An Inquiry-Based Approach to the Imperative Mood in Spanish

• In Event: Tilting Toward Inquiry: Implications for Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development

Abstract

Purpose
This teacher inquiry researched whether students’ use of inquiry learning to discover grammatical rules about the imperative mood would help them use it correctly and consistently.

Theoretical Framework
Scholars argue that knowledge of grammar in first languages is developed by reflection on the use of the language in meaningful but spontaneous speech acts (Tomasello, 2003). The same appears to be true in informal second language acquisition (Krashen, 2002). Drawing on these insights, this teacher researcher engaged students in meaningful and authentic speech acts in a formal instructional setting.

Methods and Data Sources
Students played “Simon Says” and examined the affirmative tú commands utilized in the game, and collected examples from magazine ads. They identified how to form these commands with regular and irregular verbs. The production of an advice column assessed knowledge and skills. Students then used inquiry to develop understanding of the other command forms. Daily quizzes reinforced the purpose of their work. Students role-played in pairs in command-rich situations to assess competency in the tú forms. They deduced the process for usted forms from teacher examples and then submitted original recipes using the usted forms for a classroom cookbook, which was published as an authentic product. After reviewing examples of the ustedes forms, students used animoto.com to produce original commercials using these forms. At the conclusion of the unit, students reflected on the process and self-assessed their work. Evidence was gathered from the projects, journal entries and quizzes. A classroom discussion allowed students to evaluate the project’s effectiveness on their engagement and learning.

Results
Students’ success on the projects led to demonstrations of learning on quizzes and unit test. On the projects students averaged 65 on the advice column (students not yet attuned to importance of accuracy for the grade), 88 on the recipes, and 86 on the commercials. The majority of students achieved grades of 70-80% on quizzes and grades on the unit test ranged from 71-85%. Almost all students said they experienced some degree of struggle/frustration with the method at the beginning. However, at the end of the unit, most students commented that having to ask their own questions made the work more engaging and interactive than their prior experiences of grammar instruction.

Significance
This study provides information about what happens when inquiry learning is used in coursework in world languages. Formal grammar instruction is inconsistent with scholarship about language acquisition. Using inquiry learning more closely simulated the acquisition process. Students experienced initial frustration with “not-knowing”. However, their participation in collective inquiry-- hands-on, personalized activities directed toward the goal of learning the command forms--led to personal pride in “knowing”. Student ownership was very high. The study suggests that future studies by high school world-language teachers of using inquiry to facilitate grammar acquisition would provide additional evidence of its effectiveness.

References
Krashen, S. (2002). Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. http://sdkrashen.com/

Tomasello, M. (2003). Constructing a Language: A Usage-Based Theory of Language Acquisition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press

Author

• Elena Pousada, Sleepy Hollow High School