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The Role of Grammar in Improving Students Writing

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White Reynolds


HOW DOES SENTENCE COMBINING IMPROVE WRITING?


Sentence combining is the technique of joining short sentences into longer, more advanced sentences. As college students engage in sentence-combining actions, they learn how to range sentence construction to be able to change meaning and magnificence. Numerous studies (Mellon, 1969; O'Hare, 1973; Cooper, 1975; Shaughnessy, 1977; Hillocks, 1986; Strong, 1986) present that the usage of sentence combining is an effective methodology for bettering students' writing. The worth of sentence combining is most evident as college students acknowledge the effect of sentence variety (beginnings, lengths, complexities) in their own writing.


Hillocks (1986) states that "sentence combining apply provides writers with systematic data of syntactic potentialities, the entry to which permits them to type by way of alternate options of their heads in addition to on paper and to decide on these which are most apt" (one hundred fifty). Research also exhibits that sentence combining is more effective than freewriting in enhancing the standard of pupil writing (Hillocks, 1986).


Hillocks and Smith (1991) show that systematic follow in sentence combining can increase college students' data of syntactic constructions in addition to enhance the quality of their sentences, significantly when stylistic effects are mentioned as nicely. Sentence-combining workout routines may be either written or oral, structured or unstructured. Structured sentence-combining workout routines give college students extra guidance in ways to create the brand new sentences; unstructured sentence-combining exercises permit for more variation, but they still require college students to create logical, significant sentences. Hillocks (1986) reports that in many studies, sentence-combining exercises produce important increases in students' sentence-writing maturity.


Given Noguchi's (1991) analysis that grammar decisions affect writing fashion, sentence combining is an effective method for helping college students develop fluency and selection in their very own writing fashion. Students can explore sentence variety, size, parallelism, and different syntactic units by evaluating their sentences with sentences from different writers. They additionally discover the choices writers make in revising for fashion and impact.


Teachers can design their own sentence-combining activities by using short sentences from student writing or other applicable sources. For instance, teachers who notice many choppy sentences in students' writing can place these sentences on an overhead for all their college students to learn. Teachers can then ask different students to combine orally the quick sentences in a wide range of ways.


By taking part in oral and written sentence-combining actions, college students higher perceive the methods during which sentence structure, utilization, and punctuation have an effect on which means.


When introduced as a revising technique, sentence-combining activities assist students establish short, uneven sentences in their very own writing, leading them to combine their ideas in more fluid and complex ways. As students generate more complex sentences from shorter ones, they discover how the association of phrases and clauses, for instance, impacts which means and its influence on their readers.



WHAT STRATEGIES CAN TEACHERS USE TO TEACH GRAMMAR IN THE CONTEXT OF WRITING?


Grammar instruction is most naturally built-in through the revising, modifying, and proofreading phases of the writing process. After students have written their first drafts and feel snug with the ideas and organization of their writing, lecturers might want to employ numerous methods to assist college students see grammatical ideas as language selections that can enhance their writing objective. Students will quickly grow more receptive to revising, modifying, and proofreading their writing. In writing conferences, for example, teachers may help students revise for efficient word choices. As the instructor and scholar talk about the true audience(s) for the writing, the teacher can ask the scholar to consider how formal or casual the writing must be, and remind the scholar that each one people modify the level of formality in oral conversation, relying on their listeners and the talking context. The trainer can then help the student identify phrases in his or her writing that change the extent of formality of the writing.


To help Business English lessons for adults revise boring, monotonous sentences, lecturers may ask students to learn their writing aloud to partners. This technique helps each the partner and the author to recognize when, for instance, too many sentences begin with "It is" or "There are." Both the companion and the author can focus on methods to vary the sentence beginnings. After the author revises the sentences, the associate can learn the sentences aloud. Then each can focus on the effectiveness of the revision.


Teachers may help students edit from passive voice to energetic voice by presenting a minilesson. In enhancing teams, students can change papers and look for verbs that always signal the passive voice, such as was and been. When college students find these verbs, they read the sentence aloud to their companions and discuss whether or not the voice is passive and, if that's the case, whether or not an lively voice verb might strengthen the sentence. The pupil writer can then resolve which voice is most effective and acceptable for the writing objective and viewers.


Teachers might help college students become higher proofreaders by way of peer enhancing groups. Based on the writing skills of their college students, lecturers can assign totally different proofreading tasks to particular individuals in every group. For instance, one individual in the group might proofread for spelling errors, another person for settlement errors, one other person for fragments and run-ons, and one other


person for punctuation errors. As college students develop growing skill in proofreading, they become liable for extra proofreading areas. Collaborating with classmates in peer modifying teams helps college students improve their own grammar skills as well as understand the importance of grammar as a device for efficient communication.


