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Output, noticing, and learning: An investigation into the role of spontaneous attention to form in a four-stage writing task

Tokyo International University, Japan, hanaoka{at}k8.dion.ne.jp

While the noticing function of output has been increasingly researched by a number of applied linguists, the nature of such noticing and its effect on subsequent learning in the context of EFL writing have not been fully investigated. In a four-stage writing task consisting of output, comparison, and two revisions, this study examined what Japanese college students spontaneously noticed (1) as they wrote a story in response to a picture prompt (Stage 1), and (2) as they compared their original writing to two native-speaker models (Stage 2), and how such noticing affected their immediate and delayed revisions (Stages 3 and 4). The results suggest that the participants noticed overwhelmingly lexical features as they autonomously identified their respective problems, found solutions through models, and incorporated them in subsequent revisions. Regarding proficiency effects, more proficient learners noticed significantly more features than less proficient learners when they compared their original output with two models. Another finding was that, among the features of the models that the participants noticed, those that were related to the problems that they had noticed through output were incorporated at a higher rate and were also retained longer than unrelated features. Implications drawn from these findings are discussed.

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Language Teaching Research, Vol. 11, No. 4, 459-479 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1362168807080963


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Hanaoka, O. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?