Author: Younghee Sheen

Reporter: NA1C0003 洪志隆

Recasts, Language Anxiety, Modified Output, and L2

Learning

RecastRecastRecasts has attracted considerable attention from

SLA theorists and researchers, and has also been

investigated in many descriptive and experimental

studies.

Recasts are assumed to promote learners’ noticing of

form while their primary focus remains on

meaning/message.

Properties of RecastsProperties of RecastsBe directed at features that learners are developmentally

ready to acquire.

Induce noticing.

Be linguistically salient.

Be directed repeatedly at a single linguistic feature.

Learner Uptake and Modified OutputLearner Uptake and Modified Output

A learner uptake move constitutes an attempt on the part of the learner to respond to the feedback.

Modified output refers to learners’ attempts to modify problematic utterances following interactional feedback.

Classification of UptakeClassification of UptakeA simple acknowledgment, such as “‘yeah/ok/oh/yes

Repetition of the original erroneous utterance

Repair by correcting the original error

Partial repair (i.e., one part of the original utterance is repaired, but the rest is still in need of correction).

Modified OutputModified Output

Thus, modified output cannot be equated with either learner uptake or learner repair in the sense that Lyster and Ranta (1997)use these terms.

Learners might produce uptake but not necessarily modify their output, whereas even when they do produce modified output, they might not repair their original error.

A distinction is made between “modified output” and “uptake” and also between “modified output” and “repair.”

Language AnxietyLanguage AnxietyLanguage anxiety is considered one of the most

important affective factors influencing the success of language learning.

Language anxiety constitutes a specific kind of anxiety, aroused by situational factors such as tests, speaking in front of class, and being called on by the teacher

The purpose of this studyThe purpose of this study

To further our understanding of the role played by recasts

in language learning.To establish: (a) the relationship between anxiety and learner responses to the recasts. (b) the effect that classroom anxiety has on the learners’ ability to benefit from the recasts.

Research QuestionsResearch Questions

Does language anxiety influence the effect that recasts have on the grammatical accuracy of L2 learners’ English articles?

Is there a relationship between language anxiety and learners’ responses to recasts?

Research DesignResearch Design

Descript Statistics for Language AnxietyDescript Statistics for Language Anxiety

P.S. One-way ANOVA revealed that these differences were statistically significant, F= 3.62, p < .05

Target StructureTarget Structure

Recast Treatment SequencesRecast Treatment Sequences

S: Crow opened up his mouth and he sang. ←trigger

T: The crow sang? ←recast

S: He sang and sang ←uptake

Operation of RecastOperation of Recast

S: He bought snake. T: He bought a snake. ←a full recast

S: The boy put the snake in the box and then. . .

T: in a box? ←a partial recast

Modified Output and RepairModified Output and Repair

S: So he took a snake home (note: snake has been mentioned before)

T: Ok, he took THE snake home? The boy took THE

SNAKE.

S: Yes, snack /snak/, snack/sneik/ home ←non- target like modified output

Modified Output and RepairModified Output and Repair

S: His mom saw it and yelled at him

T: His mom saw what?

S: saw snake home

T: saw the snake.

S: yes ←no modified output

Modified Output and RepairModified Output and Repair

S: There was the crow who stole. . .

T: There was A crow who stole a piece of cheese.

S: There was a crow. ←target like modified output (repair)

Reliability analysis for language anxietyReliability analysis for language anxiety

Speeded Dictation TestSpeeded Dictation Test

Writing TestWriting Test

Error Correction TestError Correction Test

TLU analysis for dictation and writing testTLU analysis for dictation and writing test

Reliability of TestsReliability of Tests

M and SD for Speeded Dictation TestM and SD for Speeded Dictation Test

Two-way (Time × Group) RM ANOVA revealed a significant Time × Group Interaction in the speeded dictation and writing tests, F= 11.1, p < .001

M and SD for Writing TestM and SD for Writing Test

Two-way (Time × Group) RM ANOVA revealed a significant Time × Group Interaction in the speeded dictation and writing tests, F= 6.65, p < .001

M and SD for Error Correction TestM and SD for Error Correction Test

Two-way (Time × Group) RM ANOVA revealed no significant Time × Group Interaction in the speeded dictation and writing tests, F= 0.78, P > 0.05

Summary of Statistically Significant Summary of Statistically Significant Group DifferencesGroup Differences

Summary of Effect SizesSummary of Effect Sizes

A d-value above 0.8 is considered a large effect size (Norris & Ortega, 2000).

Frequency of Learner RepairFrequency of Learner Repair

Finding of this StudyFinding of this StudyThe low-anxiety recast group scored significantly

higher than the high-anxiety recast group and the low-anxiety control group on both the speeded dictation and writing posttests, the error correction test did not

The less anxious learners were found to produce higher levels of modified output and to repair their errors more than higher anxious learners.

ConclusionConclusionThe results revealed that recasts were only effective for

low-anxiety learners.

The results revealed that low-anxiety learners produced high levels of modified output and more overall repair.

The suggesting that language anxiety is a factor influencing not only whether recasts lead to modified output and repair but also whether they promote learning.

End of this Presentation End of this Presentation