This study focuses on the explicit teaching of Spanish grammar within a Spanish as a Foreign Language course program. It describes the creation and use of an innovative and promising methodology, which we have called ‘parameterized methodology’, that was designed to facilitate the acquisition and development of grammatical knowledge, specifically adverbial subordinate clauses, among advanced level final year undergraduates. The study contributes to the Spanish as a Foreign Language academic literature by adopting an experimental and long-term approach, based on empirical data collected and analyzed to compare the effectiveness of two different teaching methods, one which can be described as the generic methodology and the new parameterized methodology. The new parameterized methodology (2018-2019) was the outcome of an exhaustive analysis of the generic methodology and the results achieved by students in the academic years 2016-2017 and 2017-2018. This analysis mainly focused on the performance of the participants during these two academic years as they repeatedly tackled automated grammar exercises available on the Blackboard module created to support student learning. One conclusion of this study is that it shows the promise of the new parameterized methodology. An improvement in the students’ academic results was achieved, as evidenced by an increase in the average mark for the final grammar exam of the course compared to the results in previous years when the generic methodology had been employed. The study therefore provides a new methodological proposal for the teaching of advanced level grammar.
La Enseñanza de las Oraciones Subordinadas Adverbiales: Metodología Parametrizada
Gonzalez Cuello, C. (Author). 2021
Student thesis: Master's Thesis › Master of Philosophy