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The Role of Grammar in the New 2024 GCSE MFL Exam: Can One Still Achieve a Grade 7 with Weak Grammar?

Gianfranco Conti, Phd (Applied Linguistics), MA (TEFL), MA (English Lit.), PGCE (Modern Languages and P.E.) Uncategorized , , , ,

Introduction

With the introduction of the new GCSE Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) curriculum in 2024, students and teachers alike have been considering how grammar influences the final grade, since many students in their classes cannot cope with the high volume of grammar required for the Higher Tier papers. Grammar has traditionally played a crucial role in language learning, as it underpins sentence structure, verb conjugation, and communication accuracy. However, the revised GCSE assessment model balances the evaluation of grammar, vocabulary, fluency, and receptive skills (Listening and Reading).

One of the questions I get asked the most in workshops about the new GCSE is: “Can one still achieve a Grade 7 in the new GCSE MFL exam if I prioritise vocabulary and fluent communication and my students are not great a grammar ?” This article explores the extent to which grammar impacts total marks, strategies for students who struggle with grammar, and why vocabulary, fluency, and receptive skills are just as—if not more—important for success.

The Role of Grammar in Each GCSE MFL Skill

Grammar plays a different role in each skill area of the exam. While it is explicitly assessed in the Speaking and Writing papers, its impact in Listening and Reading is more indirect. Below is a detailed breakdown of how grammar contributes to the total marks in each skill area.

Table 1: Grammar’s Impact on GCSE MFL Marks in Each Skill

Skill AreaTotal Marks AvailableDirect or Indirect Grammar Impact?Estimated Grammar Contribution to Final Marks
Listening50 marks (25% of GCSE)Indirect – Students must recognize tenses and structures in spoken passages.~5-10% (minimal)
Reading50 marks (25% of GCSE)Indirect – Grammar knowledge helps in understanding text nuances.~5-10% (minimal)
Speaking50 marks (25% of GCSE)Direct – Grammatical accuracy is assessed in responses and pronunciation.~20% (moderate)
Writing60 marks (25% of GCSE)Direct – Grammar is explicitly assessed in written tasks.~20-25% (high)

How Can a Student with Weak Grammar Still Achieve a Grade 7?

Achieving a Grade 7 in the new 2024 GCSE MFL exam requires a balanced performance across all four skill areas (Listening, Reading, Speaking, and Writing). While grammar plays a role in Speaking and Writing, its influence is lower in Listening and Reading, which together account for 50% of the total marks. This means that a student who struggles with grammar can still achieve a Grade 7 by excelling in comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary use.

In Listening and Reading, understanding meaning is more important than grammatical accuracy. These skills primarily assess a student’s ability to identify key words, interpret meaning from context, and recognise common linguistic patterns. Since grammar is not directly tested, a student can compensate for weaknesses in grammatical accuracy by focusing on developing a strong vocabulary base and inference skills. Recognising chunks of language—ready-made phrases and expressions commonly used by native speakers—can significantly enhance comprehension, allowing students to predict meaning even when they do not understand every word.

In Speaking, fluency and the ability to communicate ideas naturally are crucial. One effective way to improve fluency, even with weaker grammar, is by memorising and using chunks of language. These include common sentence starters, opinion phrases, linking expressions, and question forms. By internalising and regularly using set phrases such as “Je pense que…” (I think that…), “Ce que j’aime, c’est…” (What I like is…), or “D’un autre côté…” (On the other hand…), students can avoid hesitation, speak more confidently, and reduce the likelihood of grammatical errors. Furthermore, demonstrating good pronunciation, using intonation appropriately, and self-correcting errors when necessary all contribute positively to the final score.

In Writing, while grammar is assessed explicitly, clarity and coherence remain key factors in achieving a high mark. Even if a student’s grammatical knowledge is not perfect, using well-structured and logically connected ideas, applying a range of vocabulary, and ensuring accurate spelling can still lead to a strong performance. Employing pre-learned chunks of language helps students write more fluently and accurately, reducing the risk of mistakes. For example, memorising set phrases for expressing opinions, structuring arguments, or making comparisons allows students to produce well-formed sentences with minimal effort. A clear, well-organised response is often more effective than a grammatically complex but error-filled one.

