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Writing and Language Learning: Advancing research agendas
Edited by Rosa M. Manchón
[Language Learning & Language Teaching 56] 2020
► pp. 381–402

Chapter 16
Can writing facilitate the development of grammatical competence?

Advancing research agendas

| Michigan State University
Although the act of writing should, theoretically, facilitate grammatical development for second language learners even more so than speaking, most of the empirical research only indirectly supports this view, and some research even contradicts it. In this chapter, I first discuss theoretical support for the role of writing in grammatical development and then summarize related research with six different foci. Next, I propose studies related to these areas, including some conceptual replications and extensions, that might help illuminate any facilitative effects, or lack thereof, on grammatical development through writing.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Why writing should facilitate grammatical development
  • Related areas of research
    • How writers focus on grammar
    • Written grammatical development during instruction
    • The effect of task differences
    • Interventions
    • Differences in spoken and written learner language
    • Transfer across modalities
  • Research agendas and research tasks
    • How do writers focus on grammar as they write in less-controlled writing tasks?
      • Task 1
      • Task 2
    • How can or cannot writing instruction be linked to grammatical development?
      • Task 1
      • Task 2
    • Can writing tasks be manipulated to promote grammatical development?
      • Task 1
    • Other than feedback, what kinds of interventions promote grammatical development?
      • Task 1
      • Task 2
      • Task 3
    • Does written grammatical development precede oral grammatical development?
      • Task 1
      • Task 2
    • Can writing activities promote oral grammatical competence?
      • Task 1
      • Task 2
  • Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 20 November 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.56.16pol
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