AN analysis of Australian national literacy test results for New South Wales (NSW) students shows that students who study grammar in primary schools out-perform their peers. However, the advantage is lost once formal teaching of the subject has ceased, according to The Australian.
The NSW primary school syllabus is notable for specifying how grammar should be taught as part of teaching writing skills, but this requirement is not specified in the secondary school syllabus. In last year’s national literacy tests, Year 3 students in NSW who learned grammar as part of their writing skills scored 13 points higher in the writing assessment than the national average. But by Year 9, when grammar was no longer explicitly taught, the advantage disappeared.
The value of grammar returning to the classroom is highlighted by the analysis. In the 1970s, the English education in Australia shifted from a grammar-based curriculum to a more literary approach. But the Australian National Curriculum Board released a draft of curriculum last October that required that all students from the first year be taught grammar. The Australian National English Framing paper specifies that "spelling, punctuation and grammar need to be taught throughout the school years". It wants the process to cover "structures and functions of word- and sentence-level grammar" and says teaching should extend to goals "such as clearer expression of thought, more convincing argumentation, more careful logic in reasoning, and more coherence and precision in speaking and writing".
The challenge for education authorities and universities then is to prepare teachers for teaching grammar, given that most of those under 50 have grown up with minimal formal instruction in the discipline.
