1. 'Ability to write' could mean good creative writing which would be writing which is interesting, captivating and enjoyable but also open to grammatical corrections.

2. The second understanding one could assume would be the development of flawless English which is free from error and flows. It would also be considered to be at times perhaps enjoyable and creative and at times not.

Structured Grammatical Exercises:

Professor Richard Hudson says that structured grammatical analysis where in which a child is taught grammar in a covert manner with less usage of metalanguage and the teachers purposefully diverts from the traditional teaching form of grammar most certainly benefits children's writing. In fact in some studies Hudson keenly points out that the overt method of teaching grammar produces better results than the more traditional teaching methods of grammatical analysis. The Bullock Report

The UK government's Bullock report in the 1960's on English teaching was a classical study investigating the 'grammatical analysis' approach to teaching grammar. The Bullock Report found that the teaching of grammar needed some drastic changing it concluded: 'What has been shown is that the teaching of traditional analytic grammar does not appear to improve performance in writing. From the above it seems that the report was merely intending to encourage teachers to improve standards of grammar teaching rather than end its' being taught. But with in the space of the next decade rather than improving standards England saw a dramatic end of grammar in English schools.

People who are of an opinion which is anti-grammar forward the argument that the Bullock report supports the move to the abolishment of grammar. But when we look in to the Bullock report it can be seen that is was more in favor of improving the teaching of grammar rather than totally ending it.

At the moment in the UK it can be said that there is a growing trend showing that the teaching of grammar could improve writing standards. This growing trend is most evident with the presence of grammar as being one of the main pillars of the newly introduced National Literacy and the National Curriculum for English. Hudson says, "one of the reasons given for this major change of teaching policy is the beneficial effect of grammar teaching on the children's writing."