As teachers combine grammar instruction with writing instruction, they should use the grammar phrases that make sense to the students. By incorporating grammar terms



naturally into the processes of revising, modifying, and proofreading, teachers help college students perceive and apply grammar purposefully to their very own writing. Strategies such as writing conferences, partnership writing, grammar minilessons, and peer response groups are all valuable methods for integrating grammar into writing instruction.



HOW DOES THE TEACHING OF GRAMMAR ADDRESS THE NATIONAL CONTENT STANDARDS FOR STUDENTS?


The National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association (1996) published Standards for the English Language Arts, which defines "what students ought to know and be able to do with language" (p. 1). The twelve content requirements are closely intertwined and emphasize the complex interactions amongst language skills. Standards four, 5, and 6 most immediately address college students' capability to write down.


The national content requirements for English language arts are primarily based on skilled analysis and finest classroom practices. While the standards acknowledge the importance of grammar concepts, they clearly recommend that college students learn and apply grammar for the purpose of effective communication. By embedding grammar instruction in writing instruction, teachers can positively have an effect on college students' precise writing abilities.


NATIONAL CONTENT STANDARDS


Standard 4: Students modify their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, type, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a wide range of audiences and for various purposes (p. 3).


Standard 5: Students make use of a wide range of methods as they write and use different writing process components appropriately to communicate with totally different audiences for quite a lot of functions (p. 3).


Standard 6: Students apply knowledge of language construction, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media strategies, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and focus on print and nonprint texts (p. 3).


"By closely observing students' writing processes and carefully studying their work, academics can see which features of language construction are giving students hassle and help them study these ideas via direct instruction and practice. It can be necessary for college kids to find that grammar, spelling, and punctuation are useful not solely in the context of fixing issues or errors; they can be studied effectively in a workshop context in which students work collectively to increase their repertoire of syntactic and verbal styles. When students join the research of grammar and language patterns to the broader functions of communication and creative development, they are considerably extra more likely to incorporate such examine into their working data" (p. 37).


References


Braddock, R., Lloyd-Jones, R., & Schoer, L. (1963). Research in Written Composition. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.


Calkins, L. M. (1980). "When Children Want to Punctuate." Language Arts, fifty seven, 567Ð73.


Cooper, C. (1975). "Research Roundup: Oral and Written Composition." English Journal, 64, seventy two.


DiStefano, P. & Best website to learn English , J. (1984). "Assessing Writing Skills Through a Process Approach." English Education, 16 (4), 203Ð7.


Harris, R. J. (1962). "An Experimental Inquiry into the Functions and Value of Formal Grammar within the Teaching of Written English to Children Aged Twelve to Fourteen." Ph.D. dissertation. University of London.


Hillocks, G., Jr. (1986). "Research on Written Composition: New Directions for Teaching." Urbana, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills and the National Conference on Research in English.


Hillocks, G., Jr. & Smith, M. (1991). "Grammar and Usage." In J. Flood, J. M. Jensen, D. Lapp & J. R. Squire (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts. New York: Macmillan, 591Ð603.


Mellon, J. C. (1969). "Transformational Sentence-Combining: A Method for Enhancing the Development of Syntactic Fluency in English Composition." NCTE Research Report No. 10. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.


National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association. (1996). Standards for the English Language Arts. English grammar learning websites , IL: National Council of Teachers of English.


Noguchi, R. R. (1991). Grammar and the Teaching of Writing: Limits and Possibilities. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.


O'Hare, F. (1973). Sentence-Combining: Improving Student Writing Without Formal Grammar Instruction. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.


Shaughnessy, M. P. (1977). Errors and Expectations: A Guide for the Teacher of Basic Writing. New York: Oxford University Press.


Strong, W. (1986). Creative Approaches to Sentence Combining. Urbana, IL: ERIC and the National Council of Teachers of English.


Weaver, C. (1998). Lessons to Share on Teaching Grammar in Context. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.















Beverly Ann Chin, professor of English on the University of Montana and past-president of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), developed the new Grammar for Writing sequence to help prepare at present's secondary students to fulfill the new requirements called for on standardized checks, on college readiness examinations, and in right now's quickly changing job market.


Copyright ©2000 by William H. Sadlier, Inc. All rights reserved.


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Beverly Ann Chin, professor of English on the University of Montana and past-president of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), developed the new Grammar for Writing series to help prepare at present's secondary students to fulfill the new standards called for on standardized tests, on faculty readiness examinations, and in at present's rapidly altering job market.