🦩 Fancy terms like "an appositive": a do or a don't? 🦩

When I teach writing, I sometimes throw around fancy terms like "appositive" or "cataphoric reference." And students sometimes tell me, "Irina, do we really need to know the terms? Can't we learn to write without knowing the terminology?"

Generally, I don't think terminology is really necessary - you can be a good writer without knowing the academic terms for the tools you are using. But I still think the fancy terms can serve a useful function.

Consider the appositive. An appositive is a noun or pronoun set beside another noun or pronoun to explain or identify it. It is a really good way to avoid using a "which" clause, a clause that many students tend to overuse in IELTS writing.

Here is an example from IELTS Writing Task 1:

1️⃣ The less economical way, one with a "which" clause: "The figure then plunged to 2%, which was an all-time low."

2️⃣ The more economical way, one with an appositive: "The figure then plunged to 2%, an all-time low."

So, when giving feedback, I could tell a student, "Why don't you use that thing here where you use a noun or pronoun set beside another noun or pronoun to explain or identify it?" Or I could simply say, "Why don't you use an appositive here?"

Where do you stand on this? Are fancy terms a do or a don't? Also, speaking of fancy terminology, did you spot any resumptive modifiers in my post?❓