grammar in research paper

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Avoid These Common Grammar Mistakes!

Cartoonist Doug Larson once observed: "If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur" [ The Quotations Page ]. Because the English language has complicated grammar and usage rules and most of those rules have multiple exceptions in how they are applied, there are many online sites that discuss how to avoid mistakes in grammar and word usage. Here are a few that may be particularly helpful:

• English Grammar
• Lingua Franca Column , Chronicle of Higher Education
• Plain Language.gov

Listed below are the most common mistakes that are made by writers and, thus, the ones you should focus on locating, correcting, and/or removing while proofreading your research paper.

• Affect / effect -- welcome to what I consider to be the most confusing aspect in the English language. "Effect" is most often a noun and generally means “a result.” However, "effect" can be used as a verb that essentially means "to bring about," or "to accomplish." The word "affect" is almost always a verb and generally means "to influence." However, affect can be used as a noun when you're talking about the mood that someone appears to have. [Ugh!]
• Apostrophes -- the position of an apostrophe depends upon whether the noun is singular or plural. For singular words, add an "s" to the end, even if the final letter is an "s." For contractions, replace missing letters with an apostrophe; but remember that it is where the letters no longer are, which is not always where the words are joined [e.g., "is not" and "isn't"]. Note that contractions are rarely used in scholarly writing.
• Capitalization -- a person’s title is capitalized when it precedes the name and, thus, is seen as part of the name [e.g., President Zachary Taylor]; once the title occurs, further references to the person holding the title appear in lowercase [e.g., the president]. For groups or organizations, the name is capitalized when it is the full name [e.g., the United States Department of Justice]; further references should be written in lowercase [e.g., the department]. In general, the use of capital letters should be minimized as much as possible.
• Colorless verbs and bland adjectives –- passive voice, use of the to be verb, is a lost opportunity to use a more interesting and accurate verb when you can. Adjectives can also be used very specifically to add to the sentence. Try to avoid generic or bland adjectives and be specific. Use adjectives that add to the meaning of the sentence.
• Comma splices -- a comma splice is the incorrect use of a comma to connect two independent clauses (an independent clause is a phrase that is grammatically and conceptually complete: that is, it can stand on its own as a sentence). To correct the comma splice, you can: replace the comma with a period, forming two sentences; replace the comma with a semicolon; or, join the two clauses with a conjunction such as "and," "because," "but," etc.
• Compared with vs. compared to -- compare to is to point out or imply resemblances between objects regarded as essentially of a different order; compare with is mainly to point out differences between objects regarded as essentially of the same order [e.g., life has been compared to a journey; Congress may be compared with the British Parliament].
• Confusing singular possessive and plural nouns –- singular possessive nouns always take an apostrophe, with few exceptions, and plural nouns never take an apostrophe. Omitting an apostrophe or adding one where it does not belong makes the sentence unclear.
• Coordinating conjunctions -- words, such as "but," "and," "yet," join grammatically similar elements [i.e., two nouns, two verbs, two modifiers, two independent clauses]. Be sure that the elements they join are equal in importance and in structure.
• Dangling participial -- a participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence must refer to the grammatical subject of the sentence.
• Dropped commas around clauses –-place commas around words, phrases, or clauses that interrupt a sentence. Do not use commas around restrictive clauses, which provide essential information about the subject of the sentence.
• The Existential "this" -- always include a referent with "this," such as "this theory..." or "this approach to understanding the...." With no referent, "this" can confuse the reader.
• The Existential "it" -- the "existential it" gives no reference for what "it" is. Be specific!
• Its / it's --"its" is the possessive form of "it." "It's" is the contraction of "it is" or "it has." They are not interchangeable and the latter should be avoided in scholarly writing.
• Fewer / Less -- if you can count it, then use the word fewer; if you cannot count it, use the word less.
