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Teaching and Learning English Grammar: Research Findings and Future Directions - 2015 - Front matter and Table of Contents

Christison, M.A., Christian, D., Duff, P., & Spada, N. (Eds.). (2015). Teaching and learning English grammar: Research findings and future directions. New York: Routledge. ABSTRACT An important contribution to the emerging body of research-based knowledge about English grammar, this volume presents empirical studies along with syntheses and overviews of previous and ongoing work on the teaching and learning of grammar for learners of English as a second/foreign language. A variety of approaches are explored, including form-focused instruction, content and language integration, corpus-based lexicogrammatical approaches, and social perspectives on grammar instruction.... You'll find the (draft) chapter by Duff, Ferreira & Zappa-Hollman under 'Articles' on this site. TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword --Joanne Dresner Preface --MaryAnn Christison, Donna Christian, Patricia A. Duff, and Nina Spada Part I. Overview of English grammar instruction Chapter 1. An overview of teaching grammar in ELT --Marianne Celce-Murcia Part II. Focus on form in second language acquisition Chapter 2. Focus on form: Addressing grammatical accuracy in an occupation-specific language program --Antonella Valeo Chapter 3. Teaching English grammar in context: The timing of form-focused intervention --Junko Hondo Chapter 4. Form-focused instruction and learner investment: Case study of a high school student in Japan ---Yasuyo Tomita Chapter 5: The influence of pretask instructions and pretask planning on focus on form during Korean EFL task-based interaction --Sujung Park Part III. The use of technology in teaching grammar Chapter 6. The role of corpus research in the design of advanced level grammar instruction --Michael J. McCarthy Chapter 7. Corpus-based lexicogrammatical approach to grammar instruction: Its use and effects in EFL and ESL contexts --Dilin Liu and Ping Jiang Chapter 8. Creating corpus-based vocabulary lists for two verb tenses: A lexicogrammar approach --Keith S. Folse Part IV. Instructional design and grammar Chapter 9. Putting (functional) grammar to work in content-based English for academic purposes instruction --Patricia A. Duff, Alfredo A. Ferreira, and Sandra Zappa-Hollman Chapter 10. Integrating grammar in adult TESOL classrooms --Anne Burns and Simon Borg Chapter 11. Teacher and learner preferences for integrated and isolated form-focused instruction --Nina Spada and Marília dos Santos Lima Chapter 12. Form-focused approaches to learning, teaching, and researching grammar --Rod Ellis Epilogue --Kathleen M. Bailey

Related Papers

The Canadian Modern Language Review / La revue canadienne des langues vivantes

Patricia (Patsy) Duff

Duff, P., Ferreira, A., & Zappa-Hollman, S. (2015). In M. Christison, D. Christian, P. Duff & N. Spada (Eds.), Teaching and learning English grammar: Research findings and future directions (pp.139-158). New York: Routledge. ABSTRACT A growing body of curriculum development, instruction, and research focuses on ways of attending to grammar systematically in content-based academic English programs (Coffin, 2010). This work examines the functions of the grammatical structures to be learned to express particular meanings in oral and written texts within and beyond sentences in authentic discourse contexts (Derewianka & Jones, 2012). Content areas in which explicit grammatical instruction has been integrated successfully include social studies, history, geography, English, and mathematics in K-12 and higher education programs (e.g., Christie, 2004; Mohan, 1986; Schleppegrell, Achugar & Oteíza, 2004). In this chapter, we first discuss the changing contexts for the teaching of English grammar across educational programs and curriculum worldwide, particularly with relatively advanced learners engaged in English-medium instruction (i.e., content and language integrated learning). Next, we discuss traditional approaches to grammar instruction and research and then review some promising functional approaches being taken up by language educators and content specialists in the US, Australia, and other countries, and at our own institution in Canada. We provide theoretical and research foundations and examples of the implementation and effectiveness of such approaches to the teaching and learning of (discourse) grammar by examining nominalization and grammatical metaphor, for example. We conclude by discussing some implications of developments in this area for teacher education--for language instructors, teacher educators, and content specialists--as well as for program development and future research on grammar instruction.

Ali Umar Fagge

Tesol Quarterly

TESL Canada Journal

Ayşe S Akyel

This article examines a number of adult ESL grammar textbooks via an author designed checklist to analyze how well they incorporate the findings from research in communicative language teaching (CLT) and in form1ocused instruction (FFI). It concludes that although a few textbooks incorporate some of the research findings in CLT and FFI, they are not necessarily those chosen by the teaching institutions.

