ERIC Number: EJ741380
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Sep
Pages: 60
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0023-8333
EISSN: N/A
Exploring Input Processing in the Classroom: An Experimental Comparison of Processing Instruction and Enriched Input
Marsden, Emma
Language Learning, v56 n3 p507-566 Sep 2006
The research reported here tests the claim made in the Input Processing approach to second language (L2) acquisition that interpreting the meaning of language form is essential for learning. This claim has been put forward as an underlying part of the pedagogical package known as Processing Instruction (PI) (VanPatten, 1996, 2002a, 2004). Two experiments compared PI with a type of "Enriched Input" (operationalized as the same brief grammar explanation as in PI, followed by equal numbers of exemplars of the target features but where attention to the forms or their meanings was not necessary to the task). In a pretest, posttest, delayed posttest design, first language (L1) English speakers' oral and written interpretation and production of L2 French verb inflections for tense, number, and person were examined. The impact of proficiency level on the necessity of making integrated form-meaning connections was also examined, by carrying out the same experiment with two groups at different levels of proficiency. Results from both experiments were generally compatible with the Input Processing claim earlier, although contextual- and measurement-dependent factors affected the results from the writing and oral measures in the second experiment.
Descriptors: Linguistic Input, Comparative Analysis, Language Processing, Research Reports, Language Acquisition, Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Grammar, Pretests Posttests, English, Native Speakers, French, Verbs, Language Proficiency, Teaching Methods
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A