In this paper, we present the impact of deductive (first the rule, then examples and exercises) and inductive approaches (examples, exercises, the rule) on mastering two grammatical categories in Slovene – the noun and adjective case and the verbal aspect – and on the motivation of students (n = 141), as well as in relation to the students’ first languages. In terms of knowledge and motivation, there was a stronger tendency towards the inductive approach, which was preferred for the teaching of morphological content – noun and adjective cases – and slightly less for the teaching of the semantic component – i.e. the verbal aspect – but there was no significant difference between the two approaches in this case. Regarding their first language, students from non-Slavic backgrounds had better results in the case category, and students from Slavic backgrounds had better results in the verbal aspect, regardless of the approach used. When learning about the case and verbal aspect, students were more motivated by the inductive approach. We have concluded that it is (also) sensible and effective to approach the teaching of Slovenian morphology inductively.
|
