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Modelling Changes in the Cognitive Processing of Grammar in Implicit and Explicit Learning Conditions: Insights From an Eye‐Tracking Study
Author(s) -
Indrarathne Bimali,
Ratajczak Michael,
Kormos Judit
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
language learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.882
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1467-9922
pISSN - 0023-8333
DOI - 10.1111/lang.12290
Subject(s) - psychology , grammar , eye tracking , cognition , fixation (population genetics) , meaning (existential) , cognitive psychology , linguistics , levels of processing effect , computer science , artificial intelligence , population , philosophy , demography , neuroscience , sociology , psychotherapist
This study used eye-tracking to examine changes in how second language (L2) learners process target grammatical exemplars in written L2 input in implicit and explicit instructional conditions and how these changes relate to learning gains. In three separate sessions, 77 L2 learners of English read a story containing seven examples of a grammatical construction. The results of a growth curve analysis indicated significant main effects for the instructional condition and test sessions on total fixation duration and a significant interaction between these two variables. There was minimal attentional processing and no improvement in processing efficiency of the target construction in the unenhanced condition. Learners’ attentional processing in the textually enhanced conditions decreased and, by the end of the experiment, they engaged in establishing and fine-tuning form-meaning links. In the two explicit instructional conditions, participants’ attention decreased over time and form-meaning representations of the target structure were strengthened.