The Effects of Pretask Planning on the Accuracy of the Relative Clauses Used by Korean ESL Learners in Their Spoken English

Abstract

Previous planning studies in second language (L2) learning have shown that planning promotes fluency and complexity, but has mixed effects on accuracy. They also show that when accuracy did increase, two other factors were concurrent in learners: focused attention and/or access to L2 input. However, few previous planning studies have yet to explicitly investigate whether these two variables do indeed positively impact the relationship between planning and accuracy. Thus, the purpose of this study was to empirically examine the influence of these variables on the accuracy of planned production of English relative clauses by employing focused tasks and L2 feedback. Twenty Korean ESL learners completed a pretest (word definition), nine focused tasks (sentence combination, picture description, and word definition) and a post-test (word definition) over 10 days in a laboratory setting. The results showed that when framed by focused tasks and L2 feedback, the planners did demonstrate improved production of the target form, while the nonplanners did not. These findings thus indicate the role of focused tasks and L2 input in facilitating planning effects on accuracy.