The effects of pre-task explicit instruction on L2 oral self-repair behaviour

The present study examines the effects of pre-task explicit instruction on second language (L2) oral self-repair behaviour while controlling for the effects of working memory. The participants were 121 Iranian learners of English at incipient levels of language proficiency. Their working memory was measured using an operation span task and then they were randomly assigned to a control and an experimental group. Both groups performed a picture story-retelling task that was preceded by five minutes of planning time. During the planning time, the experimental group also received a grammar handout that explained English relative clauses. The instances of self-repairs were identified through stimulated recall interviews that immediately followed performance on the oral task. They were then classified into categories of global form repairs (FG-repairs), local form repairs (FL-repairs), and content repairs (C-repairs). A series of one-way ANCOVAs were run, the results of which indicated pre-task explicit instruction had significant and beneficial effects on FL-repairs and adverse effects on C-repairs. The covariate was only associated with repairing the target structure. The findings are discussed in light of the Extended Trade-off Hypothesis and confirm the view that pre-task explicit instruction tends to foster a focus on form at the expense of meaning.

Investigating the relationship between linguistic focus of recasts, learning styles and noticing

The efficacy of Corrective Feedback (CF) is contingent on various factors; conflicting results have been obtained regarding the roles of individual differences and the linguistic focus of CF. The current study investigated the relationship between the linguistic focus of recasts (the most common CF type) and noticing. It further explored the possible relationship between learning styles and recast noticing. The learning styles of 25 intermediate Iranian EFL learners were determined through the VARK questionnaire. During the participants’ story retelling tasks, the researchers provided recasts in response to their grammatical, lexical, and phonological errors. The class presentations were audiotaped, and recasts were highlighted. Online and retrospective methods of measuring noticing were used. Chi-Square tests indicated that there were significant differences among the participants’ noticing in general and in noticing of grammatical, lexical, and phonological recasts in particular. The results of post hoc analysis revealed that the auditory-style participants received the highest noticing rate and the kinesthetic style the least. The study further indicated that learners whose learning style was auditory better noticed grammatical recasts, learners whose learning style was mixed better noticed lexical recasts, and visual learners better noticed phonological recasts.

Investigating the relationship between linguistic focus of recasts, learning styles and noticing

The efficacy of Corrective Feedback (CF) is contingent on various factors; conflicting results have been obtained regarding the roles of individual differences and the linguistic focus of CF. The current study investigated the relationship between the linguistic focus of recasts (the most common CF type) and noticing. It further explored the possible relationship between learning styles and recast noticing. The learning styles of 25 intermediate Iranian EFL learners were determined through the VARK questionnaire. During the participants’ story retelling tasks, the researchers provided recasts in response to their grammatical, lexical, and phonological errors. The class presentations were audiotaped, and recasts were highlighted. Online and retrospective methods of measuring noticing were used. Chi-Square tests indicated that there were significant differences among the participants’ noticing in general and in noticing of grammatical, lexical, and phonological recasts in particular. The results of post hoc analysis revealed that the auditory-style participants received the highest noticing rate and the kinesthetic style the least. The study further indicated that learners whose learning style was auditory better noticed grammatical recasts, learners whose learning style was mixed better noticed lexical recasts, and visual learners better noticed phonological recasts.

Developmental research on skill-integrated speaking activities and evaluation scales: Learning English with story-retelling

Storytelling and story-retelling have the potential to be used as tools to assist with foreign language teaching and learning. Professor Akiyo Hirai, University of Tsukuba, Japan, has been interested in this concept since 2005. She is researching Second Language Acquisition and observed that students from European countries and South America learning English tended to master the language more quickly than Asian students and particularly Japanese students. This highlighted that teaching methods that are effective for one demographic may not necessarily be suited to another demographic. In order to help her Japanese students overcome the issues they were facing with learning English, Hirai experimented with combining reading a story and telling that story to others as an activity for learning and practising speaking. This led to a method of teaching English called the Story Retelling Speaking Test (SRST), which requires students to read a story and retell it using around five keywords extracted from the story and then discuss the story either alone or in pairs; an exercise that enforces all aspects of language learning. Hirai and the team have confirmed the validity, reliability and washback effect of the SRST and intend to publish their teaching materials for use in the classroom.