When doing the Foundation Tier paper, there is an additional opportunity to gain marks in a multiple-choice grammar section in the Writing paper. Even if grammar is a weak area, this section allows students to use logical reasoning and elimination techniques to secure some marks.

Conclusion: The Importance of Vocabulary, Fluency, and Receptive Skills

Ultimately, grammar alone does not determine a student’s final grade. A Grade 7 can still be achieved if the student performs well in Listening, Reading, fluency in Speaking, and clarity in Writing, even with some grammatical inaccuracies.

A strong vocabulary, confidence in communication, and good comprehension skills are just as important as grammatical accuracy in achieving success in the GCSE MFL exam. Remember: fluent vocabulary knowledge is what teacher need to prioritise the most, as it is the strongest determinant of success across all four skills.

Using chunks of language effectively as we teach students to do in EPI enhances fluency, increases accuracy, and provides students with the tools to communicate naturally, making it an essential strategy for those who struggle with grammar.

Key Takeaways:

  • Grammar is most important in Writing and Speaking, where it accounts for around 20-25% of marks.
  • Listening and Reading skills require good comprehension but do not have direct grammar assessments, meaning weaker grammar does not automatically lower one’s score.
  • Overall, grammar accounts for about 20% of total marks, meaning 80% of the final grade depends on other factors like vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.

Why do some language learners repeat the L2 words or phrases they hear correctly and others don’t ? How can teachers address this?

Gianfranco Conti, Phd (Applied Linguistics), MA (TEFL), MA (English Lit.), PGCE (Modern Languages and P.E.) Uncategorized , , ,

0. Introduction

L2 learners sometimes repeat sounds incorrectly due to a combination of cognitive, phonetic, and perceptual factors. Here are some key reasons why this happens, supported by research, which teachers who engage students in choral repetition need to be aware of in order to prevent the fossilization of errors. This is particularly important for teachers who practise the ‘Listen and repeat after me’ approach to the presentation of new lexical item with languages which may pose serious challenges in terms of pronunciation and do not regularly provide their students with a lot of rich aural input.

1. Why do some students repeat sounds incorrectly?

1. Phonological Filtering and L1 Interference

Learners subconsciously filter new sounds through their first language (L1) phonological system, leading to mispronunciations. If a sound does not exist in their L1, they may approximate it with the closest available phoneme.

Example: Spanish learners of English often pronounce /ɪ/ (as in “bit”) as /iː/ (as in “beat”) because Spanish lacks the distinction (Flege, 1995).

Research:
Flege (1995) in the Speech Learning Model (SLM) suggests that L2 learners struggle with phonemes not present in their L1 due to established perceptual categories interfering with new sounds.

2. Misperception of Phonemes (Perceptual Assimilation)

Learners may fail to distinguish sounds in the target language if they are too close to one another. The Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM) (Best, 1995) explains that if L2 sounds are similar to L1 sounds, they may be grouped together rather than learned as distinct.

Example: Japanese learners of English struggle to differentiate /r/ and /l/ because Japanese does not contrast these sounds phonemically.

Research:
Best (1995) found that learners substitute sounds due to perceptual limitations, meaning they may not even “hear” the sound correctly before attempting to reproduce it.

3. Incorrect Articulatory Setting

Different languages require different mouth, tongue, and lip positions. L2 learners often apply their L1 articulatory settings, leading to mispronunciations.

Example:
French speakers learning English often struggle with the /θ/ sound (“th” in “think”), replacing it with /s/ or /t/ because French lacks this articulation (Ladefoged & Maddieson, 1996).

4. Lack of Phonetic Awareness

Learners who are not trained in phonetics or explicitly taught the differences between sounds often rely on auditory approximation rather than accurate reproduction.

Example:
Mandarin speakers learning English may hear the difference between /v/ and /w/ but still fail to produce it correctly without focused phonetic training (Iverson & Evans, 2009).

