The Effect of Prompts through Focus-on-form Practice on Taiwanese Junior High School Students’ Acquisition of Simple Past Tense

• Main Authors: Yu-Ting Tseng, 曾鈺婷
• Other Authors: Huei-Ling Lin
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/86868924299635381819

碩士 === 國立中正大學 === 外國語文研究所 === 100 === The present study aimed to explore the effect of corrective feedback in the form of prompts through focus-on-form practice on the EFL learners’ acquisition of simple past tense in written production. A two-week quasi-experimental study was conducted in two eighth-grade classes with 72 junior high school students in Taiwan. Both the experimental and the control groups were involved in three focus-on-form activities. During the activities, the experimental group received prompts, whereas the control group received no corrective feedback. The data of this study were collected from pretest, posttest, delayed posttest, exit questionnaire and perception questionnaire. The test results were analyzed by t-test, and the results of the questionnaires were calculated in percentage and classified into categories. The test results showed that prompts had an immediate positive effect on the accurate use of simple past tense forms. The positive effects might not sustain as time passes; however, the experimental group did make significant progress after receiving prompts, whereas the control group made no significant gains. The test results also revealed that prompts are more effective on the acquisition of irregular past tense forms than on the acquisition of regular past tense forms. The findings of the questionnaires indicated that the two groups liked the focus-on-form activities and a high percentage of the students in the experimental group had positive attitudes towards prompts. Additionally, high-level students might benefit more from prompts than low-level students. In conclusion, the results of the present study indicated that prompts are beneficial to Taiwanese junior high school students’ acquisition of simple past tense in written production.