Does teaching complex sentences have to be complicated? Lessons from children's online writing

This paper draws upon data from a research project, undertaken in 2 Year 6 classrooms during the 2006 World Cup, to analyse how children used complex sentence structures in their writing on a football web‐log. We explore how the confluence of a temporary, popular, global event and an online forum for communication created a moment of linguistic empowerment where pupils began to use high‐level forms of language, and we consider the implications of transience and interactivity for the teaching and learning of sentence grammar.     

Writing Process and Progress: Where Do We Go from Here?

This article examines the rationale behind the government's methods for raising standards in writing at Key Stage 2. Firstly there is a renewed drive to teach discrete units of sentence grammar. Secondly there is a fresh commitment to shared and guided writing. But, because it is envisaged that these teacher‐led sessions will take up at least half of the Literacy Hour two or three times a week, both these aims will lead to a diminution of time for written composition by the children themselves. This is in accordance with new criticisms by NLS policy makers of the model of ‘process’ embedded in the National Curriculum, particularly the idea of creative pre‐writing activities and sustained independent writing. The article goes on to argue that these new measures ignore research on the ways children learn to write and will not lead to a rise in standards.     

反思性学习策略在大学英语写作教学中的实证研究

该研究设计了一次旨在运用反思性学习策略提高大学生英语写作能力的教学实验,在为期14周的写作教学中,教师改变传统英语写作教学作文的批改模式,让学生自改、互改,认识错误的根源,建立错误档案,通过反思、内省的方式让学习者对自身写作中存在的困难和问题加以反思和总结,从而提高英语写作水平。定量和定性的分析结果表明：在英语写作教学中运用作文＂自改、互改—教师修改—再修改＂这种反思学习策略,学生在词汇、语法和句法类型出错的机率都显著降低,从而有效地提高了英语写作水平。     

Experimental trials and ‘what works?’ in education: The case of grammar for writing

The place of evidence to inform educational effectiveness has received increasing attention internationally in the last two decades. An important contribution to evidence‐informed policy has been greater attention to experimental trials including randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The aim of this paper is to examine the use of evidence, particularly the use of evidence from experimental trials, to inform national curriculum policy. To do this the teaching of grammar to help pupils’ writing was selected as a case. Two well‐regarded and influential experimental trials that had a significant effect on policy, and that focused on the effectiveness of grammar teaching to support pupils’ writing, are examined in detail. In addition to the analysis of their methodology, the nature of the two trials is also considered in relation to other key studies in the field of grammar teaching for writing and a recently published robust RCT. The paper shows a significant and persistent mismatch between national curriculum policy in England and the robust evidence that is available with regard to the teaching of writing. It is concluded that there is a need for better evidence‐informed decisions by policy makers to ensure a national curriculum specification for writing that is more likely to have positive impact on pupils.     

Playful explicitness with grammar: a pedagogy for writing

The place of grammar within the teaching of writing has long been contested and successive research studies have indicated no correlation between grammar teaching and writing attainment. However, a recent study has shown a significant positive impact on writing outcomes when the grammar input is intrinsically linked to the demands of the writing being taught. The study adopted a mixed methods design with a large‐scale randomised controlled trial accompanied by a qualitative dataset, which provided contextual information about how the intervention was implemented. In this paper, we will outline the pedagogical principles that underpinned the intervention, and illustrate both the theoretical grounding and practical classroom examples that exemplify the approach. We will argue that any future policy or professional development that draws on this research must take account of these pedagogical principles, rather than focusing too superficially on either the grammar or the teaching materials which exemplify them.     

Pupils' word choices and the teaching of grammar

The idea that formal grammar teaching leads to improvements in school pupils' writing has been a popular one. However, the robust and extensive evidence base shows that this is not the case. Despite this, policy initiatives have continued to suggest that grammar teaching does improve pupils' writing: the Grammar for Writing resource is the most recent example in England. Educational analysis on the subject of grammar has moved from a focus on whether grammar teaching improves pupils' writing to reflection on the rational for teaching knowledge about language, and subsequently a focus on a wide range of language topics. The study reported in this paper analysed the way that eight children made word choices during the writing process. Theory is presented to support the idea that contextualized learning of grammar is significant. Five significant influences on word choices are reported. Strong links between text‐level influences on word‐choices and the use of unconventional language at sentence and word level were found. It is concluded that writing pedagogy should be re‐evaluated in order to consider the balance between individualized support and support for groups during the writing process.     

