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A quasi-experimental study with 256 German sixth-grade students examined the effects of exploring syntactic structures on literacy-related achievements. The core feature of the instruction was that students had the opportunity to deal with syntactic structures directly, not mediated by analytic operations. Instruction covered six lessons targeting two types of syntactic contrasts (syntactic category contrasts, noun case contrasts). The results indicate that students profited from the instruction in their ability to use a marker of syntactic structure in written German, the capitalization of nouns. As to the ability to use the same marker to interpret text read, students of different achievement levels seem to have been differently affected. No effects were found for reading comprehension in general and spelling at the word level. The findings suggest that students' recognition of syntactic categories was enhanced even in contexts other than those they were familiarized within the instruction. However, it was not enhanced when they worked on a task that was completely new to them.

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The article reviews quantitative as well as qualitative research on grammatical learning at school in the context of L1 education in German-speaking regions. One of the specifics of this research is that its focus has been not on the effects of grammar learning on reading and writing outcomes but instead on the quality of the knowledge which is gained. Research results are reported with respect to five areas: (1) interventions aimed at promoting grammar knowledge; (2) interventions aimed at fostering linguistic skills; (3) observational studies; (4) large-scale studies; and (5) classroom discourse in grammar lessons. In its conclusion, the article points to issues pertinent to future research. They include measuring the extent to which students access syntactic features directly, without having them explain these features verbally, as well as conceiving of instructional methods to make sure that students gain continued access to syntactic information.