• Interrupting clause –- this clause or phrase interrupts a sentence, such as, "however." Place a comma on either side of the interrupting clause. An interrupting clause should generally be avoided in academic writing.
• Know your non-restrictive clauses –- this clause or phrase modifies the subject of the sentence, but it is not essential to understanding the sentence. The word “which” is the relative pronoun usually used to introduce the nonrestrictive clause.
• Know your restrictive clauses –- this clause limits the meaning of the nouns it modifies. The restrictive clause introduces information that is essential to understanding the meaning of the sentence. The word “that” is the relative pronoun normally used to introduce this clause. Without this clause or phrase, the meaning of the sentence changes.
• Literally -- this word means that exactly what you say is true, no metaphors or analogies. Be aware of this if you are using "literally" to describe something. The term literally should never be applied to subjective expressions [i.e., "literally the most comfortable meeting"] or to imprecise measurements [i.e., "literally dozens of protesters"].
• Lonely quotes –- unlike in journalistic writing, quotes in scholarly writing cannot stand on their own as a sentence. Integrate them into a paragraph.
• Misuse and abuse of semicolons –- semicolons are used to separate two related independent clauses or to separate items in a list that contains commas. Do not abuse semicolons by using them often; they are best used sparingly.
• Overuse of unspecific determinates -- words such as "super" [as in super strong] or "very" [as in very strong], are unspecific determinates. How many/much is "very"? How incredibly awesome is super? If you ask ten people how cold, "very cold" is, you would get ten different answers. Academic writing should be precise, so eliminate as many unspecific determinants as possible.
• Semicolon usage -- a semicolon is most often used to separate two complete but closely related clauses. Consider the semicolon as marking a shorter pause than a period but a longer pause than a comma (this is easy to remember since a semicolon is the combination of a period and a comma). In the same way, semicolons are also used to separate complicated lists of three or more items.
• Sentence fragments –- these occur when a dependent clause is punctuated as a complete sentence. Dependent clauses must be used together with an independent clause.
• Singular words that sound plural -- when using words like "each," "every," "everybody," "nobody," or "anybody" in a sentence, we're likely thinking about more than one person or thing. But all these words are grammatically singular: they refer to just one person or thing at a time. And unfortunately, if you change the verb to correct the grammar, you create a pedantic phrase like "he or she" or "his or her."
• Split Infinitive -- an infinitive is the form of a verb that begins with "to." Splitting an infinitive means placing another word or words between the "to" and the infinitive verb. This is considered incorrect by purists, but nowadays it is considered a matter of style rather than poor grammar. Nevertheless, in academic writing, it's best to avoid split infinitives.
• Subject/pronoun disagreement –- there are two types of subject/pronoun disagreements. Shifts in number refer to the shifting between singular and plural in the same sentence. Be consistent. Shifts in person occurs when the person shifts within the sentence from first to second person, from second to third person, etc.
• That vs. which -- that clauses (called restrictive) are essential to the meaning of the sentence; which clauses (called nonrestrictive) merely add additional information. In general, most nonrestrictive clauses in academic writing are incorrect or superfluous. While proofreading, go on a "which" hunt and turn most of them into restrictive clauses. Also, "that" never follows a comma but "which" does.
• Verb Tense Agreement -- this refers to keeping the same tense [past, present, future] throughout a clause. Do not shift from one tense to another if the time for each action or event is the same. Note that, when referring to separate actions or events, the tenses may be different.
• Who / whom -- who is used as the subject of the clause it introduces; whom is used as the object of a preposition, as a direct object, or as an indirect object. A key to remembering which word to use is to simply substitute who or whom with a pronoun. If you can substitute he, she, we, or they in the clause, and it still sounds okay, then you know that who is the correct word to use. If, however, him, her, us, or them sounds more appropriate, then whom is the correct choice for the sentence.

