Comparison of two types of instruction in the acquisition of German formulaic sequences

Several studies have emphasized the importance of formulaic sequences (FS) in foreign language acquisition (Ellis, 1996; Schmitt, 2004). A wide repertoire of FS is needed to use language fluently and idiomatically, but it has been shown that learning FS is slow (Boers & Lindstromberg, 2012). This paper aims to explore the effect of two types of activities to teach FS: noticing activities, a well-established approach to teach FS and retrieval practice, a technique that has been shown effective in studies of learning and memory (Karpicke, 2017), but that has not often been the focus of research in teaching FS. Therefore, a classroom-based (quasi)-experiment was set up with two intact classes of Dutch-speaking university students of German (B1 level of the CEFR) during a mandatory oral proficiency course. One class was randomly assigned to the noticing condition (n=18), the other one to the retrieval condition (n=11). Twenty-two target FS were selected as learning items from the transcript of an authentic German video-recording. Both groups were pre-tested on their knowledge of the targets. During class hours, both groups watched the video-recording twice. Afterwards, each group processed the FS in a different condition (with similar time-on-task). In the noticing condition, students’ attention was directed at the targets by reading the transcript with the FS in bold typeface and translating the targets into L1. In the retrieval condition, students had to complete the transcript in which the FS were deleted and translated the targets into German. One immediate and two delayed post-tests were administered, without prior notice. A mixed ANOVA showed a significant main effect of time and condition, and a significant interaction effect between time and condition. Contrasts revealed that retrieval practice seems to result in better productive phrase learning than noticing. The pedagogical implications of these findings will be discussed.

Publication year:2019