Die, das, der: An empirical study of the teaching and learning of German noun gender

Abstract

This article reports the findings of a study conducted on a group of Irish university students to identify the effect which training in noun gender would have on their assignment of gender to nouns in German. This study focuses on a specially designed set of rules, which was introduced to the students to promote their acquisition of gender and to increase their accuracy with it. Students were also trained in the use of mnemonics which deal specifically with German noun gender. The findings are very positive and show a marked improvement in students’ accuracy in assigning gender to a list of German nouns. The findings also show that when students have learned gender rules they can transfer this knowledge to assigning gender more accurately in written production.