Martha briefly critiques the Harris and Elley studies and the Braddock and Hillocks reports in the following article. Rhetorical Grammar: A Modification Lesson Martha Kolln The English Journal, Vol. 85, No. 7, The Great Debate (Again): Teaching Grammar and Usage, (Nov., 1996), pp. 25-31 Published by: National Council of Teachers of English -----Original Message----- From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar on behalf of John Dews-Alexander Sent: Sat 2/7/2009 6:26 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Does teaching grammar improve writing? Hi David! If I remember correctly, Tim Hadley, who is a member of this list and the editor of the *ATEG Journal*, has tackled this issue in the past and wrote a literal dissertation on it (Tim, I hope I'm not off the mark here). You may try searching the listserv archives (found via link on the ATEG site) for previous posts from him as well as others. I can't remember if there has been a journal issue devoted to this or not, but it would certainly make sense if there were. Here are two of the oft-quoted, "classic" works that are anti-grammar: Braddock, R., R. Lloyd-Jones, and L. Schoer. Research in Written Composition. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1963. Hillocks, G. Research on written composition. Urbana, IL: ERIC Clearing House on Reading and Communication Skills, 1986. However, I've heard both of these studies soundly debunked. I would suggest Richard Hudson's article that appeared in an issue of *Syntax in the Schools* (formerly the ATEG journal) and that is now reprinted on the web. It has some good references for pro-grammar research as well as some discussion of the older anti-grammar stuff: http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/writing.htm Hope this helps! Regards, John Alexander On Sat, Feb 7, 2009 at 4:26 PM, David Kehe <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Recently, I've heard a number of college English composition instructors > say, "Research shows that teaching students grammar does not improve their > writing." > > Do any of you know if this is commonly accepted "research" in English > departments? > > Do any of you know if there is research that shows the opposite, i.e., > that explicit grammar instruction can help students improve their writing > skills? > > I would greatly appreciate any insights that you might have. > > Dave Kehe > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface > at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/