Jump to content

Focus on form

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Mr. Stradivarius (talk | contribs) at 14:47, 23 November 2011 (−Category:Language acquisition; +Category:Second-language acquisition using HotCat). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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

The concept of focus on form was motivated by the lack of support for the efficacy of focus on formS on the one hand, and clear advantages demonstrated by instructed language learning over uninstructed learning on the other.[1] The research conflicting with focus on formS has been wide-ranging;[4] learners typically acquire language features in sequences, not all at once,[5] and most of the stages the learners' interlanguages pass through will exhibit non-native-like language forms.[6] Furthermore, the progression of these stages is not clean; learners may use language features correctly in some situations but not in others,[7] or they may exhibit U-shaped learning, in which native-like use may temporarily revert to non-native-like use.[8] None of these findings sit well with the idea that students will learn exactly what you teach them, when you teach it.[4]

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.[9][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.[10] However, in a review of the literature comparing instructed with uninstructed language learning, Long found a clear advantage for instructed learning in both the rate of learning and the ultimate level reached.[1] An important finding that supported Long's view came from French language immersion programs in Canada; even after 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.[11]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Long 1991. This paper was originally presented at the European-North-American Symposium on Needed Research in Foreign Language Education, Bellagio, Italy, in 1988.
  2. ^ The capital S is intentional, and is widely used in second language acquisition literature to more readily distinguish it from focus on form.
  3. ^ Doughty & Williams 1998, p. 4.
  4. ^ a b Long & Robinson 1998, pp. 16–17.
  5. ^ For review, see e.g. Gass & Selinker (2008, pp. 126–135).
  6. ^ Andersen 1984, Huebner 1983.
  7. ^ Pica 1983, Young 1988.
  8. ^ Kellerman 1985.
  9. ^ Krashen 1981.
  10. ^ Krashen 2004
  11. ^ Swain 1991.

References

  • Andersen, Roger (1984). "What's gender good for, anyway?". In Andersen, Roger (ed.). Second languages: a cross-linguistic perspective. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. pp. 77–99. ISBN 978-0-883-77440-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Doughty, Catherine; Williams, Jessica, eds. (1998). Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62390-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Gass, Susan; Selinker, Larry (2008). Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course. New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-805-85497-8. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1017/S0272263100000280, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1017/S0272263100000280 instead.
  • Kellerman, Eric (1985). "Input and second language acquisition theory". In Gass, Susan; Madden, Carolyn (eds.). Input in second language acquisition. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. pp. 345–353. ISBN 978-0-883-77284-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Krashen, Stephen (1981). Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. New York: Pergamon Press. ISBN 0080253385. Retrieved 2011-02-28. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Krashen, Stephen (2004). The Power of Reading, Second Edition. Littleton: Libraries Unlimited. ISBN 978-1-591-58169-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Long, Michael (1991). "Focus on form: A design feature in language teaching methodology". In De Bot, Kees; Ginsberg, Ralph; Kramsch, Claire (eds.). Foreign language research in cross-cultural perspective. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. pp. 39–52. ISBN 978-1-556-19345-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Long, Michael; Robinson, Peter (1998). "Focus on form: Theory, research and practice". In Doughty, Catherine; Williams, Jessica (eds.). Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 15–41. ISBN 978-0-521-62390-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1983.tb00945.x, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1111/j.1467-1770.1983.tb00945.x instead.
  • Swain, Merrill (1991). "French immersion and its offshoots: Getting two for one". In Freed, Barbara (ed.). Foreign language acquisition research and the classroom. Lexington, MA: Heath. pp. 91–103. ISBN 978-0-669-24263-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1017/S0272263100007464, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1017/S0272263100007464 instead.


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Focus_on_form&oldid=462108735"