Make grammar your friend
I notice that some students do not put into practice the grammar rules they are taught. Their subjects and verbs do not agree. Spelling goes out of the window and punctuation especially is random, following no known rules.
When these students get assignments on individual aspects of English, some do it well, even very well, showing that they understand the concept. In a grammar activity they can identify all the mistakes of agreement and can correct the errors. However if they have to write a report or a letter for instance, they do not apply those same agreement rules to their writing.
If you ask these students to write a bit of dialogue between two characters, they would write an interesting exchange but they would have little or no punctuation required for dialogue. Quotation marks would be flung in at random.
Some students would know how to identify a dangling modifier if they were given a quiz about that grammar rule. They would also correct the sentence to eliminate the dangling modifier but even while doing that they would make mistakes of tense in other parts of the corrected sentence.
I would like to share three ways to help these students make grammar their friend and use the grammar they have learnt.
Give a rubric
Giving a rubric for any writing assignment will help the student see what you accept as good quality and what would be not-so-good writing. Include a rubric and scores for grammar and mechanics and usage. Identify exactly what skills you will test and what marks you will award. Show how you arrive at that mark.
Giving a rubric is a way to tell the student that although they are writing a letter, for instance, it is important to get more than just the format and content right. The mechanics of the language must also be correct. When you include scores for expected levels of grammar, you are emphasising that correct use of grammar is a large part of showing that they know how to use the language.
Give a checklist
A very specific checklist will help. You can ask the student to check off a list of things they should have done while writing.
Example:
- subjects and verbs agree
- words are spelt correctly
- the correct tense is used
- pronoun references are correct
- punctuation is appropriate
You can put about five items on the list. You can also create the list to include the grammar areas or rules that your students repeatedly get wrong.
Let students read their writing aloud
Have the students read their writing aloud. They usually discover their mistakes when they hear them. Or they usually hear their mistakes when they read their work aloud. While writing, students may feel that they have completed everything perfectly. However hearing their work would alert the students to words they may have left out. Some parts of their writing may sound wrong and this would alert them to grammatical errors. When students hear the words they have written they will hear the difference between what they actually wrote and what they thought they had written. Sometimes it is even more helpful if the student hears someone else read the assignment.
Now you can try these tips on how to help students apply grammar rules in their writing.