Chapter 3. Structured input vs. textual enhancement on the acquisition of Italian subjunctive of doubt

2021 ◽  
pp. 47-66
Keyword(s):  
Structured Input ◽  
Textual Enhancement

scholarly journals A self-paced-reading study on the effects of structured input and textual enhancement on the acquisition of the Italian subjunctive of doubt

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaia Chiuchiù
Keyword(s):  
Private School ◽  
The Self ◽  
Reading Test ◽  
Target Feature ◽  
Structured Input ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Textual Enhancement ◽  
Reading Study ◽  
Higher Sensitivity

The present study investigates the effects of structured input and textual enhancement on the acquisition of the Italian subjunctive of doubt using a self-paced reading test. The main questions of this study are: (1) Would L2 learners exposed to structured input and textual enhancement demonstrate sensitivity to violations of the Italian subjunctive of doubt as measured by a self-paced reading test? (2) Would L2 learners exposed to structured input and textual enhancement demonstrate the ability to comprehend sentences containing the subjunctive of doubt? Eighteen Chinese (L1) subjects learning Italian in a private school were randomly assigned to two instructional groups: structured input (n = 9); and textual enhancement (n = 9). Neither instructional treatments included explicit information. The main results from the self-paced reading task indicated that only the structured input group showed higher sensitivity to violations, and this group improved from pre-test to post-test in the ability to comprehend sentences containing the target feature under investigation.

Textual Enhancement, Input Processing and Presentation-Practice-Production in College English Grammar Teaching in China

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
pp. 177-193
Author(s):  
Guang Shi
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
College English ◽  
Structured Input ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Processing Theory ◽  
Input Processing ◽  
Initial Learning ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Textual Enhancement

Based on the input processing theory and output hypothesis in Second Language Acquisition, and employing quantitative and qualitative methods, this study investigates the effects of Textual Enhancement (TE), Input Processing Instruction (PI) and Presentation-Practice-Production (3P), and tries to compare the initial learning and retention effect on the acquisition of unreal conditionals in Chinese college English classrooms. The research findings are as follows: 1) Both PI and 3P areeffective. TE is effective in initial learning but falls short for retention effect. There is significant difference between the TE, PI and 3P groups. 2) In initial learning, 3P has the best effect based on learners’ mean score, followed by PI and TE, but there is no significant difference between PI and 3P. There is significant difference between 3P and TE, PI and 3P. 3) With regard to the retention effect, 3P and PI work better than TE. And there is no significant difference between 3P and PI. The research findings indicate that explicit explanation about language structures plays an effective and necessary role in English learning in the Chinese context. English teachers are suggested to involve the learners with grammar through meaningful activities such as structured input activities.

Promoting learning and unlearning through textual enhancement in a closely related L1-L2 relationship

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Paolo Della Putta
Keyword(s):  
Judgment Task ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Instructional Treatment ◽  
Group A ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Textual Enhancement ◽  
Group B ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Grammatical Judgment

AbstractThis study investigates the differential effects of Textual Enhancement (TE) on the learning and unlearning of two syntactic properties of Spanish – the absence of the Pre-possessive Determiner Article (PPDA) and the presence of the Prepositional Accusative (PA) – which each pose specific acquisitional difficulties for Italian-speaking learners of Spanish (ISS) due to their asymmetrical relationships with corresponding L1 structures. 77 ISS were divided in two experimental groups: group A read 5 texts with TE on PA – the feature to be learned – and group B read the same 5 texts with TE on PPDA – the feature to be unlearned. The participants took a timed grammatical judgment task three times (before, five days after, and two months after the instructional treatment). The results are compared with those of Della Putta (2016), a symmetrical study to this, in which the same teaching intervention and experimental conditions were adopted with Spanish-speaking learners of Italian, whose task was to unlearn PA and to learn PPDA. The bidirectional comparison shows a similar, weak effect of TE, although in the present study, unlike in Della Putta (2016), unlearning did not seem to be more difficult than learning. These similarities and differences are discussed and theoretically motivated.

scholarly journals Sequence memory in recurrent neuronal network can develop without structured input

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Loidolt ◽  
Lucas Rudelt ◽  
Viola Priesemann
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Input ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Spike Timing ◽  
Synaptic Competition ◽  
Structured Input ◽  
Recurrent Neuronal Network ◽  
Sequence Memory ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Specific Sequences ◽  
Intrinsic Feature

AbstractHow does spontaneous activity during development prepare cortico-cortical connections for sensory input? We here analyse the development of sequence memory, an intrinsic feature of recurrent networks that supports temporal perception. We use a recurrent neural network model with homeostatic and spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP). This model has been shown to learn specific sequences from structured input. We show that development even under unstructured input increases unspecific sequence memory. Moreover, networks “pre-shaped” by such unstructured input subsequently learn specific sequences faster. The key structural substrate is the emergence of strong and directed synapses due to STDP and synaptic competition. These construct self-amplifying preferential paths of activity, which can quickly encode new input sequences. Our results suggest that memory traces are not printed on a tabula rasa, but instead harness building blocks already present in the brain.

The Interplay between Heritage Learners’ Prior Knowledge and Instruction on a Linguistically Complex Structure

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Melissa A. Bowles
Keyword(s):  
Complex Structure ◽  
Learning Gains ◽  
Processing Instruction ◽  
Focus On Form ◽  
Structured Input ◽  
Instruction Condition ◽  
Think Alouds ◽  
Adverbial Clauses ◽  
Rule Presentation ◽  
Initial Knowledge

Abstract Current HL pedagogy recommends focus on form approaches (Beaudrie, Ducar, & Potowski, 2014; Kisselev, Dubinina, & Polinsky, 2020) but within this broad category there are many techniques. To date only a few studies have compared HL learning gains on explicit and implicit focus on form instruction, and these have found explicit instruction to be more beneficial. The present study isolated the role of rule presentation on learning gains by comparing Spanish HL learners in a Processing Instruction condition (n = 26) who received rule presentation and explicit information about the target structure (indicative and subjunctive in adverbial clauses of time) prior to structured input, to HL learners in a Structured Input condition (n = 16) who received only structured input. Pretest/posttest/delayed posttest comparisons revealed that both PI and SI resulted in lasting learning gains, as well as a complex interplay between learners’ initial knowledge of the structure and the type of instruction, such that learners with little or no initial knowledge benefited from rule presentation, whereas learners with greater initial knowledge did not. Furthermore, data from think-alouds and retrospective interviews shows that all learners did not process the instruction similarly, and pedagogical implications are discussed.

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