A Study Of The Effects Of Oral Output On Noticing Of Linguistic Forms

With the popularity of communicative language teaching approach, some second language (L2) researchers and language practitioners seem to put much emphasis on communication of meaning in classroom teaching. Nobody will deny that the adoption of communicative approach has indeed improved, to a certain extent, the effectiveness of second language learning (SLL). However, there is accumulating evidence that L2 learners fail to achieve high levels of grammatical accuracy. Thus, a question brought forth is how to draw learners'attention to form. In the noticing function of the output hypothesis, Swain (1993) claims that the production of the target language may prompt second language learners to consciously recognize some of their linguistic problems and may make them aware of something they have to find out about their L2. Accordingly, acquisition or learning may occur.By comparing the effects of output and non-output tasks, the present empirical study investigates whether aural/oral mode has a positive impact on noticing and L2 learners'acquisition of the past hypothetical conditionals. The general research question of the study is:Do oral output activities promote the participants'noticing of the linguistic form in the subsequent input and result in their improved oral production of the target form?The present study was conducted among 50 second-year non-English majors from the School of Business of Soochow University. With qualitative and quantitative research methods employed, the empirical study examined the noticing function of output. The quantitative data were collected from 4 tests, note-taking scores for all participants and output scores for the experimental-group. Meanwhile, the data collected from open-ended questionnaires and interviews have been analyzed qualitatively. The major findings can be summarized as follows:1. Although the results achieved from the analysis of note-taking data demonstrated no significant differences between the two groups, the data from interviews and questionnaires revealed that the experimental-group (EG), being pushed to produce...