Recast In SLA And Its Implications For L2Teaching

Recast plays an important role in Second Language learning and teaching. In therecent years, many researchers paid attention to the studies on recast. For teachers,the purpose of foreign language teaching is not only in enabling learners to conveymeaning in the target language but also in making learners use it accurately. With thedeeper study about recast and L2acquisition, recast is widely used in all kinds of L2learning contexts. And at the same time, with the development of researches andstudies, a lot of problems are revealed. With controversies and problems amongthese linguists, recasts need more studies and researches.This paper mainly conducts a quantitative analysis of former researches and reviewcharacteristics and function of recast in Second language learning. According to thefollowing theories, the author makes a deep study on recast.1. Interaction Hypothesis. The process of providing recast is the same as theinteraction between language learners and teachers. In Interaction Hypothesis, itbelieves that the process of providing recast makes learners realize the wrongutterance and unknown section of the target language. Through correction andteaching, learners can develop their second language. 2. Noticing Hypothesis and Direct Contrast Hypothesis. Noticing Hypothesis putsthat noticing makes a large number of input become uptake while in Direct ContrastHypothesis, in Interaction Hypothesis, it states that language learners realize thedifferences between their wrong utterances and standard target language. Throughcorrection the level of second language will be improved.This paper aims to explore the different effects of different types of recasts on thelearning of English attributive clauses and find out the most effective one. Theauthor concludes a large number of former researches and empirical studies and listsfollowing five research questions:1. Does input with recast cause better second language development than thatwithout any feedback?2. Does recast in which the corrected items stressed lead to better second languagedevelopment?3. Does recast in which the part the teacher repeated only before the incorrect placecontribute to the second language development?4. Which kind of recast is more effective?5. Do different types of recast have different impact on different level of subjects?Which kind of recast is effective according to students’ different level?In order to answer these five questions, a series of tests and treatment includingsentence-combination and choice questions are designed in the procedure of pretest,immediate posttest and delayed posttest. Forty subjects are from No.3High Schoolin He Gang. They are divided into four groups. In group one, subjects receive no recasts. Group two receive two-word recast which includes wrong target language.And in group three teachers repeat the whole sentence and stress the incorrect part.The students in group four can not receive standard target language, the teacher justrepeat the right part and stop before incorrect item.After a series of tests and treatment are designed in the procedure of pretest,treatment, immediate posttest and delayed posttest and judging from the analysis ofthe gathered evidence, the results of the experiment are follows: there exist obviousdifferences among these four groups. Group one students don’t have any recasts sothat their scores are lower than the other three groups. And among these three groups,the scores are slightly different. Group four students have the highest scores,followed by group three and group two. In groups, for top students, the recastinvolves negotiation is most effective, and for middle level students,2or3wordsrecast and stressed recast are useful.In conclusion, recast plays an important role in the process of second languageacquisition. The recast which is provided should be enough, accurate, and proper soas to enhance student’s performance. The present study is beneficial to secondlanguage learning and teaching. Theoretically, the present research is good fordeveloping related theories of applied linguistics, and further research about recast.