Effect of Traditional Grammar Instruction on Writing Skills of English Students, Schemes and Mind Maps of Mathematics

Download Effect of Traditional Grammar Instruction on Writing Skills of English Students and more Schemes and Mind Maps Mathematics in PDF only on Docsity! DOCUMENT RESUME ED 392 067 CS 215 241 AUTHOR Davis, Wesley K. TITLE Educational Implications of a Study on Grammar and Basic Writing Skills in a Developmental Eligiish Course. PUB DATE [96] NOTE 15p. PUB TYPE Viewpoints (Opinion/Position Papers, Essays, etc.) (120) Reports Research/Technical (143) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Analysis of Variance; *Basic Writing; Developmental Studies Programs; *English Instruction; *Grammar; Higher Education; *Writ;ng Improvement; Writing Processes; Writing Research; Writing Skills IDENTIFIERS *Basic Writers; *Writing Development ABSTRACT A study examined the growth in basic writing and grammar skills of 14 developmental English students. The study determined whether a traditional rule-based, form-centered mode of instruction, combined with a limited writing-process approach, had any significant impact on overall writing quality and grammar skills. It used a quantitative, pretest/posttest quasi-experimental design to find answers for this inquiry. Results indicated a trend in growth for basic writing and grammar skills across the three main dependent variables or outcomes in the study. In overall writing quality on the students' essays and in grammar skills measured on the College Placement Exam (CPE), the students' growth was statistically significant. On other comprehensive tests in grammar and writing mechanics from the course workbook, the students did show growth in their skills, although this growth was not statistically significant. Statistical analysis on the variables of the study were computed by using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). F statistic tests were done to determine whether there were significant differences between pretest and posttest scores on the essays, the College Placement Exams, and the exams on grammar and writing mechanics. Findings suggest that these students benefited from the traditional form-centered, rule-based pedagogy, along with limited composing-process approach, to learn procedural knowledge in grammar and basic writing skills for standard English. (Contains 16 references.) (CR) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** Educational Implications of a Study on Grammar and Basic Writing Skills in a Developmental English Course U S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ()Ike et Eaucational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 'This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY , akkA) TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC).- Wesley K. Davis, Ph.D. Division of Humanities Dalton College 213 N. College Drive Dalton, Georgia 30720 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Beview of Related Literature The traditional form-centered, rule-based paradigm is sometimes labeled "current-traditional rhetoric" (Berlin, 1982; Emig, 1982; Freedman & Pringle, 1980; Young, 1978) or the "presentational" mode (Hillocks, 1984, 1986). This teaching method, Laine and Schultz (1985) explain, is oriented towards writing mechanics and grammar; it assumes that sudents are taught good writing through instruction on the modes of dicourse, methods of development in exposition, the study of model essays, outlines, word choice, topic sentences, and rules of grammar. Teachers operating under this orientation expect a five paragraph theme to be completed swiftly (60 minutes), on an unannounced topic, and in a predetermined manner. In preparing this formula essay, students are told to include an introduction, a body and a conclusion. Laine and Schultz claim that this traditional rhetoric ignores the composing process, treats rhetorical invention as an algorithm (find a thesis and make an outline), and seldom encourages true writing done in an authentic voice, to a specific audience (e.g., peers), and for a specific purpose (e.g., to explain or persuade). According to Laine and Schultz (1985), teachers then mark themes by correcting errors, regardless of whether those errors hide ideas. When editorial groups are used, their task is to respond to the same errors for the sake of correctness. This type of response, whether given by the teacher or the students, emphasizes spelling, grammar, punctuation, and essay form; under this current-traditional orientation, the teacher's primary goal is obtaining efficiency in correct writing while adhering to a linear, 5 machine-like model (Laine & Schultz, 1985). Graff (1979) claims that rather than encouraging clear, vivid and honest writing, teachers emphasize mistake-free, in-class writing through drills on grammar and usage. Proponents of process-based teaching also view correct composing in the traditional approach as a negative, prescriptive response to writing instead of positive, constructive feedback. The present study examined the effects of this traditional approach to teaching grammar and writing on the students' essays and grammar exams. Design and Procedures This study is a quantitative, statistical analysis of the effects of traditional form-centered, rule-based grammar and writing instruction on basic writing in developmental English. The purpose of this study is to discover differences in the writing growth of 14 developmental English students between their pretests and posttests on the following outcomes (dependent variables): overall holistic writing quality; skills in grammar and writing mechanics, particularly on the College Placement Exam (CPE). The dependent variables show whether or not the independent variable (teaching approach) effects significant growth in developmental English students' writing quality and grammar skills. The design and methodology for obtaining and analyzing the data place specific limitations on the variables, the research instruments, the population of subjects, and the procedure used in the study. The instructional procedure was characterized in the following way: (1) correctness in students' writing by teaching rules of grammar and mechanics; (2) instruction in standard written English by using a workbook; (3) skills-oriented, teacher-centered