The Effect Of Participation Pattern On Learner-initiated Attention To Form During Task-based Interaction-A Study In The Chinese EFL Context

Motivated by the Noticing Hypothesis and the Interaction Hypothesis, focus on form has been under heated discussion in recent years. Previous research suggests that learner's attention to form may be affected by factors such as learner's proficiency level (Williams, 1999; Leeser, 2004) and participation pattern (Doughty & Pica, 1986; Polley, 2007; Shehadeh, 2004). Yet, almost no research has been done to investigate whether the effect of participation pattern on learners' attention to form can be moderated by learners' proficiency level and whether participation pattern affects learners' correct solution to the linguistic problems attended to.This paper reports on a study which investigated the effects of participation pattern on learner-initiated attention to language form and learners' correct solutions to the linguistic problems attended to. To be specific, four research questions were addressed:â‘ Does participation pattern have effect on the extent of learner-initiated attention to form? If so,â‘¡Is the effect of participation pattern on the extent of learner-initiated attention to form moderated by learner's proficiency level?â‘¢Does participation pattern have effect on learners' correct solutions to linguistic problems attended to? If so,â‘£Is the effect of participation pattern on learners' correct solutions to linguistic problems attended to moderated by learner's proficiency level? Together 192 English majors representing two different proficiency levels from a normal university in Sichuan, China participated in this study. Half of the learners from each level were grouped into 24 pairs and the other half were grouped into 12 small groups of four. Together 48 pairs and 24 small groups of participants were involved in this study. Data involving both pair and small group participation patterns were collected through the same procedure for both levels using a jigsaw task. The interaction of each pair and small group was recorded with an MP3 player. 960 minutes' recordings were obtained and transcribed. A total of 385 linguistic problems were found in learners' interactions, among which, 224 problems had been attended to by learners and generated into language-related episodes (LREs). Among the 224 LREs, 156 problems were solved correctly. These figures were computed in the SPSS 14.0 program. Results showed that:â‘ Participation pattern had significant effect on the extent of learner-initiated attention to form. Learners in pairs paid more attention to form than those in small groups.â‘¡The effect of participation pattern on the extent of learner-initiated attention to form was NOT moderated by learners' proficiency level. Both juniors and freshmen working in pairs directed more attention to language form.â‘¢Participation pattern had significant effect on learners" correct solutions to linguistic problems attended to. Learners in small groups tended to solve more problems correctly than those in pairs.â‘£The effect of participation pattern on learners' correct solutions to linguistic problems attended to WAS moderated by learner's proficiency level. Juniors working in small groups could solve more problems correctly than those working in pairs. However, no significant effect of participation pattern on freshmen's correct solutions to linguistic problems was found though freshmen in small groups solved a few more problems than those in pairs. This study confirmed the previous studies which claimed that pair interaction gives more opportunities for learners to attend to language form (Doughty & Pica, 1986, Polley, 2007; Shehadeh, 2004). In addition, this study also came up with a new finding: in small groups, learners of higher proficiency performed better than those of lower proficiency in solving linguistic problems correctly. The result that pair members directed more attention to form might primarily be due to the more opportunities of talking and less face-threatening nature in pair condition. And the reason of higher proficient learners performed better in solving problems correctly than lower proficient learners might be that learners' ability in solving language problems correctly mainly depends on their proficiency.