LEARNING FORMULAIC SEQUENCES THROUGH VIEWING L2 TELEVISION AND FACTORS THAT AFFECT LEARNING

• Published in: Studies in second language acquisition Vol. 42; no. 3; pp. 525 - 549
• Main Authors: Puimège, Eva, Peters, Elke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.07.2020
• Subjects: Audiovisual Instruction; Control Groups; Correlation; Dutch language; English (Second Language); English as a second language; Experiments; Formulaic language; Incidental Learning; Indo European Languages; Knowledge; Language Tests; Learning Activities; Learning Processes; Linguistic Input; Listening; Meaning; Native Language; Phrase Structure; Predictor Variables; Pretests Posttests; Prior Learning; Reading; Recall (Psychology); Research Article; Second Language Instruction; Second Language Learning; Subtitles & subtitling; Teaching Methods; Television; Television programs; Television Viewing; Test Items; Visual Aids; Vocabulary Development
• ISSN: 0272-2631; 1470-1545
• DOI: 10.1017/S027226311900055X

The present study explores the incidental learning of formulaic sequences (FS) from audio-visual input and factors affecting the learning of FS. A pretest-posttest, within-participant design was adopted. English-as-a-foreign-language learners (L1 = Dutch; n = 42) watched a one-hour English-language documentary without subtitles. Learning gains were measured at the level of form recall and meaning recall. Significant learning gains were found in both the form recall and meaning recall tests, indicating that several knowledge aspects of FS can be learned incidentally from audio-visual input. The findings also revealed a positive relationship between learners’ prior vocabulary knowledge and the learning gains. Further, several item-related factors affected the learning gains (e.g., collocate-node relationship, frequency). Finally, the findings showed the incremental nature of learning FS, as preknowledge of the meaning of the FS prior to the TV viewing was the strongest predictor of learning the form of FS.