Attending to Grammar. Institute for Writing Rhetoric. Dartmouth College; Avoiding Common Grammar Mistakes. Department of English Writing Guide. George Mason University; Carter, Ronald. Cambridge Grammar of English: A Comprehensive Guide: Spoken and Written English Grammar and Usage . New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006; Conrad, Jordan. Confusing Words. WritingExplained.org; Grammar. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Danesi, Marcel. Basic Grammar and Usage: An ESL/EFL Handbook . Hauppauge, NY: Barron's Educational Series, 2006; Grammar and Mechanics. The Reading/Writing Center. Hunter College; Grammar and Punctuation. The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Taylor, Dena and Margaret Procter. Hit Parade Of Errors. In Grammar, Punctuation, And Style . The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Peters, Mark. Grammar and Style . New York: Alpha, Pnquin Group, 2014.

Writing Tip

Grammar and Spell Check Programs Are Not Infallible

A basic proofreading strategy is to use the spelling and grammar check tools available from your word processing programs. This can be a quick way to catch misspelled words, unintentionally repeated words [e.g., "the the"], different spellings of proper nouns, or identify incorrect grammar and sentence construction. These tools, however, are not perfect. Always proofread what has been “corrected” after running a spell or grammar program for the following reasons:

Spell Checkers : There are several limitations to be aware of. Research has shown that “spell checkers alone cannot eliminate the written expression deficits of many students with learning disabilities” [Montgomery, 2001: 28]. Examples of this can include identifying contextual errors, such as, writing “then” for "than" or misusing homophones, such as, “to,” “too,” or “two.” If you have a learning disability, be extra aware of these issues when running a spell checker. Also, the level of a mismatch between a misspelled word and the target word provided in the list of suggested words determines whether the target word is available to choose from [or whether there are no suggestions]. In these cases, correct the word as best you can and rerun the spell checker to see if the target word appears or use a different word with the same meaning. Finally, if computer-assisted spell checking identifies two or more spellings of a proper noun in your paper [e.g.,  Allison, Alison ], then you will need to independently confirm the correct spelling. This is particularly important for proper nouns of people, places, or things derived from languages other than English if that is your first language.

Grammar Checkers : Beyond correcting obvious errors, these tools will suggest how to rearrange text based on the preferred way of writing a sentence. This, however, does not necessarily mean the sentence was grammatically incorrect to begin with; the program's algorithm may have been tagged it as “awkward.” The word structure of English can be arranged in different ways while retaining the meaning of a sentence. Therefore, if you accept a grammar checker’s changes, review the new sentence and determine if the auto corrected text still reflects the context of what you want to say and how you want to say it. Also, check the narrative flow of the paragraph. Does the preceding and following sentences around the new text still retain the narrative flow that you originally intended [i.e., the author's voice]? If not, you may need to further edit the paragraph.

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Mastering the Use of Tenses in Your Research Paper 

Many students and early career researchers find themselves grappling with various aspects of academic writing. One critical aspect is ensuring correct grammar, most importantly the appropriate use of tenses in your research paper. In this article, we explain the basics of using tenses in scientific writing and list best practices for different sections of your academic manuscript. By understanding the role of tenses in your research paper and applying them accurately, you can enhance the clarity and credibility of our research work. 

Table of Contents

• Understanding the basics: Using tenses in research papers 
• The simple past tense: Literature review, methods 
• The past perfect tense: Methods, conclusion 
• The simple present tense: Introduction, results, tables and figures  
• The present perfect tense: Introduction, literature review 
• The future tense: Discussion, conclusions 
• How Paperpal can help you ensure correct usage of verb tenses in academic writing?  

Understanding the basics: Using tenses in research papers

Tenses in scientific writing serve as valuable tools to indicate the time frame in which certain actions or ideas take place. The simple past tense and simple present tense are the most used tenses in research papers. They are supplemented by the present perfect, past perfect, and occasionally the future tense. Consistency and precision are crucial in academic writing, so let’s into the basics of tenses in your research paper and discuss the recommended tenses for each section.

Fix language and grammar, including tense errors, in minutes with Paperpal. Try it for free!    

The simple past tense: Literature review, methods

Use this tense in your research paper when talking of or describing specific actions or events that occurred in the past; they should not be linked to the present in the same sentence. The simple past tense is used predominantly in the literature review to talk about existing research on the topic, for example, “Watson and Crick published their landmark paper on the structure of DNA in 1953.” It is also typically used in the methods section to describe the methods used in previous studies; what you did and how you did it. For example, “We selected five samples at random.” This tense in scientific writing can also be used to state facts that were once believed to be true but have since been invalidated, for example, “Bats were thought to be blind.”  

The past perfect tense: Methods, conclusion

Best used to describe two related events that occurred at different times in the past, this tense is typically used in the methods section, especially when describing earlier stages of the experimental procedure. For example, “By the time the temperature and humidity reached optimal levels, the plants had already begun to revive,” or “Respondents who had been grouped into different control groups were given a placebo instead of the new formulation.” Use the past perfect tense in your research paper to describe research or experiments that may have already been completed at the time of writing the manuscript and in the conclusion to summarize the research findings.  

The simple present tense: Introduction, results, tables and figures

A researcher or academic writer can use simple present tense in the introduction when stating the objectives of the study, to interpret the results, discuss the significance of the findings or to present conclusions. Use the simple present tense in your research papers when referring to results presented in tables and figures in your writing. For example, “Fig.3 shows that…”. The present tense an also be used to talk about the research paper as a whole, for example, “Section 4.1 discusses…”. 

