Input and output grammar instruction in tutorial CALL with a complex grammatical structure. (20th January 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Is Part Of: CALICO journal. Volume 32:Number 2(2015)
• Page Start: 273
• Page End: 298
• Publication Date: 2015-01-20
• Subjects: emerging technologies -- conceptual replication -- second language acquisition -- tutorial call -- 3d environment -- subjunctive; Language and languages -- Computer-assisted instruction -- Periodicals; 418.00285
• DOI: 10.1558/cj.v32i2.24548
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0742-7778

Abstract

Abstract : Conceptual replication within a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) environment provides an understanding of the generalizability of second language acquisition (SLA) research (Porte, 2013; Smith & Schulze, 2013). The present study replicates Collentine (1998a), a classroom-based experiment framed within a larger discussion on the relative benefits of input- and output based instruction. Collentine (1998a) compared the benefits of Processing Instruction (VanPatten, 2004) and output-based instruction, both of which elevated the Spanish subjunctive's communicative value. The results showed that input- or output-oriented instruction informed by how learners process grammatical information can affect the acquisition of complex grammatical phenomena. This conceptual replication not only seeks to corroborate the original study's findings in a new learning context. It also tests the finding's generalizability to a tutorial CALL environment built on 3D simulations and emerging web-app technologies. The participants were foreign-language learners of Spanish in a classroom-based curriculum (N = 50). The results indicate that, in the classroom and in a CALL environment, both input- and output-oriented approaches can promote the acquisition of a complex grammatical structure if practice is meaningful (informed by psycholinguistic processing principles) and deliberate, and if feedback is provided.