5. Influence of Spelling on Pronunciation

Learners may mispronounce words due to their written form, especially in languages with non-phonetic spelling (e.g., English). Hence, the value of Scripted Listening techniques, whereby the target lexical items are modelled simultaneously through the written and aural medium (see my post on the topic).

Example: French learners of English may pronounce “island” as /ˈaɪlænd/ instead of /ˈaɪlənd/ because the silent “s” misleads them.

Research:
Bassetti & Atkinson (2015) found that spelling significantly influences L2 pronunciation errors, especially for learners from languages with more phonetic orthographies.

6. Memory and Cognitive Load

L2 learners store new phonological information in short-term memory and often recall it incorrectly when producing speech.

Example: A beginner English learner may misremember the pronunciation of “comfortable” and say /ˈkʌmfərteɪbl/ instead of /ˈkʌmftəbl/.

Research:
Baddeley (1992) suggested that working memory plays a role in phonological recall, meaning that learners under cognitive load (e.g., conversation pressure) make more pronunciation mistakes.

7. Fossilization of Errors

If incorrect pronunciation is not corrected early, it can become fossilized and persist even in advanced learners. Learners tend to repeat errors they have practiced incorrectly over time unless they receive timely and effective feedback. One of the main risks of choral repetition is that, if done too soon, without a robust phonological awareness receptive phase, with lexical items containing unfamiliar or challenging sounds, errors may go unheeded because the teachers may not spot individual students’ mistakes.

Research:
Selinker (1972) introduced the concept of fossilization, where certain L2 errors, including pronunciation, become ingrained despite continued learning.

2. Why do other students repeat sounds with greater accuracy?

1. Phonetic Perception Ability (PPA): Some learners have stronger phonetic discrimination skills, allowing them to accurately perceive and reproduce sounds (Iverson & Evans, 2009). Poor auditory processing can cause misperceptions that lead to incorrect pronunciation. Identifying early on in the language learning journey the students in your class with poor PPA is crucial, as this ability is key to effective vocabulary learning.

2. Working Memory Capacity. Higher phonological working memory (PWM) enables learners to hold and manipulate sounds in their mind before repeating them. Baddeley’s (1992) Working Memory Model suggests that learners with stronger phonological loops store and reproduce sounds more accurately. This has been corroborated by Service (1992), who found that learners with better phonological working memory had higher L2 pronunciation accuracy and vocabulary acquisition  So, Learners with higher phonemic recall ability can repeat a complex French word like “développement” after hearing it once, while those with weaker working memory need multiple exposures

3. Cognitive Load and Anxiety – Some learners struggle with pronunciation under cognitive overload or performance anxiety. Speaking anxiety inhibits pronunciation accuracy, leading learners to simplify or distort L2 sounds. MacIntyre & Gardner (1994) found that L2 anxiety negatively affects pronunciation accuracy. Tend to avoid situations where students may be put in potentially embarrassing situations when repeating a word or phrase. For example, I observed a lesson recently, in which a student had to repeat a word uttered by the teacher and the other students had to correct them if the repetition was incorrect pointing out the mistake(s). Potentially a great critical listening activity, but one with the potential to upset some more sensitive students.

4. Motivation and Attention to Pronunciation -Highly motivated learners tend to focus more on pronunciation and self-correct errors. Low motivation or inattentiveness can lead to careless repetition. Dörnyei (2005) found that motivated learners pay more attention to phonetic details and improve pronunciation faster. Staging fun activities fostering ‘alertness to sound’, e.g. EPI’s ‘Faulty Echo’, ‘Fixy echo’, ‘Error auction’, ‘Contrast response’, ‘Spot the difference’ using songs, can be great in this respect. Having a sound of the week or any other initiative or activity which makes a big issue out of sound, placing the importance of sound firmly in the learners’ focal awareness, will be useful.

3. Implications for Instructed Second Language Acquisition (ISLA)

The research on why L2 learners mispronounce sounds has significant implications for Instructed Second Language Acquisition (ISLA). In structured classroom settings, understanding the cognitive, phonetic, and perceptual factors affecting pronunciation errors can help educators design better instructional strategies. Below are the key implications for ISLA based on the identified reasons for mispronunciations:

1. Need for Explicit Phonetic Instruction: include explicit phonetic training, especially for sounds that do not exist in the learners’ L1 (Flege, 1995).

