ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a brief account of the issues that lay behind the so-called grammar wars. It then draws on current research and theorizations of practice, to suggest a range of ways that the explicit use of grammatical knowledge can contribute to the writing process. The chapter explores that acts of reading are intimately bound up with acts of writing and an assumption that the use of metalanguage is rendered most meaningful and productive in the context of a rhetorical approach to writing and writing instruction. It focuses on the place of metalinguistic knowledge in helping students become better writers. In addressing the macro features of a text, a teacher is having their students address considerations around intended audience, purposes, language functions, and typical content. Textual micro features include layout, structure, diction, syntax and spelling.
