Metalinguistic Reflection as a didactic-pedagogical strategy to learn of relative clauses in English at the upper secondary level
Abstract
Academic writing is a complex ability that enables the creation of new knowledge through reflection, analysis, and interpretation in both the native and second language. This ability develops gradually, reaching higher levels in adulthood. Teaching should provide diverse writing opportunities and continuous feedback and reflection to foster syntactic and discursive abilities in adolescents. While all grammatical structures of subordinate clauses are complex, relative clauses in English pose a challenge for Spanish-speaking students due to their greater variety and syntactic complexity, as well as the stylistic and dialectal components that determine their correct use. This study redesigned a didactic proposal incorporating metalinguistic reflection, originally developed in a previous exploratory investigation, to assess its impact on learning relative clauses. The redesign included the omission of the relative pronoun and the distinction between restrictive and non-restrictive functions of the grammatical structure. It was implemented with Mexican upper-secondary (B2 level) students, using an experimental group with metalinguistic reflection and a control group without it. To evaluate the intervention, a pre- and post-intervention questionnaire, validated by experts, was administered to assess the comprehension and production of relative clauses. The results showed that awareness of control and monitoring in writing supported the learning of grammatical structure and its function, encompassing all linguistic and cognitive aspects related to English (L2) grammar and usage.
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