1.Explicit grammar instruction and the young foreign language
learner Rowena Hanan Dr Emma Marsden
2. What? Classroom-based study Experimental study Pre-test
Intervention Post-test Delayed Post-test 135 pupils from 3 local
primary schools L1 English L2 German Grammatical feature: Masc.
acc. article den der = subject den = object 3. Teaching
intervention Processing Instruction Making the correct form meaning
connection English: Word order fixed (SVO) German: Case-marking
Word order flexible Den Hund verfolgt der Mann. The dog (acc)
chases the man (nom). The man chases the dog. 4. Teaching
intervention Processing Instruction Explicit Information +
Structured Input activities Key components: 5. Which picture
matches the sentence? Der Mann verfolgt den Computer. Processing
InstructionTeaching intervention 6. Which picture matches the
sentence? Den Gorilla begrt der Br. Processing InstructionTeaching
intervention 7. Processing InstructionTeaching intervention Listen
carefully to the sentence. Which picture matches the sentence? 8.
Processing InstructionTeaching intervention Listen carefully to the
sentence. Which picture matches the sentence? 9. Decide which noun
fills each gap so that the sentence matches the picture! Der
_________ fttert den _________. Processing InstructionTeaching
intervention Hund Mann 10. Decide which noun fills each gap so that
the sentence matches the picture! Den _________ erschreckt der
_________. Processing InstructionTeaching intervention Vogel Br 11.
Teaching intervention Comparison Instruction Explicit Information +
Enriched Input & Attention to Form Key components: 12. Der
________ verfolgt den Computer. Which word fills the gap? Frau Mann
Now click on the two words for the in the sentence! Comparison
InstructionTeaching intervention 13. Den Gorilla begrt der
________. Which word fills the gap? Br Pferd Now click on the two
words for the in the sentence! Comparison InstructionTeaching
intervention 14. Explicit Information + Enriched Input &
Attention to Form Intentional practice in attending to the
form-meaning connection Explicit Information + Structured Input
activities Intentional practice in attending to the form only
Processing Instruction Comparison Instruction Teaching intervention
15. Comprehension Production Written (time to think) Sentence
Matching Gap-Fill Oral (no time) Act-Out Comprehension Act-Out
Production Metalinguistic task Sentence Reconstruction Tests at
pre, post, and delayed post-test 16. Comprehension Production
Written (time to think) Sentence Matching Gap-Fill Oral (no time)
Act-Out Comprehension Act-Out Production Metalinguistic task
Sentence Reconstruction Tests at pre, post, and delayed post-test
17. Sentence Matching task (Written; Comprehension) A. Der Opa
umarmt das Baby. A B B. Das Baby umarmt den Opa. SVO Sentence Pair
OVS Sentence Pair A. Die Mutter verfolgt der Sohn. A B B. Den Sohn
verfolgt die Mutter. 18. Sentence Matching task (Written;
Comprehension) Comparison Pre (Week 1) Post (Week 7) D. Post (Week
15) 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 10 ** ** TotalScore(outof24) Processing
Instruction 19. Comprehension Production Written (time to think)
Sentence Matching Gap-Fill Oral (no time) Act-Out Comprehension
Act-Out Production Metalinguistic task Sentence Reconstruction
Tests at pre, post, and delayed post-test 20. Gap-fill task
(Written; Production) Die Tochter fotografiert __________ (the
father). SVO sentence + object missing Das Auto wscht __________
(the elephant). OVS sentence + subject missing 21. Gap-fill task
(Written; Production) 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 10 ** **
TotalScore(outof24) Processing Instruction Comparison Pre (Week 1)
Post (Week 7) D. Post (Week 15) 22. Comprehension Production
Written (time to think) Sentence Matching Gap-Fill Oral (no time)
Act-Out Comprehension Act-Out Production Metalinguistic task
Sentence Reconstruction Tests at pre, post, and delayed post-test
23. Act-Out Comprehension task (Oral; Comprehension) 1. Listen to
the sentence 2. Act out using the soft toys SVO sentence OVS
sentence 24. Act-Out Comprehension task (Oral; Comprehension) 12 14
18 10 ** ** 16 8 TotalScore(outof18) Pre (Week 1) Post (Week 7) D.
Post (Week 15) Processing Instruction Comparison 25. Comprehension
Production Written (time to think) Sentence Matching Gap-Fill Oral
(no time) Act-Out Comprehension Act-Out Production Metalinguistic
task Sentence Reconstruction Tests at pre, post, and delayed
post-test 26. Act-Out Production task (Oral; Production) 1. Watch
action 2. Produce sentence to describe action 27. Act-Out
Production task (Oral; Production) Processing Instruction
Comparison 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 10 ** ** TotalScore(outof24) Pre
(Week 1) Post (Week 7) D. Post (Week 15) 28. Comprehension
Production Written (time to think) Sentence Matching Gap-Fill Oral
(no time) Act-Out Comprehension Act-Out Production Metalinguistic
task Sentence Reconstruction Tests at pre, post, and delayed
post-test 29. Sentence Reconstruction task (Metalinguistic) 1.
Arrange words to make a sentence to describe the picture 2. Explain
why that order was chosen der Vogel verfolgt den Hund 30. Sentence
Reconstruction task (Metalinguistic) 31. Sentence Reconstruction
task (Metalinguistic) die Frau schlgt den Computer 32. Sentence
Reconstruction task (Metalinguistic) 33. Conclusions Clear
improvement on all tasks Improvement in comprehension and
production Written and oral modality tasks Evidence of ability to
use grammatical feature correctly in more spontaneous language
tasks Demonstrated solid metalinguistic knowledge 34. Conclusions
Is explicit grammar instruction useful for young learners learning
within the foreign language classroom? Yes! 35. My supervisor Dr
Emma Marsden Research assistants David OReilly and Anna Capinska
With thanks to
