L2 output, reformulation and noticing: Implications for IL development

Abstract

This study is a replication and extension of Swain and Lapkin's (in press) study of the developmental effects of learners noticing differences between their own and native speaker output. In their study, task repetition, noticing and participation in stimulated recalls were all factors that might have contributed to more targetlike usage in subsequent output. The current study separated the effects of each of these factors. Fifty-six L2 Spanish learners were randomly assigned to three groups: (1) Task repetition (participants repeated the tasks without additional treatment); (2) Noticing (participants repeated the task and compared their original output to NS reformulation); and (3) Noticing + SR (same as Noticing group with the addition of a stimulated recall session). Reformulations were traced throughout the learners’ output. Analysis of the data indicates that learners noticed differences between their own essays and the reformulated writing, and that there were quantitative differences in the output of participants from different treatment groups, with learners who participated in both noticing and stimulated recall incorporating significantly more targetlike forms in the post-treatment output than learners from the other groups.