This investigator examined the effects of three methods of instruction, traditional, versus Total Physical Response Storytelling (TPRS), versus instruction through perceptual strengths on the grammar- and vocabulary-achievement scores and attitudes of ninth and tenth grade students studying Italian. The learning styles of 118 students enrolled in five Italian-language classes were identified with Learning in Vogue: Elements of Style (Missere & Dunn, 2005). Each class was instructed through each method during three vocabulary lessons and again during three grammar lessons. Students were administered pre and a posttests for each lesson, and the Comparative Value Scale (CVS) (O'Connell, 1989) at the conclusion of each set of lessons. Results of an analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the vocabulary lessons indicated that students achieved statistically highest achievement scores (p<.001) when their perceptual strengths were accommodated rather than in the traditional or TPRS instructional environments.

Results of an independent-sample t-test were significant at the p<.001 level and revealed highest attitudes toward perceptual-strength lessons compared with traditional and TPRS instruction. Attitudes toward traditional instruction were significantly higher ( p<.001) than TPRS instruction in 75% questions on CVS.

A comparison of grammar-achievement scores for the three treatments did not indicate significant differences. Results of a t-test examining attitudes toward learning grammar indicated significantly higher scores (p<.001) for perceptual-strengths lessons rather than the traditional or TPRS treatments. Attitudes toward learning traditionally were statistically higher (p<.001) than TPRS instruction for two of four questions on the CVS, and at the p<.05, and p<.005 levels for one question each.

The overall results concluded that students scored highest vocabulary-achievement, vocabulary-attitude, and grammar-attitude scores when instructed through perceptual strengths. These findings supported the effectiveness of learning-styles instruction over two popular methods of foreign-language instruction-traditional and TPRS.