LiBRI. Linguistic and Literary Broad Research and Innovation

Academia EduSoft

The present paper reports on a study that was carried out to compare the effectiveness of three instructional techniques, namely dialogues, focused tasks, and games on teaching grammar. The participants were 48 pre-intermediate EFL students that formed three experimental groups. A posttest consisting of 20 productive items was administered at the end of the treatment period which lasted for four sessions. The results revealed no statistically significant difference between the three groups. This suggests that the three instructional techniques had relatively the same effect on the accurate grammatical production of the learners.

Annual Review of Applied Linguistics

Hossein Nassaji

Andrew Schenck

Schenck, Andrew. An Investigation of the Relationship Between Grammar Type and Efficacy of Form-Focused Instruction. The New Studies of English Language & Literature 69 (2018): 223-248. Because phonological, semantic, and morphosyntactic characteristics of grammatical features can have a significant impact on form-focused instruction, utilization of different grammatical features to test new language teaching techniques may conflate determinations of efficacy or inefficacy. The purpose of this study was to holistically examine different types of instruction, comparing them with grammatical features to evaluate effectiveness. Forty-six experimental studies of form-focused instruction were selected for study. Comparison of effect sizes suggests that the efficacy of form-focused instruction differs considerably based upon the type of grammatical feature targeted. Input-based instruction (e.g.,input enhancement or explicit rule presentation) appears more useful for features like the plural -s, past -ed, and third person singular -s, which are phonologically insalient, yet morphologically regular. Output-based instruction (e.g., corrective feedback or recasts), in contrast, appears more effective with grammatical features such as questions, phrasal verbs, conditionals, and articles, which are syntactically or semantically complex. Overall, the results suggest that differences in grammar be considered before curricula or pedagogical interventions are designed. (State University of New York, Korea)

International Journal of English Language Teaching

This paper unravels aspects of English grammar to be reinforced in the teaching of English as a second or foreign language. The data sources for the study are the following: the broad corpus which consists of 392 BEPC exam essays (2014 and 2015), 46 class test essays (15 in 2016, 15 in 2017 and 16 in 2018) and the narrow corpus which consists of a series of ten (10) designed tests altogether intended for 100 Troisieme class pupils (administered in 2019). The framework used for this study is the Communicative Effect Taxonomy in error analysis as developed by Hendrickson (1976). Findings revealed that Troisieme pupils' English is strewn with global errors, local errors and ambiguous errors. Actually, 20 global error types (including the choice of the wrong auxiliary), 14 local error types (including the V-ed form attached to irregular verbs) and 9 types of ambiguous errors (including the use of the preposition 'at' in place of 'about') were identified in the broad corpus and highlighted in the narrow corpus. By doing so, Troisieme pupils' communicative proficiency as well as their linguistic proficiency was found to be low, and their communicative proficiency was found to be lower than their linguistic proficiency. From the above aspects of English grammar to be reinforced in the teaching of English as a second or foreign language were unveiled. The essence of it all is to improve communicative and linguistic proficiency in English.

Hilal Peker

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English for Academic Research: Grammar, Usage and Style

• © 2023
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• Adrian Wallwork 0

Pisa, Italy

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Part of the book series: English for Academic Research (EAR)

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Table of contents (18 chapters)

Front matter, abbreviations, acronyms, and punctuation.

Adrian Wallwork

Adverbs and prepositions

Articles: a / an / the / zero article, genitive: the possessive form of nouns, infinitive versus gerund ( -ing form), measurements and numbers, abbreviations, symbols, comparisons, use of articles, modal verbs: can, may, could, should, must etc., nouns: countable vs uncountable, plurals, personal pronouns, names, titles, proofreading tools: checking the correctness of your english, quantifiers: any, some, much, many, much, each, every etc., readability, tenses: present and past, tenses: future, conditional, passive, translation, chatgpt and generative ai, back matter.

• English Grammar
• English Language Learners
• English for Research

About this book

This guide draws on English-related errors from around 6000 papers written by non-native authors, 500 abstracts written by PhD students, and over 2000 hours of teaching researchers how to write and present research papers. 

This new edition has chapters on exploiting AI tools such as ChatGPT, Google Translate, and Reverso, for generating, paraphrasing, translating and correcting texts written in English. It also deals with contemporary issues such as the use of gender pronouns.

