Article published In:
Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education: Online-First ArticlesImmersion teachers’ perspective on grammar instruction in language immersion in Finland
Previous studies have shown that grammar is a central source of difficulty for immersion students and that their
teachers often lack knowledge of how to integrate linguistic aims with content teaching. This descriptive, enquiry-based study
reports on Finnish immersion teachers’ (n = 54) perspectives on grammar instruction in language immersion in
Finland — a theme under-researched in Finland thus far. Our online questionnaire consists of 18 questions comprising three
sections: the informants’ professional background, their views on the role of grammar in immersion and their views on correcting
grammatical inaccuracies. We analyse our data using quantitative and statistical methods (Pearson’s χ² as a statistical test). Our
findings show that most of our informants are experienced immersion teachers teaching languages to 13–15-year-old immersion
students. They do not prioritise grammatical accuracy when planning their instruction, although they consider it an important
aspect of second language proficiency. They also discuss grammatical accuracy to a greater extent with their students than with
their colleagues and are more tolerant of inaccuracies in spoken output. Implications are discussed regarding the necessity of
improving grammar instruction in immersion and immersion students’ grammatical accuracy.
Keywords: Immersion teacher beliefs, L2 grammar instruction, form-focused instruction, inquiry-based study
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Second language development and teaching in language immersion in Finland and other contexts
- 3.Second language proficiency and teaching in language immersion and SLA
- 3.1SLA and form-focused instruction in immersion
- 3.2Language teachers’ cognition and grammar teaching
- 4.Data, method and research questions
- 5.Analysis
- 5.1Professional background information
- 5.2The role of accuracy in immersion
- 5.3Correcting students’ productive skills
- 6.Discussion and conclusion
- Note
-
References
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