Exploring the Effectiveness of Formal and Functional Grammar Instruction for Adolescents

1. Teaching Adolescent Grammar Research compiled by Brittany (Lapalme) Wilson

2. Objectives • Explain the limitations of English grammar using the history of English grammar development as proof • Compare and Contrast the differences between formal and functional grammar and determine the more effective type of grammar instruction • Utilize research-based inquiry to support functional grammar instruction as superior to formal grammar instruction • Analyze teaching style for elements of behavioral and constructivist theories of learning • List and memorize 5 strategies of functional grammar instruction to implement in your classroom

3. Research Question “Is formal grammatical instruction effective at the secondary level and, if not, what is the most effective form of grammatical instruction?”

4. Formal & Functional Grammar • formal grammar instruction describes the structure of individual sentences • functional grammar instruction actual use (focuses on text and their contexts)

5. Formal Grammar Worksheets and Drills The sentence as the unit of instruction

6. Functional Grammar Textual Context

7. Grammatical Philosophy • During the Middle Ages, grammar was considered the foundation of all knowledge, the necessary pre-requisite for understanding theology, philosophy, and literature (Jeffrey F. Huntsman 1983). • Some people think that grammar should be taught as a formal system because it represents order, authority, and something that – to them – seems absolute, without question (Chapman 1986; Holderer 1995; Gaddy, Hall, and Marzano).

8. The Power of Tradition GREEK LATIN ENGLISH “The languages are fundamentally different, but early English grammars – and some modern ones too – are substantially like Latin grammars. Instead of making a fundamental analysis of the English language, our early grammarians accepted the Latin grammar entire … the result was an English grammar unnecessarily complicated and at the same time inadequate” (Tressler, p. 583)

9. The Current State of US Grammar • Bluntly concluded that the writing of students in the United States is “not what it should be” (National Commission on Writing 2003, p. 7). • College instructors estimated that 50% of high school graduates are not prepared for college-level writing demands (Achieve, Inc. 2005) • American businesses spend nearly $3.1 billion annually for writing remediation (National Commission on Writing 2004).

10. Research-Based Inquiry Formal or functional grammar?

11. Findlay McQuade (1998) • Findlay McQuade (1998) taught an Editorial Skills class which enrolled college-bound junior class. • Curriculum: parts of speech and basic sentence structure (formal grammar) • Agreement, tense, case, subordination, reference, parallel construction • Results: students scored higher on the class pretest than on the posttest; students showed as much gain on their Cooperative English Tests in years they hadn’t taken the Editorial class (McQuade 1980, 28).

12. Graham and Perin (2007) Formal grammar instruction seen to produce a negative effect in the quality of student writing.

13. Studies on Drills • A conscious grasp of grammatical concepts requires a depth of understanding that is not often gained through practice exercises alone (Harris and Rowan 1989) • Practice, practice and more practice usually does not promote adequate understanding (Muriel Harris and Katherine E. Rowan 1989) & (Kagan 1980)

14. Postman Weingartner(1966) • “What should teachers do? Should we teach formal grammar to all of our students, knowing full well that only a few are likely to make practical use of what we’ve taught?” (Postman and Weingartner 1966)

15. How do we learn? Behaviorist vs. Constructivist Continuum

16. Martha Kolln (1981) • “Teaching grammar in the context of writing might be much more effective than teaching grammar as a separate subject” • Roland Harris (1962); Braddock, Lloyd-Jones, Schoer (1963); Warwick B. Elley et. Al (1976); McQuade (1980)

17. Lucy Calkins (1980) & DiStephano (1984) • Discovered that 3rd graders learned punctuation much better in the context of writing and “publishing” than by studying punctuation rules in isolation (Calkins 1980). • Grades 4-6 showed that students who were taught the conventions of language in context of their writing made better us of their writing mechanics than students who studied these skills in isolation (DiStefano 1984)

18. Constructivist Behavioral • Habit formation • Avoiding mistakes prevents bad habits • Direct teaching of the curriculum • Taskmaster: teach, practice, test • Learning is uniform for all students • Hypothesis formation • Errors are necessary for encouraging more sophisticated hypotheses • Teacher develops and negotiates curriculum • Emphasis on demonstrating, inviting, collaborating, supporting • Learning is individualized (Weaver 1994, 365)

