LessonNineTheroleofformalinstructionTasks:1WritingapaperonthetopicAcomparisonbetweenEFLandESLenvironmentsTheroleofformalinstructionMaincontents:TheeffectofformalinstructionontherouteofSLATheeffectofformalinstructionontherate/successofSLAThreepositionstoexplainclassroomSLAThenon-interfacepositionTheinterfacepositionThevariabilitypositionIntrodction1.TheinportanceofstudyingtheissueofFormalinstruction(P217)2.TwobroadtypesofSLA3.Twoassumtionofformalinstruction:4.InvestivationoftheroleofformalinstructionDoesformalinstructionaidSLA?WhatkindsofformalinstructionfacilitateSLAmost?5.Variationofformalinstruction6.Criterialattributesofformalinstructionspecificgrammaticalfeaturesareselectedfocusontheformalcharacteristicsofthegrammaricalfeature7.Scopeofformalinstruction:instructionresultsfromcognitivecode,audiolingualism,notional/fuctionalmaterials8.EffectonroutevsrateTheinportanceofstudyingtheissueofFormalinstruction?TheinportanceofstudyingtheissueofFormalinstructionStudyingtheroleofinstructioninSLAisimportantbothfordevelopingatheoreticalunderstandingofSLAandforlanguagepedagogy.InthecaseoftheformeritcanshedlightonhowdifferencesinenvironmentalconditionsaffectSLA.Inthecaseofthelatter,itcanhelptotestbasicpedagogicassumptionssuchaswhethertheorderinwhichgrammaticalstructurearepresentedcorrespondstotheorderinwhichtheyarelearnt.(P217)TwobroadtypesofSLA?NaturalisticSLAClassroomSLATwoassumtionofformalinstruction?TwoassumtionofformalinstructionFortheroleofinstruction,therearetwotypesofassumption:Oneisthatfocusingonlinguisticformaidstheacquisitionofgrammaticalknowledge,ortoputitanotherway,thatraisingthelearner’sconsciousnessaboutthenatureoftargetlanguageruleshelpsthelearnertointernalizethem.;Anotheristhattheorderinwhichgrammaticalfeaturesaretaughtwillgoverntheorderinwhichtheyarelearnt.Languagesyllabusesareorganizedinsuchawayastofacilitatethecorrelationbetweentheteachingorderandthelearningorder.4.Inwhatwaysistheroleofformalinstructioninvestigated?4.InvestivationoftheroleofformalinstructionDoesformalinstructionaidSLA?WhatkindsofformalinstructionfacilitateSLAmost?5.Inwhatwaysisformalinstructionvaried?Consciousness-raisingElaborationEffectonroutevsrateInordertostudytheeffectsofinstruction,itisimportanttodistinguishdifferentaspectsofSLA.TheroleofinstructioninSLAmustbeconsideredseparatelyintermsoftheeffectinstructionhasontherouteofdevelopment,andtheeffectinstructionhasontherateorsuccessofdevelopment.TheeffectofformalinstructionontherouteofSLAMorphemestudiesofclassroomSLALongitudinalstudiesofclassroomSLAMorphemestudiesofclassroomSLATwogropsThefirst,fivestudies,secondlanguagelearnersThesecond,fourstudies,foreignlanguagelearnersTheresultofthestudiesofthefirstgroup:Theresultofthestudiesofthesecondgroup:Whatconclusionscanbedrawn?Whatconclusionscanbedrawn?Ingeneral,formalinstructiondoesnotappeartohaveanymarkedeffectonthemorphemeorderrepotedfornaturalisticormixedSLA.Onlywhenthedatausedtocomputethemorphemeorderareheavilymonitoreddodifferencesemerge.WhendataarecollectedthatreflectthecommunicativeusesoftheL2,themorphemeorderiseitherthesameasthenaturalorderordiffersfromitonlyintheshorttermansonlyinoneortwofeatureswhichmayhavebeen‘overlearnt’.Thisgeneralconclusionholdstrueirrespectiveofwhetherthelearnersarechildrenoradultsandomstinterestingly,irrespectiveofwhetherthelearnersareinforeignorsecondlanguageenvironments.TheoneexceptionisSajavaara’sstudy.Formalinstructionappears,then,tohaveonlyanegligibleeffectonthemorphemeordermanifestinspotaneouslanguageuse.LongitudinalstudiesofclassroomSLAEllisinvestigatedthreeL2learnersaged10to13.Theyreceivedinstructioninafull-timewithdrawalsituation(i.e.withoutanyexposuretonativespeakingchildren).Itshouldbepointedout,however,thatEnglish,theL2,wasusedasageneralmediumofcommunicationbothbetweentheteacherandthelearnersandamongthelearnersthemselves.ThusboththeclassroomandtheschoolenvironmentprovidedopportunitiesforthecommunicativeuseofEnglish.Thelanguageinstructionitselfwasvaried,butprimarilyoftheaudio-lingualtype.Thestudycoveredanine-monthperiod.Ellisexaminednegatives,interrogatives,andanumberofverbphrasemorphemes.Allofthestructureswereformallytaughtduringthe9months,andtheresultwasidenticaltothatobservedinnaturalisticsettings;theonlydifferenceisthattheprocessofacquisitioninformalinstructionisprolonged.(221)Takingallthesestudiestogether,thefollowingcanbehypothesized:1InstructiondoesnotcircumventtheprocessesresponsibleforthesequenceofdevelopmentevidentintransitionalstructuressuchasnegativesandinterrogativesinnaturalisticSLA.2Whenclassroomlearnersarerequiredtoproducestructuresbeyondtheircompetence,idiosyncraticformsarelikelytoresult.3Thedistortedinputmayprolongcertainstagesofdevelopmentandslowdowntheemergenceofsomegrammaticalfeatures4Classroomlearnersareabletomakeuseofknowledgeacquiredthroughformalinstructionwhentheyarefocusedonform.SummaryoftheeffectofformalinstructionontherouteofSLAWheretheroutisconcerned,formalinstructionappearstohavenomajoreffect.Theoverallsequenceo