Second Language Acquisition Semester 1, 2005

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Second Language Acquisition Semester 1, 2005

• Week 10
• Instructed SLA

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The Communicative Language Teaching dilemma

• Focus-on-form or Focus-on-function?
• The issue to what extent is form-focused
  instruction beneficial to L2 classroom learning?

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Who needs grammar?

• evidence that CLT does a better job of promoting
  but does not hinder linguistic development
  (Savignon, 1972)
• evidence that communicative instruction improves
  linguistic development more than grammar
  instruction only (Montgomery Eisenstein, 1985)
• evidence that CLT may be superior to form-based
  instruction for learning contextualised grammar
  (Beretta Davies, 1985)

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Should grammar be taught?

• Despite evidence that learning happens via CLT,
  there is also evidence that a mix of CLT and
  form-based instruction is best (Allens, Swain,
  Harely Cummins, 1990 Lightbown, Spada et al)

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Focal attention or noticing

• Noticing the process of bringing some stimulus
  into focal attention, i.e. registering its simple
  occurence, whether voluntary or involuntary
  (Schmidt, 1994).
• it accounts for which features in the input are
  attended to and so become intake (information
  stored in temporary memory which may or may not
  be subsequently accommodated in the interlanguage
  system)

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Why is attention necessary?

• attention is important because it allows a
  learner to notice a mismatch between what he or
  she knows about the L2 and what is produced by L2
  speakers
• attention allows learners to notice the gap
  between their production what they need to
  produce or between their production the
  production of NSs
• attention to input essential for storage
  precursor to hypothesis formation testing

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Form-based instruction

• Focus on forms versus focus on form
• Focus on forms instruction that seeks to isolate
  linguistic forms in order to teach them and test
  them one at a time e.g., structural syllabus
• Focus on form "alternating in some principled
  way between a focus on meaning and a focus on
  form" (Long, 1991) e.g., task-based syllabus

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Focus on form instruction

• Instruction that seeks to isolate linguistic
  forms in order to teach and test them one at a
  time e.g., structural or synthetic syllabus
• Structural syllabus parts of the language are
  taught separately and step by step so that
  acquisition is a process of gradual accumulation
  of parts until the whole structure of language
  has been built up. Wilkins 1976 in Long
  Robinson (1998)
•  
• Structural approaches most common. Assume linear
  and discrete acquisition of L2 forms.

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Focus on meaning

• Focus on meaning with no attempt to teach
  structure or provide grammatical feedback.
• .people of all ages learn languages best,
  inside or outside the classroom, not by treating
  the languages as an object of study, but by
  experiencing them as a medium of communication.
  (Long Robinson, 1998, p 18)

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Focus on meaning the analytical syllabus

• Analytic approaches (a.k.a. noninterventionist)
• ... are organized in terms of the purposes for
  which people are learning language and the kinds
  of language performance that are necessary to
  meet those purposes. - Wilkins, (1976) in Long
  Robinson (1998)
• assume that the L2 adult is still capable of
  subconsciously analyzing linguistic input and
  inducing new rules
• emphasise the importance of positive evidence

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Focus on form instruction

• maintains advantage of analytic approach
•  
• refers to how focal attention is allocated
•  
• assumes nonlinguistic pedagogical tasks as the
  basis of the syllabus
•  
• balance between attention to meaning and form

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Focus on form approaches

• Activities that require the learner to
  communicate while focussing learner attention on
  specific forms.
• Provide corrective feedback on learner's errors
  during the course of communication.

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Evidence for focus on form approach

•  Comparing implicit and explicit learning
•  
• Comparing primary attention to structures and
  primary attention to meaning
•  
• Examining the effects of focus on form.

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Experiments comparing implicit and explicit
learning

•  Explicit form instruction leads to significantly
  greater short term learning for simple artificial
  grammar rules, with no advantage for implicit
  learners over instructed learners for complex
  rules (DeKeyser, 1995, Robinson, 1996).
•  
• gtgt Both implicit and explicit learning may be at
  work.

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Is exposure enough?

• Sanz Morgan-Short (2004). Preverbal object
  pronouns in Spanish
• Lo besa la chica Him kisses the girl (The girl
  kisses him)
• Learners erroneously interpret it as He kisses
  the girl, apparently applying a NVNSVO
  strategy.
• Rule learning was examined in four conditions
• /- explanation and /-explicit rule
• Results showed similar learning in all four
  conditions.
• Sanz Morgan-Short (2004) Positive Evidence
  versus Explicit Rule Presentation and Explicit
  Negative Feedback A Computer-Assisted Study.
  Language Learning 54, 35-78

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Comparing primary attention to structures and
primary attention to meaning

• Attention to meaning plus formal input
  enhancement has been shown to have advantages
  over the focus on meaning alone (Doughty, 1991
  Alenan, 1995) Doughty (1991) study of
  acquisition of relative clauses by three learner
  groups.(1) Control group received input only(2)
  Meaning group received lexical and semantic
  enhancements (3) Form group received formal
  enhancementsgtgt Both meaning and form groups
  outperformed the control group.

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Examining the effects of focus on form.

• Evidence that focus on form enhances learning
  (Long Robinson, 1998, in volume edited by
  Doughty Williams).
• Lightbown Spada (1990) study of French
  learners of English found that learners who
  received the most focus on form in class
  outperformed (suppliance of ing and determiners)
  outperformed those that received less.

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Negative evidence

• Negotiation Other types of correction
• Notice error
• Search input
• Input available Input not available
• Confirm/Disconfirm

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The corrective function of feedback

• Clarification requests can result in
  modification. (Nobuyoshi Ellis, 1993)
• NNS He pass his house
• NS Sorry?
• NNS He passed, he passed, ah, his sign.

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Feedback long-term learning

• Evidence for positive effect for corrective
  feedback (Nobuyoshi Ellis, 1993 Carroll,
  Roberge Swain, 1992 Takashima, 1992)
• Takashima (1992) Acquisition of past tense by
  Japanese ESL learners.
• gt Morphological feedback more effective than
  content-oriented feedback over 11 week course.

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Classroom error feedback

• Corrective feedback and learner uptake (Lyster
  Ranta, 1997)
• Types of feedback
• Explicit correction
• Clarification requests Could you repeat that?
• 3. Metalinguistic feedback Are you sure thats
  right?
• 4. Recasts

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Recasts

• ...involve the teachers reformulation of all or
  part of the learners utterance, minus the error
  (Lyster Ranta, 1997, p 46).
• Not explicitly marked but often made salient in
  other ways (e.g., use of extralinguistic cues,
  stress).
• Most common type of feedback but lead to little
  self-correction, due to either not recognising
  (incorporating) it or not having the
  opportunity to do so (Oliver, 1995)

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Instructed SLA end

• Week 10 end