Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 2016 The ffecE t of the Use of the Students' First Language in Grammar Instruction: A Report on Student Preferences and Performance in the Target Language Katherine Mickel Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Mickel, Katherine, "The Effect of the Use of the Students' First Language in Grammar Instruction: A Report on Student Preferences and Performance in the Target Language" (2016). LSU Master's Theses. 2520. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/2520 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE EFFECT OF THE USE OF THE STUDENTS’ FIRST LANGUAGE IN GRAMMAR INSTRUCTION: A REPORT ON STUDENT PREFERENCES AND PERFORMANCE IN THE TARGET LANGUAGE A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures by Katherine K. Mickel B.A., The University of Georgia, 2013 May 2016 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It was the thoughtful contributions from various people along the way that truly made the successful completion of this thesis possible. First and foremost, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my mentor, professor, friend, and the brilliant chair of my committee, Dr. Dorian Dorado. Your constant support and encouragement kept me positive, and your genuine interest in my study made it that much more enjoyable to complete. I hope I can one day offer someone the same kindness and guidance that you have shown me. I would also like to give my sincere thanks to Dr. Rafael Orozco and Dr. Andrea Morris for their insightful feedback. I feel incredibly thankful to have been able to work with such great people and scholars, and I am a better researcher because of your efforts. I would also like to thank Ms. Peggy McNeil for her flexibility throughout the data gathering process and for allowing me to conduct my research with her classes, without which none of this would have been possible. I would also like to extend additional thanks to Dr. Janet McDonald and Dr. Mike Dettinger for generously contributing their time to work with me in SPSS. Being a stranger to statistics at the start of this research, I am very grateful to have had your help and expertise. In addition, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the many friends who have graciously supported me throughout this process, especially Gabi, Monika, Kristina, Andrea, Nano and Rachel. To Gabi, words cannot even express the depth of respect, admiration, and appreciation I have for you. To Seth, thank you for continually encouraging me, but also helping me remember to relax. With you I knew I could get through even the toughest days. To all of you, thank you for keeping me sane! Finally, thank you to my family for your continued support. To my mom and dad, your unending love and encouragement has gotten me where I am today. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ ii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Brief overview of L1 and input in FL classrooms ........................................................... 3 1.2 Performance vs. competence ........................................................................................... 6 1.2.1 Explicit and implicit knowledge ............................................................................... 8 1.3 Direct object pronouns (DOs) and indirect object pronouns (IOs) ................................ 10 CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................................................ 15 2.1 Theoretical background .................................................................................................. 15 2.1.1 Input-based approaches ............................................................................................ 17 2.2 Age and explicit instruction ............................................................................................ 26 2.3 The native language vs. the target language .................................................................. 29 2.3.1 Proponents of L1 use ............................................................................................... 29 2.3.2 Opponents of L1 use ............................................................................................... 33 2.4 Student opinions regarding instructor language use in the classroom ............................ 36 2.5 The use of the L1 and the TL in the foreign language classroom ................................... 38 2.6 Individual differences ..................................................................................................... 47 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 50 3.1 Research questions .......................................................................................................... 50 3.2 Setting ............................................................................................................................. 51 3.3 Overview of the study ..................................................................................................... 52 3.3.1 Rationale for grammar topic .................................................................................... 53 3.3.2 Rationale for language level .................................................................................... 54 3.4 Participants ...................................................................................................................... 55 3.4.1 The students ............................................................................................................. 55 3.4.2 The instructor ........................................................................................................... 57 3.5 Instruments ...................................................................................................................... 58 3.5.1 Test design ............................................................................................................... 58 3.5.2 Pretest ....................................................................................................................... 61 3.5.3 Immediate posttests .................................................................................................. 61 3.5.4 Delayed posttest ....................................................................................................... 62 iii 3.5.5 Questionnaires .......................................................................................................... 62 3.5.6 Classroom observations ........................................................................................... 63 3.6 Procedures ....................................................................................................................... 64 3.6.1 Teaching procedure .................................................................................................. 64 3.6.2 Quantitative assessment procedures ........................................................................ 67 3.6.3 Qualitative assessment procedures .......................................................................... 73 3.7 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 75 CHAPTER 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................ 76 4.1 Quantitative results ......................................................................................................... 76 4.2 Descriptive results ........................................................................................................... 76 4.3 Statistical analysis ........................................................................................................... 83 4.3.1 Preliminary analysis ................................................................................................. 83 4.3.2 Data analyses with immediate tests ......................................................................... 84 4.3.3 Discussion of immediate results .............................................................................. 86 4.3.4 Delayed posttest data analysis ................................................................................. 90 4.3.5 Discussion of delayed results ..................................................................................