Effects of input-and output-based instruction on the acquisition of English articles

Ahn, Eunjeong

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/113343 Copy

Description

Title

Effects of input-and output-based instruction on the acquisition of English articles

Author(s)

Ahn, Eunjeong

Issue Date

2021-07-22

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Ionin, Tania

Committee Member(s)

Sadler, Randall

Department of Study

Linguistics

Discipline

Teaching of English Sec Lang

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.A.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Input-based instruction
• English articles
• Grammar intervention

Abstract

The present study aims to explore the effectiveness of input- and output-based instruction on the acquisition of English articles regarding definiteness and genericity. For this study, 21 participants were recruited from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, including 15 second-language English speakers and six native English speakers. The L2 participants were randomly assigned to either an input-based or an output-based instruction group. They completed an online grammar pretest, an online grammar instruction, and an online grammar posttest. The online pretest and posttest comprised an acceptability judgment task and an elicited production task to measure L2 participants’ understanding of definiteness and genericity. Each instructional packet included English article instructional videos and four activities. The input-based instruction directed participants to connect the form of the article and its meaning via activities. The output-based instruction directed participants to produce a target form through output practice. The native English speakers were included to provide a baseline; however, they did not participate in the intervention. The results show that the L2 participants performed well in four of the five categories of the pretest, and their performances met the targets of all categories of the posttest. Thus, it is difficult to confirm that any type of intervention improved the L2 participants’ acquisition of articles. However, it was found that both instructions helped the L2 participants to acquire NP-level genericity.

Graduation Semester

2021-08

Type of Resource

Thesis

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/113343

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Copyright 2021 Eunjeong Ahn

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