GRAMMAR AND DEVELOPING WRITING SKILLS - WHAT DOES THE BRITISH EPPI REVIEW STUDY TELL US?

Abstract

International studies have concluded that the teaching of formal grammar does not improve pupils’ writing skills. The most recent and extensive reports are possibly those from a review carried out by the British EPPI-Centre. These reports provide a systematic examination of studies carried out from the 1960s onwards. In this article, we take a critical look at key definitions of concepts used in the EPPI review, such as “grammar” and “sentence combining”, and at the relationship between these concepts. Through this, we wish to discuss the main differences between teaching grammar and teaching “sentence combining” when it comes to the effect on pupils’ writing skills. We also take a brief look at the history of the Norwegian debate on grammar teaching, giving a pointer to the relevance of the international debate to our own.

This is a translation of "Grammatikk og skriveutvikling – hva sier den britiske EPPI-oversiktsstudien?". Published in: Skrive for nåtid og framtid / [Synnøve Matre og Torlaug Løkensgard Hoel [red.]] Tapir Akademisk Forlag. 2007.