Due to its focus on the specific errors that repeatedly appear in papers written by non-native authors, this manual is an ideal study guide for use in universities and research institutes. Such errors are related to the usage of articles, countable vs. uncountable nouns, tenses, modal verbs, active vs. passive form, relative clauses, infinitive vs. -ing form, the genitive, link words, quantifiers, word order, prepositions, acronyms, abbreviations, numbers and measurements, punctuation, and spelling.

Grammar, Vocabulary, and Writing Exercises (three volumes)

100 Tips to Avoid Mistakes in Academic Writing and Presenting

English for Writing Research Papers 

English for Presentations at International Conferences

English for Academic Correspondence

English for Interacting on Campus

English for Academic CVs, Resumes, and Online Profiles

English for Academic Research: A Guide for Teachers

Adrian Wallwork is the author of more than 40 English Language Teaching (ELT) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) textbooks. He has trained several thousand PhD students and researchers from 50 countries to write papers and give presentations. He edits research manuscripts through his own proofreading and editing service.

Authors and Affiliations

About the author, bibliographic information.

Book Title : English for Academic Research: Grammar, Usage and Style

Authors : Adrian Wallwork

Series Title : English for Academic Research

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31517-6

Publisher : Springer Cham

eBook Packages : Education , Education (R0)

Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023

Softcover ISBN : 978-3-031-31516-9 Published: 23 September 2023

eBook ISBN : 978-3-031-31517-6 Published: 22 September 2023

Series ISSN : 2625-3445

Series E-ISSN : 2625-3453

Edition Number : 2

Number of Pages : XIII, 232

Number of Illustrations : 49 illustrations in colour

Topics : Language Education , Grammar , Professional & Vocational Education , Syntax

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Research on Grammar

Main navigation.

The late Robert J. Connors once called it "the various bodies of knowledge and prejudice called 'grammar.'" For more on the knowledge part, see below:

Selected Research

Connors, robert j. "grammar in american college composition: an historical overview." the territory of language: linguistics, stylistics, and the teaching of composition. ed. donald a.mcquade. carbondale: southern illinois up, 1986. 3-22..

Robert J. Connors, who co-authored Andrea Lunsford's early research on the frequency of error, also studied the history of English grammar instruction in the United States. When did American schools switch from teaching Latin grammar to teaching English grammar? Who invented and popularized sentence-diagramming? How did the rise of structural linguistics in the 1950s affect ideas about grammar? In his inimitable style, Connors treated these questions and more.

Connors, Robert J., and Andrea A. Lunsford. "Frequency of Formal Errors in Current College Writing, or Ma and Pa Kettle Do Research." College Composition and Communication 39.4 (Dec. 1988): 395-409.

Hartwell, patrick. "grammar, grammars, and the teaching of grammar." college english 47.2 (1985): 105-127..

In this classic essay, Patrick Hartwell offers five definitions of grammar that elucidate the many ways the term gets used: from an internalized set of linguistic rules to a meta-awareness and stylistic choice.  His varied definitions suggest the co-existence of multiple literacies that undermine an approach to teaching grammar focused exclusively on correctness.

Lunsford, Andrea A. and Karen J. Lunsford. "'Mistakes Are a Fact of Life': A National Comparative Study."  College Composition and Communication 59.4 (Jun. 2008): 781-806.

Stanford's own Andrea Lunsford, Louise Hewett Nixon Professor of English, is a leader in the study of error in writing. Her long-term quantitative research has revealed shifting patterns of error as technologies and rhetorical situations change. Among Professor Lunsford's findings ( summarized in Top 20 form here ):

• Student papers today are longer and more complex than they were 20 years ago, yet there has been no significant increase in the overall rate of error.
• Although word-processing tools have advanced substantially, they are responsible for the most common error in student writing today: using the wrong word, spelled correctly.

Micciche, Laura. "Making a Case for Rhetorical Grammar." College Composition and Communication 55.4 (Jun. 2004): 716-737.

What do you think of when you think of the word "grammar"? Laura Micciche argues most people think of formal grammar: "Usually, our minds go to those unending rules and exceptions, those repetitive drills and worksheets..." (720). This formal grammar is "the deadly kind of grammar," the one that makes us anxious. Drawing on Martha Kolln's idea of "rhetorical grammar," Micciche argues that grammar doesn't have to be deadly: it can give a writer more powerful choices, and thus make writing and communicating more satisfying and more pleasurable.

