The Function Of 'Noticing' In The Teaching Of College English Writing: A Study Based On The Analysis Of Morphological Errors

Noticing, as a controversial term in cognitive psychology and second language acquisition (SLA), has been discussed for many years. The concept of noticing and related terms, such as consciousness, awareness, and attention are vague and difficult to differentiate, because one's concept always entails the others'. Although different researchers have tried to express their understanding in these terms, there is still no agreement about them. However, the concept about "noticing" made by Schmidt is commonly accepted.Besides, there is still no consensus on the role of noticing in SLA. According to Krashen's acquisition theory (1985), language acquisition takes place subconsciously. That is, acquisition is a sub-conscious process of 'picking up' a language through exposure. In light of Krashen's belief, Schmidt proposes Noticing Hypothesis in 1990, that is, subliminal language learning is impossible and noticing is the necessary and sufficient condition for converting input to intake. Since then, a warm debate arises in the field of applied linguistics. Some researchers and linguists admit the crucial role of noticing in language teaching and learning, like Leow (1997), Robinson (1995), Ellis (1994), Frota (1986), and Fotos (1993) and so on, who all express their supportive opinions theoretically and experimentally. And Thornbury (1997) even points out two methods: Reformation and Reconstruction to raise learners' consciousness in language learning and help them notice the language features. On the contrary, Tomlin and Villa (1994) are on the other side of the opinion. They claim that awareness is not necessary in language learning, and acquisition is in part conscious and in part subconscious through their research in this dimension.Many researches about Noticing have been implemented in the aspects of grammar, phonology, listening and so on. The emphasis of this study is narrowed down and put on one point of grammar errors, that is, Morphological errors, which often appear in college English writings, based on the author's observation to students' writings. From this point of view, the focus of this study is to testify Schmidt's Noticing Hypothesis, and the author tries to validate the crucial role of noticing. So the two research questions...