This tense in scientific writing is also used to state what is generally true and what is unlikely to change. For example, “The Earth revolves around the sun” or “Human babies generally start speaking when they are 2 years old.” This tense works well in the results section , which indicates what one believes to be true and relevant to the present research. For example, “Robinson maintains that soaking seeds in strong acid helps in breaking seed dormancy.”  

Avoid inconsistent verb tenses in academic writing. Check your writing with Paperpal now!

The present perfect tense: Introduction, literature review

The present perfect tense in scientific writing is used to talk about a past event that is linked to the present or to talk about trends or events that have occurred recently. One may need to use this tense in the introduction while providing a background to the study. For example, “The demand for more sophisticated 5G devices has increased significantly over the past few years.” Additionally, the present perfect tense is also used frequently in the literature review sections while referring to previous research that is fairly recent. For example, “Recent experiments on the samples collected have revealed high levels of saline.”  

The future tense: Discussion, conclusions  

Use the future tense in your research paper when describing events that are expected to occur in the future; this is not very common in academic writing. Typically, its use is limited to the discussion section toward the end, when one needs to make recommendations or indicate a future course of action based on the research results. It is usually recommended that parts of the conclusion section be written in the future tense. For example, “These research findings will open up new possibilities for the effective use of Epsom salt in agriculture.”  

Remember that the grammar and tense guidelines provided above are not hard and fast rules, which can make it more confusing, especially for those who do not have English as their first language. Ask peers to proofread your work carefully for incorrect or mixed tenses in a single sentence or paragraph or turn to trusted AI academic writing tools like Paperpal. 

How Paperpal can help you ensure correct usage of verb tenses in academic writing?   

Academic writing demands high-quality standards; it’s essential to adhere to grammar and style conventions. This ensures conformity with institutional and field-specific standards, and clarity in communicating what was studied, when it happened, and from which perspective the research is discussed. To determine the flow and coherency of your paper, using the right verb tenses is essential.  

Here’s how Paperpal, an AI academic writing assistant, can help you maintain consistency in verb tenses so that readers can easily follow the progress of your ideas and arguments: 

• Sign Up or Log In: Start by creating an account or logging into Paperpal . 
• Paste your content: Once logged in, paste your research paper’s content onto the writing document. 
• Get language and grammar suggestions: Click on the Edit icon on the right pane. Paperpal analyzes your text to identify errors, including verb form, tense usage, spellings, punctuations, word choice, and grammar. 
• Fix errors and review: You can accept the relevant suggestions, and reject the irrelevant ones, and correct all the errors in a go.  

Researchers need to familiarize themselves with the correct use of tenses in research papers, but with Paperpal, it gets easier. Paperpal is not just a grammar and language checker. It also provides rewriting, word reduction, and academic tone checks to align your writing with academic conventions. You can even build your writing skills and learn how to avoid such errors in the future with Paperpal’s detailed writing “tips” with simple explanations for editing suggestions.    

Understanding and implementing the appropriate use of tenses in different sections of your research paper is essential for effective communication of your ideas. By mastering the use of tenses in your research paper, you can ensure clarity, consistency, and accuracy and elevate the quality of your academic writing.  

Paperpal is a comprehensive AI writing toolkit that helps students and researchers achieve 2x the writing in half the time. It leverages 21+ years of STM experience and insights from millions of research articles to provide in-depth academic writing, language editing, and submission readiness support to help you write better, faster.  

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English for Academic Research: Grammar, Usage and Style

• © 2013
• Adrian Wallwork 0

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• Includes hundreds of real-life examples
• Ideal study-guide for universities and research institutes
• Great tool for improving English language skills
• Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: English for Academic Research (EAR)

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Table of contents (29 chapters)

Front matter, nouns: plurals, countable versus uncountable.

Adrian Wallwork

Genitive: the possessive form of nouns

Indefinite article: a / an, definite article: the, zero article: no article, quantifiers: any, some, much, many, much, each, every etc., relative pronouns: that, which, who, whose, tenses: present, past, future, conditional forms: zero, first, second, third, passive versus active: impersonal versus personal forms, imperative, infinitive versus gerund (−ing form), modal verbs: can, may, could, should, must etc., link words (adverbs and conjunctions): also, although, but etc., adverbs and prepositions: already, yet, at, in, of etc., sentence length, conciseness, clarity and ambiguity, word order: nouns and verbs, word order: adverbs, word order: adjectives and past participles, comparative and superlative: -er, -est , irregular forms.

