This study longitudinally examined the development of grammatical features in English compositions produced by Japanese public high school students over a three-year period. The use or non-use of grammatical items taught in junior high school was coded and analyzed using Rasch analysis to investigate changes in the learners’ ability to use these items in writing. The results revealed a substantial time lag between the point at which grammatical items are taught and the point at which they begin to be used productively in learners’ written output.
