The effect of input modes and number of exposures on the learning of L2 binomials

Sara Alotaibi,Ana Pellicer-Sánchez,Kathy Conklin

doi:10.1075/itl.21001.alo

Abstract

Abstract Despite the importance of mastering different types of formulaic sequences in a second language, little is known about the relative effect of different input modes on their acquisition. This study explores the learning of a particular type of formulaic language (binomials) in three input modes (reading-only, listening-only, and reading-while-listening) at different frequencies of exposure (2, 4, 5 and 6 occurrences). Arabic learners of English were presented with three stories, each in a different mode, that contained novel binomials (e.g., wires and pipes) and existing binomials (e.g., brother and sister). Two post-tests (multiple-choice and familiarity ratings) assessed learners’ knowledge of the binomials. Results showed that reading-only and reading-while-listening led to better performance on the tasks than listening-only. Frequency of exposure had an effect on the perceived familiarity of binomials.

Highlights

Multi-word sequences (MWSs) – referred to as ‘formulaic language’ (Wray, 2002) – are recurring patterns consisting of multiple words
The present study examined whether L2 learners could incidentally acquire new binomials in three different input modes and compared performance on novel binomials to existing binomials
To address the gaps in the literature, the present study examined the effect of three input modalities on the incidental acquisition of an under-researched type of MWS, binomials

Summary

Introduction

Multi-word sequences (MWSs) – referred to as ‘formulaic language’ (Wray, 2002) – are recurring patterns consisting of multiple words. Szudarski and Carter (2014) investigated L2 learners' acquisition of infrequent verb-noun (e.g., take a swipe) and adjective-noun (e.g., quick retort) collocations in two conditions: reading-only and reading with target words underlined. They found that reading a story with underlined collocations lead to significant gains in their form recall and recognition, but that reading-only did not

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion