Using Cooperation Scripts and Animations to Teach Grammar in the Foreign Language Classroom

Pust, Daniel [Trinity College Dublin] Arnett, Carlee [University of California Davis] Suner Munoz, Ferran [UCL]

In order to test the efficacy of using cooperation scripts in combination with animations to teach the passive in an advanced language classroom, we designed an intervention study with two groups. The first group received instruction with animations on the grammatical structure of the passive and the second group received the same instruction and animations as the first group, but they were given a cooperation script to use in their small group work. The study uses a quasi-experimental design with a post-test and delayed post-test. The learners were university students in advanced German who had received classroom instruction and spent time in a German-speaking country. Therefore, they had explicit instruction on the morphology and function of the passive as is customary in first- and second-year textbooks for English speaking learners. This paper reports on the quantitative results of the study with respect to our research questions.