Functional Grammar in French Immersion: A Classroom Experiment1

The role of grammar teaching in promoting communicative competence among classroom L2 learners is a much-debated issue. In this experimental study, the effect of a functional approach to grammar teaching is examined in the context of French immersion classes at the grade 6 level. The students are provided with focused input in a problematic area of French grammar and with increased opportunities for meaningful production of the relevant target forms. In a pre-test, immediate post-test, delayed post-test design, immersion classes who are exposed for an eight week period to an experimental set of teaching materials are compared with other immersion classes who do not receive the experimental treatment. Findings indicate that at the end of eight weeks, with adjustment made for pre-test scores, the experimental classes outperform the comparison classes on two out of three immediate post-test measures. Three months later, however, there are no significant differences between the two groups. These findings are interpreted in relation to questionnaire feedback from the teachers and classroom observations.