The effects of grammar instruction when learning L2 English subject-verb agreement. An investigation of L1 Norwegian learners' acquisition of L2 English

Abstract

In this master’s thesis, I investigate L1 Norwegian learners of L2 English and their difficulties with subject-verb agreement. The main aim of this study is to explore why this grammatical construction is problematic in L2 English and whether grammar instruction will affect the learners’ knowledge and accuracy of subject-verb agreement. The study combines insights and methods from linguistics and language acquisition as well as from language didactics and pedagogics. This thesis will look at the acquisition of subject-verb agreement, but also examine the role of grammar instruction, and emphasis will be given to the pedagogical domain and language instruction in the English classroom in Norwegian upper secondary school. I collected data using an acceptability judgment task conducted twice, before the teaching intervention (pre-test) and immediately after it (post-test). The teaching intervention consists of two sessions, 90 minutes each, with explicit grammar teaching and tasks. The results suggest that subject-verb agreement is learnable and teachable and gives an indication of which subject-verb agreement structures that are more problematic to learn and thus requires more attention in the English language classroom.