Promoting L2 acquisition of multiword units through textually enhanced audiovisual input: An eye-tracking study

This study examines the effect of textual enhancement on learners’ attention to and learning of multiword units from captioned audiovisual input. We adopted a within-participants design in which 28 learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) watched a captioned video containing enhanced (underlined) and unenhanced multiword units. Using eye-tracking, we measured learners’ online processing of the multiword units as they appeared in the captions. Form recall pre- and posttests measured learners’ acquisition of the target items. The results of mixed effects models indicate that enhanced items received greater visual attention, with longer reading times, less single word skipping and more rereading. Further, a positive relationship was found between amount of visual attention and learning odds: items fixated longer, particularly during the first pass, were more likely to be recalled in an immediate posttest. Our findings provide empirical support for the positive effect of visual attention on form recall of multiword units encountered in captioned television. The results also suggest that item difficulty and amount of attention were more important than textual enhancement in predicting learning gains.

Effects of textual enhancement and task manipulation on L2 learners’ attentional processes and grammatical knowledge development: A mixed methods study

This study examined the extent to which textual enhancement and task manipulation affect the learners’ attentional processing and the development of second language (L2) grammatical knowledge. A total of 73 Korean college students read an opinion news article in one of four experimental conditions: (1) textually enhanced, careful reading, (2) textually enhanced, expeditious reading, (3) textually non-enhanced, careful reading, and (4) textually non-enhanced, expeditious reading. For the enhanced conditions, the target L2 construction, i.e. the use of English participle phrases in the restrictive use, was typographically enhanced using a different color. In addition, the reading task was manipulated in terms of the speed and the manner of reading, i.e. careful reading to remember textual information as accurately as possible or expeditious reading to figure out the gist as soon as possible. While reading the article, learners’ eye-movements were recorded with an eye-tracker to measure the allocation of attentional resources as well as reading processes. In addition, stimulated recalls were collected for qualitative analysis of learners’ attentional processes. The results revealed that both textual enhancement and task manipulation had significant effects on the way participants allocated their attentional resources during reading, while it did not affect their knowledge of the target constructions as reflected in their grammaticality judgment scores.

Investigating the effect of textual enhancement in post-reading tasks on grammatical development by child language learners

This study examined the extent to which textual enhancement incorporated into the post-task stage of task-based reading lessons can promote development in second language (L2) grammatical knowledge. The participants were 49 child language learners who participated in task-based reading lessons in their own classroom contexts. They were randomly assigned to two groups, one being exposed to textual enhancement and the other not. The experiment adopted a multiple-exposure design involving six treatment sessions over three weeks. The target construction was the third person singular -s morpheme. Pretest-posttest development was assessed with a grammaticality judgement test. The results revealed a small but positive effect for textual enhancement. We attributed the relative success of textual enhancement to a combination of factors: use of a multiple-exposure design, the incorporation of textual enhancement into the post-task rather than the during-task stage, age of participants, and prior knowledge.

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

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: THE EFFICACY OF PROMOTING NOUN PHRASE ACQUISITION

This study investigated the improvement of students' abilities in identifying forms of noun phrases through textual enhancement, the difference in results between the high and low achievers in identifying forms of noun phrases through textual enhancement, and the relationship between textual enhancement and the ability of students who have high and low grades in identifying forms of noun phrases. The quantitative design was applied in order to obtain information. The project involved 44 EFL learners taking Intermediate English Grammar subject in one of Islamic universities in Malang, Indonesia. The participants were divided into 2 classes consisting of high and low achievers. The high achievers were the experiment group, and the low achievers were the control group. The results revealed that there was significant difference in the students’ achievement in noun phrase acquisition between those who were taught by using textual enhancement (experimental group) and those who were taught by not using textual enhancement (control group). Second, there was significant different achievement between the high achievers and the low achievers of control and experimental group in learning noun phrase. Finally, there was an interaction found between Textual Enhancement (TE) and students’ initial abilities (high achievers and low achievers).

PROMOTING GRAMMATICAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CAPTIONS AND TEXTUAL ENHANCEMENT IN MULTIMODAL INPUT-BASED TASKS

This study assessed the extent to which captions, textually unenhanced and enhanced, can draw learners’ attention to and promote the acquisition of a second language (L2) grammatical construction. A pretest–posttest–delayed posttest experimental design was employed. Seventy-two Korean learners of English were randomly assigned to an enhanced captions group, an unenhanced captions group, and a no captions group. Each group completed a series of treatment tasks, during which they watched news clips under their respective captioning condition. The target L2 construction was the use of the present perfect versus the past simple in reporting news. For the enhanced captions group, the present perfect and past simple forms were typographically enhanced using a different color. Eye-movement indices were obtained to examine attentional allocation during the treatment, and oral and written productive tests and a fill-in-the-blank test were used to assess participants’ gains. A series of mixed-effects models found both captioning and textual enhancement effective in drawing learners’ attention to and facilitating development in the use of the target construction. In addition, positive links were identified between attention to captions and learners’ gains.