Using argument structure to teach new verbs in Spanish-speaking English language learners

Spanish-speaking, English language learning (ELL) preschoolers were taught novel, low frequency verbs in two different conditions, a basic storytelling condition and an explicit argument structure teaching condition. The argument structure teaching condition utilized explicit instruction about argument structure, a linguistic concept that even young children, and presumably children in the early stages of second language acquisition, are sensitive to. This study sought to determine if utilizing argument structure to teach new verbs would yield greater learning in a short amount of time. While many participants learned new verbs, as demonstrated by a receptive pre- and posttest difference, neither condition yielded greater change. Higher English vocabulary scores correlated significantly with greater learning for those children who learned new verbs, while amount of English spoken, total Spanish language scores and Non-word repetition (NWR) task scores did not.