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Signatures of automaticity during practice: Explicit instruction about L1 processing routines can improve L2 grammatical processing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2018

KEVIN MCMANUS Open the ORCID record for KEVIN MCMANUS [Opens in a new window]  and
EMMA MARSDEN
KEVIN MCMANUS*
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
EMMA MARSDEN
Affiliation:
University of York
*
*ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Kevin McManus, Center for Language Acquisition, Department of Applied Linguistics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. E-mail: kmcmanus@psu.edu
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Abstract

This study examined the extent to which explicit instruction about first language (L1) and second language (L2) processing routines improved the accuracy, speed, and automaticity of learners’ responses during sentence interpretation practice. Fifty-three English-speaking learners of L2 French were assigned to one of the following treatments: (a) a “core” treatment consisting of L2 explicit information (EI) with L2 interpretation practice (L2-only group); (b) the same L2 core+L1 practice with L1 EI (L2+L1 group); or (c) the same L2 core+L1 practice but without L1 EI (L2+L1prac group). Findings indicated that increasing amounts of practice led to more accurate and faster performance only for learners who received L1 EI (L2+L1 group). Coefficient of variation analyses (Segalowitz & Segalowitz, 1993) indicated knowledge restructuring early on that appeared to lead to gradual automatization over time (Solovyeva & DeKeyser, 2017; Suzuki, 2017). Our findings that EI and practice about L1 processing routines benefited the accuracy, speed, and automaticity of L2 performance have major implications for theories of L2 learning, the role of L1 EI in L2 grammar learning, and L2 pedagogy.

Keywords

automaticityexplicit instructionL1 influenceL2 learningmorphosyntaxpractice
Type
Original Article
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 40 , Issue 1 , January 2019 , pp. 205 - 234
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2018 

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