| The focus of this study was on the relationship between noticing second language grammar and vocabulary items and instruction, on the one hand, and between noticing and learning, on the other. Specifically, the notion that instruction makes elements of input more salient and, therefore, more likely to be noticed and learned, was tested. Research in recognition memory using the “Remember/Know” distinction was drawn on to provide a model for testing noticing which would allow participants to report on their subjective states of awareness concerning features encountered in input. They were asked to give a “Remember” response if they recollected the experience of encountering an item previously in input, and a “Know” response if they were sure that they had encountered the item in input but had no memory of the experience of encountering it. For this dissertation, experiencing features of input which results in a Remember response in later testing is operationalized as having consciously noticed the grammar or vocabulary in input. To test the hypotheses concerning the effects of instruction on noticing and learning, Hungarian secondary school learners of English as a foreign language were either instructed in specific grammar and vocabulary items or were simply exposed to those items in input. Then, both groups' noticing of those items was tested using reading texts as input and a modified recognition memory test based on the Remember/Know distinction. Results showed that instruction produces greater noticing than exposure for both grammar and vocabulary, with effects being more durable for grammar across delayed post-testing. Vocabulary in general was shown to be easier to notice than grammar when compared both in the instructed and exposure condition. Moderate to strong correlations were found between noticing and learning for both grammar and vocabulary, though stronger effects were found for vocabulary across post-testing times. Results were also analyzed in terms of the effects of instruction on the noticing of individual structures, and of individual differences between participants in their ability to notice grammar and vocabulary in input. |
