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    Implicit and Explicit Learning

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    Martin
    This document discusses the relationship between explicit and implicit learning in language acquisition. It notes that Ellis aimed to determine if explicit learning could lead to implicit knowledge. While implicit knowledge is difficult to measure, it can be assessed through free production tasks comparing learners who received instruction to those who did not. There are several reasons why explicit learning may not transform into implicit knowledge, such as explicit rules differing from implicit rules, not enough examples being provided, and examples potentially distorting input. The document distinguishes between two types of form-focused instruction: focus on forms, which involves sentence manipulation, appears to have no effect on implicit knowledge, while focus on form, which involves incidental attention to form in meaningful communication, can sometimes positively impact implicit

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    Implicit and Explicit Learning

    Uploaded by

    Martin
    135 views46 pages
    This document discusses the relationship between explicit and implicit learning in language acquisition. It notes that Ellis aimed to determine if explicit learning could lead to implicit knowledge. While implicit knowledge is difficult to measure, it can be assessed through free production tasks comparing learners who received instruction to those who did not. There are several reasons why explicit learning may not transform into implicit knowledge, such as explicit rules differing from implicit rules, not enough examples being provided, and examples potentially distorting input. The document distinguishes between two types of form-focused instruction: focus on forms, which involves sentence manipulation, appears to have no effect on implicit knowledge, while focus on form, which involves incidental attention to form in meaningful communication, can sometimes positively impact implicit

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    This document discusses the relationship between explicit and implicit learning in language acquisition. It notes that Ellis aimed to determine if explicit learning could lead to implicit knowledge. While implicit knowledge is difficult to measure, it can be assessed through free production tasks comparing learners who received instruction to those who did not. There are several reasons why explicit learning may not transform into implicit knowledge, such as explicit rules differing from implicit rules, not enough examples being provided, and examples potentially distorting input. The document distinguishes between two types of form-focused instruction: focus on forms, which involves sentence manipulation, appears to have no effect on implicit knowledge, while focus on form, which involves incidental attention to form in meaningful communication, can sometimes positively impact implicit

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    135 views46 pages

    Implicit and Explicit Learning

    Uploaded by

    Martin
    This document discusses the relationship between explicit and implicit learning in language acquisition. It notes that Ellis aimed to determine if explicit learning could lead to implicit knowledge. While implicit knowledge is difficult to measure, it can be assessed through free production tasks comparing learners who received instruction to those who did not. There are several reasons why explicit learning may not transform into implicit knowledge, such as explicit rules differing from implicit rules, not enough examples being provided, and examples potentially distorting input. The document distinguishes between two types of form-focused instruction: focus on forms, which involves sentence manipulation, appears to have no effect on implicit knowledge, while focus on form, which involves incidental attention to form in meaningful communication, can sometimes positively impact implicit

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 46
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    The passage discusses Ellis' research into whether explicit learning can lead to implicit knowledge. It explores different types of Form-Focused Instruction and their effects. Some reasons are given for why explicit rules may not translate into implicit knowledge.

    Focus on Forms involves manipulating or creating sentences without attention to meaning, while Focus on Form encourages attention to both grammatical form and meaning through techniques like recasts, clarification requests, and text enhancement during communicative interaction.

    Reasons given include: explicit rules may differ from implicit rules needed; not enough examples may be provided to develop implicit knowledge; examples could distort input or mislead learners in ways that delay acquisition.

    Implicit and explicit learning

    Does explicit learning lead to


    implicit knowledge?
    This is what Ellis tries to answer.
    His strategy:
    Look at instruction that encourages explicit
    knowledge.
    See if it improves implicit knowledge.

    But implicit knowledge is hard to


    test
    How do you know whether it is there?
    Usual way to tell: free production
    Compare learners who have had the
    instruction with those who have not, and
    see how they do on free production.

    Reasons why you would not expect


    explicit learning to become implicit
    Explicit rules may be completely unlike
    needed implicit rules.
    Not clear that enough examples can be
    given in a lesson/unit to allow implicit
    knowledge to develop.
    Examples used for explicit learning may
    distort input, mislead learners, delay
    acquisition, etc.

