The Frequency Effects On The Learning Of Non-finite Verbs

Since 2002 when Professor Nick Ellis published the essay Frequency effects in Language Processing, more attention has been drawn back to the frequency effect. On the basis of input frequency theories and previous empirical studies, this paper aims to investigate the frequency effect on EFL learners’ learning of non-finite verbs.Furthermore, it analyzed the frequency effects under two different modes including verbatim repetition and varied repetition.Two groups of 24 sophomore students from Shanghai Normal University took part in the study. Group one received verbatim repetition without teacher’s instruction while group two received varied repetition under teacher’s instruction. Their scores were submitted to SPSS for analysis. For better interpretation of the results, four students from each class were invented to have interviews after every test.Data analysis yielded the following results. First, task frequency had positive effects on the learning of non-finite verbs. Second, two modes of task frequency including verbatim repetition and varied repetition have different effects on EFL leaners’ acquisition of non-finite verbs. Varied helped learners more than verbatim repetition in terms of the learning of non-finite verbs. Third, vast majority of the students deem that teachers’ moderate instruction is conductive to their learning.Based on these findings, it is hoped that this study can provide practical implications for teachers to appropriately integrate the frequency effect into the non-finite verbs teaching.