<p>The present study aims to investigate Swedish learners’ knowledge of English grammar. The investigation is based on an English translation test and a questionnaire given to 60 students in four upper secondary schools. Four error types were chosen to be investigated in the study: prepositions, concord with lexical items, tense, generic use of zero article. Moreover, individual differences such as motivation and attitudes to English studies and especially grammar were looked at to see how these will affect the result. Finally, gender differences were also investigated.</p>

The present study aims to investigate Swedish learners’ knowledge of English grammar. The investigation is based on an English translation test and a questionnaire given to 60 students in four upper secondary schools. Four error types were chosen to be investigated in the study: prepositions, concord with lexical items, tense, generic use of zero article. Moreover, individual differences such as motivation and attitudes to English studies and especially grammar were looked at to see how these will affect the result. Finally, gender differences were also investigated.

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The purpose of this study was to examine selected effects of using workbooks in the teaching of eighth-grade English grammar.

The problem of this study m a an analysis of the relationship between a group who received a certain kind of programed instruction in English grammar and a group who received instruction by conventional teaching procedures. The purposes of the study were: 1. To determine the effects of the use of English 3200 on total group performance in achieving an improved understanding of English grammar at the twelfth-grade level. 2. To determine the effects of the programed textbook on sub-group achievement when total groups were divided into three levels according to achievement test scores. 3. To determine the effects of the programed textbook on the progress of the total groups and on the progress of the sub-groups in achieving an improved understanding of English grammar at the twelfth-grade level as measured by tests over individual units within English 3200. 4. To determine the effects of the programed textbook on group performance in the retention of grammar skills. 5. To determine the effects of the programed textbook in improving written composition. 6. To determine the effects of teacher supervision on the progress of the total groups and on the progress of the sub-groups in achieving an improved understanding of English grammar. 7. To determine relationships between such factors as intelligence, reading comprehension ability, and sex with achievement in English grammar in the groups involved.

Children learn language through experience by hearing and speaking the target language (Lany & Gomez, 2008; Rinaldo & Caselli, 2008). Children with different levels of experience with English would be expected to perform differently on linguistic tasks, including grammatical performance, depending on the amount of experience they have with English. Previous studies have found differences in grammatical performance depending on the amount of English the child speaks at home and school and socioeconomic status (SES) (Gathercole, 2002a; 2002b). DeBot (2000) proposes an adaptation of Levelt’s (1993) blueprint of the speaker, where he postulates that individuals who have more experience with a second language will present with less influence from the first language. The current study aims to evaluate changes made from pre-test to post-test, as well as performance at pre-test and post-test in the use of grammatical and Spanish-influenced utterances by Spanish-English bilingual children with different amounts of experience with English. We also evaluated the grammaticality of the Spanish-influenced utterances produced. Eighty-four Spanish-English bilingual kindergarten age children with typically developing language participated in the pre-test, narrative intervention, and post-test. Children’s current use of English ranged from 3% to 100% of the time during a typical week, based on parent and teacher reports. We also evaluated the role of mother SES (using weighted values for mother’s level of education and mother’s occupation); scores ranged from 0 to 58. Consistent with predictions from DeBot’s (2000) adaptation of Levelt’s (1993) blueprint of the speaker, results show that experience with English did make a difference in performance. Children who had more experience with English produced more grammatical utterances and fewer Spanish-influenced utterances. Overall, a small amount of Spanish-influenced utterances were used, but when Spanish-influenced utterances were used, they were more likely to be ungrammatical. Consistent with previous studies, experience appears to be predictive of performance in the use of grammatical and Spanish-influenced utterances in English. Clinically, results demonstrate the importance of understanding the client’s experience with English when evaluating language performance. Future studies are needed to determine if similar patterns are evident in bilingual children with language impairment. / text

