The effect of sequencing instruction on form and function on the learning of the forms and functions of passe compose and imparfait by grade 11 French immersion students

This study is designed to investigate the effect of sequencing instruction on form and function on the learning of a problematic French grammatical feature by Grade 11 French immersion (FI) students. The impetus for the study derives from research indicating a need to improve FI students' grammatical skills, and from my personal experience as a French immersion teacher. The experimental materials consist of mechanical, meaningful and communicative drills and are designed to provide students with opportunities to focus first on the forms of the passe compose and imparfait , and subsequently on their functions (aspectual meaning). Isolating forms from context initially, and then moving to teaching the function/use of the two aspects allows learners to focus on one thing at a time and takes into consideration learners' limited attentional capacity. Mechanical drills focus on linguistic forms isolated from context and provide students with opportunities to practise the target forms (verb conjugation, correct auxiliary, correct past participle and correct agreement) to the extent of memorization and eventually automatization. Meaningful and communicative drills focus on function (as it arises in meaningful contexts) and provide students with opportunities to learn the aspectual distinction between the passe compose and imparfait and to use the target verb forms in context.; The experimental materials were implemented in a Grade 11 FI classroom by the researcher over a period of 6 weeks. In a pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest design, the experimental group was compared with two other Grade 11 groups who did not receive the experimental treatment. Statistical analyses, with adjustment made for pretest scores, indicated that where there were differences in performance, they favoured the experimental group. This study is the first in a French as a second language context to use sequencing instruction on form and function in an attempt to improve FI students' linguistic accuracy in written production. Generalizability of findings is, however, limited due to small sample size and further research is required.