THE EFFECTS OF GRAMMAR SUPPLEMENTATION ON WRITTEN ACCURACY IN AN INTERMEDIATE SPANISH CONTENT COURSE

Two sections of an intermediate Spanish content course were supplemented with grammar (daily grammar review and error correction feedback on written work); two comparison group sections lacked the grammar component. Two written pre-/posttests-one grammar-focused, one integrative (an essay)-showed that both groups exhibited significant improvement over the semester in overall grammatical accuracy on both instruments. The plus-grammar group significantly outperformed the nongrammar group on the grammar-focused instrument but not on the integrative one. A few between-group differences occurred on the essays, but there was no tendency for one group to outperform the other. The results suggest that a grammar review is a beneficial supplement to a content course when performance on grammar-focused tests is important, but that an intermediate level content course by itself can promote significant improvement in grammatical accuracy in writing in the target language.