چکیده:
Uptake is believed to be an indication of the effectiveness of focus on form
practices and a possible facilitator for language acquisition. All the accounts of
uptake in the literature have been based on the observational data derived from the
audio-recordings of the meaning-focused classes. The present study is a novel
attempt to account for instances of uptake in 18 hours of meaning-focused
instruction in an intact EFL class through an elicitation instrument called uptake
sheet. To this end, all instances of teacher- and learner-initiated preemptive Focus
on Form Episodes (FFES) and uptake moves following them were identified and
coded in the audio-recorded data. Then, the researchers cross-checked the audiodata
findings with the ones in the uptake sheets. Compared to the oral uptake
moves captured through the audio-data, the analyses revealed a significantly higher
frequency of uptake moves in the uptake sheets following teacher-initiated FFEs,
but a lower frequency of uptake moves was found in the case of learner-initiated
FFEs. The findings would, hopefully, further clarify our conception of the nature and rate of uptake and would pave the way for further research on exploring
multiple instances of uptake not accounted for so far in the literature.
خلاصه ماشینی:
"Iranian Journal of Applied Linguistics (IJAL), Vol. 14, No. 2, September 2011, 63-88 Measuring the Effectiveness of Preemptive Focus on Form through Uptake Sheets Javad Gholami a Assistant Professor, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran Morteza Bassirian Lecturer, Iran Language Institute, Qom, Iran Received 20 July 2010; revised 3 May 2011; accepted 10 July 2011 Abstract Keywords: Introduction Long and Robinson (1998) define focus on form as "an occasional shift of attention to linguistic code features– by the teacher and/or one or more of the learners – triggered by perceived problems with comprehension or production" (p.
Research Questions This study addressed the following questions: Q1: Is there any significant difference in the frequency of oral uptake moves following learner-initiated and teacher-initiated preemptive FFEs in an intermediate EFL class?
Method Design of the Study The present study is an attempt to examine uptake following two subsets of preemptive focus on form, namely, learner-initiated and teacher-initiated episodes in a meaning-oriented EFL classroom.
After the completion of the data collection phase, the researchers listened to the audio-data transcribing the instances of learner- and teacher-initiated preemptive FFEs that were raised during meaning-focused activities, while excluding the parts where planned focus on form or traditional grammar instruction were employed.
According to the qualitative findings of the present study, it seems that as SLA researchers, we have neglected the fact that our evaluation of the effectiveness of focus on form should include its effectiveness as a means of helping all of the learners in a class to learn a second language more easily and accurately."