The Impact of Explicit Instruction and Metalinguistic Awareness on Cross-linguistic Interference: Path Framing in Motion Events

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate the influence of the cross-linguistic variation on the construction of boundary-crossing motion events in the translation production of the Turkish speakers of L2 English and measure the impact of explicit instruction and metalinguistic awareness on the learners’ understanding of typological differences and hence their development of L2 ways of expressing motion events. To this aim, the study followed a pre-test post-test quasi-experimental research design, involving a treatment and a control group. A total of 46 second-year university students participated in the study. They were all majoring in English at the English Language Teaching Department, at a state university in Turkey. The control (18 females and 5 males) and the treatment group (15 females and 8 males) received a two-week instructional treatment, the first group receiving an implicit instruction, and the second an explicit instruction of the boundary-crossing motion event constructions. Prior to the instructional intervention, a pre-test was administered to the participants. Mann-Whitney U test run on the mean scores obtained from the pre-tests indicated no significant differences between the control and the treatment group, U = 282.5, z = .416, p = .678. Within-group analysis based on post-test results after the termination of the instructional treatment revealed that while the implicit instruction had no effect on learners’ acquisition of motion events, z = 1.842, p = .066., the explicit instruction had a significant effect on L1 Turkish learners’ development of their knowledge of L2-like English patterns in construing motion events. Similarly, between-group analysis revealed that the treatment group (Mdn = 4.00), who received an explicit instruction significantly outperformed the control group (Mdn = 2.00), who received implicit instruction, U = 410.5, z = 3.257, p = .001. The study concluded with the implications of findings for English language teaching and suggestions for future studies.

Keywords

• Key words: boundary-crossing,motion events,explicit instruction,implicit instruction

Abstract

Çalışma İngilizce’yi ikinci dil olarak öğrenen Türk konuşucularının çevirilerinde sınır-geçişli devinim olaylarının kurulmasında dillerarası değişimin etkisini araştırmayı ve açık öğretim ve üstdil farkındalığının öğrenicilerin dillerarası farklılıkları anlamadaki etkisini ölçmeyi hedeflemiştir. Bu amaçla, çalışma, öntest, sontest kontrol gruplu yarı-deneysel bir araştırma deseni takip etmiştir. Tamamı Türkiye’de bir üniversitede İngilizce öğretmenliğinde okuyan toplam 46 üniversite ikinci sınıf öğrencisi çalışmaya katıldı. Birinci grup örtük, ikinci grup açık olmak üzere kontrol grubu (18 kız, 5 erkek) ve uygulama grubuna (15 kız, 8 erkek) sınır-geçişli devinim olayları yapılarını içeren iki haftalık öğretim uygulandı. Öğretim uygulamasından önce öğrencilere verilen öntest sonuçlarının Mann-Whitney U test çözümlemesi iki grup arasında anlamlı farkın olmadığını gösterdi, U = 282.5, z = .416, p =.678. Öğretim uygulamasının ardından verilen sontest sonuçlarına dayalı grup içi Wilcoxon signed-rank test çözümlemeleri örtük öğretimin öğrenicilerin devinim olaylarını edinmesinde hiçbir etkisi olmazken, z = 1.842, p =.066., açık öğretimin öğrenicilerin hedef dil benzeri İngilizce örüntü bilgilerini geliştirmede anlamlı bir etkisi olduğunu göstermiştir, z = 3.406, p =.001. Aynı şekilde, gruplar arası çözümlemeler, açık öğretim uygulanan uygulama grubunun (Mdn = 4.00), örtük öğretim uygulanan kontrol grubundan (Mdn = 2.00), çok daha üstün bir edim göstermiştir, U = 410.5, z = 3.257, p = .001. Çalışmanın sonunda, elde edilen bulguların İngilizce dil öğretimi açısında sezdirimleri ve gelecekte yapılabilecek çalışma önerileri sunulmaktadır.

Keywords

• sınır-geçişi,devinim olayları,açık öğretim,örtük öğretim

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