"Phenomenology of Error" began as an article that later became the text Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace. One reason that I always use this article is that it tends to put errors in grammar and syntax into perspective for both students and teachers. There is no question that without those two qualities, any given piece of writing may be unreadable even with the best intentions of students; but somehow errors that students make in these areas irritate or anger instructors far out of proportion to their importance en fin. The other problem for students is that each instructor has her own pet peeves grammatically speaking, and students often must write without knowing which are most important to their instructor.
Williams divides the plethora of "common errors in usage" into three categories: those that no native speaker of English will make when not distracted and that all English speakers will notice; those that most English speakers and writers will notice most of the time; and those that almost no one will notice (except for the most grammar conscious of English instructors). This makes the task for students who may not have spent any time with grammar in the last few years more manageable. If they concentrate on the middle category, they have less to look out for and feel less stressed by the line-editing of their essays and can concentrate on the idea that they wish to convey.
Grammar should never be a part of the composing process, and should not get much consideration upon revision unless the error obscures meaning completely. The time for editing spelling, typos, and other issues of structure should only occur after the major content revisions are complete. This process is far more efficient (after all, students may delete entire sentences and add more before they finish creating meaning in an essay, and the effort of editing is wasted on those sentences), and allows them to focus on more global issues.
I have used Style as my rhetoric text in ENGL 190 several times, and find that it helps students out immensely. It is highly readable, and at the same time passes on all of the most pertinent stylistic information to them. In addition to instruction from this text, I also feel free to share with my students the grammatical missteps that tend to irk me: passive voice that is out of place, using "that" when referring to a person ("who"), and excessive use of commas. That way, if they don't have a strong background in grammar coming into class, they can avoid the ones that really bug me while they work on the others.
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Interestingly, while I try to teach students that active voice is the favorable way to write, I find that it isn't my usual mode. I wonder if that is a result of standard discourse within my particular discipline; I like to think it is--especially if it is a negative quality (I can't possibly be at fault).
In my Senior Project class last year we evaluated Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace for use in high school classrooms. Our class agreed that it had a better place within the college curriculum, but that if it was taught to high school students (in parts, not the whole) it would prepare them well for college writing courses. The tone of the book is particularly attractive for students as Williams almost mocks intellectualism for the sake of the plain, readable language of the common man.
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