Chair: Brenda Litchfield

The present experimental investigation was designed to study the effectiveness of deductive, inductive, and alternative combined instructional approaches and their relationships with both analytical and holistic cognitive styles. The focus of the study was placed upon the interaction between different teaching treatments and cognitive measures. Variables such as gender, teacher, attitude, learning experience, and preference of methods were also investigated.

A total of 90 students, 31 males and 59 females enrolled in the Spanish II class at the University of South Alabama, served as the subjects for this study. The Group Embedded Figure Test and Rational-Experiential Inventory were administered to measure each subject's aptitude style. The Edinburgh Handedness Inventory was used to examine its association with teaching treatments. A pretest was conducted to collect information regarding students' prior knowledge of the subject matter. A comprehensive posttest was administered to assess learning outcomes.

The 2 x 3 analysis of covariance, the t-test, the hierarchical regression, the simple coefficients of correlation were performed on the data to examine the associations between different variables. Research findings revealed no statistically significant difference among the deductive, the inductive, and the alternative combined approaches. There was no significant interaction disclosed between treatments and either FD/FI or rational versus experiential aptitude style. An examination of the role of variables, such as learning attitude, prior knowledge, learning experience, teachers, gender, and treatment preference on the acquisition of foreign language learning, found that students' prior knowledge
significantly predicted their performance in comprehensive posttest.

The results of the present study demonstrate the importance of prior knowledge in predicting grammar learning outcomes. It is recommended that foreign language teachers should pay special attention to this issue and may consider providing remedial instruction by reviewing the previously learned material before teaching new material.