英语仿写的教学策略

为了提高学生的英语写作能力,在高一高二就要加强英语写作教学,训练学生利用不同体裁的课文中的相关词汇、句型、语法进行仿写的能力,并以小组合作探究的形式对学生习作进行修改和讲评。     

Grammar for writing? An investigation of the effects of contextualised grammar teaching on students’ writing

The role of grammar instruction in the teaching of writing is contested in most Anglophone countries, with several robust meta-analyses finding no evidence of any beneficial effect. However, existing research is limited in that it only considers isolated grammar instruction and offers no theorisation of an instructional relationship between grammar and writing. This study, drawing on a theorised understanding of grammar as a meaning-making resource for writing development, set out to investigate the impact of contextualised grammar instruction on students’ writing performance. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach, with a randomised controlled trial and a complementary qualitative study. The statistical analyses indicate a positive effect on writing performance for the intervention group (e = 0.21; p < 0.001); but the study also indicates that the intervention impact differentially on different sub-groups, benefiting able writers more than weaker writers. The study is significant in being the first to supply rigorous, theorised evidence for the potential benefits of teaching grammar to support development in writing.     

Comparison of reading comprehension levels of literate learners with different methods

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between two teaching methods used to teach reading and writing and reading comprehension skills and successes of fifth-grade students. The main difference between the two methods in our research; teaching of the first literacy in the sentence method, determined and sentences with various features, in the voice based sentence method, the sound of the letters in the alphabet is determined by the instruction of the determined group order. The mixed method research design is the process in which both quantitative and qualitative methods are used in collecting, analyzing and mixing the data in a study. The application of the study lasted for two years. The achievement test developed by the researcher was first applied to 1000 fifth-grade students who learned reading and writing by the sentence method, and, then, to 1000 fifth-grade students who learned reading and writing by the sound-based sentence method in the following year. The results showed that there was a significant difference between reading comprehension levels of the fifth-grade students who learned reading and writing by the sentence method versus by the sound-based sentence method. The difference was in favour of the students who learned reading and writing by the sentence method.     

Developing writing skills of learners with persistent literacy difficulties through explicit grammar teaching

The benefits of grammar instruction in the teaching of writing is contested in most English‐speaking countries (Jones et al., 2012). The majority of Anglophone countries abandoned the teaching of grammar in the 1950s based on the conclusions that it had no positive impact on learners’ development of reading, writing and language (Locke, 2005). Through an action research design, this study aims at gaining a further understanding of how the explicit teaching of grammar in context can benefit learners with persistent literacy difficulties by adapting the Grammar for Writing materials (Myhill, 2013). It intends to improve educational practice (Koshy, 2010) through action, analysis and reflection.     

主位推进模式对大学英语写作教学的启示——以一次当堂作文练习为例

由于传统的英语写作教学过分注重语法和句子结构,学生能够写出合乎语法的正确句子,却不知如何布局谋篇,如何处理句子与段落、段落与篇章的关系。该文运用主位推进模式分析非英语专业学生的一次当堂四级水平要求的英语作文,着重从语篇层面分析学生的弱点,探讨该理论在大学英语写作教学中的应用。     

基础日语教学的几个重要环节

基础教学是外语教学的重要组成部分。本文阐述日语语音、词汇、句型等教学环节中值得注意的一些问题。强调对于不同的教学内容应该采取不同教学法,在研究国内外教学的基础上,努力创造出符合我国国情的外语教学新方法。     

The Communicative Approach for EFL Writing to College Sophomore English Majors in China

Although English writing teachers paid great energy and time on students' writings in terms of revision of sentence structure, grammar, word choice, spelling and punctuation, students' English writing abilities have been progressed much less than expected. In other words, students' writings are characteristic of plain content, disorder of organization, simple sentence structure, generalized vocabulary, poor grammar. By the method of deduction, combined benefits and weaknesses of product-oriented approach with process-oriented approach, the communicative approach, comes to be applied in EFL writing for sophomore college English majors. Communicative approach by combination of meaningful learning, the anticipation of reward, the intrinsic motivation, the autonomy, language culture connection the communicative principle, the task principle brings much more effective success in writing teaching.     

