This paper presents a systematic literature review of studies about writing in elementary schools. A systematic search of databases was conducted to select studies. The aim was to identify and categorize difficulties and suggestions. A total of 52 articles published in peer-reviewed journals over the past 21 years were reviewed and analyzed using…

Scholars in writing studies have positioned numerous critiques of the tacit myth of Standard English (*SE) and its use as an unquestioned communicative norm. While these critiques reflect the overlap of the field's translingualism and anti-racist writing assessment movements, they also reveal an empirical need surrounding the writing instructors…

The current volume aspires to add to previous research on the connection between writing and language learning from a dual perspective: It seeks to reflect current progress in the domain as well as to foster future developments in theory and research. The theoretical postulations contained in Part I identify and expand in novel ways the diverse…

Background: The need for improvement in writing instruction in schools is dependent on teachers being aware of evidence-based procedures in writing and implementing them on a regular basis in their classrooms. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the frequency with which teachers in Western Canada employed evidence-based procedures in…

Many English language learners (ELLs) require extra support to become successful writers. This book helps teachers understand the unique needs of ELLs and promote their achievement by adapting the effective instructional methods they already know. Engaging and accessible, the book features standards-based lesson planning ideas, examples of student…

This article discusses exchanges between a number of scholars during the 1990s centering on Min-Zhan Lu's controversial essay "Conflict and Struggle: The Enemies or Preconditions of Basic Writing?" In some ways, "Conflict and Struggle" blazed a trail for later work in "hybrid" or "mixed" forms of academic writing while at the same time igniting…

Building on Sheen's (2007) study of the effects of written corrective feedback (CF) on the acquisition of English articles, this article investigated whether direct focused CF, direct unfocused CF and writing practice alone produced differential effects on the accurate use of grammatical forms by adult ESL learners. Using six intact adult ESL…

Research suggests that basic writers are willing to edit but reluctant to revise their writing. In other words, they make surface-level changes to grammar, spelling, and punctuation but tend not to re-conceive content, structure, style, and cohesion. This paper argues that we need more instructional strategies that will help students understand…

Every writing program contains implicit information on the amount of writing that should be assigned, how the essays should be evaluated, the type of grammar--if any--students should study, and the type of composition instruction that will be most effective. Research has not identified an optimal level of writing frequency, and although frequent…

Describes an informal study to see whether college English majors judged a relative clause as restrictive or nonrestrictive. Most assumed that it was restrictive, based on speech patterns. Suggests that teachers should recognize the fact that a nonrestrictive relative clause is an invention that does not exist in the English language. (HTH)

Proposing that the utility of formal grammar instruction has never been put to the test, this booklet first explains the heretofore negative research results and explains why all the good intentions behind them have not kept those results from being essentially useless. The remainder of the booklet describes an experiment in which there were no…

Explores the shortcomings of research for resolving the question of the effectiveness of grammar instruction. Suggests that writers need to develop skills at two levels: broadly rhetorical, involving communication in meaningful contexts; and broadly metalinguistic (rather than linguistic), involving active manipulation of language with conscious…

Asks whether the sustained instruction in the "basics" of English, especially grammar, is being unrightfully ignored. Challenges teachers who claim that instruction in grammar is unneeded or ill-advised. Counters such assertions by examining two research studies purportedly proving the ineffectiveness of teaching grammar. (HB)

Focusing on the sociolinguistic dimensions of literacy, this sourcebook builds upon Mina Shaughnessy's contributions to the study of basic writing by gathering together contemporary research, theory, and practice on the subject. The 39 essays and their authors include: "Defining Basic Writing in Context" and "Perspectives on…

In order to support an argument for the teaching of grammar in a writing class, this report first summarizes the descriptive studies done by Kellogg Hunt in 1965 and 1970, and the comparative studies done by John Mellon and Frank O'Hare in 1969 and 1973. The second part of the report consists of five workshop handouts about the following topics:…