An Empirical Study Of Control Of Students Attention In College English Class

For decades research on attention has been a heated issue in psycholinguisticsand SLA, but research on attention in psycholinguistics and SLA is at the startingpoint and no agreement has been achieved on any particular hypothesis and theorythough Schmidt’s Noticing Hypothesis (1990) has attracted much attention of SLAresearchers. Schmidt and Frota (1986) substantiate the hypothesis that in order toacquire communicative aspects of linguistic competence, the learner’s attention mustfirst be directed to them, causing noticing. Schmidt(1990,1994) has proposed thatnoticing, or conscious attention to the form of input, is necessary to subsequentsecond language development. A number of other researchers have also claimed animportant role for "consciousness raising" activities and a role for "focus on form" inpromoting second language development.Some SLA researchers, in order to have an insightful understanding of attention,resort to psychology, a field in which the study of attention dated back to1850s andhence tremendous findings have been achieved since then. Cognitive psychology andexperimental psychology turn out to be helpful in SLA research. Based on cognitivepsychological findings, McLaughlin has developed a model for attention andprocessing and Schmidt’s Noticing Hypothesis finds support in Tomlin&Villa’sattention model in SLA, which draws heavily from experimental psychology.Tomlin&Villa(1994) have examined the role of attention in language learningfrom the perspective of cognitive science. They hypothesize that attention is dividedinto several stages and divide attention into four components: detection, alertness,orientation, and awareness. According to their view, of these four parts, detection ofstimuli and relationships between stimuli is the one necessary element which allowsfor further processing of input whereas the other three constructs are not obligatorycomponents in the model. The key implication of Tomlin&Villa’s model of attentionin SLA is that attention can be enhanced when the three optional constructs arepresent in a language situation. Consequently, the primary application of the model tothe second language classroom is that when teachers can augment second languageinput with activities that encourage awareness, alertness, and orientation, the chances are greatly increased that learners will detect this input and use it to make hypothesesabout the language they are acquiring.McLaughlin (1987), together with his colleagues, proposes a model in whichattention plays a central and positive role in the process of acquiring a new language.They first divide SLA into incremental and gestalt learning. Incremental learning isthen subdivided into two types: controlled and automatic. As the names imply,controlled processes are capacity limited and temporary, and automatic processes arequick and routinized relatively. Although focal and peripheral attention are presentedboth in controlled and in automatic processing, most of the time, controlledprocessing requires the learner’s focal attention, and automatic processing demandsonly peripheral attention. Thus, as college English learners gain greater knowledge ofthe target language, they can use their own internal resources to "figure out" aspectsof the language. Higher level learners may be ready to benefit from focused attentionon complex structures.Presently, researches on attention in SLA are mostly theoretical, not much efforthas been made to the application of theories. The fact that few SLA researchers areteachers and professors who teach L2or FL accounts for the fervour for SLA theoriesrather than the application. The author, as a College English lecturer, under the thetheoretical framework of the two attention models introduced above, examines thefollowing questions concerning relationships of classroom instructions and students’attention: Do teachers manipulate or control students’ attention deliberately? If yes, towhat extent are teachers able to manipulate or control students’ attention? Judging bythe two attention models, do teachers manipulate and control students’ attention tofulfill the lesson objectives and tasks scientifically? What is the pedagogicalsignificance of manipulating and controlling students’ attention in SLA classroom?To answer the research questions, the author adopted Classroom InstructionObservation Questionnaire modified slightly from a questionnaire named MakingContent Comprehensible for English Learners (Sheltered Instruction ObservationProtocol). CIOQ was to investigate the degree and amount of attention students paidto the linguistic tasks of a unit in multi-day classes as teacher requires. Theassessment measurement was offered in questionnaire at a level0-4in a sequence ofincreasing intensity from not evident, vaguely evident, evident, fairly evident tohighly evident. Students were asked to score a questionnaire with20questions whileteachers were asked to score a questionnaire with26questions (the same20questions as students’ and6more solely for teachers). In addition to data analysis by SPSS anddiscussion on descriptive statistics, interviews developed the study on teacher’scontrol of students’ attention for the responsible lecturers kindly shared their opinionsand reflections on classroom instruction and its effect on students.Under the theoretical framework of McLaughlin’s model for attention andprocessing and Tomlin&Villa’s attention model, the thesis, based on researchdiscussion and interviews, reaches the following conclusion: First, teacher plays a keyrole in controlling students’ attention through various and flexible classroominstructions and by doing so teaching objectives are apt to fulfillment. Second, todistinguish between types of attention, focal or peripheral, is necessary for effectiveclassroom instruction, for not optimal amount and degree of attention is required toaccomplish all the tasks in classes. Third, peripheral focus demonstrates automaticlearning and high-level SLA students are competent learners who are more capable ofroutinizing inputs and embody better information-processing ability and henceprocess more automatically. Finally, controlled processing involves gradual masteryof items and structures through the application of general strategies of perception andproduction, which requires more focal attention.Based on the empirical study, the thesis suggests more pedagogical concern inthis field. Based on the attention models, there might be a ground that a studenttransfers his or her attention and diverges from SLA classes in that classroominstruction does not challenge his or her processing ability or fails to provide newand refreshing information in the brain. Disturbing phenomena are signs for intenseattention or not need further study and probing into the research on attention modelsis bound to benefit classroom instruction. This study has provided severalimplications in teacher’s control over students’ attention, yet more concrete strategiesare still needed. This thesis is only intended to be a beginning of a series of in-depthstudies.