Transcript Document

Teaching Grammar
for Writing
Helen Lines, Debra Myhill, Susan Jones
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Aims of Session
 To outline research findings showing positive effect of explicit integration
of grammar into teaching of writing;
 To introduce practical activities which exemplify this approach;
 To underline the importance of talk in developing writing;
 To develop confidence embedding grammar creatively within the
teaching of writing,
 To boost confidence in grammatical subject knowledge
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The Exeter Project
Grammar meant:


Grammar did not mean:
Developing knowledge about

Learning grammar rules;
language;

Correcting grammar errors;
Using metalanguage to talk about

De-contextualised exercises.
language;

Making connections between
grammar and writing
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The research design
Observations
A randomised control trial
Writing
outcomes
16 Intervention classes were taught 3
schemes of work supporting contextualised
grammar knowledge
Pre and post tests compared to
16 comparison classes
Teacher
interviews
Embedded in a qualitative
study
Student
interviews
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The Intervention

Designed 3 schemes work (1 per term) focusing on a different written genre:
Narrative Fiction; Argument; Poetry

Each unit matched the Framework for English

Grammar features which were relevant to the writing being taught were
embedded into the teaching units

Intervention group had detailed teaching materials for each lesson

Comparison group addressed same learning objectives, same resources and
produced same written outcomes, but had no lesson plans
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Contextualised grammar teaching

A rhetorical view of grammar – exploring how language works

Investigating how language choices construct meanings in different
contexts

The teaching focus is on writing, not on grammar per se

The teaching focus is on effects and constructing meanings, not on the
feature or terminology itself

The teaching goal is to open up a repertoire of infinite possibilities, not
to teach about ‘correct’ ways of writing
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Did it work?

Statistically significant positive effect for intervention group

Intervention group improved their writing scores by 20% over the year
compared with 11% in the comparison group.

The grammar teaching had greatest impact on able writers

Able writers in the comparison group barely improved over the year

Teachers’ subject knowledge of grammar was an influencing factor
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Embedding grammar in the
teaching of writing
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Key teaching principles

Grammatical metalanguage is used, but it is explained through examples;

Links are always made between the feature introduced and how it might enhance
the writing being tackled;

Discussion is fundamental in encouraging critical conversations about language
and effects;

The use of ‘imitation’ offers model patterns for students to play with and then use
in their own writing;

The use of authentic examples from authentic texts links writers to the broader
community of writers;

Activities support students in making choices and being designers of writing;

Language play, experimentation, risk-taking and games are actively encouraged.
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The noun phrase for description in fictional
narrative
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Expanding noun phrases
Det Adjective(s) NOUN
er
min
er
Prepositional
phrase
Non-finite clause
Relative
clause
man
silent
figure
a
silent
figure
a
silent
figure
a
silent
figure
with a battered
briefcase
stepping swiftly
a
silent
figure,
with a battered
briefcase
stepping swiftly
stepping swiftly
who was clearly
angry,
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Experimenting with persuasive sentence types
in argument
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Playing with sentence design
in poetry
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Using authentic texts for
creative imitation
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The importance of talk in developing
writing
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Talking about writing
Reflect on the tasks you have done so far and list some of the things you
have been talking about with your partner as you did the tasks.
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Writing Conversations

Talk to generate ideas and support the development of content (what to
write)

Talk to support the shaping of writing (how we write):
 Rehearsing possibilities for images, noun phrases, sentences, openings;
 Discussing language choices and their effectiveness
 Discussing reading texts and how the author has created text
 Revising writing and justifying decisions
 Hearing writing read aloud: supports becoming the reader of your own writing
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What happened in the 15 minutes
What will happen in the
before this picture was taken?
next 15 minutes?
In pairs, write the opening
five or six sentences of a
fictional narrative
In pairs, read another pair’s
opening and comment on
their choices
Are you the skier?
Did this happen in the past?
Do you know the skier?
Is it happening now?
Are you the all knowing
narrator?
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Collaborative Writing

Composing a text together is a valuable way to generate effective talk
about writing
 It makes the writing process visible
 It obliges students to articulate and justify choices they are making as they write
 It tends to foster a lot of reading text aloud and more re-reading of text
 It supports developing better revision strategies
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Writing Conversation: Teachers
Teachers’ leading of talk about writing is a critical skill:
 Foster justification of language choices made
 Be prepared to challenge cliche or forced, overdone writing
 Support writers to make links between the grammar feature and its
effect in shaping meaning in writing
 Generate questions and pursue misunderstandings
 Encourage experimentation and language play but be prepared to
discuss why some attempts are less successful
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Formulaic Writing

It is easy to give the wrong messages about writing (and grammar) leading to
limited student understanding of writing and some misconceptions:
 Descriptive writing needs lots of adjectives
 Revising text is always about adding, never about cutting
 Complex sentences are better than simple sentences
 Long words are better than short words
 Good sentences start with an adverb
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Metalinguistic knowledge
Effective teachers in our study:

always linked the linguistic feature to a specific context-relevant effect or
purpose, thus making meaningful connections between the grammar under
focus and the writing;

responded to students’ own writing sensitively, asking questions which invited
students to consider the writing choices they were making, or by drawing out
explicitly effective choices in the writing;

had sufficient metalinguistic knowledge to notice relevant aspects of reading
texts or students’ writing to draw to learners’ attention.
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Writing and Grammar

Teaching writing using grammar is not about obedience to rules but the
nurturing of a repertoire which generates infinite possibilities.

Teaching grammar shows young writers how to manipulate and stretch
language like putty: it is explicit.

It acknowledges that startling images, arising unbidden from the unconscious,
sometimes surprise the writer, that the turn of a sentence in its first draft may
be just right, and that through writing we often discover what we want to say.

It also recognizes that for most writers, such moments of creative flow are
balanced by the hard slog of generating, tuning, and refining our writing.
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The Romantic view!
Every line, every phrase, may pass
the ordeal of deliberation and
deliberate choice.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Schemes of Work
Published by NATE: free to NATE members; £7.50
each to non-members.
http://www.nate.org.uk/page/grammarschemes
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