This study focuses on the question which teaching techniques as operationalized by the Teacher Input Observation Scheme (TIOS) (Kersten et al., 2018) most strongly predict L2 lexical and grammar comprehension of young L2 learners of English from regular and bilingual primary schools in Germany. Correlational and multiple regression analyses suggest that immersion teachers outperform EFL teachers in their use of TIOS techniques, TIOS scores predict learners' L2 lexical and grammar comprehension (44.2% and 60.3% of variance), and that scales and item-based teacher behavior differentially affect L2 comprehension.
The Teacher Input Observation Scheme (TIOS) (Kersten et al., 2018) operationalizes instructional constructs which have been identified within a cognitive-interactionist framework to foster SLA (Long, 2015; Ellis & Shintani; 2014, Kersten; forthc.). These include rich and varied comprehensible input, authentic, meaningful conversational contexts combined with a focus on negotiation of meaning and corrective feedback, the support of learners' output and cognitively stimulating problem-solving activities, multi-sensory learning, and activation of prior world knowledge. TIOS subsumes these constructs under four scales: Cognitively Stimulating Tasks, Verbal Input, Non-verbal Input, and Support of Leaners' Output. In a pilot study with N=169 German primary students the TIOS Total Score as well as Task Characteristics and Verbal Input correlated highly significantly with learners' L2 lexical and grammar comprehension (TIOS internal consistency: alpha=.905, interrater reliability: Krippendorff's alpha=.862). A regression analysis showed that 21% of variance in L2 lexical and grammar comprehension were predicted by the teachers' total score.
Following up on these findings, this cross-sectional study focuses on the question which techniques as operationalized by TIOS most strongly predict L2 lexical and grammar comprehension of young L2 learners of English. To that end, L2 lexicon and grammar comprehension of N=118 L2-learners of English from regular and bilingual German primary schools (f=54, M_age=9;11) were tested using standardized assessments for receptive vocabulary (British Picture Vocabulary Scale III) and grammar (ELIAS Grammar Test II). Two independent observers evaluated videotaped L2 lessons of the students' teachers (N=7) with the TIOS. Correlational and multiple regression analyses suggest that immersion teachers outperform EFL teachers in their use of TIOS techniques, TIOS scores predict learners' L2 lexical and grammar comprehension (44.2% and 60.3% of variance), and that scales and item-based teacher behavior differentially affect L2 comprehension. Results will be discussed with reference to a Model of Characteristics and Processes in ISLA (Kersten, forthc.).
