Teaching Pedagogical Grammar in Context to Enrich English Language Learners’ Academic Writing

Studies and research reveal that most English language learners (ELLs) encounter challenges when they write an academic paper in English due to lack of grammar. As most international universities require passing international tests as TOEFL, IELTS, GMAT, GRE, and other tests with high level, most international students fail to achieve this requirement. The reason, as some studies and research reveal, is attributed to lack of pedagogical grammar, namely in writing. Hence, this paper focuses on how to teach pedagogical grammar to help ELLs write effectively in academic situations. The paper is based on literature review and interviewing nine ELLs, regarding the challenges they encounter while writing in academic situations. The researcher has used qualitative research method to fulfill this study, trying to investigate about the challenges that ELLs encounter while writing in academic situations. This study is directed to explore whether teaching pedagogical grammar is helpful to enhance and enrich ELLs academic writing or not. Findings of this study show that ELLs encounter challenges in writing in academic contexts due to lack of grammar. The findings also show that lack of pedagogical grammar results in low level of grades and achievement in the four language skills, namely writing. This study also provides recommendations that might be used to further investigate and provide some strategies, regarding teaching pedagogical grammar in writing contexts to enhance ELLs academic writing.