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Erin Hilton
English 313, BYU
Professor Spotts
14 December 2017

Abstract: In this report the idea that grammar affects the long term writing success of students
through methods of reading, writing, and revising is addressed through multiple studies. Students
learn proper grammar through reading and writing, and revising helps them to understand the
functions and structure of grammar. Also, the idea that teachers need to spend more time with
students who are struggling with certain aspects of grammar, and students would benefit more if
teachers deviated from traditional grammar instruction. Teachers have a large impact on
students writing, and by participating in these practices, they aid the student in developing good
grammar habits. The purpose of this research paper is to inform teachers, parents, and students
about how they can improve the writing of students, specifically through use of proper grammar,
and how that will be beneficial for students in the future.
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Why Teaching Grammar is Important

As a child, I could not finish a sentence in front of my grandparents if it in any way was

grammatically incorrect. If any of my siblings said something like, Me and my friends you

would have to stop and start over, correctly saying, My friends and I My mother would not

let us turn in any kind of essay without first making us go over it, and then again revising it with

her. Any kind of incorrect their, there, or theyre, to versus too, or your versus

youre, earned us a long lecture about the differences between all of them, and the importance of

understanding how to use them. From a very young age I had many people who insisted I had

proper spelling, structure, punctuation, and style. Because of this, I think I am a better writer

today, and I struggle less with writing papers for college. I believe that if all children were taught

some form of structured grammar from a young age, their writing long-term would be much

better. If students can learn how to write with good grammar, they will become skilled writers

from a young age, and become more appealing to college professors and future employers in

adulthood. Through methods of reading, writing, and revising, I believe all students can master

grammar from a young age if teachers will implement structured grammar into their teaching,

and stop bad grammar habits before they begin.

An important aspect of understanding grammar is reading it. If students were able to read

good grammar from other writers on a consistent basis, and identify what makes for good

structure, punctuation, spelling, and other grammar aspects, it would help them to easier apply it

to their own writing. Reading helps one identify different vocabulary words, assists in learning

how to spell said vocabulary words correctly, figure out which writing styles they like best, and

become familiar with well structured writing. Just plain writing practice also helps students

become better with the technical side of writing. Whether it is journaling, creative writing, or
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writing activities, practicing and becoming comfortable with writing enables a student to use

proper grammar. Reading and writing together are simple practices that teachers can apply in

their classrooms, and can be done with even the youngest of students. In an article called, The

Short- and Long-Term Effect of Explicit Grammar Instruction on Fifth Graders' Writing, authors

Feng, Shoudong, and Kathy Powers talk about a study done on a group of fifth graders, and the

effects that structured grammar has on their writing long term. In the article it states, The

findings suggest that language arts teachers in elementary schools may embed grammar teaching

in the process of writing, in particular in the revising and editing stages. Writing is a critical

component in the learning of grammar, especially in the revising stages. I like this particular

study, because it gives clear and specific evidence as to how grammar works realistically in a

classroom, and way to implement effective teaching methods of grammar. The idea that reading

and writing is what most effectively helps students in their use of grammar is very logical to me,

and I feel is the most practical and useful way to measure students understanding of grammar.

Like previously stated, editing and revising is a very effective way to help a student

improve their grammar. Identifying what an individual is struggling with, and working with them

on that specifically, will help a student fix the mistake before it becomes a habit. It will also

enable the teacher to identify things that students struggle with, and turn a potentially weak area

into something that ends up being a strong one. In an article called Improving children's written

grammar and style: revising and editing with HARRY, it is stated that, Revision is the means by

which a text is gradually improved. Children however, rarely initiate revisions to their writing,

whether they are using pencil and paper or a word processor. Most children merely proof read at

a superficial level focusing on spelling (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1983). I think there is a stigma

that comes along with revising papers, and that students believe if their papers need to be revised
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they are not smart or they are a bad writer. It seems to me that this is the reason why children

rarely initiate their revision, and teachers need to start cultivating an atmosphere in their

classrooms that encourage revision and reassure students that revision is a good thing for their

writing. Revising is the means by which writer, whether you are a student or a published writer,

can break down and improve their ideas, correct any grammar mistakes, and overall make their

piece better. In the same article stated above it says, Studies such as Hillocks (1982) and

Trushell (1986) indicate that children only attempt to revise their writing in response to external

evaluations provided by either peers or teachers. Trushell (1986) found that collaborative writing

had the effect of moving children towards achieving more sophisticated writing, whilst Hillocks

(1982) noted that children produced better stories when they revised in response to teacher

questions directed at specific features. If teachers initiate and improve the attitude surrounding

revising their work from the get go of learning the writing process, it will lead to better writing

from students.

Another issue I feel is important to address and hopefully change in the future is how

teachers are teaching grammar. An article entitled Grammar matters: How teachers

grammatical knowledge impacts on the teaching of writing, it says, Increasing language

teachers explicit knowledge about grammar through teacher education will not automatically

lead to more effective instruction. Teachers also need the pedagogical skills to use this

knowledge to enhance learning (2003: 100). Bartels (2005) also argues that language teaching

requires an integration of pedagogy and declarative grammatical content knowledge. In other

words, it is grammatical pedagogical content knowledge which may be most salient. Pedagogy

is defined as, the method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or

theoretical concept.: "the relationship between applied linguistics and language pedagogy"
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"subject-based pedagogies, and content knowledge is the actual knowledge that a person knows.