Practical Strategy: Introduce phoneme discrimination activities such as Faulty Echo, Minimal pairs, Contrast response and many others mentioned in Conti and Smith’s (2019) ‘Breaking the sound barrier’ book.

Supporting Research:

Iverson & Evans (2009) found that targeted phonetic instruction improves L2 phoneme discrimination.

Bradlow et al. (1997) showed that high-variability phonetic training significantly enhances learners’ ability to perceive new sounds.

2. Importance of Perceptual Training Before Production

Implication: Before requiring students to speak, ISLA should focus on perception training to avoid learners reinforcing incorrect pronunciations.

Practical Strategy:

Use auditory discrimination exercises before asking learners to produce the sounds.

High-variability phonetic training (HVPT): Expose learners to multiple speakers pronouncing the same sound to enhance perception.

Supporting Research:

Lively, Logan, & Pisoni (1993) found that exposure to multiple phonetic variants improved learners’ perception and pronunciation.

Nishi & Kewley-Port (2007) demonstrated that training perception before production leads to greater phonological accuracy.

3. Correcting Articulatory Settings for Improved Pronunciation

Implication: ISLA should include articulatory training, teaching learners how to position the tongue, lips, and vocal cords correctly..

Practical Strategy:

Use visual aids (e.g., ultrasound images, phonetic charts) to show learners tongue and lip placement. In Conti and Smith (2019) we recommend the use of charts showing a cross-section of the mouth in order to enhance learner physical awareness of how sounds are produced

Implement kinesthetic techniques such as touching the alveolar ridge when teaching /ɾ/ in Spanish.

Supporting Research:

Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996) found that explicit instruction in articulatory settings helps learners produce difficult phonemes correctly.

Saito (2011) demonstrated that pronunciation instruction focusing on articulation improves learners’ accuracy in spontaneous speech.

4. Addressing Spelling-Pronunciation Confusion in ISLA

Implication: ISLA should explicitly teach the differences between written and spoken forms of words.

Practical Strategy:

Use silent letter recognition activities (e.g., teaching learners that “island” is pronounced /ˈaɪlənd/, not /ˈaɪlænd/). Write as you hear it and Rhyming pairs are also great activities for this.

Incorporate listening-focused spelling correction tasks to make learners aware of pronunciation irregularities.

Supporting Research:

Bassetti (2008) found that L2 learners over-rely on spelling when pronouncing words.

Erdener & Burnham (2005) showed that orthographic exposure affects learners’ pronunciation accuracy.

5. Managing Cognitive Load and Memory Constraints in Pronunciation

Implication: ISLA should introduce progressive learning sequences to reduce cognitive load.

Practical Strategy:

Use gradual exposure techniques, starting with simple syllable structures and moving to complex word formations.

Implement spaced repetition for pronunciation training.

Supporting Research:

Baddeley (1992) found that phonological working memory plays a critical role in language learning.

VanPatten (2004) suggests that limiting cognitive overload improves language processing

6. Preventing Fossilization of Pronunciation Errors

Implication: ISLA should provide frequent and immediate pronunciation feedback.

Practical Strategy:

Use repetition drills with corrective feedback to prevent errors from becoming entrenched.

Implement peer and self-monitoring techniques to promote awareness of mispronunciations.

Supporting Research:

Lyster & Saito (2010) found that recasting errors in pronunciation training prevents fossilization.

Saito & Lyster (2012) showed that learners who receive immediate feedback improve more quickly than those who don’t.

5. Conclusion

Mispronunciations in L2 learners are the result of L1 interference, misperception, articulatory habits, spelling influence, memory constraints, and lack of phonetic training. Targeted phonetic instruction, minimal pair training, explicit pronunciation correction, and perceptual training can help learners refine their pronunciation and avoid repeating incorrect sounds.

