| This thesis investigated fossilization and the role of attention in adults second language learning. The questions asked were (1) whether attention to speech prevents stabilized learners from repeating non-target-like forms in their speech, (2) whether there are differences between subjects in terms of ability to improve accuracy, and (3) whether between-subject differences in their ability to improve can be related to their attitude towards acculturation and the degree of motivation to use English. Three adult learners of English, with different language backgrounds, participated in the study and completed six tasks: two interviews, an elicited imitation task, a story retell task including three subtasks: answering comprehension questions, retelling the story paying attention to grammatical accuracy, and writing about the story. The presence of motivation, ability, and opportunity to learn were the three main criteria in choosing the participants. The analysis revealed three main findings. One refers to attention as being a necessary cause to achieve higher accuracy, but it is not a sufficient cause by itself. Attention helps improve accuracy when accompanied by favorable circumstances: planning, no time pressure, discourse cohesion, low cognitive load, and familiarity with the subject. The second finding indicates that in case of the subject with a fairly high level of proficiency, attention does not appear to play a large role in bringing about higher accuracy. However, the two subjects with a lower level of proficiency benefit greatly from attention to achieve higher accuracy. The third finding suggests that fossilization occurs at the level of performance and not at the level of competence for the three subjects. |
