1. The effect of ‘form-focused tasks’ on ‘attention’ and ‘noticing’ in SLA
Takashi Oba
Sakata second junior high school
August 8, 2010
Japan Society of English Language Education, 36th in Osaka

2. Outline of the presentation
Introduction
1. The review of the literature
2. The present study*
3. Result
4. Discussion
5. Pedagogical implications
6. Limitations & further research
References
*Oba, T. (2009). The unique role and potential of output practice: The effect of pushed-output and input-processing on the acquisition of ‘-ing/- ed adjectives’. Unpablished Master’s dissertation presentated at University of Reading, UK.

3. 1. The review of literature
What is ‘form-focused’ task?
Tasks involving ‘form-focused instruction’ (‘FFI’)
“Form-focused instruction involves some attempt to focus learners’ attention on specific properties of the L2 so that they will learn them.” (R.Ellis, 2008, p.963)

4. ‘Focus-on-form’ is a type of FFI.
“... focus-on-form ... overtly draws students’ attention to linguistic elements as they arise incidentally in lessons whose overriding focus is on meaning or communication.” (Long, 1991, pp.45-6)
Different from ‘focus-on-meaning’ & ‘focus-on-formS’

5. * Noticing Hypothesis (Schmidt,1990;2001)
Why is FFI / Focus-on-form effective?
* Noticing Hypothesis (Schmidt,1990;2001)
‘Noticing’ the linguistic form is crucial
‘Noticing’ includes ‘attention’ & ‘awareness’
　* ‘Form-meaning mapping‘ (Ellis, 2008)
Attending to/noticing the target form
Meaningful context

6. Output Hypothesis (Swain,1985;1995)
The role of input & output in SLA
Output Hypothesis (Swain,1985;1995)
Noticing function
Hypothesis testing function
Metalinguistic function

7. The role of output in SLA (Izumi,2003; Gass, 1988)
Output is not just a product of learning process
Facilitating further cognitive processing (‘restructuring’ / ‘integrative processing’)
Promoting ‘automaticity’

8. Input-processing (Van Patten, 1996;2002)
Input directly affects the process of SLA
Output plays the minimum role ( ‘accessing’ the developing system)
The capacity of working memory is limited

9. 2. The present study Two types of ‘form-focused’ task
Pushed-output task (PO) 　 ☞ ‘dictogloss’ & ‘jigsaw’ [Swain & Lapkin, 2001]
Input-processing task (IP) 　 ☞ ‘Structured-input activities‘[Van Patten & Cadierno, 1993]
*Both tasks involve the following elements;
Explicit grammar instruction
Teacher’s corrective feedback

10. Dictogloss (Wajnryb, 1990)
A short but dense text is read to the learners several times at normal speed.
The learners jot down the words and phrases they recognize.
The learners work together in small groups to reconstruct the text from their shared information.

11. The text for dictogloss: ‘A trip to Spain’
Takashi visited Madrid and Barcelona in Spain with
his friend last month. He was really excited to see
fascinating pictures by Picaso, Velazquez and so on.
In Barcelona, there are a lot of buildings which were
designed by Gaudi. They are wonderful. The biggest
cathedral in the city is visited by many tourists every
year. Takashi was impressed by the Cathedral. It was
surprising that a lot of people didn’t speak English.
Tourists have to be careful about pickpockets, so he
was worried about that. It was a disappointing thing
about Barcelona. On the whole, he was satisfied ...

12. Jigsaw task Learners construct a story from the pictures they have.
One student tell the story of pictures number 1,3,& 5. The other does those numbered 2,4,& 6.

13. Structured-input activities

14. Research questions
Do ‘form-focused’ tasks (PO&IP) result in an great improvement in comprehension and production proficiency of ‘-ing /-ed adjectives’?
Does collaborative dialogue in the PO group facilitate ‘attention’ and ‘noticing’ in acquiring the target form?