• English Grammar
• English Language Learners

About this book

This guide is based on a study of referees' reports and letters from journal editors on the reasons why papers written by non-native researchers are rejected due to problems with English usage, style and grammar. It draws on English-related errors from around 5000 papers written by non-native authors, 500 abstracts by PhD students, and over 1000 hours of teaching researchers how to write and present research papers.  

English for Academic Research: Usage, Style, and Grammar covers those areas of English usage that typically cause researchers difficulty: articles ( a/an, the ), uncountable nouns, tenses (e.g., simple present, simple past, present perfect ), modal verbs, active vs. passive form, relative clauses, infinitive vs. -ing form, the genitive, noun strings, link words (e.g., moreover, in addition ), quantifiers (e.g., each vs. every ), word order, prepositions, acronyms, abbreviations, numbers and measurements, punctuation, and spelling. Due to its focus on the specific errors that repeatedly appear in papers written by non-native authors, this manual is an ideal study guide for use in universities and research institutes.

  The book is cross-referenced with the following titles:

• English for Academic Research: Grammar Exercises

• English for Academic Research: Vocabulary Exercises

• English for Academic Research: Writing Exercises

• English for Writing Research Papers    

Adrian Wallwork is the author of more than 30 English Language Teaching (ELT) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) textbooks. He has trained several thousand PhD students and researchers from 40 countries to prepare and give presentations. Since 1984 he has been revising research manuscripts through his own proofreading and editing service.

Authors and Affiliations

About the author, bibliographic information.

Book Title : English for Academic Research: Grammar, Usage and Style

Authors : Adrian Wallwork

Series Title : English for Academic Research

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1593-0

Publisher : Springer New York, NY

eBook Packages : Humanities, Social Sciences and Law , Education (R0)

Copyright Information : Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

eBook ISBN : 978-1-4614-1593-0 Published: 26 October 2012

Series ISSN : 2625-3445

Series E-ISSN : 2625-3453

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XVI, 252

Number of Illustrations : 12 b/w illustrations

Topics : Language Education , Grammar , Professional & Vocational Education , Syntax

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Research on Grammar

Main navigation.

The late Robert J. Connors once called it "the various bodies of knowledge and prejudice called 'grammar.'" For more on the knowledge part, see below:

Selected Research

Connors, robert j. "grammar in american college composition: an historical overview." the territory of language: linguistics, stylistics, and the teaching of composition. ed. donald a.mcquade. carbondale: southern illinois up, 1986. 3-22..

Robert J. Connors, who co-authored Andrea Lunsford's early research on the frequency of error, also studied the history of English grammar instruction in the United States. When did American schools switch from teaching Latin grammar to teaching English grammar? Who invented and popularized sentence-diagramming? How did the rise of structural linguistics in the 1950s affect ideas about grammar? In his inimitable style, Connors treated these questions and more.

Connors, Robert J., and Andrea A. Lunsford. "Frequency of Formal Errors in Current College Writing, or Ma and Pa Kettle Do Research." College Composition and Communication 39.4 (Dec. 1988): 395-409.

Hartwell, patrick. "grammar, grammars, and the teaching of grammar." college english 47.2 (1985): 105-127..

In this classic essay, Patrick Hartwell offers five definitions of grammar that elucidate the many ways the term gets used: from an internalized set of linguistic rules to a meta-awareness and stylistic choice.  His varied definitions suggest the co-existence of multiple literacies that undermine an approach to teaching grammar focused exclusively on correctness.

Lunsford, Andrea A. and Karen J. Lunsford. "'Mistakes Are a Fact of Life': A National Comparative Study."  College Composition and Communication 59.4 (Jun. 2008): 781-806.

Stanford's own Andrea Lunsford, Louise Hewett Nixon Professor of English, is a leader in the study of error in writing. Her long-term quantitative research has revealed shifting patterns of error as technologies and rhetorical situations change. Among Professor Lunsford's findings ( summarized in Top 20 form here ):

• Student papers today are longer and more complex than they were 20 years ago, yet there has been no significant increase in the overall rate of error.
• Although word-processing tools have advanced substantially, they are responsible for the most common error in student writing today: using the wrong word, spelled correctly.

