Focus on form
Focus on form (or FonF) is a concept in second language acquisition and language education, proposed by Michael Long,[1] in which, in the context of a communicative interaction, the attention of learners learning a second language is drawn to the form of specific language features. It is contrasted with focus on formS,[2] which is limited solely to the explicit focus on language features, and focus on meaning, which is limited to focus on meaning with no attention paid to form at all. For a teaching intervention to qualify as focus on form and not as focus on formS, the learner must be aware of the meaning and use of the language features before the form is brought to their attention.[3]
Motivation
Interest arose in the concept of focus on form, in part, due to studies that suggested that some linguistic features are not fully acquired by learners if instruction is solely focused on meaning.[4] Research has not shown support for teaching approaches solely focused on form;[5] learners typically acquire language features in sequences, not all at once,[6] and most of the stages the learners' interlanguages pass through will exhibit non-native-like language forms.[7] Furthermore, the progression of these stages is not clean; learners may use language features correctly in some situations but not in others,[8] or they may exhibit U-shaped learning, in which native-like use may temporarily revert to non-native-like use.[9] None of these findings sit well with the idea that students will learn exactly what you teach them.[5]
Teaching approaches based on focus on meaning have enjoyed more support in the second language acquisition literature than those based on focus on formS. In particular, in his Input Hypothesis, Krashen proposed that all that was needed to learn a second language was massive exposure to comprehensible language input.[10][page needed] The importance of language input has been backed up by studies linking language level to time spent in the country where it is spoken,[citation needed] and by studies on extensive reading.[11] However, an important conflicting finding came from French language immersion programs in Canada; even after the students had years of meaning-focused lessons filled with comprehensible input, their spoken language remained far from native-like, with many grammatical errors. This is despite the fact that they could speak fluently and had native-like listening abilities.[12]
Notes
- ^ Long 1988, Long 1991.
- ^ The capital S is intentional, and is widely used in second language acquisition literature to more readily distinguish it from focus on form.
- ^ Doughty & Williams 1998, p. 4.
- ^ Doughty & Williams 1998, p. 2.
- ^ a b Long & Robinson 1998, p. 16-17.
- ^ For review, see e.g. Gass & Selinker (2008, pp. 126–135).
- ^ Anderson 1984, Huebner 1983.
- ^ Pica 1983, Young 1988.
- ^ Kellerman 1985.
- ^ Krashen 1981.
- ^ Krashen 2003
- ^ Swain 1991.