    Reasons why you would not expect


    explicit learning to become implicit
    Explicit rules may be completely unlike
    needed implicit rules.
    Not clear that enough examples can be
    given in a lesson/unit to allow implicit
    knowledge to develop.
    Examples used for explicit learning may
    distort input, mislead learners, delay
    acquisition, etc.

    Explicit rules may be completely


    unlike needed implicit rules
    We can explicitly present a grammar point
    in a certain way, but how do we know that
    the brain deals with it this same way
    implicitly?
    Example: He is hes

    Reasons why you would not expect


    explicit learning to become implicit
    Explicit rules may be completely unlike
    needed implicit rules.
    Not clear that enough examples can be
    given in a lesson/unit to allow implicit
    knowledge to develop.
    Examples used for explicit learning may
    distort input, mislead learners, delay
    acquisition, etc.

    Not clear that enough examples


    can be given in a lesson/unit to
    allow implicit knowledge to develop
    How much exposure is needed for
    irregular verbs in English (and their
    families!) to develop?
    A lot!

    Reasons why you would not expect


    explicit learning to become implicit
    Explicit rules may be completely unlike
    needed implicit rules.
    Not clear that enough examples can be
    given in a lesson/unit to allow implicit
    knowledge to develop.
    Examples used for explicit learning may
    distort input, mislead learners, delay
    acquisition, etc.

    Examples used for explicit learning


    may distort input, mislead learners,
    delay acquisition, etc.
    In other words, we should always follow
    the rule

    First, do no harm.
    We dont want to do anything that will
    harm the learners implicit learning.
    But could classroom activities actually do
    harm?
    Some of them probably do.

    How could a grammatical activity


    do harm?!?
    Imagine an activity that encourages
    students to focus on a misleading
    generalization.
    Such an activity could encourage the
    students implicit learning to go down the
    wrong path.
    Unfortunately, there are many such
    examples.

    An example
    Many textbook exercises focus on areas
    where the target language makes a
    distinction that the native language does
    not.
    For instance, many Romance languages
    have two past tenses (with slightly
    different meanings), while English has only
    one.

    Spanish preterite vs. imperfect


    Two ways to say Juan went to Barcelona
    Preterite: Juan fue a Barcelona.
    Action completed.
    Imperfect: Juan iba a Barcelona.
    Action not (yet) completed, or action done
    repeatedly.

    Why this is hard


    You must choose. There is no neutral
    past tense form.
    English doesnt make this same
    distinction.

    The classic exercise


    Anoche yo _____ (ir) a un concierto.
    Last night I went to a concert.
    Possible answers:
    (a) Anoche yo fui a un concierto.
    (b) Anoche yo iba a un concierto.
    The classic right answer: (a)

    What could possibly be wrong with


    this?
    Students need to learn to make the
    preterite/imperfect distinction, and this
    exercise addresses exactly that.
    All languages make difficult distinctions of
    one sort or another, so this type of
    exercise would seem to be needed in all of
    them.
    But notice

    Problem #1: The subject pronoun


    Spanish verbs agree with the subject:
    fui I went
    fue he/she went etc.
    Subject must be included, so that student
    knows how to conjugate verb:
    Anoche yo _____ (ir) a un concierto.

    The result?
    Almost every sentence in this exercise has
    a subject pronoun.
    In real life, Spanish uses overt subject
    pronouns only in specific discourse
    conditions (emphasis, contrast, etc.).

    Whats wrong with this picture?


    Hint: Its not the dog.

    The result?
    This exercise desensitizes learners to the
    presence of a subject pronoun,
    encouraging them to think of this as the
    default. Possible long-term damage to
    their implicit grammar.

    Problem #2: How students


    approach this exercise
    Students are taught (or quickly figure out) to look
    for:
    Specific point in past preterite
    Time frame in past imperfect
    In our example:
    Anoche yo _____ (ir) a un concierto.
    Anoche last night is specific point in past, so use
    preterite.

    WWRSD:
    What Would a Real Speaker Do?
    When uttering a sentence, real speakers
    surely dont look for a time expression in
    the sentence to decide between preterite
    and imperfect.
    Instead, they know what each tense
    means, and they choose the one that best
    expresses their idea.