classroom with the professor in control of such acZ:ivities as grammar drill; (4) the use of writing models; (5) instruction in the modes of discourse (narration, description, and exposition) and the methods of development and organization; (6) students' engagement in the writing process (planning, outlining, composing, revising, and editing/correcting six (6) five-paragraph essays). The data collected give an accurate picture of the independent variable's (instructional mode) nature and effects on the dependents variables (growth and outcomes in the students' writing quality and grammar skills). The data were located among the population of developmental English students enrolled at Dalton College in Northwest Georgia. Data were collected from writing samples taken before and after instruction (Sanders & Little, 1975), because most theorists believe a direct sample is the best way to measure writing ability (Cooper, 1975, 1977; Diederich, 1974). Fourteen developmental English students were selected from a class of traditional form- centered, rule-based teaching of grammar and basic writing; their writing samples were then analyzed. One pretest writing sample was taken from each student at the beginning of the course before instruction began, and one posttest essay was taken from each student at the end of the course after instruction. As guides to edgcational research point out, the pretest-posttest design is one effective way to determine the effects of an educational treatment 7 Results In overall writing quality, each student wrote two essays on different topics, one essay before instruction and one essay following instruction. Each essay was scored holistically by two raters on a scale of one (1--poor/failing) to four (4-- superior/passing). This procedure resulted in two scores on each pretest writing sample and two scores on each posttest writing sample for each student in the study. For statistical analysis, the two pretest scores on each student's essay were combined, and the two posttest scores were combined, resulting in a possible low score of two (2) and a possible high score of eight (8) on each writing occasion. The students' mean score on the pretest essay was 2.07, and their mean score on the posttest essay was 3.93, a change of +1.86. The statistical analysis indicated that the difference between the pretest and posttest scores was very highly significant (F = 52.94; df = 1, 26; p ..0001; *** p < .001) in the main effect for the method of teaching basic writing in developmental English. The College Placement Exam (CPE) measures students' basic skills in grammar and writing mechanics. The passing score on this exam is a 75 or better. The students of this study took the CPE before instruction in the course, and then they took another CPE after completing the course and passing the final, exit essay exam. The students' mean score on the CPE pretest was 70.4, and their mean score on the CPE posttest was 76.3, a change of +5.9. Statistical analysis indicated that the difference between these pretest and posttest scores was highly significant (F = 11.5673; df 1, 20; p = .002834; ** p < .01) in the main effect for the method of teaching grammar and basic writing skills. The comprehensive exams from the course workbook also measure the students' skills in grammar and writing mechanics. The students took a pretest prior to instruction, and then they took a posttest after instruction. The students' mean score on the pretest was 47.6%, and their mean score on the posttest was 53.2%, a change of +5.6%. However, statistical analysis indicated that the difference between these pretest and posttest scores was not significant (F = 1.48; df = 1, 28; p = .23393; p > .05) in the main effect for teaching grammar and writing skills. Conclusions and Implications Based on the results of this study, the following discussion presents the conclusions and implications for research and teaching basic writing and grammar skills in developmental English. One of the most important questions this study sought to answer was whether a traditional form-centered, rule-based teaching approach made any significant difference in the students' growth of writing and grammar skills. Based on the evidence from the sample in this study, the answer is yes. First, the students demonstrated statistically significant growth in overall writing quality between the pretest essay and the posttest essay. This growth suggests that these students greatly benefitted even from limited planning, outlining, composing, revising, and editing/correcting each of the six essay assignments in the course after discussing some standard models of the five- 1 1 paragraph essay in narration, description, and exposition. These findings further suggest tha-: the students developed an organizational schema or outlined plan to write such an essay successfully in 60 minutes. The students frequent engagement in the writing process fol- these essay assignments provided them with the essential practice to write a passing essay for an audience of at least two English faculty members reading and scoring each posttest essay. The scores of the College Placement Exam (CPE) indicated that the students experienced statistically significant growth in grammar skills and writing mechanics between the pretest and the posttest. This growth suggests that these students benefitted from engaging in the grammar exercises, drills, and tests from the course workbook, thus developing procedural knowledge in the rules of grammar and writing mechanics to apply to their essays and the CPE. This frequent practice and testing prepared the students to pass the exit essay exam and then to pass the CPE so that they could enroll in College Freshman Composition. On the comprehensive grammar tests from the course workbook, the students did experience growth in grammar skills, although this growth was not statistically significant. However, the results suggest that the students still benefitted from the drills on the grammar exercises and the tests in the course workbook, thus increasing their procedural knowledge in the rules of grammar and writing mechanics to apply to their essays. In conclusion, the findings from this study would seem to give evidence that combining techniques from traditional form-centered, 12