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The Occurrence and Effectiveness of Incidental Focus on Form in Meaning-focused ESL Lessons

出版	University of Auckland, 2002
URL	http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=-YKYQgAACAAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api

註釋Current approaches to second language instruction have called for an integration of message-focused and form-focused instruction in the L2 classroom. One way this may be accomplished is through incidental focus on form which draws learners' attention to linguistic items as they arise in meaning-focused interaction. While incidental focus on form has been theorised to benefit learners, little empirical research has investigated its actual effectiveness. This study examined the occurrence and nature of incidental focus on form and its effectiveness in promoting L2 learning. Thirty-two hours of naturally-occurring, meaning-focused L2 lessons were observed in 12 different classes of young adults in a private language school. Classroom interaction yielded 1,373 focus on form episodes (FFEs), occurring when there was a brief shift in attention from message to linguistic form. These FFEs were transcribed and analysed for a variety of general characteristics and discourse moves. A subset of 491 FFEs were used as a basis for individualised test items in which students who participated in specific FFEs were asked to recall the linguistic information provided in them. The results showed that incidental focus on form did occur in these lessons, although the number of FFEs varied significantly among classes, teachers and students. The FFEs were more frequently code-related and reactive in nature. The response moves usually occurred immediately after the trigger, and generally provided linguistic information with a recast. Uptake occurred in roughly three quarters of the FFEs, and it was generally successful. Additionally, uptake was more likely to occur when the trigger was followed by an immediate elicitation response. Successful uptake was also more likely to occur in FFEs targeting code-related student errors with immediate elicitation responses. The results of the testing showed that learns were able to recall the targeted linguistic information correctly or partially correctly nearly 60% of the time one day after the FFE, and 50% two weeks later. Furthermore, successful uptake in an FFE was found to be a significant predictor of correct scores. These results suggest that incidental focus on form may be of some benefit to learners, particularly if they are encouraged to incorporate the targeted linguistic items into their own production.