Mother Tongue Integration into Focus-on-Form Instruction: A Case of Writing Accuracy at the Sentence Level
الموضوعات : Research in English Language PedagogyNargess Nourizadeh 1 , Amir Valadi 2
1 - Department of English language and literature, Faculty of humanities, Lorestan university
2 - Ministry of Education
الکلمات المفتاحية: FonF instruction, Mother tongue-mediated FonF instruction, mother tongue,
ملخص المقالة :
According to option-based conceptualizations of Focus on Form instruction (FonF), put forward by Ellis (2012), in EFL contexts employing mother tongue can be a viable option to be embedded in FonF instruction. This study investigated the use of the mother tongue in FonF instruction and its possible effect on language learners’ written performance. To this end, 100 language learners at elementary and intermediate levels of proficiency, in four groups of 25, participated in this study. Two experimental groups received four FonF instructive sessions mediated by their mother tongue, and for the other groups, no L1 use was allowed. After the instruction, the participants were required to take tests in which the intended grammatical structures were supposed to be produced in a written format. The results showed that the learners receiving the L1-mediated instruction outperformed their counterparts. The findings were discussed psycho-linguistic factors involved in language data processing, and they can be useful to language teachers in the EFL contexts regarding making decisions about using L1 in L2 language teaching contexts.
Bandar, F. & Gorjian, B. (2017). Teaching Grammar to EFL Learners through Focusingon Form and Meaning. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Learning, 3(4), 88-96.
Bolton, D. & Goodey, N. (1997). Grammar practice in context. London: Richmond Publishing.
Bruen, J. & Kelly, N. (2014). Using a shared L1 to reduce cognitive overload and anxiety levels in the L2 classroom. Language Learning Journal, 45(3), 368-381.
Cook, V. (2001). Using the first language in the classroom. Canadian Modern Review, 57(3), 402-423.
Cook, V. J. (2002). Language teaching methodology and the L2 user perspective. In V.Cook (Eds.), Portraits of the L2 user (pp. 325–343). Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
Ellis, R. (2012). Language teaching research and language pedagogy. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Ellis, R. (2015). Understanding second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (2016). Focus on form: a critical review. Language Teaching Research, 20(3), 405-428.
Fan, Y. & Xu, J. (2020). Exploring student engagement with peer feedback on L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 50, 1-13.
Fowler, F. J. Jr., (2013). Survey research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Hall, G. (2011). Exploring English language teaching. New York: Routledge.
Hall, G. & Cook, G. (2012). Own-language use in language teaching and learning. Language Teaching, 45(03), 271-308.
Harun, H., Massari, N., & Behak, F. P. (2013). Use of L1 as a mediational tool for understanding tense/aspect marking in English: An application of Concept-Based Instruction. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 134, 134-139.
Kellem, K. & Halvorsen, A. (2018). Understanding and utilizing form-focused instruction in the language classroom. TESOL Journal, 35, 27-35.
Kellogg, R. T. (2001). Competition for working memory among writing processes. The American Journal of Psychology, 114(2), 175-191.
Krashen, S. (1985). The input hypothesis: Issues and implications. Harlaw: Longman.
Kumaravadivelu, B. (2006). Understanding language teaching. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Levelt, W.J.M. (1989). Speaking: From intention to articulation. Cambridge, MA; MIT Press.
Long, M. (1991). Focus on Form: A Design Feature in Language Teaching Methodology. In K. De Bot, R. Ginsberg, & C. Kramsch (Eds.), Foreign Language Research in Cross-Cultural Perspectives (pp. 39-52). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Mouhanna, M. (2009). Re-examining the role of L1 in the EFL classroom. UGRU Journal, 8, 1-19.
Nakatsukasa, K. & Loewen, S. (2015). A teacher’s first language use in form-focused episodes in Spanish as a foreign language classroom. Language Teaching Research, 19(2), 133 –149.
Norris, J. & Ortega, L. (2000). Effectiveness of L2 instruction: A research synthesis and quantitative meta-analysis. Language learning, 50(3), 417–528.
Oppenheim, N. (2000). The importance of recurring sequences for nonnative speaker fluency and cognition. In Perspectives on Fluency, H. Riggenbach (ed.), 220-240. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Rahimpour, M., Salimi, A. & Farrokhi, F. (2012). The effect of intensive and extensive focus on form on EFL learners’ written accuracy. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(11), 2277-2283.
Salimi, A., Bonyadi, A., & Asghari. A. (2014). The effect of focus on form on EFL learners’
written task accuracy across different proficiency levels. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 4(4), 829-838
Schmidt, R. (1990). The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 11(2), 129-158.
Schmidt, R. (2001). Attention. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition and second language instruction (pp. 3-32). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Segalowitz, N. (2003).Automaticity and second languages. InC. Doughty and M. Long (Eds.), The Handbook of second language acquisition (pp.382-408).Oxford: Blackwell Publishers
Shobeiry, M. (2020). The effects of form-focused and content-focused feedbacks on writing improvement of online EFL learners. Journal of Critical Reviews, 7(17), 3548-3553.
Widdowson, H. (2003). Defining issues in English language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zhang, M. (2018). Collaborative writing in the EFL classroom: The effects of L1 and L2 use. System, 76, 1-12,
