good program also expresses why.
A 3 year old writing a novel won't succeed because, despite the ability to speak, he does not comprehend the process of concocting and presenting the story; all he knows is the minimum needed to just read one. He's not going to write good novels until he reads lots of good novels, and groks the literary structure and process of having and expressing an idea. Ditto programming: students may know the syntax, but they don't grasp the notion of "writing" because they haven't seen any decent examples.
Rosettacode.org may be a good starting place.
Thanks for the article, I may finally have identified the gap in my teaching. Now to find concise examples to fill it with, as the curriculum does not allocate copious time for reading lots of coding examples. Anyone have links to good examples for beginners regarding fundamental concepts? I don't mean syntax (I teach that well enough), I mean elegant uses akin to poetry or short stories. IOCCC (a moment of reverent silence for greatness ended) has wonderful examples of cool things in minimal code, but commands obfuscation. Anything akin to IOCCC for good readable nifty code?