Playing with
Grammar:
Developing Writing
Debra Myhill
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Introducing the Research
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Different Views of Grammar

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Learning grammar rules;
Correcting grammar errors;
De-contextualised exercises;
A focus on error and accuracy.
OR
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Developing knowledge about language;
Using metalanguage to talk about language;
Making connections between grammar and writing;
A focus on meaning and effects
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The Exeter Project
Grammar meant:


Grammar did not mean:
Developing knowledge about

Learning grammar rules;
language;

Correcting grammar errors;
Using metalanguage to talk about

De-contextualised exercises.
language;

Making connections between
grammar and writing.
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The research design
A randomised control trial
Writing
outcomes
Observations
16 Intervention classes were taught 3
schemes of work supporting contextualised
grammar knowledge
Pre and post tests compared to
16 comparison classes
Teacher
interviews
Embedded in a
qualitative study
Student
interviews
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The Intervention
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Designed 3 schemes work (1 per term) focusing on a different written
genre: Narrative Fiction; Argument; Poetry
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Each unit had the same core set of learning objectives
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Grammar features which were relevant to the writing being taught were
embedded into the teaching units

Intervention group had detailed teaching materials for each lesson

Comparison group addressed same learning objectives, same
resources and produced same written outcomes, but had no lesson
plans
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Did it work?
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Statistically significant positive effect for intervention group
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Intervention group improved their writing scores by 20% over the
year compared with 11% in the comparison group.
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The grammar teaching had greatest impact on able writers
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Able writers in the comparison group barely improved over the year
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[A later study shows the approach is effective for weaker writers]
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Teachers’ subject knowledge of grammar was an influencing factor
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Contextualised grammar teaching
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A rhetorical view of grammar – exploring how language works
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Investigating how language choices construct meanings in different
contexts
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The teaching focus is on writing, not on grammar per se

The teaching focus is on effects and constructing meanings, not on
the feature or terminology itself
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The teaching goal is to open up a repertoire of infinite
possibilities, not to teach about ‘correct’ ways of writing
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Understanding the Pedagogy
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Key Teaching Principles
The Big Three!
1. Links are always made between the grammar being introduced and
how it might enhance the writing being tackled:
2. Grammatical metalanguage is used, but it is explained through
examples;
3. Discussion is fundamental in encouraging critical conversations
about language and effects:
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Key Teaching Principles
And four more!
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The use of ‘creative imitation’ offers model patterns for students to
play with and then use in their own writing;

The use of authentic examples from authentic texts links writers to
the broader community of writers;

Activities support students in making choices and being designers
of writing;

Language play, experimentation, risk-taking and games are actively
encouraged.
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Making Connections
Links are always made between the feature introduced and how it might
enhance the writing being tackled

The goal in embedding attention to grammar within a writing curriculum
is to support writing development, not to learn grammar;

Understanding ‘effects’ is part of beginning to understand the writer’s
craft and the possibilities open to a writer;

Considering how grammatical structures create meaning in specific
contexts reinforces the importance of context

Making meaningful connections between writing and grammar avoids
redundant learning, such as complex sentences are good sentences
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A Classroom Example
Context: Writing fairy tales
Learning Focus: the simplicity of noun phrases in fairy tales
Connections between grammar and writing:

Fairy tales draw on oral narratives and written versions retain many of
the patterns of oral language. These helped listeners to follow and
remember the story. Nouns and adjectives are often used very simply.

Repetition of adjectives
Eg a dark, dark wood.

Short noun phrases with just one adjective
Eg wicked stepmother; enchanted forest; handsome prince; golden
apple

Predictable ‘stock’ of nouns and adjectives ©eg
beautiful; evil; castle; king;
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Using Grammatical Metalanguage
Grammatical metalanguage is used, but it is explained through examples

Hearing the terminology used in relevant contexts may support learning;

Being able to use the terminology allows for more succinct talk about writing but
the terminology may be a barrier for some students;

Providing examples allows students to access the structure and discuss its
effect even if they don’t remember the grammatical name.

Seeing examples is more concrete learning compared with the abstract
learning needed with terminology
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A Classroom Example
Context: writing a persuasive speech
Learning Focus: how modal verbs can express different levels of assertiveness
or possibility in persuasion
Resource with modal verbs listed:
can; could; may; might; must; shall; should; will; ought to
TASK:
Imagine that you are Roy Hodgson talking to the England team before the
penalty shoot-out in the Euro 2012 match against Spain. Write a short ‘pep
talk,’ arguing that it’s still possible to win, using some of these modal verbs to
predict what might / can / will happen in the shoot out.
You could start: ‘We can win a penalty shoot-out.’
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Writing Conversations
Discussion is fundamental in encouraging critical conversations about
language and effects

Constructive exploratory talk enables learning to develop;

Teacher input is important in initiating learning but understanding
cannot be transmitted from teacher to student;