19. Practical Application Teaching grammar through writing

20. The Attitude • We should praise students for what they have attempted and gently show them how to eliminate what we see as error. • Take a stance of humility before “correcting” students (Weaver 1982)

21. The Options • Teach grammar as a relationship of words, not “parts of speech” • Mini lessons where teacher presents information in a brief format • Extended mini lessons where students practice sentence construction or sentence combining while implementing the grammatical rule taught that day • Inductive lessons where students notice patterns on their own • Conferencing with students and teaching rules one-on-one, as needed

22. Instead of ……….Choose to…….. • Grammar worksheets • Extended power point lectures on multiple parts of speech • Drills and fill-in-the blanks of correct grammar usage • Diagramming sentences • Edit student work and provide immediate feedback on grammar mistakes • Use grammar terminology in explanations • Teach grammar through mini lessons and: • Sentence combining practice • Sentence construction practice • Editing (self-edit/peer edit strategies) • Have students determine pattern of incorrect grammar • Self-directed grammar inquiry using grammar workbooks • Teach grammar as a relationship of words

23. Hierarchy of Functional Grammar Level 6

24. Hierarchy of Functional Grammar Level 7

25. Hierarchy of Functional Grammar Level 8

26. Sentence Combining Example • Mary feels sad. • She went to the movie. • Her friends were there and she had fun. “Although she was sad, Mary went to the movie and had fun with her friends.” “When Mary feels sad, she goes to the movies to have fun with her friends.”

27. Editing & Conferencing Example If a student had written this paragraph with all of these grammar errors, what would you do? How would you go about conferencing with a student to determine what grammar errors you should focus on?

28. Case Study #1 • Students frequently wrote fragments using the word “Because” as the first word in their sentence • Red ink feedback didn’t work • She taught two mini lessons, one exclusively on the because phrasing, and then had students peer edit one another’s work • Students asked a lot of questions to make sure they understood the rule • It didn’t go away over night, but students were learning

29. Case Study #2 • Initially, the teacher had students write 5-sense poems, but they turned out bland. Only instructed students to “use more adjectives, like how we have been learning” • The next time she tried the poems, she brought in a fan and leaves and had students take turns letting the fan blow their leaves towards the ceilings. Students were then asked to write a poem. • She observed 1) a greater use of adjectival constructions 2) the focus on “adjectives” might have actually limited her lower performing students the first time. • Motivation for students improved when grammar was veiled behind writer’s workshop

30. Case #3 • A University professor was frustrated with poor student language mechanics on the term paper for her class. • She began to treat the paper as a not-quite-final draft and amasses most common errors onto two handouts • She hands out the grammar papers and explains the concepts using examples take from student papers. • She then organizes students into groups and invites them to play around with correcting the sentences • In addition, she hand out grammar books and invites the groups to look up other types of errors that have been marked. Future grammatical errors have been reduced considerably.

31. References • BROWN, H. G.. (1913). WHAT KIND OF GRAMMAR IN UPPER GRADES. The Journal of Education, 77(23 (1933)), 629–633. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/42754575 • Calkins, L. (1994). The art of teaching writing. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann. • Farley, A. A.. (1904). Fundamental Concepts of English Grammar. The Elementary School Teacher, 4(6), 407–411. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/993024 • Graham, Steve, and Dolores Perin (2007). A Meta-analysis of Writing Instruction for Adolescent Students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(3), 445-76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.99.3.445 • McLaughlin, M.. (1919). Formal and Functional Grammar. The English Journal, 8(8), 500–502. http://doi.org/10.2307/801037 • Rapeer, Louis (1913). The Problem of Formal Grammar in Elementary Education.The Journal of Educational Psychology 4.3 (Mar), 125-37. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0073413 • Soven, Margot (1999). "Where Does Grammar Fit In?" Teaching Writing in Middle and Secondary Schools: Theory, Research, and Practice. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. • Tressler, J. C.. (1917). High-School Grammar. I. Historical Survey. The English Journal, 6(9), 584–594. http://doi.org/10.2307/801271 • Weaver, C.. (1996). Teaching Grammar in the Context of Writing.The English Journal, 85(7), 15–24. http://doi.org/10.2307/820502