30.4389, Review: Applied Linguistics; Language Acquisition: DeKeyser, Prieto Botana (2019)
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LINGUIST List: Vol-30-4389. Tue Nov 19 2019. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.
Subject: 30.4389, Review: Applied Linguistics; Language Acquisition: DeKeyser, Prieto Botana (2019)
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Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2019 14:13:14
From: Ozge Guney [ozgeguney at mail.usf.edu]
Subject: Doing SLA Research with Implications for the Classroom
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/30/30-1975.html
EDITOR: Robert M. DeKeyser
EDITOR: Goretti Prieto Botana
TITLE: Doing SLA Research with Implications for the Classroom
SUBTITLE: Reconciling methodological demands and pedagogical applicability
SERIES TITLE: Language Learning & Language Teaching 52
PUBLISHER: John Benjamins
YEAR: 2019
REVIEWER: Ozge Guney, University of South Florida
SUMMARY
Chapter 1: Current Research on instructed second language learning: A bird’s
eye view
This edited book presents a collection of empirical studies, classroom
observational studies, and laboratory experiments on instructed second
language acquisition (ISLA) with pedagogical implications for actual language
classrooms. The studies were conducted in the U.S., Canada, Chile, and Japan,
and the second language (L2) was English, Spanish, and French. The last
chapter by Nina Spada offers an overall discussion of the preceding chapters
and their contribution toISLA.
Chapter 2 Observing language-related episodes in intact classrooms: Context
matters!
This observational study aimed to explore (i) the type, frequency,
characteristics, and resolution of language related episodes (LREs) and (ii)
contextual factors that influence the LREs during communicative activities.
The data consist of field notes, task materials, informal interviews with
teachers, and 607 LREs audio-recorded in three intact classes in Quebec with
87 twelve-year-old intermediate level English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
students. Seventeen different tasks were observed in 11 periods that lasted
60-90 minutes each. The corpus included 310, 931 words that spanned 55 hours
of interaction. The findings revealed that the frequency of LREs varied widely
from every 2 minutes to every 36 minutes depending on the task. As for the
characteristics of LREs, the initiator was mostly students (64%) followed by
peers (32%) and teachers (4%). Most LREs focused on vocabulary features (80%)
followed by grammar (14%) and pronunciation (6%). Also, the participants were
able to resolve most of the language issues themselves (80%) without getting
any help from the teacher- especially in student-centered classes. As for
contextual factors, different teachers’ pedagogical approaches and students’
familiarity with one another respectively influenced what language features
students focused on and who initiated the LREs.
Chapter 3 Methodological strengths, challenges, and joys of classroom-based
quasi-experimental research: Metacognitive instruction and corrective feedback
This study aimed to investigate how metacognitive instruction (MI) about the
importance of corrective feedback (CF) affected the way learners benefited
from CF. There were four intact EFL groups (B1 level) exposed to one of the
following conditions: (i) MI plus input-providing CF (recast), (ii)
input-providing CF only, (iii) MI plus output-prompting CF (learners’
self-correction), and (iv) output-prompting CF only.
The data were collected from 83 L1 Spanish learners at a private university in
Chile. There were two target structures: third person singular -s (3SG -s) and
possessive determiners (PDs). Picture description tasks were employed before
and after the intervention to elicit the target structures. The findings
showed that the scores of learners in three groups other than input-providing
CF only improved significantly, meaning MI and output-prompting CF promote the
development of both 3SG -s and PDs. Also, the positive effect of MI was
visible particularly for input-providing CF. MI did not have a positive effect
on output-prompting CF for target structures. The study suggests that, as
input-providing CF promoted target structures only when it was introduced
through MI, teacher training of CF (i.e., frequency and employing the right
type of CF in different contexts) for pre- and in-service teachers is of
paramount importance.
Chapter 4 Integrating instructed second language research, pragmatics, and
corpus-based instruction
This quasi-experimental study aimed to compare two different types of
corpus-based classroom instruction on teaching pragmatics (more specifically
agreement, disagreement, and self-clarification) in eight EFL classrooms
(Level 5) with 54 participants. There were two experimental groups and one
control group. The first experimental group included corpus materials (CM)
developed by teacher-researchers using authentic data from MICASE (Michigan
Corpus of Academic Spoken English). In the second experimental group, students
did hands-on corpus searches (CS) using MICASE. The data were collected
through a pre-test, a post-test, and finally a questionnaire. The results
showed that all groups improved their scores in the post-tests; however, the
control group scored lower than both of the experimental groups. Thus,
teachers may enhance their instruction benefiting from the authentic data from
corpora and incorporating CM and CS exercises in their classes in the most
appropriate way based on the context and the level of students.
Chapter 5 The roles of explicit instruction and guided practice in the
proceduralization of a complex grammatical structure
This experimental study aimed to compare the effects of metalinguistic
explanation (ME) and a guided story reconstruction (SR) task on the
acquisition of English past counterfactual conditional. The study adopted
skill-learning theory where the teacher first provides learners with
metalinguistic information and then controlled exercises which are followed by
the production stage/communicative activities. The participants (n= 121) were
economics majors at a Japanese university and their level varied from low to
intermediate. The students were randomly assigned to one of the following four
groups: (i) ME+SR task, (ii) SR only, (iii) ME only, and (iv) a control
group. The experimental groups participated in seven sessions which took place
in a computer laboratory. The data were collected through Error Correction
tests and SR tasks applied both before and after the treatment. The overall
findings of the study revealed that ME+ SR task condition was the most
influential followed by the ME only and the SR only condition. There was no
significant improvement with the control group. The study suggests that
explicit instruction is helpful when combined with productive practices
particularly with low proficiency learners.
