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Article published In:
ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 170:1 (2019) ► pp.111–135

Explicitness of deductive instruction and L2 development

A study on the Spanish imperfect subjunctive

| Fairfield University

This study investigated the effects that different types of instruction varying in explicitness had on 88 intermediate-level Spanish learners’ development of the imperfect subjunctive on a reading task. Participants were randomly assigned to one of 3 experimental conditions that differed in their degree of instructional explicitness (+/− deductive). One condition (+Deductive) received a detailed grammar explanation prior to task; a second condition (−Deductive) received a hint about a new target form present in the reading task, and the third condition (Baseline) was not presented with any grammar information or hint. The study consisted of 3 sessions, following a pre/post/delayed computerized test design with 2 weeks between sessions. Results showed that the −Deductive condition performed as well as the +Deductive condition immediately and 2 weeks after treatment for both Interpretation and Controlled production tests.

Keywords: adult second language acquisition, instructional conditions, L2 development, Spanish subjunctive, explicitness
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Background
    • Explicitness of deductive instruction and L2 learning
  • Method
    • Participants
    • Target structure
    • Materials
      • Instructional conditions
      • Experimental task
      • Learning assessment instruments
      • Comprehension test
    • Design
    • Procedure
    • Coding
  • Results
    • Preliminary analyses
    • Controlling for reactivity
  • Research Question 1
  • Research Question 2
  • Discussion
    • Research Question 1
    • Research Question 2
  • Limitations
  • Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 5 April 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/itl.17027.adr
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