Williams, Joseph M. "The Phenomenology of Error." College Composition and Communication 32.2 (May 1981): 152-168.

Why do some grammatical errors seem to cause so much venom and rage? Why is a misuse of the word "hopefully" considered an "atrocity"? Joseph M. Williams examined this question in this still-relevant 1981 article. Williams is also the author of Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (Longman).

Get science-backed answers as you write with Paperpal's Research feature

5 Essential Research Paper Grammar Checks Every Author Must Do

Authors spend a significant amount of their time researching for and writing articles to get published in esteemed journals. However, the paper rejection rates of some of the top-tier journals are estimated between 80-85%, which may increase to 90-95% for some high-impact journals. 1 According to the American Psychological Association’s summary report of journal operations, the total research paper rejection rate in 2020 was approximately 75%. 2 Even if a research paper describes a pathbreaking study, faulty grammar can significantly influence journal editors’ decisions.

Ensuring that the research paper language is grammatically error free is an essential step in the journey of a research paper from conception to publication. Good grammar and sentence structure enhance the readability of research papers, thus helping in effectively communicating with the target audience. Undertaking extensive research paper grammar checks prior to submission can ensure that the most common grammar mistakes are avoided. Few types of minor grammar mistakes and those that occur less frequently may be ignored by journal editors because these do not affect the readability of the paper to a significant extent, for example, article usage and placement, minor spelling errors, etc. In addition, such grammar mistakes may be fixed in the final post-acceptance proofreading stage by the journal. However, some kinds of errors are very important because they may alter the meaning of a sentence and convey a meaning opposite to that originally intended by the author. Thus, ensuring appropriate research paper language is of utmost importance in creating a publication-ready manuscript.

Common Grammar Mistakes in Research Papers and How to Avoid Them

The following are some of the common grammar mistakes usually observed in research papers: 3,4,5

• Subject-verb disagreement : The subject and verb should always agree in number. Singular nouns should take singular verbs and plural nouns, plural verbs. If intervening prepositional phrases are present between the subject and the corresponding verb, ignoring these phrases is a good way of determining verb agreement. Alternatively, in case of complex sentences, rephrasing may also provide clarity and conciseness.

Incorrect: The patients who responded to the survey was mostly women.

Correct: The patients who responded to the survey were mostly women. (Subject: The patients; Verb: were, because it must agree with the plural subject)

Incorrect: One of the patients were diagnosed with diabetes.

Correct: One of the patients was diagnosed with diabetes .

• Incorrect pronoun placement : Pronouns are used to replace nouns, and accordingly the antecedent must be clear. Rephrasing usually helps resolve this issue.

Incorrect: The researchers describe the process of gathering information about acetaminophen and discussing it (Here, the pronoun “it” appears to refer to acetaminophen, which is incorrect and alters the intended meaning)

Better: The authors describe the process of gathering and discussing information about acetaminophen.

• Pronoun-verb disagreement

Some indefinite pronouns, which refer to nonspecific persons or things (e.g., any, each, either, neither, everyone, someone, anybody, nobody, somebody) always take singular verbs; some pronouns ( several, many, both, few ) always take plural verbs; and some pronouns ( some, most, all, none ) may take either. This quick tip would help ensure that the pronoun and verb agree in number.

• Some of the experiments are easy to conduct.At least some of their effort has paid off. Several research papers were discussed at the conference. Neither of them was consulted regarding the plagiarism issue.
• Use of contractions

Contractions are shortened words made by joining two words, for example, did + not = didn’t. The use of such contractions should be avoided in academic writing to ensure formality.

• Correct: The authors did not conduct the experiment .
• Dangling participles

Participles are verb forms that may also act as adjectives. In some sentences, when these participles modify the wrong noun, they are said to be “dangling.” To fix this, the sentence should be rephrased, and the correct or intended subject should be placed as close to the participle as possible.

• Better: Focusing on the deadline, the researchers completed the study quickly.  
• Faulty parallelism

Parallel construction refers to using a similar pattern of words while describing a series or list of items. This error is observed mostly after the conjunctions “and” and “or.” While doing a final check, lists and series that have these conjunctions could be checked carefully to ensure that each item is using the correct combination of gerunds.

