A Case for Pedagogic Writing Instruction for Pre-Service Teachers to Learn Applied Grammar in the Context of Their Own Writing

Abstract

Revived interest in grammar as a tool to teach writing is a phenomenon of the 21st century since inquiry in the 50s determined it to have “no positive impact on” writing instruction (Locke, 2005; Qtd. in McCormack-Colbert, Ware, & Jones, 2018, p. 165). Yet in the past two and a half decades, the concepts of Contextualized Grammar and Pedagogic Grammar have earned recognition in English and Language Education as a new kind of instruction shown to enhance writing when providing learners strategic mini lessons in grammar. This article also proposes the converse: in a college grammar course, strategic writing instruction assists students to learn grammar and usage in an applied setting of creating, revising, and editing their own texts. This article first reviews the premises and bases for the reappearance of grammar to teach writing and then describes the writer’s parallel approach to grammar instruction through the strategic use of writing assignments referred to here as Pedagogic Writing. The article closes with an account of the performances and perceptions of pre-service teachers sent to English by the School of Education to take ENG G 207, Grammar and Usage, showing preliminarily their successful application across three semesters, from spring 2020 through spring 2021.