The Effectiveness of Processing Instruction

Abstract

Within the field of SLA, grammar instruction is an interesting subject. Researchers have debated over whether grammar instruction has a positive effect on SLA. Recently this has shifted to finding out what kind of grammar instruction is effective in SLA. This thesis focuses on a specific type of grammar instruction, namely Processing Instruction (PI). Processing Instruction is pedagogical intervention that tries to alter the processing strategies of the learners so that they will make more and better form-meaning connections. The goal of this thesis was to find out whether Processing Instruction is an effective method for teaching grammar. The main research question was: Is Processing Instruction effective as a method of teaching grammar? In this thesis Processing Instruction was compared to two other methods for teaching grammar: traditional instruction (TI) and meaning-based output instruction (MOI). The sub-questions were: 1) Is PI more effective than TI on sentence-level interpretation and production tasks? 2) Is PI more effective than MOI on sentence-level interpretation and production tasks? 3) Does PI have an effect on interpretation and production in discourse tasks? The finding indicate that Processing Instruction is an effective method for grammar instruction. PI is more effective than TI and MOI on sentence-level interpretation tasks and that PI is equally effective as TI and MOI on sentence-level production tasks. Also, PI has a positive effect on discourse interpretation and production tasks. These findings suggest that PI is a relevant addition to SLA teaching material.