• Incorrect: Gerald likes to play chess, eating salads, and reading.
• Correct: Gerald likes playing chess, eating salads, and reading.
• Incorrect: The nurse examined the patient by checking the temperature and measured blood pressure .
• Correct: The nurse examined the patient by checking the temperature and measuring blood pressure .

Ensure grammatically correct research papers with Paperpal

Top 5 Research Paper Grammar Checks in Academic Writing

To summarize, the following are some important overall checks that could be conducted prior to submission to ensure a well-written, error-free research paper.

• Formal language: Avoid contractions and colloquialism
• Correct sentence structure: Correctly placed subject, verb, object, and other elements
• Subject-verb and pronoun-verb agreement in number, gender, and antecedent
• Word choice: Ensure correct usage of commonly confused words such as: if vs whether; between vs among; especially vs specially; affect vs effect; who vs whom
• Avoid sentence fragments (incomplete sentences that lack a subject or verb); these are more appropriate and effective when writing fiction

In almost all cases, when in doubt, consult dictionaries, style manuals, and journal guidelines for appropriate guidance.

• Khadilkar, S.S. Rejection blues: Why do research papers get rejected?  J Obstet Gynecol India   68,  239–241 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13224-018-1153-1
• American Psychological Association. Summary report of journal operations, 2020. American Psychologist 76 (5), 827-828 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000884 ; https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/statistics . [Accessed August 16, 2022]
• American Medical Association. AMA Manual of Style. Section 7: Grammar
• Onwuegbuzie, A.J. Most Common formal grammatical errors committed by authors. J Educational Issues 3 (1) (2017). https://doi.org/10.5296/jei.v3i1.10839
• Fogarty, M. Dangling participles. https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/articles/dangling-participles/ (2019).

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Get accurate academic translations, rewriting support, grammar checks, vocabulary suggestions, and generative AI assistance that delivers human precision at machine speed. Try for free or upgrade to Paperpal Prime starting at US$19 a month to access premium features, including consistency, plagiarism, and 30+ submission readiness checks to help you succeed.  

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Related Reads:

• 3 Easy Ways for Researchers to Improve Their Academic Vocabulary
• Continually vs. Continuously: The Fine Line Between the Two Words
• Editing a Research Paper That is Your Own? Here Are Some Tips! 
• Transitive and Intransitive Verbs in the World of Research

Parallelism in Academic Writing: What is Faulty Parallelism and its Types 

Enhance your research paper with a comprehensive english language check, you may also like, academic editing: how to self-edit academic text with..., how to use ai to enhance your college..., how to use paperpal to generate emails &..., word choice problems: how to use the right..., how to paraphrase research papers effectively, 4 types of transition words for research papers , paraphrasing in academic writing: answering top author queries, sentence length: how to improve your research paper..., navigating language precision: complementary vs. complimentary, climatic vs. climactic: difference and examples.

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Avoid These Common Grammar Mistakes!

Cartoonist Doug Larson once observed: "If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur" [ The Quotations Page ]. Because the English language has complicated grammar and usage rules and most of those rules have multiple exceptions in how they are applied, there are many online sites that discuss how to avoid mistakes in grammar and word usage. Here are a few that may be particularly helpful:

• English Grammar
• Lingua Franca Column , Chronicle of Higher Education
• Plain Language.gov

Listed below are the most common mistakes that are made by writers and, thus, the ones you should focus on locating, correcting, and/or removing while proofreading your research paper.