15. Method
Participant: 78 senior high school students in Sapporo (15 /16 years old).
The students were randomly divided into two groups (PO group=40, IP group=38)
A Japanese instructor carried out the tasks in both groups.
Target form: ‘-ing /-ed adjectives‘ (ex. surprising /surprised)

16. Experimental sequence
Day 1
29th, June,2009
Pre-test (30mins)
Day 2
6th, July, 2009
1st period: Task 1 (45mins)
Day 3
7th, July, 2009
2nd period: Rest of Task 1 & Task 2 (45mins)
Day 4
8th, July, 2009
3rd period: Rest of Task 2 (45mins)
Day 5
9th, July, 2009
Post-test (30mins)

17. The procedure of the tasks and instruction

18. Assessment
Written grammar tests (see Appendix 11-15) ☞analyzing quantitative data.　
The transcript of the collaborative dialogue (‘dictogloss’)　　　　　　　　　　　　☞analyzing qualitative change (‘meta-talk’)

19. Mean raw scores & standard deviation(Comprehension)
3. Results
Mean raw scores & standard deviation(Comprehension)
Group n
Pre-test
Immediate post-test
Mean
Standard Deviation (SD) SD IP 38
24.45
6.82
32.05
6.62 PO 40
25.300
6.305
33.22
7.45

20. Mean raw scores & standard deviation (Production)
Group n
Pre-test
Immediate post-test
Mean SD IP 38
25.37
8.69
40.18
10.12 PO 40
28.80
8.71
41.62
11.10

21. Results of two-sample t-tests (input vs output)
Difference of mean scores between the groups for pre-test
Difference of mean scores between the improvement of the groups
difference
t-value
p-value
diff t p
Comprehension 76
0.10
0.921
-0.68
0.499
Production
-1.74
0.086
0.80
0.426
p < α=.05

22. Results of paired t-test (difference between pre- & post-tests in each group)
Comprehension
Production
diff t p IP 74
-4.28
0.000
-6.85 PO 78
-5.14
-5.75
p < α=.05

23. Collaborative dialogue (see Appendix 3-5)

24. Findings
PO & IP significantly improved from the pre- to the post-test.
No significant difference between PO & IP.
In the collaborative PO task, ‘meta- talk‘ and feedback may facilitate ‘noticing’ and reflection on the target form (Swain & Lapkin, 1995).

25. 4. Discussion
Learners’ attention & noticing are effectively facilitated.
‘Focus-on-form’ triggers form-meaning mapping.
IP & PO are independently beneficial.

26. Cognitive demand : IP <PO　　　　　　
IP: Intake facilitation (superficial level ) PO: integrative processing (deeper level)
Output (‘ internal priming device’) 　　　　 → ‘meta-talk‘ in solving the problems may facilitate ‘noticing’ / reflection on the form. (‘internalization’ takes place) 　　　 →qualitative change & active involvement in SLA (Izumi, 2002).

27. 5. Pedagogical implications
Not only mechanical drills or grammar translation (‘yakudoku’) but also ‘form- focsed’ tasks will be effective in certain cases.
The cognitive process of learning can be facilitated through ‘attention’ & ‘noticing’ in the meaningful context.
Both input & output are crucial (enriched input＋meaning based output practice).
Take into account the counter productive factors (task demand, complexity of target form, learning style preference, motivation and learner’s proficiency can be controlled by teachers)

28. Teacher’s role
L2 teachers are responsible for lightning the task burden by attempting to choose the appropriate quantity of the tasks and the complexity of the target form, depending on learner’s proficiency level and learning style preference (Muranoi, 2007).

29. 6. Limitations & further research
The period of study is short.
The lack of delayed test & controlled group.
The method for testing measures (no oral test)→fail to measure proficiency in unplanned & spontaneous language use.
Longitudinal studies involving successive and varying types of practice using various structure forms will be needed.

30. References
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