Abstract:

In Turkey, English is taught in all state schools beginning in the second grade of the primary schools and continuing in the higher education. This huge amount of time period spent on language teaching is expected to be seen in students’ proficiency levels and in the way they can use English. The products in which they can reflect their levels of English perceptibly are their compositions, which can also be used as learning tools for learners (Raimes, 1983). While writing, learners do not only transfer the ideas in their minds, they also try to gain accuracy by using their vocabulary and grammar knowledge. While teaching English, following a skill-based approach in language programs has been a common practice for a long time. Those programs may sometimes include the teaching of vocabulary and grammar as separate courses. In the university where this research study was conducted, English preparatory year is optional, and there are ten-hour-a-week reading-writing, ten-hour-a-week listening-speaking and four-hour-a-week grammar courses in an academic year. In this skill-based program, grammar is thought to be an essential element to help students improve their productive skills in a more accurate manner. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to reveal what kind of a role grammar courses have on the students’ writings. As this study was designed as a case study, one class was chosen to be studied on, and their writing portfolios were gathered and each assignment from the beginning until the end of the 2017/2018 academic year was analyzed. The data were collected by analyzing the grammar components of students’ writings and a comparison was made in order to see whether there was a match between the order of grammar topics covered and the use of them in the writing products.

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