Talk fosters discussion about choices, possibilities and effects;

Talk may be the key to moving students from superficial learning about
grammar (eg add adjectives to create description) to deep learning (eg
some adjectives are redundant because the noun is descriptive);

Talk gives ownership to writers in making writerly decisions.
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A Classroom Example
Context: Writing Fictional Narrative
Learning Focus: how short sentences can create tension in narrative
TASK:
In pairs, read the extract from Michel Morpurgo’s Arthur, High King of
Britain and find the three shortest sentences he uses. Discuss why he
might have chosen to make these three sentences so short? What part
do they play in the narrative structure of this incident? What effect might
they have on the reader?
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Creative imitation
The use of ‘creative imitation’ offers model patterns for students to play
with and then use in their own writing

Imitation is a scaffold which allows students to try out new structures or
new ways of expressing something;

As a scaffold it fosters both success and experimentation;

Imitation may help to embed new structures cognitively within the
student’s writing repertoire;

Creative imitation is a first step in generating original combinations.
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A Classroom Example
Context: Argument Writing
Learning Focus: how using an imperative opening sentence followed by an
emotive narrative can act as an effective hook for a persuasive argument
which follows.
TASK:
Picture the scene. There are dogs running wild around a courtyard littered with
muck and machinery. There are dogs rammed in cages, noses pressed
against the bars. There are dogs whose fur is hanging in great clumps, with
bare skin and running sores. The noise of barking and yelping is deafening,
but in one cage a golden labrador lies silent, head on its paws, looking at the
yard with melancholy eyes.
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Authentic Texts
The use of authentic examples from authentic texts links writers to the
broader community of writers

Writers need to explore what real writers do and the choices they
make;

Using authentic texts makes meaningful links between being a reader
and being a writer;
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Using authentic texts allows teachers to choose texts which will
motivate and engage their students;

Using authentic texts avoids the pitfalls of examples artificially created
to exemplify a grammar point which have no resonance of truth.
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A Classroom Example
Context: Writing Poetry
Learning Focus: how noun phrases can evoke vivid images
Activity:
Using a Roethke’s poem, Boy on Top of a Greenhouse, students
analyse how the poem is entirely comprised of a series of expanded
noun phrases with no finite verb. The noun phrases build a detailed
picture of the scene and the absence of a finite verb creates a sense of
a frozen moment in time. Students use this as a model for writing their
own poem.
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Making Design Choices
Activities support students in making choices and being designers of
writing

Making choices gives more autonomy to the writer and less to the
teacher;
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Choice-making fosters ownership and authorial responsibility;

Making choices more visible opens up the writing process, making real
the idea that writing is a complex act of decision-making

Encouraging writers to see that choices are available to them avoids
formulaic writing or checklist approaches;
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Awareness of the importance of choices makes writers more aware of a
repertoire of infinite possibilities.
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A Classroom Example
Context: Writing Argument
Focus: How sentence length and sentence structure can be used to
create rhetorical effect in the closing of a persuasive argument.
TASK:
Students are given the sentences from the final paragraph of a
persuasive speech, each sentence on a separate strip of paper. They
are given two sets of the same sentences. In pairs, they create two
version of the ending of the argument and discuss the different ways
the two versions work. Finally they choose and justify the choice of
their preferred version.
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Playful Experimentation
Language play, experimentation, risk-taking and games are actively
encouraged

Playfulness helps writers to see the elasticity of language, the
possibilities it affords;

Experimentation and taking risks are at the heart of creativity;

Writers need opportunities for constructive ‘failure’;
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Able writers often play safe and avoid trying out new ways of writing;

Playfulness is engaging.
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A Classroom Example
Context: Writing Poetry
Focus: how varying sentence structure and sentence length can create different
emphases in poetry.
TASK:
Using an exploded version of Sylvia Plath’s Mirror presented alphabetically as
a word grid, students are asked to generate pairs of sentence, experimenting
with the possibilities outlined below:
◦ Beginning with a non-finite verb, adverb or prepositional phrase
◦ Using a short verbless sentence
◦ Using a one word sentence
◦ Using repetition of a single word or short phrase.
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Grammar in the New Curriculum
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Grammar Annex: NC2013
The grammar of our first language is learnt naturally and implicitly
through interactions with other speakers and from reading. Explicit
knowledge of grammar is, however, very important, as it gives us
more conscious control and choice in our language. Building this
knowledge is best achieved through a focus on grammar within the
teaching of reading, writing and speaking.
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Grammar Annex NC2013
Once pupils are familiar with a grammatical concept [for example
‘modal verb’], they should be encouraged to apply and explore this
concept in the grammar of their own speech and writing and to note
where it is used by others. Young pupils, in particular, use more
complex language in speech than in writing, and teachers should
build on this, aiming for a smooth transition to sophisticated writing.
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Grammar Annex NC2013
The [annex] shows when concepts should be introduced first, not
necessarily when they should be completely understood. It is very
important, therefore, that the content in earlier years be revisited in
subsequent years to consolidate knowledge and build on pupils’
understanding.
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Subject Knowledge

