Reflection #6 - SPPT 5999

Beyond form-focused instruction: Reflections on past, present and future research

·      Summary –

o    This brief article sought to quickly answer seven questions regarding FFI in L2 classrooms that the author had posed previously, ultimately asking if the type of teaching/feedback/timing/etc. of FFI mattered and if using FFI mattered at all! In the end, the author drew conclusions in that FFI does matter, how it is given is important, and when it is given can impact the students. In addition, learners frequently focus on different parts of a lesson than the instructor intends. The end of the article concludes that more research is needed and some of the author’s questions are left not completely answered due to the need for more investigations.

·      Key Concepts –

o   FFI (form-focused instruction)

§  This is important because it is a different type of instruction, where the form of the language is emphasized rather than meaning, which research has supported more recently. It also will influence what approach the instructor brings to the classroom on a given day/with a given lesson and activities to help further the understanding of form.

o   Feedback

§  In this article, the type of feedback is extremely important if one wishes to see results in their students regarding the form of their language. This article says that “explicit FFI was more effective than implicit FFI in communicative and content-based classrooms” (pg. 227). This potentially could impact the trajectory and improvement of the students in the long run of their language careers.

·      Reaction –

o   I think based on what we have covered in this class so far, a lot of the conclusions drawn were not what I expected since we have been focusing on a lot of communicative and authentic approaches to the language while traditionally FFI makes me think of “drill and kill” or “fill in the blank” worksheets. However, also based on this class, I think there are ways that FFI can be accomplished without compromising the authenticity of texts that we want to incorporate into the classroom. I am not sure what exactly that would look like for my class, but it is something to consider: grammar and vocab can be learned “in the wild,” (through texts), not just textbooks or dictionaries.

·      Discussion Questions –

o   What kind of authentic texts lend themselves better to an FFI lesson?

o   What would a successful meaning-focused and form-focused lesson look like?

Instructed second language vocabulary learning

·      Summary –

o    The general flow of this article is discussing the challenges of vocabulary learning in L2, issues regarding how vocabulary is taught, ways to intentionally learn vocab, and incidental (non-explicit) means of learning vocabulary. It has been found that overall, learning vocabulary is challenging to L2 learners for a variety of reasons ranging from the size of vocabulary needed to communicate/understand to the incremental nature of vocabulary, as in, there is no end and learning more vocab leads only to having to learn more vocab and know how to use it appropriately. Research has shown that teaching vocabulary explicitly is more effective than implicitly or through context clues, but activities can be developed to teach vocab more explicitly through a general reading with many unknown words, without directly giving definitions. What is most important is to reiterate vocab, limit the vocab being learned (not to overwhelm the students and to choose what is most important,) and give the learning process time because it is gradual.

·      Key Concepts –

o   Meaning focused input/output

§  This type of learning is important because it shows students gaps in their own knowledge and can encourage them to look up words and use words that they know they need to communicate or read frequently.

o   Language-focused learning

§  This type of learning is focused mainly on explicit teaching/feedback which is a critical aspect in learning vocab. As other portions of the article point out, explicit instruction leads to a deeper understanding and therefore better use of vocabulary (so long as repeated exposure and usage is also emphasized.) In addition, knowing that students have a larger receptive vocabulary than productive vocabulary can help instructors help their students bridge that gap.

·      Reaction –

o   I think that this article was very intuitive, but compiled research on vocab learning into one concise article. I try to expose my students to a wide range of vocab, but this may actually not be helpful for them as they are trying to learn just the basics in vocabulary (and other things such as grammar, culture, etc.). Although I may be excited about teaching a fun word or something new, it may not benefit my students, nor will they retain it unless I give repeated exposure or emphasize it more often. Telling them a word once or twice is not enough. And although I know this, I have a hard time remembering this in class because I am excited to share new words or phrases with them.

·      Discussion Questions –

o   How can I improve my students’ abilities to understand context clues if they also struggle with understanding grammar or other key concepts in the phrase/passage?

o   How can I still encourage learning vocab when my department does not explicitly test on vocab on exams? (ex: fill in the blank with the appropriate word)