The short and long term effect of explicit grammar instruction on fifth grades' writing

Feng, S., & Powers, K. (2005). The short- and long-term effect of explicit grammar instruction on fifth graders’ writing. Reading Improvement, 42(2), 67-72.

Background

According to the authors, a close look at samples of elementary students’ writing suggested that students frequently made grammar mistakes in writing, and many of these errors were consistent and should be addressed. While there was a steady increase in researchers who supported error-based grammar instruction in the context of reading and writing, little research had been conducted to investigate the effectiveness of such an approach on the accuracy of students’ writing.

Aims

The purpose of this study was to determine the short- and long-term effect of error-based grammar instruction on the writing of a group of fifth-grade students.

Sample

The participants were a group of fifth graders in a public elementary school in a southern state of the United States. The study started with 22 participants, but the number went down to 16 halfway through and subsequently 19 at the final stage of the study as a result of the students’ willingness to take part varying over time.

Method

The main source of data comprised student writing samples collected at three different points in the school year. The first batch of writing samples was collected and analysed for grammatical errors by the authors. Mini-lessons that targeted the identified grammatical errors were then taught to the participants. To assess the immediate effects of the mini-lessons, a second batch of writing samples was collected and analysed one week after the mini-lessons were conducted. The third and final batch of writing samples was collected and analysed for grammatical errors at the end of the school year so as to determine the long-term effect of the approach.

Findings

In general, the participants improved in their writing across the three areas of concern, namely mechanical, sentence structure, and usage on both the short-term and long-term measurements. The short-term effect was found to be more pronounced than the long-term effect on mechanics and usage. Results also showed that the participants tended to make more mechanical errors than errors related to usage and sentence structure.

Implications

The findings of the study support the claim that error-based instruction is an effective approach to grammar teaching. The findings also suggest the importance for teachers to be familiar with the errors made by their students in writing so that mini-lessons can be planned accordingly to address those weaknesses.

Original article retrieved from Taylor and Francis online.