Two approaches to teach the preposition on

Abstract

As some studies suggest (Navarro 1998; Navarro, Campoy & Caballero 2001; Silvestre 2009), the mastery of in, on, and at presents special problems for many Spanish students of English as a Foreign Language. In this project I have focused on the preposition on in order to check a different theoretical approach and an experimental approach at the same time. Following the theoretical proposals by Navarro (1998), a same series of activities were prepared for two groups of intermediate level of English at the official school of languages in Castellón. The main and only difference between each group lies in the method employed to introduce the use of on. Thus, at the beginning of the lesson, the theory and the basic senses of on were explained with examples in the first group. In the second group, in contrast, some images were shown in order to experiment the common senses or uses of on mentioned by themselves without theory. Apart from the activities, proficiency assessments were developed in order to know the level and mastery of the use of prepositions on, in and at, with a special focus on the basic senses of on with examples. These proficiency assessments were filled in by students at the beginning and at the end of the class. After the implementation of the lessons in either group following these two different methodological procedures, data were gathered from students and the results concerning the preposition on were compared in both groups in terms of correct answers. Finally, the general results of this study show the benefits of the experimental and the theoretical approach to the teaching of on particularly. Then, the conclusions show the convenient approach for the context of my project.