MMDG III-17 BSE ENGLISH

LAST TIME:

We discussed about TEXTUAL ENHANCEMENT as a tool to focus

on grammar in communicative

context…

This approach was concerned with raising learners’ attention to

grammatical forms by making target forms perceptually more salient through typographical

manipulation of certain aspects of the input.

TODAY:

We will discuss

This approach is based on an interactionist perspective to SLA

and the assumption that negotiated interaction (i.e., interactional

modifications made in the course of conversation) is essential for

language acquisition.

How? Through:

clarification requests,

confirmation checks,

repetition,

recasts, etc.,

(e.g., Gass, 2003; Gass&Varonis, 1994; Long, 1991, 1996; Pica, 1994, 1998).

Corrective feedback refers to utterances that indicate to the learner that his or her output is erroneous in some way (Lightbown&Spada, 1999). Also called negative

evidence

In order to learn language, children rely mainly on some innate principles, or what is called

(e.g., Chomsky, 1965).

L1-based studies have provided strong evidence that negative feedback exists in child–parent interactions and that it contributes to L1 development (see Mitchell & Myles,

2004, for a review).

L2 acquisition, researchers have argued that similar innate principles to those suggested to be available to L1 learners are also available fully or partially to L2 learners and that L2 learners do not need negative evidence,

or if they do, it is only in rare cases where positive evidence is not enough to trigger the UG principles (e.g., Flynn, 1996; Schwartz,

1993).

However, although such a perspective exists in the field of L2 acquisition, the majority of SLA researchers believe that L2 learning is different from child L1 learning, and that adult L2 learners cannot develop native-like accuracy simply on the basis of exposure to positive evidence or models of grammatical input

(e.g., Carroll & Swain, 1993; DeKeyser, 1998; Doughty & Long, 2003; R. Ellis, 2001a; R. Ellis, Loewen, &Erlam, 2006; Mackey, Oliver, &Leeman, 2003; Pica, 2002).

Therefore, L2 learners need both negative and positive feedback in order to acquire an L2 successfully.