• Affect / effect -- welcome to what I consider to be the most confusing aspect in the English language. "Effect" is most often a noun and generally means “a result.” However, "effect" can be used as a verb that essentially means "to bring about," or "to accomplish." The word "affect" is almost always a verb and generally means "to influence." However, affect can be used as a noun when you're talking about the mood that someone appears to have. [Ugh!]
• Apostrophes -- the position of an apostrophe depends upon whether the noun is singular or plural. For singular words, add an "s" to the end, even if the final letter is an "s." For contractions, replace missing letters with an apostrophe; but remember that it is where the letters no longer are, which is not always where the words are joined [e.g., "is not" and "isn't"]. Note that contractions are rarely used in scholarly writing.
• Capitalization -- a person’s title is capitalized when it precedes the name and, thus, is seen as part of the name [e.g., President Zachary Taylor]; once the title occurs, further references to the person holding the title appear in lowercase [e.g., the president]. For groups or organizations, the name is capitalized when it is the full name [e.g., the United States Department of Justice]; further references should be written in lowercase [e.g., the department]. In general, the use of capital letters should be minimized as much as possible.
• Colorless verbs and bland adjectives –- passive voice, use of the to be verb, is a lost opportunity to use a more interesting and accurate verb when you can. Adjectives can also be used very specifically to add to the sentence. Try to avoid generic or bland adjectives and be specific. Use adjectives that add to the meaning of the sentence.
• Comma splices -- a comma splice is the incorrect use of a comma to connect two independent clauses (an independent clause is a phrase that is grammatically and conceptually complete: that is, it can stand on its own as a sentence). To correct the comma splice, you can: replace the comma with a period, forming two sentences; replace the comma with a semicolon; or, join the two clauses with a conjunction such as "and," "because," "but," etc.
• Compared with vs. compared to -- compare to is to point out or imply resemblances between objects regarded as essentially of a different order; compare with is mainly to point out differences between objects regarded as essentially of the same order [e.g., life has been compared to a journey; Congress may be compared with the British Parliament].
• Confusing singular possessive and plural nouns –- singular possessive nouns always take an apostrophe, with few exceptions, and plural nouns never take an apostrophe. Omitting an apostrophe or adding one where it does not belong makes the sentence unclear.
• Coordinating conjunctions -- words, such as "but," "and," "yet," join grammatically similar elements [i.e., two nouns, two verbs, two modifiers, two independent clauses]. Be sure that the elements they join are equal in importance and in structure.
• Dangling participial -- a participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence must refer to the grammatical subject of the sentence.
• Dropped commas around clauses –-place commas around words, phrases, or clauses that interrupt a sentence. Do not use commas around restrictive clauses, which provide essential information about the subject of the sentence.
• The Existential "this" -- always include a referent with "this," such as "this theory..." or "this approach to understanding the...." With no referent, "this" can confuse the reader.
• The Existential "it" -- the "existential it" gives no reference for what "it" is. Be specific!
• Its / it's --"its" is the possessive form of "it." "It's" is the contraction of "it is" or "it has." They are not interchangeable and the latter should be avoided in scholarly writing.
• Fewer / Less -- if you can count it, then use the word fewer; if you cannot count it, use the word less.
• Interrupting clause –- this clause or phrase interrupts a sentence, such as, "however." Place a comma on either side of the interrupting clause. An interrupting clause should generally be avoided in academic writing.
• Know your non-restrictive clauses –- this clause or phrase modifies the subject of the sentence, but it is not essential to understanding the sentence. The word “which” is the relative pronoun usually used to introduce the nonrestrictive clause.
• Know your restrictive clauses –- this clause limits the meaning of the nouns it modifies. The restrictive clause introduces information that is essential to understanding the meaning of the sentence. The word “that” is the relative pronoun normally used to introduce this clause. Without this clause or phrase, the meaning of the sentence changes.
• Literally -- this word means that exactly what you say is true, no metaphors or analogies. Be aware of this if you are using "literally" to describe something. The term literally should never be applied to subjective expressions [i.e., "literally the most comfortable meeting"] or to imprecise measurements [i.e., "literally dozens of protesters"].
• Lonely quotes –- unlike in journalistic writing, quotes in scholarly writing cannot stand on their own as a sentence. Integrate them into a paragraph.
• Misuse and abuse of semicolons –- semicolons are used to separate two related independent clauses or to separate items in a list that contains commas. Do not abuse semicolons by using them often; they are best used sparingly.
• Overuse of unspecific determinates -- words such as "super" [as in super strong] or "very" [as in very strong], are unspecific determinates. How many/much is "very"? How incredibly awesome is super? If you ask ten people how cold, "very cold" is, you would get ten different answers. Academic writing should be precise, so eliminate as many unspecific determinants as possible.
• Semicolon usage -- a semicolon is most often used to separate two complete but closely related clauses. Consider the semicolon as marking a shorter pause than a period but a longer pause than a comma (this is easy to remember since a semicolon is the combination of a period and a comma). In the same way, semicolons are also used to separate complicated lists of three or more items.
• Sentence fragments –- these occur when a dependent clause is punctuated as a complete sentence. Dependent clauses must be used together with an independent clause.
• Singular words that sound plural -- when using words like "each," "every," "everybody," "nobody," or "anybody" in a sentence, we're likely thinking about more than one person or thing. But all these words are grammatically singular: they refer to just one person or thing at a time. And unfortunately, if you change the verb to correct the grammar, you create a pedantic phrase like "he or she" or "his or her."
• Split Infinitive -- an infinitive is the form of a verb that begins with "to." Splitting an infinitive means placing another word or words between the "to" and the infinitive verb. This is considered incorrect by purists, but nowadays it is considered a matter of style rather than poor grammar. Nevertheless, in academic writing, it's best to avoid split infinitives.
• Subject/pronoun disagreement –- there are two types of subject/pronoun disagreements. Shifts in number refer to the shifting between singular and plural in the same sentence. Be consistent. Shifts in person occurs when the person shifts within the sentence from first to second person, from second to third person, etc.
• That vs. which -- that clauses (called restrictive) are essential to the meaning of the sentence; which clauses (called nonrestrictive) merely add additional information. In general, most nonrestrictive clauses in academic writing are incorrect or superfluous. While proofreading, go on a "which" hunt and turn most of them into restrictive clauses. Also, "that" never follows a comma but "which" does.
• Verb Tense Agreement -- this refers to keeping the same tense [past, present, future] throughout a clause. Do not shift from one tense to another if the time for each action or event is the same. Note that, when referring to separate actions or events, the tenses may be different.
• Who / whom -- who is used as the subject of the clause it introduces; whom is used as the object of a preposition, as a direct object, or as an indirect object. A key to remembering which word to use is to simply substitute who or whom with a pronoun. If you can substitute he, she, we, or they in the clause, and it still sounds okay, then you know that who is the correct word to use. If, however, him, her, us, or them sounds more appropriate, then whom is the correct choice for the sentence.

