Abstract
During the past decades, the distinction between implicit and explicit knowledge and how they could be developed through instruction have always been controversial issues for cognitive psychologists and second language acquisition (SLA) researchers. The present study was aimed at investigating the effects of two different input-based tasks (Structured Input and Consciousness Raising) on the acquisition of implicit and explicit knowledge of English active causative structure by EFL learners. Seventy three female English language learners participated in this study. Participants were divided into two experimental groups, one was provided with structured input activities and the other with consciousness raising activities. The participants’ implicit and explicit knowledge of the target structure was assessed through Timed Grammaticality Judgment and Untimed Grammaticality Judgment respectively before and after the treatment. The results of Paired and Independent Samples t-test analyses revealed that both C-R tasks and SI tasks resulted in the acquisition of both implicit and explicit knowledge, with C-R having more significant impact on the explicit knowledge. The findings provided indirect positive support for the interface hypothesis.
Highlights
It is commonly agreed that explicit and implicit knowledge exist separately
The present study was aimed at investigating the effects of two different input-based tasks (Structured Input and Consciousness Raising) on the acquisition of implicit and explicit knowledge of English active causative structure by EFL learners
Offering a new approach in teaching grammar which significantly affected the domain of acquisition in terms of implicit and explicit knowledge has always been full of challenges
Summary
It is commonly agreed that explicit and implicit knowledge exist separately. Yet, there is noticeable dispute over the relationship between the two, with respect to the role of instruction in the process of their acquisition (DeKeyser, 2003). A variety of tasks, including consciousness-raising and structured input tasks, have been used to develop these two types of knowledge in the learners. Structure-based production tasks, enriched input tasks, and interpretation tasks are aimed at promoting implicit learning, whereas C-R tasks are designed to promote explicit learning. That is, they are used to develop awareness at the level of understanding rather than awareness at the level of noticing. On the other hand, Ellis (2008) states structured input (SI) tasks are a type of processing instruction whose aim is to develop implicit knowledge. There are two kinds of structured input activities: (a) referential SI, in which the learner I pushed to attend to or even rely on form or structure to get meaning; (b) affective SI, which allows the learner to express an opinion or a belief and be engaged in processing information about the real world, but not necessarily to get meaning from the target feature (Wong, 2004)
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