Interactive digital environments for grammar acquisition: evaluating digital practice modules in German as a foreign language

Introduction This study evaluates interactive digital practice modules for grammar acquisition in German as a foreign language, focusing on verb-complement patterns involving verb meaning, complement selection, case marking, and prepositional choice. Drawing on construction-based pedagogy, it examines digitally supported retrieval practice, self-paced learning, response checking, and structured comparison. Methods The study analyzed an archived dataset of 61 Arabic-speaking university learners who participated in a six-week quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design. The experimental group used interactive digital modules, while the control group received conventional instruction. Because the recovered test forms differed in length, scores were converted into percentages, although this adjustment could not ensure measurement equivalence. Results Both groups demonstrated statistically significant improvements in percentage scores from pretest to posttest. However, the difference in learning gains between the experimental and control groups was not statistically significant. Discussion The findings suggest that grammar learning improved under both instructional conditions without establishing a significant advantage for the digital modules. Because digital delivery and pedagogical organization varied simultaneously, their independent contributions could not be determined. Furthermore, percentage-based score conversion did not address potential differences in test difficulty, content coverage, or measurement precision. The study highlights the importance of comparable assessment instruments, transparent outcome measures, and designs capable of distinguishing technological effects from pedagogical effects in digitally mediated second language grammar instruction.