Experimental second language acquisition research typically investigates the
effectiveness of instruction in terms of overall group gains. A particular
instructional method may not, however, benefit all learners uniformly. This study,
conducted in a New Zealand secondary school, establishes whether there is any
relationship between the effectiveness of three instructional methods, and learner
aptitude. Students (n = 60) were assigned to one of three groups (deductive
instruction group, inductive instruction group, structured input instruction group)
and received instruction that targeted direct object pronouns in L2 French. All
students were assessed on the following three measures of language aptitude: (a)
language analytic ability, (b) phonemic coding ability and (c) working memory.
Results indicate that deductive instruction that gives students opportunities to
produce language output may neutralize individual differences in language aptitude.
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