The NEW GCSE FRENCH LISTENING WORKBOOK – listening-to-learn meets listening-to-test

Gianfranco Conti, Phd (Applied Linguistics), MA (TEFL), MA (English Lit.), PGCE (Modern Languages and P.E.) Uncategorized , , ,

Introduction

The book I have always wanted to write has finally been written and about to come out. It is a very innovative book in that it embeds listening-to-learn in an input-to-output sequence which applies my PIRCO (Pre-listening, In-listening, Review, Consolidation, Output) sequence framework, in a bid to make the learning of the new gcse vocabulary occur organically and multimodally, i.e. through listening, reading and writing. Speaking tasks were not included because we are going to create a book exclusively devoted to it, which will complement this one.

Alongside the listening-to-learn sequences, teachers will also find comprehension tasks based on the new GCSE exam format. The icing on the cake for those who want to engage students in a bit of listening-to-test too.

Co-authored with Ronan Jezequel, this workbook is not a an EPI book, even though EPI aficionados will recognize quite a few EPI classics in it such as: Faulty transcript, Spot the intruder, Break the flow, Faulty Translation, Gapped translations, Spot the silent endings; Partial dictations; Jigsaw listening; One of three, etc.. It can be used by any language educators teaching towards the new GCSE or simply aiming to teach the most frequent 2000 words in the French language.

Why did we write it?

This listening workbook was created to address a major gap in the currently available instructional resources for the new GCSE (starting in 2026). While such resources include practice tasks similar to those expected in the exam papers, they exhibit several significant shortcomings:

  • Lack of an explicit focus on vocabulary instruction through listening – Yet, success in listening comprehension primarily (70%) depends on vocabulary recognition. Most current textbooks fail to provide the 10-15 meaningful aural encounters necessary for the human brain to acquire new vocabulary.
  • No deliberate focus on listening micro-skills – Listening fluency depends on the rapid execution of key micro-skills such as phonological processing, segmenting, lexical retrieval, morphological and syntactic processing, and meaning- and discourse-building.
  • Lack of logically sequenced input-to-output activities – Aural activities should be part of a structured input-to-output continuum where receptive skills scaffold the development of speaking and writing.
  • Insufficient pre-listening preparation – Students should be introduced to key vocabulary from the listening text beforehand, as research shows this significantly enhances comprehension and builds self-efficacy—an essential factor when transitioning from KS3 to KS4.
  • No meaningful post-listening reflection – Reflection on comprehension difficulties and strategies to overcome them fosters metacognitive awareness, which research suggests improves listening performance.
  • Lack of post-listening consolidation and output activities – Research indicates that post-listening tasks are crucial to ensuring vocabulary retention. Moreover, such activities mitigate the ’empty hands’ effect, a sense of frustration students often experience after completing listening comprehension tasks (Conti and Smith, 2019).
  • Failure to integrate listening-to-learn with listening-to-test tasks – Learners who receive extensive listening-to-learn practice are far more likely to succeed in exam-style comprehension tasks.

This book directly addresses these issues by implementing two input-to-output PIRCO sequences per unit, covering five core topics. Each PIRCO sequence consists of:

  • Pre-listening (2 pages) – A comprehensive vocabulary-building phase featuring 11-12 micro-reading and micro-listening tasks that introduce key vocabulary from the upcoming listening text.
  • In-listening (1 page) – A selective listening phase with structured comprehension tasks, including 3-4 wh-questions, true/false/not mentioned activities, and content reordering exercises, typically preceded by a ‘word grab’ game.
  • Review (½ page) – Students listen to the text while reading the transcript, identifying obstacles to comprehension. Teachers may follow up with strategy instruction to tackle these challenges.
  • Consolidation (1½ pages) – Reinforcement of key vocabulary through aural and reading tasks.
  • Output (1 page) – Retrieval of target vocabulary through translation and partial dictation exercises, essential for reinforcing lexical and syntactic patterns.

Each unit concludes with 2-3 pages of exam-style listening tasks, designed to assess students’ retention of language elements processed in the PIRCO phase.

What Themes Are Included in This Book?

