Carol Herron

Down the Garden Path: Inducing and Correcting Overgeneralization Errors in the Foreign Language Classroom.

In this study we compared two methods for teaching grammatical exceptions in the foreign language classroom. Thirty-nine students in two sections of an introductory college French course served as subjects. Eight target structures, exemplifying “exceptions to a rule,” were randomly assigned to one of two teaching conditions for a section taught in the spring; each structure was assigned to the opposite teaching condition for a section taught the following fall. In one condition we simply taught the students the exception as an exception. In the other – what we called the Garden Path condition – we presented canonical exemplars encouraging students to induce the rule; we then asked them to generate the form (which we knew to be an exception) and then corrected their resulting overgeneralization error. Analysis of subsequent formal testing showed that students learned the exception better in the Garden Path condition and that this advantage persisted throughout the semesterlong course. We hypothesized that this technique helped students to focus attention both on the rule and on the features of the particular structure that marked it as an exception.

A Classroom Investigation: Can Video Improve Intermediate-Level French Language Students' Ability to Learn about a Foreign Culture?

This study examines the effects of video on cultural knowledge at the intermediate level. Fifty-one intermediate-level French students viewed 8 videos. A pretest/posttest design assessed long-term gains in cultural knowledge and in the learning of cultural practices and cultural products from exposure to a curriculum with a video component. Eight postvideo tests measured the students’ ability to retain information and to make inferences. A questionnaire assessed perceptions of cultural learning. Results indicated a significant gain in cultural knowledge with posttest scores significantly higher than pretest scores. On the short-answer and free-recall portions of the 8 postvideo tests, the students’ ability to make inferences or retain information did not improve significantly in either an advance organizer (AO) or a non-AO condition. For free recall, scores were significantly higher for mentions of cultural practices than for products. The students believed that they learned more cultural practices than products. The results support using video to enhance cultural knowledge.

Experiments in the Real world

Beck and Eubank (1991) criticize our recent SSLA article (Tomasello & Herron, 1989) on both theoretical and methodological grounds. While we appreciate their attempt to discuss and clarify important issues—and while they do make several sound and very interesting points—in a number of cases they seriously misrepresent our study. We will attempt to address the criticisms in roughly the order in which they were raised.