    By training students to look for a time


    expression:
    We are training them to use exactly the
    wrong strategy to choose between the
    predicate and imperfect.
    Again, possible long-term damage to their
    developing implicit grammar.

    Problem #3: The right answer


    Students understandably get the idea that
    there is a single right answer.
    But this is often not true.

    In our example:
    Preterite:
    (a) Anoche yo fui a un concierto.
    Imperfect:
    (b) Anoche yo iba a un concierto.
    (a) is likely, (b) requires more imagination, but both
    are clearly possible.
    It just depends what you are trying to say.

    Summary: why this exercise could


    harm learners
    1. It desensitizes them to the use of subject
    pronouns.
    2. It trains them to use exactly the wrong
    strategy in choosing between the two
    forms.
    3. It encourages them to think there is only
    one right answer, when this is not true.

    Why do we do exercises like this?

    They are easy to create or find in books.


    Students feel that they are mastering something.
    Teachers feel that they are teaching something.
    Everybody is happy.
    But its a fools paradise.

    Why do we do exercises like this?

    They are easy to create or find in books.


    Students feel that they are mastering something.
    Teachers feel that they are teaching something.
    Everybody is happy.
    But its a fools paradise.

    So far
    We have seen reasons to be skeptical that
    explicit learning will transform itself into
    implicit knowledge.

    Reasons why you would not expect


    explicit learning to become implicit
    Explicit rules may be completely unlike
    needed implicit rules.
    Not clear that enough examples can be
    given in a lesson/unit to allow implicit
    knowledge to develop.
    Examples used for explicit learning may
    distort input, mislead learners, delay
    acquisition, etc.

    Next
    Lets see what research shows.
    Is explicit implicit ever possible under
    any circumstances?

    Ellis results
    He refers to explicit instruction as:
    Form-Focused Instruction (FFI)
    Two types:
    Focus on Forms
    Focus on Form

    The two types of FFI


    Focus on Forms Focus on Form

    Definition:

    Sentence
    manipulation

    Incidental
    attention to form
    in context of
    communication

    Effect on
    implicit
    knowledge:

    Apparently no
    effect

    Sometimes has
    effect

    Focus on Forms: examples


    Make the following sentence passive:
    People eat sandwiches.

    Focus on Forms: examples


    Create a proper sentence using the
    following elements (in the order given):
    the/book/write/famous/author

    Focus on Forms: examples


    Write the correct form:
    The car was _______ (sell) for $1700.

    All of these examples


    Require students to manipulate or create
    sentences.
    Do not require students to pay attention to
    meaning.

    Focus on Form: examples


    Interaction
    Recasts
    A: So he go to the store.
    B: OK, he went to the store, and then
    what happened?

    Focus on Form: examples


    Interaction
    Clarification requests
    A: And they have the chwach there.
    B: The what?

    Focus on Form: examples


    Text enhancement
    The mouse ran down the hall and jumped
    onto Toms bed. Tom felt something fuzzy
    near his ear but thought it was the corner
    of his pillow. He reached up to touch it,
    but by then the mouse was already in his
    hair. The mouse made a nice little nest in
    Toms hair, and neither Tom nor the
    mouse woke up until morning.

    Focus on Form: examples


    Structured input
    Which of the following are true?
    a) Sandwiches are usually eaten by people.
    b) The computer was invented by George
    Washington.
    c) French is spoken in Indonesia.
    d) The blouse was removed by Justin
    Timberlake.
    e) People are often ridden by horses.
    f) Horses are often ridden by people.

    All of these examples encourage


    students to pay attention to:
    (1) The grammatical form
    AND
    (2) The meaning

    Summary
    Focus on Forms Focus on Form

    Definition:

    Sentence
    manipulation

    Incidental
    attention to form
    in context of
    communication

    Effect on
    implicit
    knowledge:

    Apparently no
    effect

    Sometimes has
    effect

    Implications for teaching from L2


    research (VanPatten)
    1.
    2.
    3.
    4.
    5.

    Lots of input.
    Lots of interaction.
    Production should be meaning-based.
    Focus on form
    Be careful what you expect of learners.

    See you on Wednesday!


    8:00 11:00

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