I feel that during my entire academic experience grammar was constantly spat at me by teachers

without any explanations of application, meaning, or usage. Students will never obtain a clear

understanding and knowledge of how to use proper grammar in their writing if teachers do not

learn how to teach it in a way that explores the actual theories and foundations of grammar in a

way that leads to students being able to apply it. Teachers need to start becoming comfortable

with branching out to new methods of teaching grammar, because the education system is stuck

in a rut of traditional teaching, and generally students are clearly not benefiting from that. As a

teacher, I would teach more about the applications and exercises of grammar, not just the typical

lecture that looks like I just want to display my own knowledge of grammar.

I spoke above about the idea of redundant methods of teaching students grammar. In

elementary school, students are taught things like spelling, punctuation, structure, and other

components of grammar. It is always done through worksheets, quizzes, and lecture. Since I was

a student who learned better through visual and hands on assignments, sometimes the traditional

concepts of grammar did not stick with me as well as they should of. I learned better when I was

at home with my mom, who would sit me down and write the difference between their and

there, showed me repetitively how things like the oxford comma worked, and would always go

over my papers with me and talk out corrections. I understand that teachers cannot be as hands

on as mothers are, but they can deviate from the standard teaching of writing methods to enhance

students understanding of the different ways they can approach their writings.

Lastly, I would like to address the challenge of trying to teach grammar to children with

any kind of struggle in the classroom. Certain students will not be able to catch onto grammar as

quickly as others, for whatever reason, and those students need to be approached with patience
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and understanding by their teachers. I had too many experiences growing up in my math and

science classes where I did not grasp a subject the first time a teacher taught it, they did not go

back and take time to make sure I understood it, and those concepts are still things that I struggle

with to this day. All aspects of grammar, syntax, spelling, punctuation, etcetera, are hard to

understand for any person, and if it is not taught to complete understanding in students from a

young age it is something they will struggle with for the rest of their lives. In a study called

Evidence for a grammar-specific deficit in children, a disorder called Specific Language

Impairment (SLI) is told to affect seven percent of all children. This study tells of an anonymous

student called AZ, and his struggles with grammar. From the article it says, To summarise,

although AZ understood the task and performed well on the test sentences that do not require

knowledge of grammar, he did not have the grammatical knowledge associated with pronouns

and reflexives which normally developing children have from the age of four to five years.

Because AZ missed out on proper grammar instruction, and he is working at the level of a four to

five year old, it has affected his ability to demonstrate the level of grammar that is expected of

him where he is at. Teachers need to be conscious of these students in their classrooms, and

make the extra effort to take time and give said students the help that they need so they do not

fall behind. Not addressing a problem from the beginning only makes a child worse off in the

long run, and I believe teachers need to be willing to deviate from their lesson plans or schedule

to fix the struggle before it becomes a habit.

In conclusion, if teachers were to start teaching students any form of structured grammar

from a young age, students would greatly benefit from it long term. If proper grammar is taught

to students, I believe that students will become skilled writers at a young age, and in the future

they will look better to colleges and potential employees if they can write and speak with
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eloquent speech from proper grammar. To implement the practice of grammar teaching in their

classrooms, teachers need to use methods of reading, writing, revising, be willing to deviate from

the typical practice of grammar teaching in the classroom, and spend extra time with the students

who may be struggling with or not grasping certain concepts of grammar. In my opinion refined

writing skills helps people with all other aspects of life, so it is very important to teach proper

grammar practices to children as soon as they start to write to set them up for success in the

future.

Works Cited

Feng, Shoudong|Powers Kathy. The Short- And Long-Term Effect of Explicit Grammar
Instruction on Fifth Graders' Writing. Reading Improvement, Project Innovation, Inc., P.O. Box
8508, Spring Hill Station, Mobile, AL 36689-0508. Web site:
http://journals825.Home.mindspring.com/Csj/Html., 22 June 2005, eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ725378.

Grammar matters: How teachers' grammatical knowledge impacts on the teaching of

writing. Teaching and Teacher Education, Pergamon, 22 Aug. 2013,
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X13001194.
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Holdich, C. E.|Chung, P. W. H.|Holdich, R. G. Improving Children's Written Grammar

and Style: Revising and Editing with HARRY. Computers and Education, Elsevier. 6277 Sea
Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-4800. Tel: 877-839-7126; Tel: 407-345-4020; Fax: 407-363-
1354; e-Mail: usjcs@Elsevier.com; Web site: http://Www.elsevier.com., 31 Dec. 2003,
eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ739215.

Pedagogy | Definition of pedagogy in English by Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford

Dictionaries | English, Oxford Dictionaries, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/pedagogy.

van, H K, et al. Evidence for a grammar-Specific deficit in children. Current biology :

CB., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 19 Nov. 1998,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9822577.