This first volume, part of what we envision as a long series of listening books for the new GCSE, includes the following themes:

  • Healthy Living
  • Celebrity Culture
  • Environment and Where People Live
  • Customs, Festivals, and Celebrations
  • Media and Technology

How Can Teachers Use This Book?

This book is not intended as a primary textbook but as a workbook designed for multimodal practice of GCSE vocabulary and patterns. It is ideally used at the end of a series of lessons on each theme. We recommend a three-lesson approach:

  • Lesson 1: Pre-teaching
  • Lesson 2: In-listening, Review, and Consolidation
  • Lesson 3: Continued Consolidation and Output (Supplement written tasks with oral retrieval practice, role plays, photocard descriptions, and information-gap exercises.)
  • Lesson 4: Exam-style assessment tasks

For Lesson 2, before the In-listening phase, teachers may introduce a reading comprehension task based on a text similar in content and structure to the listening passage. This primes students for subsequent listening tasks.

How Does This Book Complement Other Resources?

This workbook is the perfect companion to Smith and Conti’s A New French GCSE Workbook and Conti and Vinales’ A New Spanish GCSE Workbook. Additionally, subscribers to http://www.language-gym.com will soon have access to a range of interactive exercises aligned with this book, including:

  • Vocabulary Workouts
  • Listening Workouts
  • Vocabulary and Listening Trainer
  • Boxing and Audio-Boxing Games
  • Rock Climbing and Sentence Trainer

Will there be a Spanish and a German version?

Yes. Dilan Vinales is already on it.

In which order should we teach grammar structures based on SLA research?

Gianfranco Conti, Phd (Applied Linguistics), MA (TEFL), MA (English Lit.), PGCE (Modern Languages and P.E.) Uncategorized , , , ,

Introduction

I was recently asked by a member of the Facebook group I co-founded with Dylan Vinales, Global Innovative Language teachers how grammar structures should be sequenced in a curriculum. The easy answer is: from easier to difficult, of course. But how do we establish which structures are more easily learnable than others?

A researcher by the name of Manfred Pienemann, attempted to answer this question with a landmark study Pienemann, M. (1984). “Psychological Constraints on the Teachability of Languages.” Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 6(2), 186-214. This study laid the groundwork for his later development of Processability Theory (1998), which further expanded on how learners acquire grammatical structures in a fixed sequence.

Manfred Pienemann’s Learnability Theory suggests that language acquisition follows a predictable sequence due to human working memory’s cognitive constraints. His Processability Theory (PT) builds on this by explaining how learners acquire grammatical structures step by step, as their cognitive processing abilities develop.

Key concepts of Learnability Theory

  1. Developmental Stages: Language structures are acquired in a sequence, meaning some grammatical forms cannot be learned before others.
  2. Teachability Hypothesis: Instruction can only be effective if it aligns with the learner’s current stage of acquisition. Trying to teach advanced structures too early is ineffective.
  3. Processing Hierarchy: Learners process simpler linguistic structures before tackling more complex ones.

Stages of French Language Acquisition Based on Processability Theory

Pienemann’s theory outlines a six-stage sequence for second language acquisition. Below is how this sequence applies to French learners:

Stage 1: Single Words and Fixed Phrases (No Real Grammar Processing)

At this pre-syntactic stage, learners rely on memorized words and formulaic phrases without grammatical manipulation.

  • Bonjour ! (Hello!)
  • Merci ! (Thank you!)
  • Comment ça va ? (How’s it going?)
  • Moi, Marie. (Me, Marie.)

Key Characteristics:

Learners do not yet process word order or inflections.
Responses are often formulaic and learned as whole chunks.

Stage 2: Simple Word Order (Canonical Word Order – SVO)

At this stage, learners start forming simple Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) sentences.

  • Je mange une pomme. (I eat an apple.)
  • Il aime le chocolat. (He likes chocolate.)
  • Marie regarde la télé. (Marie watches TV.)

Key Characteristics:

Learners can construct basic declarative sentences.
No agreement processing yet (gender, number).
No word order variation (such as inversion for questions).

