Final answer:
Students focus on word choice or diction as they realize the importance of understanding the meanings of words, which aids in avoiding misspellings and misuses of language.
Step-by-step explanation:
As students become older, they realize that words with similar meanings often are spelled in similar ways. When they focus upon the meaning of words, they attend to word choice, or diction. This awareness helps in understanding the subtle nuances of language and can prevent common errors such as misspellings and misuse of homonyms, homographs, and homophones. Students learn to look for words that stand out either due to their strong connotations or their relevance to a recurring theme in the text. They also learn that every word is crucial in a text and may contribute to its overarching theme or message. Students should be encouraged to engage deeply with the words they encounter, assuming that each word has been deliberately chosen and is important in its context. By doing so, they develop a more profound and nuanced understanding of language which is essential for effective communication.