交际教学法课堂上语法教学的必要性

目前,有关语法教学研究的焦点已经从"要不要教"转向"如何教"。那么,如何将语法教学有效地融入交际教学法也就成了研究的一个热点。本文通过心理语言学的理论,从句子理解及句子记忆相关的角度分析语法教学在外语教学中的重要地位,探讨语法教学在交际教学法中的必要性。     

人称与物称:中、美中学生英语写作中句子主语的差异研究--以我国高考试卷中的一道英语写作题为例

通过自建语料库,以我国高考英语试卷中的某一道写作题为例,对比分析中国中学生和美国中学生的英语写作文本,研究两个群体在主语使用上的差异。研究发现:我国中学生在主语的选择上与美国中学生差异明显,过多使用人称主语,较少使用物称主语;在人称主语的使用上,我国中学生过多使用第二人称,过少使用第三人称,在物称主语的使用上,过多使用名词和代词做主语,较少使用动名词和it做主语。导致这些差异的原因主要是母语的干扰、学生对英汉之间的差异缺乏了解以及对功能词的掌握不足等。为了提高学生的英语写作能力,中学英语教师应有意识地培养学生的英汉差异意识,同时在指导学生加大英语输入强度、改进词汇和语法教学、分话题训练学生掌握多样的表达方式等方面着手,改进英语写作教学方法,提高写作教学的质量。     

Using chipendale in the classroom

One of the most common complaints among criminal justice educators is that students have very poor writing and research skills. In particular, educators cite that students’ papers are poorly organized, are replete with grammar and spelling errors, are missing key elements in their discussions, and are often plagiarized. Despite the need for research and writing classes, very few social science faculty members teach writing‐intensive courses because of the amount of time such a course requires. Accordingly, this paper presents a model criminal justice writing class that outlines specific teaching methods to overcome the most common problems found in criminal justice writing and research.     

Grammar and text: an experiment in teacher training / Gramática y texto: un experimento en la formación de profesores

Abstract

The article describes an experiment in teaching training undertaken in the context of the Masters programme in Teacher Training (for primary school teachers) at the Lisbon College of Education. The training experiment was able to: (1) incorporate mother tongue teaching into the broader curriculum; (2) relate the teaching of texts and the teaching of grammar; and (3) integrate the theoretical and practical dimensions of teacher training. The didactic scheme adopted relies on theoretical assumptions such as the concept of the integrated curriculum, the model of didactic sequence and the principles of socio-discursive interactionism. This training experiment has proved to be particularly useful for all the participants in the process (teachers of the course; trainee teachers; children in the schools; and the form teachers of the classes where the trainees do their practice). As a result of it, there has been a clear improvement in the quality of the teaching provided by our trainees in the domains of writing and grammar. The main advantages of this approach are that: (1) it structures the teaching of writing and grammar; (2) it uses projects to socially contextualize writing tasks; (3) it develops various language skills in an integrated fashion, while at the same time working on different areas of knowledge; and (4) it defines forms of spiral progression.     

对直接影响二语写作成绩可测变量的探索

因为二语写作准确性因子分析及单因素方差检验所得结果的一致,所以随着英语水平的提高,语法错误越少,作文成绩就越高。因此,外语教学应高度重视语法教学。     

阅读在英语写作教学语篇环节中的作用

英语写作教学与阅读有着非常密切的关系。根据一些学者的研究分析,中国学生在英语写作中语篇错误比较突出,而阅读在文章主题思想的表达、段落主题句的写作以及信息粘合性等语篇环节中起着重要的范文作用。通过学习阅读文章进行写作教学可以有效地提高学生的语篇水平。     

衔接教学在中学生英语说明文写作中的应用

衔接是连贯性的基础和具体体现,在英语运行机制中起着非常重要的作用.根据以往的研究背景以及目前中学生英语写作教学现状,笔者针对高三学生进行了为期五个月的衔接教学训练.利用Halliday和Hasan的语篇衔接和连贯理论,分别对实验班和控制班的成绩进行了对比研究,发现衔接教学可以有效影响和提高学生的写作能力.