Stage 3: Morphological Inflections (Lexical Morphology)

Learners begin processing grammatical markers like plural (-s), gender agreement, and verb inflections.

  • Les pommes sont rouges. (The apples are red.) → (Plural agreement)
  • Un petit garçon / Une petite fille (A small boy / A small girl) → (Gender agreement)
  • Je finis mon travail. (I finish my work.) → (Present tense verb inflection)

Key Characteristics:

Learners begin applying regular inflections (e.g., plural -s, feminine -e).
Still inconsistent with irregular forms.
Errors in agreement (e.g., les grande maison instead of les grandes maisons).

Stage 4: Sentence Internal Reordering (Question Formation & Object Pronouns)

At this stage, learners acquire word order changes beyond the basic SVO structure. This includes:

1. Question Formation (Simple & Inversion)

  • Tu as un chien ? (You have a dog?) → (Rising intonation, no inversion)
  • Est-ce que tu as un chien ? (Do you have a dog?) → (Fixed structure)
  • As-tu un chien ? (Have you a dog?) → (Inversion – more advanced)

2. Object Pronoun Placement

  • Je vois Marie. (I see Marie.) → Basic SVO order
  • Je la vois. (I see her.) → (Pronoun before verb – first instance of reordering)
  • Je ne la vois pas. (I don’t see her.) → (More complex negative structure)

Key Characteristics:

Learners start reordering elements in sentences.
Questions evolve from declarative word order to inversion patterns.
Object pronouns begin appearing in correct positions.
Errors still common (e.g., Je vois la instead of Je la vois).

Stage 5: Subordinate Clauses & Complex Structures

Learners begin processing embedded clauses and subordinate structures.

  • Je pense qu’il viendra demain. (I think that he will come tomorrow.) → (Subordination)
  • Le livre que j’ai lu est intéressant. (The book that I read is interesting.) → (Relative clause)
  • Si j’avais le temps, je voyagerais. (If I had time, I would travel.) → (Conditional sentences)

Key Characteristics:

 Learners can link ideas in longer sentences.

They produce relative clauses, conditionals, and reported speech.

Errors in conjugation and agreement still occur.

Stage 6: Full Processing of Advanced Structures

At this final stage, learners acquire full sentence reordering, advanced agreement, and complex clauses.

  • Le professeur dont je t’ai parlé est ici. (The teacher whom I told you about is here.) → (Relative pronoun “dont”)
  • Si j’avais su, je serais venu plus tôt. (If I had known, I would have come earlier.) → (Past conditional)
  • Il faut que tu viennes demain. (You must come tomorrow.) → (Subjunctive mood usage)

Key Characteristics:

Learners master subjunctive, advanced conditionals, and complex reordering.
Proficiency level approaches native-like fluency.
Errors become minor and infrequent.

How Learnability Theory Guides French Teaching

  1. Teach in the right order:
    • Start with simple sentences before introducing agreement rules.
    • Teach basic questions (Tu as un chien ?) before inversion (As-tu un chien ?).
    • Introduce object pronouns before relative clauses.
  2. Respect processing constraints:
    • How many cognitive steps does the execution of a specific grammar structure involve? If working memory can only process about 4-6 items in younger learners and 5 to 9 in 16+ learners, will they cope with the cognitive load posed by the target structure?  

Example 1: the perfect tense with ETRE involves 6 or 7 mental operations/substeps. Are we sure that the target language learners can process all of them?

Example 2: A beginner won’t use the subjunctive correctly (Il faut que tu viennes) if they haven’t mastered basic verb conjugations first.

  1. Trying to teach complex tenses (e.g., Si j’avais su, je serais venu) before learners are ready leads to confusion.
  2. Provide appropriate input:
    • At early stages, focus on high-frequency structures (e.g., present tense, SVO order).
    • Gradually introduce complex grammar once learners can process simpler structures.

In considering the cognitive load posed by the target grammar structures in an attempt to sequence them in your curriculum in a easier to harder flow, it is key to consider the challenges posed by each of them, summarised in the table below, from my workshop on Grammar Instruction.