Implicit and Explicit Grammar:An Empirical Study

Foreign language learners are commonly taught explicit rules of grammar, but often fail to apply them when confronted with communicative tasks. How well ha ve they learnt the rules? Do they recognize where they are to be applied? A re they better at some rules than others? Above all, how is getting...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied linguistics 1992-06, Vol.13 (2), p.168-184
Main Authors: GREEN, PETER S., HECHT, KARLHEINZ
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied linguistics
English (Second Language)
Error Analysis (Language)
German
Grammar
Language Patterns
Language Proficiency
Language teaching
Linguistics
Second Language Learning
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Foreign language learners are commonly taught explicit rules of grammar, but often fail to apply them when confronted with communicative tasks. How well ha ve they learnt the rules? Do they recognize where they are to be applied? A re they better at some rules than others? Above all, how is getting the language right related to explicit rule knowledge? Twelve errors commonly committed by German pupils performing com-municative tasks in English were put before 300 German learners of English at different levels. They were asked to state the rules they believed had been trans-gressed and to correct the errors. A peer group of 50 native speakers of English was given the same test. The learners' ability to state relevant rules and supply appropriate corrections for the errors is examined with reference to some of the assumptions and expectations that lie behind explicit grammar teaching.
ISSN:0142-6001
1477-450X
DOI:10.1093/applin/13.2.168