Chapter 6 The effects of recasts versus prompts on immediate uptake and
learning of a complex target structure
This experimental study aimed to compare the effects of recasts and prompts on
the acquisition of relative clauses when there is no explicit instruction
before the treatment. The participants were 54 low- and high- ESL students in
Canada who were randomly assigned to one of the following groups: (i) recast,
(ii) prompt, (iii) control group. The treatment, pre- and post-tests all
included similar picture-cued oral production tasks and took place outside the
classroom. The findings showed that learners who received recasts scored
higher than the prompt group. Also, there was no significant difference
between the prompt and the control group. The study thus suggests that
classroom instruction may be facilitated through the use of recasts by the
instructor.
Chapter 7 The effects of multiple exposures to explicit information: Evidence
from two types of learning problems and practice conditions
This experimental study aimed to compare the effects of multiple versus no
exposure to explicit information (EI) under two practice conditions:
task-essential (TE) and non-task-essential practice conditions. The target
structures were OVS (object, Verb, Subject) sentences and ser/estar structures
in Spanish and were assessed through pre- and post-tests. There were four
experimental groups (-EI, -TE; -EI, +TE; +EI, -TE; and +EI, +TE) and one
control group. One hundred and thirty participants were randomly assigned to
these groups and attended sessions either in a regular classroom or a computer
lab. The overall scores revealed that for OVS sentences, [+EI] groups
outperformed [-EI] groups irrespective of TE. For ser/estar structures, only
[+TE] and only [+EI] groups led to significant gains. The research suggests
that explicit deductive information enhances language learning and thus should
be a part of classroom instruction.
Chapter 8 CALL in ISLA Promoting depth of processing of complex L2 Spanish
“Para/Por” prepositions
This study compares the effects of two versions of a videogame (one with
guided induction (GI) the other one with deductive instruction (DI)) on the
acquisition of 10 uses of Spanish prepositions para and por. The participants
(n=15) had no or little prior knowledge of the prepositions and were assigned
to two experimental groups: the GI group (n=7) and the DI group (n=8). Pre-
and post-test scores pointed to a significant improvement in recognition and
control written production of the two prepositions for both GI and DI groups
with no statistically significant difference between these two. The study
hence suggests that hybrid curricula could be created in a way to incorporate
CALL in classroom instruction.
Chapter 9 Lexical development in the writing of intensive English program
students
This study investigated the lexical development (diversity and sophistication)
of 61 IEP (Intensive English Program) students at an American university over
two semesters. The researchers compared free writing samples of this group
with previous data from a more controlled context. The participants started at
intermediate level and came from three different language backgrounds: Arabic,
Korean, and Chinese. The results indicated an improvement in only
sophistication levels of the participants. Also, there was a positive
correlation between the proficiency levels and the lexical development of the
participants. Researchers, thus, suggested that a metric of lexical quality be
developed in addition to lexical diversity and sophistication.
Chapter 10 Discussion: Balancing methodological rigor and pedagogical
relevance
Research presented in this book challenges the common conceptions on
experimental and descriptive research suggesting the former lacks classroom
applications and the latter lacks external validity (generalizability).
Rather, the experimental studies in this volume may be replicated in regular
classrooms. As for descriptive research, it may provide a foundation for
prospective experimental studies, and after all, “the concept of
generalizability may not be a feasible or desirable goal in ISLA research” (p.
213).
EVALUATION
The book aimed to bridge the so-called gap between SLA (Second Language
Acquisition) research (theory) and classroom pedagogy (practice). With the
empirical studies conducted in either actual classrooms or computer labs by
teacher-researchers, the book offers a wide range of ideas and pedagogical
implications related to textbook and material development; instructional
tasks, activities, and exercises in speaking, writing, vocabulary, and
grammar; feedback and error correction, and finally the use of technology and
computers in the language classroom. Hence, the book has proven to be an
invaluable source for practitioners, language teachers, curriculum and
material developers as well as the directors of language programs.
Additionally, in every chapter of the book, researchers paid particular
attention to defining the stages of their study in detail such as research
design, participants, setting, instruments, item construction, material and
activity development, and methodological challenges and advantages of
particular research designs. Such comprehensive description not only makes it
possible for the other researchers in the field to replicate the studies in
this edited volume but also serves as a guide for undergraduate and graduate
students doing SLA research with all the take-away points addressed in each
chapter.
Last but not least, each chapter addresses a different issue in a different
context with different participants coming from a variety of backgrounds. The
target languages include Spanish, English, and Japanese; and the setting
varies from USA, Canada, Japan to Chile. In this respect, the book offers
insights into SLA and classroom instruction for a wide variety of readers.
Having said that, there are some side issues that might be worth considering.
First of all, most of the chapters present experimental research, and there
were some limitations relating to their methodology. For example, in most of
the chapters, researchers do not give information about the piloting stage of
the instruments (except for Chapter 6). Also, in some other chapters (e.g.,
Chapter 4 (n=54) and Chapter 8 (n=15)), the sample size might be too small to
run a statistical test or to reach a generalization, whereby such a small
sample size might also cause validity issues. Finally, some chapters need to
be complemented with qualitative data, which only Chapter 8 offers. Some
research topics covered in this edited book such as LREs in Chapter 2 lend
themselves towards qualitative research as well. However, although the
researchers in Chapter 2 stated they conducted an observational/descriptive
study with data collected through observation, field notes, and informal
interviews, such qualitative data were not offered in the chapter itself.
On a final note, there is no doubt that this edited book flourishing with
research ideas from a variety of contexts will attract and inform its readers
with the actual classroom applications it offers.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Ozge Guney is a Ph.D. student in Linguistics and Applied Language Studies
program, University of South Florida. Her research interests include identity
and issues of social justice with a focus on sexuality and religion in the
fields of Second Language Acquisition and English Language Teaching.
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