Form-focused instruction can contribute to the acquisition of second language implicit knowledge, as shown in studies measuring learners' free production¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r? · q2
Currency · newest study 2002 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? A review of 11 studies examining the effect of form-focused instruction on learners' free production suggests that FFI can contribute to the acquisition of implicit knowledge. → Rod Ellis 2002

Evidence¶

Rod Ellis 2002¶

Rod Ellis. (2002). Does Form-Focused Instruction Affect the Acquisition of Implicit Knowledge? A Review of the Research. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Volume 24, Issue 2. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263102002073

q2 · i? · review · r?

Narrative review of 11 studies of form-focused instruction, using learners' free production as the measure of implicit knowledge. The review's synthesis states that "FFI can contribute to the acquisition of implicit knowledge." No pooled effect size is printed.

"The review suggests that FFI can contribute to the acquisition of implicit knowledge and points to two variables that appear to influence its success"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Reading and Language — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• FFI involving extensive instruction directed at simple structures was more likely to succeed in developing implicit knowledge — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• The success of form-focused instruction in building implicit knowledge depends on the choice of target structure and the extent of the instruction — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Limited instruction directed at complex structures also proved effective, provided the target structures are readily available in noninstructional input — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• A 1982 bilingual-education teacher-training packet asserts, citing Krashen, that repetitive drill and grammar-focused instruction are ineffective for second language acquisition — reports the opposite
• Explicit L2 grammar instruction leads to larger learning effects than implicit instruction, as reported in the reviewed synthesis literature — related
• Mental representation is not amenable to direct explicit instruction because UG and parsers operate only on input data — reports the opposite
• A 1999 conference paper reports, citing Ellis and LaPorte (1997), that instruction has little or no effect on the route of L2 acquisition — reports the opposite
• A 2010 narrative review reports that processing-instruction studies show structured input without explicit information can change learner knowledge — related
• Form-focused instruction on noun endings significantly increases French immersion students' ability to correctly assign grammatical gender, with gains maintained on delayed posttests — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Comprehensible input alone is insufficient for acquisition of high levels of grammatical proficiency — related