The effects of grammar knowledge on the writing skills of business English students in Puerto Rico

The problem addressed in this study was the inability of Puerto Rican students to write effectively in English. In addressing this problem the researcher assessed the relationships between two variables. Effective writing in English was considered the dependent variable and grammar was considered the independent variable.; The study was a quasi-experimental research. Two groups of students enrolled in a Business English course at Inter American University in Puerto Rico, a multicampus-private higher education institution, participated in the experiment. One group, the experimental group, was provided with a Grammar Skills Program, an added component to the traditional instructional activities. The traditional instructional activities had no emphasis in grammar. The other group, the control group, was provided only with the traditional instructional activities.; Two professors participated in the study. Each used the same instructional materials. Both had the equal number of years teaching Business English at Inter American University and both had achieved a Master Degree in English.; The groups, experimental as well as control, were pre and post-tested with a job-application business letter. A statistical two sample analysis results, a t-test, was performed using the job-application letter scores to test the null hypothesis establishing a relationship between the two variables: effective writing and grammar.; The obtained value of t was 17.66 which was greater than the critical value at 5% level. The researcher was able to reject the null hypothesis which stated that there would be no significant difference between the writing skills of students in the experimental and those in the control group. The experimental group showed significant improvement in effective writing after the experiment was completed.; The findings of this research affirm Vigotsky, Talizina and Allende's theories of proximal development wherein students reach full independent developmental levels in writing when they have learned and are in control of the structure and patterns of language. Consequently, implications from this study are that professors in Puerto Rico would be advised to add a grammar component to their Business English courses. A "back to basics" approach to learning English which emphasizes grammar, will provide students who lack those "basics" with the necessary control of language patterns that will help in writing English effectively. Further research is recommended to test and develop theories governing the teaching of grammar in the development of effective writing in English in a Spanish speaking environment.