Comparing Second Language Learners' Attention to Form Across Tasks

Abstract

Recent literature on second language grammar pedagogy promotes the use of tasks which require learners to produce output collaboratively (e.g. Kowal & Swain, 1994; Swain & Lapkin, 1997). Yet there are relatively few studies which have investigated the nature of learners' attention to grammar on such tasks, nor how performance on such tasks compares to performance on more 'traditional' grammar tasks. This paper reports on a small-scale study which set out to compare the performance of adult ESL learners of intermediate second language proficiency on four tasks: multiple choice, rational deletion (cloze), text reconstruction and composition. Each task was completed collaboratively. The data collected included student pair talk on the collaborative tasks, individual student retrospections and the researcher's observations notes. Data from the collaborative tasks were analysed for the quantity and nature of attention to grammatical choices each task generated. Learner attention to grammatical forms varied in quantitative terms across tasks and within task types. Furthermore, there were variations in the amount of articulated reflection on grammatical choices, with the least found in the cloze task and the most in the text reconstruction task.