Chinese Grammar Acquisition by Second Language Learners in an Australian Primary School Chinese Immersion Setting: The Potential of the Form Focused Instruction Pedagogical Approach
It is assumed that
the pedagogy of second language/foreign language immersion programs is
primarily focused on content, whereby language acquisition is accelerated
through comprehensible second language input and an incidental focus on form.
However despite the second language benefits, the incidental nature of the form
focus (where grammatical errors are drawn to learners’ attention spontaneously
when they occur and without prior planning), typically leaves immersion
students with a significant deficit in some features of their grammar skills
relative to other areas of second language proficiency. This case-study
research (primarily qualitative with some quantitative analysis) examines the
potential to enhance language acquisition in an Australian primary-level
Chinese immersion program through the pedagogical practice of form-focused
instruction (FFI). It explores the practical aspects of implementing FFI in
this immersion program, noting its specific contextual characteristics
including the structure of the program, students’ language and cultural
backgrounds and the classroom teaching pedagogy.
Drawing on cognitive theory, the research employed the
form-focused instruction (FFI) framework (e.g., Lyster, 2004, 2006, 2007;
Ellis, 2001, 2006) to study how noticing, awareness-raising and production
practice with feedback (Lyster, 2004; 2007) can be operationalised into a
content-focused mathematics learning environment to support acquisition of the
Chinese ‘measure word 量词’ form. This research
involved 17 Year 5 and Year 6 Chinese immersion students and one immersion
teacher. Data collection entailed stage-by-stage classroom observation over 10
weeks (primarily during regular immersion mathematics sessions), combined with
a series of pre- to post-intervention assessments. Additional data were also
obtained from a questionnaire and semi-guided interviews. These multiple data
sources served a validation function, assisting in data analysis to inform
research findings.
Findings indicate that structured FFI intervention during
content-focused lessons, combined with three Chinese language lessons in the
target form, enabled acquisition of the target form ‘measure word 量 词’ by student participants, with the majority
progressing from declarative knowledge to procedural knowledge. Furthermore,
the findings suggest that in order to improve Chinese grammar acquisition for
second language learners, such FFI approaches can be systematically planned and
integrated into a meaning-based communicative Chinese immersion curricula and
teaching practice.