Study On Learner Uptake Of Incidental Focus On Form In Teacher-Learner And Learner-Learner Interaction

As planned focus on form proliferates in the second language research field,incidental focus on form has received limited investigation. Compared with plannedfocus on form, incidental focus on form makes better use of learning opportunitiesoccurring spontaneously in class and promotes better L2acquisition. The effectivenessof incidental focus on form can be evaluated by uptake. Uptake is learners’ response toteacher’s feedback. The modified output produced after learners’ uptake promoteslearners’ understanding towards their interlanguage, and helps learners reconstruct theirlanguage, thus facilitates L2acquisition. It is significant to explore learners’ uptake ofincidental focus on form in both teacher-learner (T-L) and learner-learner (L-L)interaction. This study investigates the frequency of occurrence of uptake of incidentalfocus on form in T-L and L-L interaction of meaning focused classrooms. In addition, italso investigates corrective feedback types, as well as the effects of different feedbacktypes on uptake. The study aims to analyze the effects of two interactional patterns onthe effectiveness of incidental focus on form and explore the different effects of twointeractional patterns on learners’ L2acquisition in the context of Chinese classrooms.The study was conducted in Chongqing University. It observed4oral Englishclasses with4teachers and120English major junior students as participants. The resultshows that uptake of incidental focus on form exists in both T-L and L-L interactions. InT-L interaction,65.6%of incidental focus on form leads to uptake, while in L-Linteraction,46.1%of incidental focus on form results in uptake. In T-L interaction,clarification request yieldes highest rate of uptake (85.7%). Translation results in nouptake at all. As for L-L interaction, the highest rate of uptake occurs in repetition,which is58.9%. Recasts leads to the least amount of uptake (31.6%).To sum up, there are fewer uptakes in L-L interaction than that in T-L interaction.In L-L interaction, nearly half of incidental focus on form does not lead to uptake.Despite of this, uptake does exist and facilitate learners’ L2acquisition in both patterns.In T-L interaction, teacher can adopt feedback like recasts to respond to learner. Whilein L-L interaction, other learners can adopt feedback like “repetition” to help their peersimprove the language.