ABSTRACT
The present study employed both quantitative and qualitative (think-alouds) data to compare the product and process of two types of deductive instruction: input-based practice (Processing Instruction) versus output-based practice (Guided Induction) on the Spanish pre-verbal accusative clitics. Participants were first-year students of Spanish, and learning outcomes (interpretation, production, and translation) were measured via immediate and delayed posttests. Quantitative data indicated that both groups exhibited linguistic gains with PI outperforming GI on interpretation, whereas GI outperformed PI on translation on the immediate posttests only. Qualitative data revealed that while both groups demonstrated overall deep processing, GI promoted a higher level of awareness for under half of its participants. Likewise, participants’ high depth of processing in both groups was highly correlated with their performance on the most challenging assessment task (translation) at the immediate posttest. The think-alouds also revealed that type of practice (input-based vs. output-based) promoted associated processing. Pedagogical implications are provided.
