The role of pre-task planning in developing young learners' grammar accuracy
Explicit grammar instruction, which directs learners' focus to linguistic forms, is crucial for attaining accuracy in a second language. However, several challenges need to be addressed, especially with young English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. The one focused on in this chapter i...
| Autores: | , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | capítulo de libro |
| Estado: | Versión aceptada para publicación |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2026 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad Pública de Navarra |
| Repositorio: | Academica-e. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Pública de Navarra |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:dnet:academicae__::edbe2eb734fe068a65a39970f35bb498 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2454/56911 |
| Access Level: | acceso embargado |
| Palabra clave: | Children EFL Attention to form LREs Pre-task planning |
| Sumario: | Explicit grammar instruction, which directs learners' focus to linguistic forms, is crucial for attaining accuracy in a second language. However, several challenges need to be addressed, especially with young English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. The one focused on in this chapter is drawing Spanish EFL children¿s attention to two problematic grammatical features: the third person singular morpheme ¿s of the present tense of English verbs and the possessive determiners his/her. This chapter presents the implementation of a pedagogical intervention, namely, pre-task planning, which is intended to improve the children's production of those forms. In pre-task planning the children are allowed to have some time before they actually perform a task, in the hope that they will have time to focus on the meaning of the material presented, to later focus on the form in the actual task performance. We also considered whether giving them time to plan in their first language (Spanish) makes a difference compared to planning in the foreign language. Pre-task planning did not lead to immediate improvements, but its implementation offered insights for how teachers could refine grammar instruction for young learners. |
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