This article aims to show how the findings from written corrective feedback (WCF) research can be applied in practice. One particular kind of WCF--focused WCF--is brought into the spotlight. The article first summarizes major findings from focused WCF research to reveal the potential advantages of correcting a few preselected language items…

In "Dialogic Origin," Mikhail Bakhtin -- as teacher-researcher and theorist -- presents readers with a remarkable essay on teaching grammar and style to 7th-year students (roughly equivalent to 10th graders in the U.S. educational system). In doing so, Bakhtin employs some of his most notable concepts (among them dialogism and "hero") as informing…

In this paper Graham Frater finds early signs of a revival of explicit instruction in English grammar to pupils of compulsory school age in England; this is accompanied by an expectation that such teaching might play an important part in closing the "writing gap." He suggests that, strengthened by the National Literacy Strategy, this early…

Grounded in integrated and excerpt style (Emerson, et al., 1995), this article chronicles Mr. Lehrer, an English teacher who provides his students access to standard and nonstandard writing conventions. Student writing samples and discursive practices illustrate enhanced awareness of distinctions between nonstandard language (African American…

Describes how the author, in his seventh-grade English class, taught "little grammar" (sentence structure, parts of speech, and usage) and "big grammar" (such as essay structure, points of an argument, and rhetorical devices) through reading meaningful texts drawn from their history class. Discusses successes and difficulties with this approach,…