Innovation in Language Learning
The Distribution of Active Verbs in Task Instructions in Primary Education Textbooks
Ružena Čiliaková, Faculty of Education (Matej Bel University) (Slovakia)
Monika Brozmanová, Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Faculty of Education (Slovakia)
Marian Trnka, Matej Bel University (Faculty od Education) (Slovakia)
Abstract
Proficiency in the language of instruction is one of the fundamental prerequisites for the cognitive and academic development of students with a different mother tongue. Understanding instructional verbs used in learning tasks is a key condition for students’ success in solving these tasks correctly. Empirical findings suggest that students who do not sufficiently comprehend task instructions are at a higher risk of academic underachievement [1], [2]. This study focuses on the analysis of active verbs in instructional tasks found in textbooks for the first and second grades of primary school. Specifically, it examines the frequency and variation of active verbs in task instructions across three educational domains: language, mathematics, and science. The analyzed sample comprised over 1,600 tasks, from which more than 13,500 sentences containing active verbs were extracted and examined as individual analytical units. The research employed a quantitative methodology, complemented by qualitative procedures. The quantitative component enabled the mapping of verb distribution with an emphasis on frequency. The qualitative component, using the method of constant comparison, facilitated the identification of unique verbs and their categorization within instructional discourse.The results show that students are exposed to more than 1,000 grammatical forms and over 600 unique active verbs during the first two years of schooling. The analysis also revealed significant inconsistencies in the use of instructional verbs, particularly reflective-abstract commands, which can hinder task comprehension. The findings highlight the need for greater linguistic consistency in instructional task design and underscore the importance of targeted language support for learners with a different mother tongue, focused on the systematic acquisition of the school’s instructional language.
Keywords: Instructional language, Active verbs, Language of textbooks, Learners with a different mother tongue, Task comprehension
REFERENCES
[1] M. Souzandehfar, K. A. A. Ibrahim. “Task-supported language instruction in an EFL context: impacts on academic buoyancy, self-esteem, creativity, and language achievement.” in Asian. J. Second. Foreign. Lang. Educ. 8, 43, 2023. doi: 10.1186/s40862-023-00218-0.
[2] R. Hudson, “Towards a pedagogical linguistics” in Pedagogical Linguistics, vol. 1, 1, pp. 8–33, Feb.2020, doi: 10.1075/pl.19011.hud.