Micciche, Laura. "Making a Case for Rhetorical Grammar." College Composition and Communication 55.4 (Jun. 2004): 716-737.

What do you think of when you think of the word "grammar"? Laura Micciche argues most people think of formal grammar: "Usually, our minds go to those unending rules and exceptions, those repetitive drills and worksheets..." (720). This formal grammar is "the deadly kind of grammar," the one that makes us anxious. Drawing on Martha Kolln's idea of "rhetorical grammar," Micciche argues that grammar doesn't have to be deadly: it can give a writer more powerful choices, and thus make writing and communicating more satisfying and more pleasurable.

Williams, Joseph M. "The Phenomenology of Error." College Composition and Communication 32.2 (May 1981): 152-168.

Why do some grammatical errors seem to cause so much venom and rage? Why is a misuse of the word "hopefully" considered an "atrocity"? Joseph M. Williams examined this question in this still-relevant 1981 article. Williams is also the author of Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (Longman).

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Teaching and Learning English Grammar: Research Findings and Future Directions - 2015 - Front matter and Table of Contents

Christison, M.A., Christian, D., Duff, P., & Spada, N. (Eds.). (2015). Teaching and learning English grammar: Research findings and future directions. New York: Routledge. ABSTRACT An important contribution to the emerging body of research-based knowledge about English grammar, this volume presents empirical studies along with syntheses and overviews of previous and ongoing work on the teaching and learning of grammar for learners of English as a second/foreign language. A variety of approaches are explored, including form-focused instruction, content and language integration, corpus-based lexicogrammatical approaches, and social perspectives on grammar instruction.... You'll find the (draft) chapter by Duff, Ferreira & Zappa-Hollman under 'Articles' on this site. TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword --Joanne Dresner Preface --MaryAnn Christison, Donna Christian, Patricia A. Duff, and Nina Spada Part I. Overview of English grammar instruction Chapter 1. An overview of teaching grammar in ELT --Marianne Celce-Murcia Part II. Focus on form in second language acquisition Chapter 2. Focus on form: Addressing grammatical accuracy in an occupation-specific language program --Antonella Valeo Chapter 3. Teaching English grammar in context: The timing of form-focused intervention --Junko Hondo Chapter 4. Form-focused instruction and learner investment: Case study of a high school student in Japan ---Yasuyo Tomita Chapter 5: The influence of pretask instructions and pretask planning on focus on form during Korean EFL task-based interaction --Sujung Park Part III. The use of technology in teaching grammar Chapter 6. The role of corpus research in the design of advanced level grammar instruction --Michael J. McCarthy Chapter 7. Corpus-based lexicogrammatical approach to grammar instruction: Its use and effects in EFL and ESL contexts --Dilin Liu and Ping Jiang Chapter 8. Creating corpus-based vocabulary lists for two verb tenses: A lexicogrammar approach --Keith S. Folse Part IV. Instructional design and grammar Chapter 9. Putting (functional) grammar to work in content-based English for academic purposes instruction --Patricia A. Duff, Alfredo A. Ferreira, and Sandra Zappa-Hollman Chapter 10. Integrating grammar in adult TESOL classrooms --Anne Burns and Simon Borg Chapter 11. Teacher and learner preferences for integrated and isolated form-focused instruction --Nina Spada and Marília dos Santos Lima Chapter 12. Form-focused approaches to learning, teaching, and researching grammar --Rod Ellis Epilogue --Kathleen M. Bailey