Attending to Grammar. Institute for Writing Rhetoric. Dartmouth College; Avoiding Common Grammar Mistakes. Department of English Writing Guide. George Mason University; Carter, Ronald. Cambridge Grammar of English: A Comprehensive Guide: Spoken and Written English Grammar and Usage . New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006; Conrad, Jordan. Confusing Words. WritingExplained.org; Grammar. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Danesi, Marcel. Basic Grammar and Usage: An ESL/EFL Handbook . Hauppauge, NY: Barron's Educational Series, 2006; Grammar and Mechanics. The Reading/Writing Center. Hunter College; Grammar and Punctuation. The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Taylor, Dena and Margaret Procter. Hit Parade Of Errors. In Grammar, Punctuation, And Style . The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Peters, Mark. Grammar and Style . New York: Alpha, Pnquin Group, 2014.

Writing Tip

Grammar and Spell Check Programs Are Not Infallible

A basic proofreading strategy is to use the spelling and grammar check tools available from your word processing programs. This can be a quick way to catch misspelled words, unintentionally repeated words [e.g., "the the"], different spellings of proper nouns, or identify incorrect grammar and sentence construction. These tools, however, are not perfect. Always proofread what has been “corrected” after running a spell or grammar program for the following reasons:

Spell Checkers : There are several limitations to be aware of. Research has shown that “spell checkers alone cannot eliminate the written expression deficits of many students with learning disabilities” [Montgomery, 2001: 28]. Examples of this can include identifying contextual errors, such as, writing “then” for "than" or misusing homophones, such as, “to,” “too,” or “two.” If you have a learning disability, be extra aware of these issues when running a spell checker. Also, the level of a mismatch between a misspelled word and the target word provided in the list of suggested words determines whether the target word is available to choose from [or whether there are no suggestions]. In these cases, correct the word as best you can and rerun the spell checker to see if the target word appears or use a different word with the same meaning. Finally, if computer-assisted spell checking identifies two or more spellings of a proper noun in your paper [e.g.,  Allison, Alison ], then you will need to independently confirm the correct spelling. This is particularly important for proper nouns of people, places, or things derived from languages other than English if that is your first language.

Grammar Checkers : Beyond correcting obvious errors, these tools will suggest how to rearrange text based on the preferred way of writing a sentence. This, however, does not necessarily mean the sentence was grammatically incorrect to begin with; the program's algorithm may have been tagged it as “awkward.” The word structure of English can be arranged in different ways while retaining the meaning of a sentence. Therefore, if you accept a grammar checker’s changes, review the new sentence and determine if the auto corrected text still reflects the context of what you want to say and how you want to say it. Also, check the narrative flow of the paragraph. Does the preceding and following sentences around the new text still retain the narrative flow that you originally intended [i.e., the author's voice]? If not, you may need to further edit the paragraph.

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