Comparing Second Language Learners' Attention to Form Across Tasks

Abstract

Recent literature on second language grammar pedagogy promotes the use of tasks which require learners to produce output collaboratively (e.g. Kowal & Swain, 1994; Swain & Lapkin, 1997). Yet there are relatively few studies which have investigated the nature of learners' attention to grammar on such tasks, nor how performance on such tasks compares to performance on more 'traditional' grammar tasks. This paper reports on a small-scale study which set out to compare the performance of adult ESL learners of intermediate second language proficiency on four tasks: multiple choice, rational deletion (cloze), text reconstruction and composition. Each task was completed collaboratively. The data co..