Publications and Research

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2018

Abstract

This study first briefly describes an instructional approach to teaching grammar known as X-Word Grammar and then compares its effectiveness in assisting students in achieving grammatical accuracy with traditionally taught grammar. Two groups of L2 pre-college students were taught using curricula and practice procedures in two different grammar texts over a three-month period of time for 20% of their class time. Essays written at three different times were analyzed for the correct and incorrect use of sentence patterns and verb constructs. Results demonstrated that improvement (writing with less error) was larger in both categories for the X-Word Grammar group and significant for two verb constructs as compared to the traditional grammar group, indicating that X-Word Grammar students wrote more accurately in month three than they did in month one of the study when compared with students in the traditional grammar group. Possible reasons for these results are discussed in light of the differences in the two approaches and how these differences support the literature on ways of improving grammar instruction.

Comments

Originally published in English Language Teaching, Vol. 11, No. 3, 2018, pp. 119-136.

doi: 10.5539/elt.v11n3p119

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.