Effects of Explicit Focus on Form on L2 Acquisition of English Passive Construction

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2014.12.003

摘要/Abstract

摘要： Intensive research on instructed second language acquisition (ISLA) over the last two decades has, overall, pointed to the usefulness of Focus on Form—a type of pedagogical intervention that engages learners' metalinguistic attention in an otherwise meaning-based environment—in fostering learners' communicative accuracy. A finer-grained understanding thereof has yet to be sought, especially vis-à-vis the type of focus on form and the nature of the target construction as potential mitigating variables. This small-scale study attempts to investigate the effectiveness of explicit Focus on Form (FonF) in the acquisition of the English passive construction. Two intact, lower-advanced level English-as-a-second-language (ESL) classes of a community English program in the U.S. participated in the study, with one serving as an experimental group and the other a control group. The study adopted a pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest design and spanned five weeks, including two weeks of treatment wherein the experimental group received eight mini-sessions of C-R and metalinguistic explanation, while the control group continued with their regular instruction. Results indicated that the treatment significantly facilitated the learning of the passive construction.

关键词: implicit/explicit focus on form, consciousness-raising, metalinguistic explanation, noticing, complexity

JI-YUNG JUNG, ZHAOHONG HAN. Effects of Explicit Focus on Form on L2 Acquisition of English Passive Construction[J]. 当代外语研究, 2014, 14(12): 18-31.

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