Amount of Exposure to Textually Enhanced Input, Learner Noticing, and L2 Development

Abstract

Drawing on the attentional framework and the findings of previous empirical research on textual enhancement, the present study investigates whether more exposure to textually enhanced input has positive effects on promoting L2 learners’ noticing and development of a targeted linguistic structure, backshifting of verb tenses in reported speech. Participants were 71 Korean English as a foreign language (EFL) learners from four intact classes of a university. Four classes were randomly assigned to one of the two experimental conditions: single vs. multiple exposure. Underlining and retrospective debriefing questionnaires were employed to tap into their attentional processes. Results showed that more exposure to enhanced input promoted significantly greater noticing of the targeted structure. However, single and multiple exposure to the enhanced input did not differentially affect learners’ development of receptive knowledge or their ability to produce the target form in writing. Theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical implications are discussed, and directions for future research are proposed.