Related Papers

The Canadian Modern Language Review / La revue canadienne des langues vivantes

Patricia (Patsy) Duff

Duff, P., Ferreira, A., & Zappa-Hollman, S. (2015). In M. Christison, D. Christian, P. Duff & N. Spada (Eds.), Teaching and learning English grammar: Research findings and future directions (pp.139-158). New York: Routledge. ABSTRACT A growing body of curriculum development, instruction, and research focuses on ways of attending to grammar systematically in content-based academic English programs (Coffin, 2010). This work examines the functions of the grammatical structures to be learned to express particular meanings in oral and written texts within and beyond sentences in authentic discourse contexts (Derewianka & Jones, 2012). Content areas in which explicit grammatical instruction has been integrated successfully include social studies, history, geography, English, and mathematics in K-12 and higher education programs (e.g., Christie, 2004; Mohan, 1986; Schleppegrell, Achugar & Oteíza, 2004). In this chapter, we first discuss the changing contexts for the teaching of English grammar across educational programs and curriculum worldwide, particularly with relatively advanced learners engaged in English-medium instruction (i.e., content and language integrated learning). Next, we discuss traditional approaches to grammar instruction and research and then review some promising functional approaches being taken up by language educators and content specialists in the US, Australia, and other countries, and at our own institution in Canada. We provide theoretical and research foundations and examples of the implementation and effectiveness of such approaches to the teaching and learning of (discourse) grammar by examining nominalization and grammatical metaphor, for example. We conclude by discussing some implications of developments in this area for teacher education--for language instructors, teacher educators, and content specialists--as well as for program development and future research on grammar instruction.

Ali Umar Fagge

Tesol Quarterly

TESL Canada Journal

Ayşe S Akyel

This article examines a number of adult ESL grammar textbooks via an author designed checklist to analyze how well they incorporate the findings from research in communicative language teaching (CLT) and in form1ocused instruction (FFI). It concludes that although a few textbooks incorporate some of the research findings in CLT and FFI, they are not necessarily those chosen by the teaching institutions.

LiBRI. Linguistic and Literary Broad Research and Innovation

Academia EduSoft

The present paper reports on a study that was carried out to compare the effectiveness of three instructional techniques, namely dialogues, focused tasks, and games on teaching grammar. The participants were 48 pre-intermediate EFL students that formed three experimental groups. A posttest consisting of 20 productive items was administered at the end of the treatment period which lasted for four sessions. The results revealed no statistically significant difference between the three groups. This suggests that the three instructional techniques had relatively the same effect on the accurate grammatical production of the learners.

Annual Review of Applied Linguistics

Hossein Nassaji

Andrew Schenck

Schenck, Andrew. An Investigation of the Relationship Between Grammar Type and Efficacy of Form-Focused Instruction. The New Studies of English Language & Literature 69 (2018): 223-248. Because phonological, semantic, and morphosyntactic characteristics of grammatical features can have a significant impact on form-focused instruction, utilization of different grammatical features to test new language teaching techniques may conflate determinations of efficacy or inefficacy. The purpose of this study was to holistically examine different types of instruction, comparing them with grammatical features to evaluate effectiveness. Forty-six experimental studies of form-focused instruction were selected for study. Comparison of effect sizes suggests that the efficacy of form-focused instruction differs considerably based upon the type of grammatical feature targeted. Input-based instruction (e.g.,input enhancement or explicit rule presentation) appears more useful for features like the plural -s, past -ed, and third person singular -s, which are phonologically insalient, yet morphologically regular. Output-based instruction (e.g., corrective feedback or recasts), in contrast, appears more effective with grammatical features such as questions, phrasal verbs, conditionals, and articles, which are syntactically or semantically complex. Overall, the results suggest that differences in grammar be considered before curricula or pedagogical interventions are designed. (State University of New York, Korea)

International Journal of English Language Teaching

This paper unravels aspects of English grammar to be reinforced in the teaching of English as a second or foreign language. The data sources for the study are the following: the broad corpus which consists of 392 BEPC exam essays (2014 and 2015), 46 class test essays (15 in 2016, 15 in 2017 and 16 in 2018) and the narrow corpus which consists of a series of ten (10) designed tests altogether intended for 100 Troisieme class pupils (administered in 2019). The framework used for this study is the Communicative Effect Taxonomy in error analysis as developed by Hendrickson (1976). Findings revealed that Troisieme pupils' English is strewn with global errors, local errors and ambiguous errors. Actually, 20 global error types (including the choice of the wrong auxiliary), 14 local error types (including the V-ed form attached to irregular verbs) and 9 types of ambiguous errors (including the use of the preposition 'at' in place of 'about') were identified in the broad corpus and highlighted in the narrow corpus. By doing so, Troisieme pupils' communicative proficiency as well as their linguistic proficiency was found to be low, and their communicative proficiency was found to be lower than their linguistic proficiency. From the above aspects of English grammar to be reinforced in the teaching of English as a second or foreign language were unveiled. The essence of it all is to improve communicative and linguistic proficiency in English.

Hilal Peker

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