This paper investigates the effect of explicit grammar instruction on grammatical
knowledge and writing proficiency in first-year students of French at a UK
university. Previous research suggests that explicit grammar instruction results in
gains in explicit knowledge and its application in specific grammar-related tasks,
but there is less evidence that it results in gains in production tasks. A cohort of
12 students received a course in French grammar immediately prior to their
university studies in order to determine whether a short but intensive burst of
explicit instruction, a pedagogical approach hitherto unexamined in the literature,
was sufficiently powerful to bring about an improvement in their grammatical
knowledge and performance in production tasks. Participants were tested at three
points over five months, and the results were compared with a group which did not
receive the intervention. Our results support previous findings that explicit
instruction leads to gains in some aspects of grammar tests but not gains in
accuracy in either translation or free composition. Reasons for these findings are
discussed in relation to theories of language development and the limitations of
working memory.
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