Effects of grammar instruction and fluency training on the learning of the and a by native speakers of japanese.
Fluency beats grammar rules when teaching little words like "the" and "a" to second-language adults.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team worked with 24 Japanese college students. All spoke English but left out the little words "the" and "a".
Half the students got computer drills that aimed for speed plus accuracy. The other half got the same drills plus grammar rules. Everyone practiced 25 minutes a day for three weeks.
What they found
The speed-first group hit 100 correct sentences in under two minutes. They still scored a large share right eight weeks later.
The grammar-plus group learned slower and dropped to a large share at follow-up. Adding rules gave no extra help and slightly hurt long-term use.
How this fits with other research
McIntyre et al. (2002) saw the same trend in a college PSI course: peer feedback plus fluency targets pushed accuracy to a large share.
Morante et al. (2024) used video feedback to build fluent running form. Like S et al., they found that quick, correct reps beat heavy explanation.
Howlin et al. (2006) remind us that celeration lines on charts don’t boost skill. The real power is in the learner’s daily timed practice, not the graph extras.
Why it matters
If you teach language, forget long grammar talks. Set a timed goal, let the learner rack up wins, and check again next month. One easy switch: run two-minute timings and aim for 100 correct responses. Drop the rule drill if progress stalls.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
In a computer-assisted sentence completion task, the effects of grammar instruction and fluency training on learning the use of the definite and indefinite articles of English were examined. Forty-eight native Japanese-speaking students were assigned to four groups: with grammar/accuracy (G/A), without grammar/accuracy (N/A), with grammar/fluency (G/F), and without grammar/fluency (N/F). In the G/A and N/A groups, training continued until performance reached 100% accuracy (accuracy criterion). In the G/F and N/F groups, training continued until 100% accuracy was reached and the correct responses were made at a high speed (fluency criterion). Grammar instruction was given to participants in the G/A and G/F groups but not to those in the N/A and N/F groups. Generalization to new sentences was tested immediately after reaching the required criterion. High levels of generalization occurred, regardless of the type of mastery criterion and whether the grammar instruction was given. Retention tests were conducted 4, 6, and 8 weeks after training. Fluency training effectively improved retention of the performance attained without the grammar instruction. This effect was diminished when grammar instruction was given during training. Learning grammatical rules was not necessary for the generalized use of appropriate definite and indefinite articles or for the maintenance of the performance attained through fluency training.
The Analysis of verbal behavior, 1999 · doi:10.1007/BF03392943