The imagination effect occurs when students learn better from imagining concepts and procedures rather than from studying them. Cognitive load theory explains the effect by better use of available working memory resources and increased productive, intrinsic cognitive load. The effect has been found in numerous empirical studies. However, in the…

Learning a second language (L2) is not merely mastering an additional linguistic system, but rather learning a new way of conceptualizing the world. Grammatical development does not always align simultaneously with conceptual development in L2. That explains why L2 learners may produce sentences that are grammatically correct, but pragmatically…

Purpose: This study investigated the use of metalanguage as a mediational tool in understanding targeted grammatical concepts from the perspective of the Sociocultural approach (SCT) in learning a second language (L2). Methodology: The participants involved in this study were Malay undergraduates with low to intermediate proficiency in L2 English.…

The student body is becoming increasingly diverse in terms of language, nationality and cultural background. This study explores ways in which such linguistic diversity can be harnessed in the language classroom to enhance the language learning process. This paper describes a series of activities which were designed and implemented in four higher…

The dissertation investigates the effect of a concept-based approach to teaching the Chinese temporal system to English-speaking university learners at the elementary level. The pedagogical framework, Systematic-Theoretical Instruction (STI), adopted in this study was proposed by Piotr Gal'perin and originated from Vygotsky's…

This article proposes a new model of human concept learning that provides a rational analysis of learning feature-based concepts. This model is built upon Bayesian inference for a grammatically structured hypothesis space--a concept language of logical rules. This article compares the model predictions to human generalization judgments in several…

Characteristics of language production shared by interlanguage and agrammatism, a linguistic symptom of aphasia, are discussed, and it is proposed that the two constitute a reduced system within the language, derived from the language's conceptual system. (MSE)

Reber found that subjects given neutral instructions to memorize letter strings from a synthetic language learned more about the underlying grammar than those instructed to try discovering the rules for letter order. Two experiments explored the relationship between implicit and explicit processes in the acquisition of complex knowledge.…

This study investigates how children learn not to overgeneralize about grammatical forms and how to reformulate hypotheses about the grammar of their language even when receiving little or no explicit feedback. Two proposals were looked at: (1) input monitoring theory stating that certain overgeneralizations are eliminated from production because…

College students learned artificial grammar under two conditions: paired associate learning (PA), and observation of exemplars (OBS). OBS induced abstract representation of the rules of grammar. PA produced very different learning--subjects knew some whole items but detected little structure. Grammar was learned largely by analogy rather than…

An approach to teaching grammar concepts treats conceptualization as a process of sensitization, consisting of three stages: motivating the student to learn the concept, presenting the operating concept and the grammatical category in question, and consolidating and enriching the concept in the student's mind. (MSE)

Offers practical suggestions for a coherent approach to the teaching of grammar in foreign language classrooms. As a context for the ideas offered, the article synthesizes some of the views expressed by recent writers on this subject. The model outlined provides a basis for work designed to focus more on accurate use of language than on…

Discusses the consensus among language teachers that the teaching of grammar helps second language learners develop linguistic competence as part of communicative competence. The article argues that pedagogical grammar can be made less formal by keeping metalinguistic terms, concepts, and analysis at a minimal level. (45 references) (Author/CK)

The procedures used to develop a list of concepts taught in fourth-grade language arts are described. Thirty concepts from the list were randomly sampled and then analyzed. Analysis consisted of listing examples and non-examples, relevant and irrelevant attributes, subordinates and supraordinates, and a definition and principle for each concept.…