Our research, including more recent studies, highlights the
importance of teachers’ grammatical subject knowledge;

Explanations of grammar observed in lessons were often
incorrect;

Teachers did not always realise that children were making
mistakes in their grammatical understanding;
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Teachers found it hard to handle difficult questions from children;

Teachers need much better understanding of grammar than
children!
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Grammatical Subject Knowledge
letter
capital letter word
punctuation
full stop
noun phrase
compound
/present) apostrophe
word family
consonant
plural sentence
question mark
statement
adjective
singular
question
verb
exclamation mark noun
exclamation
suffix adverb
comma adverb
prefix clause
pronoun adverbial modal verb
bracket
object
active
colon
semi-colon
dash
preposition conjunction
direct speech
vowel letter inverted
commas (or ‘speech marks’) determiner
parenthesis
tense (past
subordinate clause
consonant letter vowel
command
pronoun
possessive
relative pronoun relative clause
cohesion
passive synonym
ambiguity
antonym
subject
ellipsis
hyphen
bullet points
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To Consider
Whole school policy:

Colour coding for word classes and syntactical structures which is
consistent across the school;
 Visual reinforcement of previous learning;
 Visual support for current grammatical explanations

Always having a ‘why’ statement when a grammar term is
introduced eg
 understand how to choose nouns for precise description
 understand how prepositional phrases can establish setting in
narrative
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Grammatical Explanations

A need to avoid definitions which confuse:
 A verb is a doing word;
 An adjective is a describing word;
 Concrete nouns are things you can touch or see.

A need to avoid teaching misconceptions:
 Punctuation is about breathing;
 Complex sentences are better than simple sentences;
 You improve your writing by adding adjectives and adverbs.

Ban all acronyms! (FANBOYS; AFOREST: PEE…)

Acknowledge that we know very little about the best way to teach
grammatical metalanguage
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I found him in the garage on a Sunday afternoon. It was the day
after we moved into Falconer Road. The winter was ending. Mum
had said we’d be moving just in time for the spring. Nobody else
was there. Just me. The others were inside the house with Doctor
Death, worrying about the baby.
He was lying in there in the darkness behind the tea chests, in the
dust and dirt. It was as if he’d been there forever. He was filthy
and pale and dried out and I thought he was dead. I couldn’t have
been more wrong. I’d soon begin to see the truth about him, that
there’d never been another creature like him in the world.
We called it the garage because that’s what the estate agent, Mr
Stone, called it. It was more like a demolition site or a rubbish
dump or one of those ancient warehouses they keep pulling down
at the quay. Stone led us down the garden, tugged the door open
and shone his little torch into the gloom. We shoved our heads in
at the doorway with him.
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Plenary: Pulling it all together
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Grammatical Conversations

Developing grammatical thinking rather than grammar labelling;

Using students’ questions and confusions over grammar as
fertile resources for developing knowledge about language;

Probing for why and how rather than what and where.

Taking students’ responses as the starting point for discussion,
rather than the finishing point;

Making discussion about grammatical choices as embedded
within teaching as discussion about literary devices, vocabulary
choices and text structure;

Developing the quality of all talk about texts: spotting metaphors
is as educationally pointless as labelling clauses;

Using grammatical metalanguage naturally as part of classroom
discourse.
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Supporting Test Success

Embed the multiple choice accuracy tests throughout the school
within the relevant teaching unit eg accuracy of capitalisation on
Proper Nouns when teaching about the literary effects of Proper
Noun choices

Notice common accuracy errors in the writing of your own class
and create quick multiple choice tests to address these

Use the style and visual layout of the tests

Build teacher modelling and student discussion around these
‘test’ moments, so they are teaching and learning opportunities
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Metalinguistic knowledge
Effective teachers in our study:

always linked the linguistic feature to a specific context-relevant
effect or purpose, thus making meaningful connections between
the grammar under focus and the writing;

responded to students’ own writing sensitively, asking questions
which invited students to consider the writing choices they were
making, or by drawing out explicitly effective choices in the
writing;

had sufficient metalinguistic knowledge to notice relevant
aspects of reading texts to draw to learners’ attention.
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Understanding the Author’s Craft

Writing is fundamentally about making choices and decisions.

These choices can be explicit or implicit choices: as we become
more expert at writing, more and more choices become implicit
and internalised, but equally other choices become the focus of
explicit attention.

Novice writers need support in understanding the choices that
are available to them in terms of content and ideas, text
structures, sentence and phrase structures and vocabulary.

Focused engagement with reading texts can be converted in
more ‘writerly’ engagement with written texts.

To help students understand the author’s craft requires explicit
teaching.

The goal is to open up a repertoire of infinite possibilities, not to
impose formulaic ways of writing.
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