Defining grammatical difficulty: a student teacher perspective

Abstract

Numerous second language acquisition (SLA) researchers have tried to define grammatical difficulty in second and foreign language acquisition – often as part of an attempt to relate the efficacy of different types of instruction to the degree of difficulty of grammatical structures. The resulting proliferation of definitions and the lack of a unifying framework have made the easy–difficult distinction a muddled concept. This paper attempts to clear up some of the confusion by reviewing the definitions SLA literature offers and relating these to (student) teachers’ cognitions on grammatical difficulty, a perspective largely ignored in SLA publications despite its potential for a more integrative and holistic view on the topic. To this end, a total of 727 undergraduate and postgraduate student teachers of English were surveyed in two empirical studies. Quantitative and qualitative analyses – in combination with the findings from SLA literature – yielded a model comprising four interrelated categories of factors that determine grammatical difficulty: (1) grammar feature; (2) pedagogical arrangement; (3) teacher quality; and (4) learner characteristics. In addition, the resulting model is discussed as a basis for future research into the changing cognitions of student teachers as they become more experienced.