Research On How Input Enhancement And Output Affect Chinese Foreign Language Learning

It is commonly acknowledged that attention plays an indispensable role in language learning.How to draw learners' attention to linguistic forms has always been a hot topic in the research of foreign language teaching.In most of the previous studies on attention,researchers explore how learners attend to linguistic forms from two sides: input enhancement and output.Given that English present participle clause has been one of the difficult grammatical items in Chinese foreign language learning,the current research,taking English present participle clause as the target form,aims to explore the effects of the two devices in combination and in isolation on the learning of the target form by Chinese high school freshmen.Three questions are included in the research:(1)Does input enhancement facilitate learners' noticing or learning of the target form?(2)Does output facilitate learners' noticing or learning of the target form?(3)Do input enhancement and output in combination have an advantage over them in isolation in facilitating learners' noticing or learning of the target form?The current research,adapting from Izumi's experiment(2002),adopts qualitative and quantitative methods which include a pretest,four treatments,an immediate posttest,an interview and a delayed posttest.Different from Izumi's research(2002),the present study chooses the subjects with little prior knowledge and targets the linguistic form few researchers have investigated.Besides,a delayed posttest is designed for examining the delaying effect of input enhancement and output.There are three experimental groups and one control group in the present study.They are +IE+O group,-IE+O group,+IE-O group and-IE-O group.The major findings are as follows:(1)Input enhancement can lead learners to notice the target form.In terms of the target form of high communicative value,input enhancement combined with output has little effect on the noticing of the target form.Besides,input enhancement alone contributes little to learning the target form.(2)Output can guide learners to attend to the target form.However,output alone can't well make learners focus on the target form since their attentional resources are easily distracted.In addition,feedback can assist learners in testing their hypothesesabout the target form.(3)Input enhancement and output in combination impel learners to conduct further analysis of the target rule and induce a deep awareness of the target form.Besides,the combined effects of the two devices enhance learners' awareness of the target forms of low communicative value,prompting learners to learn the target forms.Input enhancement combined with output also has an advantage over them in isolation in the learning of the target form.(4)Input enhancement and output have a certain delaying effect.(5)Attention is necessary but insufficient for learning a target form.Attention isn't equated with learning.Deep level of noticing leads to learning more easily.In addition,the current study also has some pedagogical implications for Chinese foreign language teaching.Input enhancement and output contribute to learning the target forms of low communicative value.It is necessary for teachers to attach importance to the role of feedback after output in language learning and to put emphasis on task characteristics,task demands and rehearsal which affect attention.