There is a pronounced shift in English language teaching policy in Japan with the recognition not only of the importance of spoken English and interactional competence in a globalised world, but also the need to emphasise it within English language pedagogy. Given this imperative to improve the oral communication skills of Japanese users of English (JUEs), it is vital for teachers of English to understand the cultural complexities surrounding the language, one of which is the use of vague language, which has been shown to serve both interpersonal and interactional functions in communications. One element of English vague language is the general extender (for example, or something). The use of general extenders by users of English as a second language (L2) has been studied extensively. However, there is a lack of research into the use of general extenders by JUEs, and their functional differences across speaking proficiency levels and contexts. This study sought to address the knowledge gap, critically exploring the use of general extenders spoken by JUEs across speaking proficiency levels and task types. The study drew on quantitative and qualitative corpus-based tools and methodologies using the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology Japanese Learner English Corpus (Izumi, Uchimoto, & Isahara, 2004), which contains transcriptions of a speaking test. An in-depth analysis of individual frequently-occurring general extenders was carried out across speaking proficiency levels and test tasks (description, narrative, interview and role-play) in order to reveal the frequency, and the textual and functional complexity of general extenders used by JUEs. In order to ensure the relevance of the application of the findings to the context of language education, the study also sought language teachers’ beliefs on the use of general extenders by JUEs. Three general extenders (or something (like that), and stuff, and and so on) were explored due to their high frequency within the corpus. The study showed that the use of these forms differed widely across the JUEs’ speaking proficiency levels and task types undertaken: or something (like that) is typically used in description tasks at the higher level and in interview and description tasks at the intermediate level; and stuff is typical of the interview at the higher level; and so on of the interview at the lower-intermediate level. The study also revealed that a greater proportion of the higher level JUEs use general extenders than do those at lower levels, while those with lower speaking proficiency level who do use general extenders, do so at an high density. A qualitative exploration of concordance lines and extracts revealed a number of interpersonal and discourse-oriented functions across speaking proficiency levels: or something (like that) functions to show uncertainty about information or linguistic choice and helps the JUEs to hold their turn; and stuff serves to make the JUEs’ expression emphatic; and so on appears to show the JUEs’ lack of confidence in their language use, and signals the desire to give up their turn. The findings suggest that the use of general extenders by JUEs is multifunctional, and that this multi-functionality is linked to various elements, such as the level of language proficiency, the nature of the task, the real time processing of their speech and the power asymmetry where the time and floor are mainly managed by the examiners. The study contributes to extending understanding of how JUEs use general extenders to convey interpersonal and discourse-oriented functions in the context of language education, in speaking tests and possibly also in classrooms, and provides new insights into the dynamics of L2 users’ use of general extenders. It brings into questions the generally-held view that the use of general extenders by L2 users as a group is homogenous. The findings from this study could assist teachers to understand JUEs’ intentions in their speech and to aid their speech production. More importantly, it may raise language educators’ awareness of how the use of general extenders by JUEs varies across speaking proficiency levels and task types. These findings should have pedagogical implications in the context of language education, and assist teachers in improving interactional competence, in line with emerging English language teaching policy in Japan.

The aim of this paper was to investigate what influences students’ motivation for learning English grammar. As I analyzed previous research I came up with these questions: What different kinds of strategies seem to be the most motivating for the students? What kind of motivation do learners have for grammar? Are learners positive or negative towards grammar, does their motivation come from within themselves or does it come from elements outside themselves? How important is it for learners that what they study is meaningful for them? How important is the teacher – student relationship for motivation? What do learners think of Task-based teaching? What are the best ways of learning? Through a questionnaire that was given to students of two classes at a Swedish upper secondary school, I wanted to see learner’ opinions about motivation and grammar. The questionnaire was given to 54 students and of these I could use 36. Generally students were positive towards grammar and thought that the teacher-student relationship was to some extent important for learning grammar. The biggest source of motivation was to have a good grade and it was clear that they learn grammar differently. It seemed to be important for them to know why you learn something. Students thought that “teacher talking” was a good way to learn grammar but not a good way to make grammar interesting and motivational.