The more, the merrier? : frequency effects in instructed second language acquisition

Madlener-Charpentier, Karin

Publication type:	Conference paper
Type of review:	Peer review (abstract)
Title:	The more, the merrier? : frequency effects in instructed second language acquisition
Authors:	Madlener-Charpentier, Karin
et. al:	No
Conference details:	Evidence-based Foreign Language Learning - Multilingualism in Education (EBFL), Congressi Stefano Franscini Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland, 7.-10 June 2023
Issue Date:	Jun-2023
Language:	English
Subjects:	Zweitsprache; Spracherwerb
Subject (DDC):	401.9: Psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics 404.2: Bilingualism and multilingualism
Abstract:	Usage-based approaches hold that second language acquisition (SLA) is a primarily implicit, incidental process of reconstructing form-meaning mappings and co-occurrence patterns from the input (Ortega 2015). We can assume that access to rich, meaningful input is crucial for intake and thus for successful SLA. However, input tends to be limited in instructed SLA (ISLA), such that learners face “[…] the task of estimating how linguistic constructions work from an input sample that is incomplete, uncertain, and noisy“ (N.C. Ellis 2011: 203). Parts of the available input may also fail to become intake: Even highly frequent form-meaning mappings (e.g., articles) may go unnoticed if they lack salience and/or are blocked by learned attention routines from earlier learned languages (R. Ellis 2017). So how can we enhance input quantity and/or quality and therefore incidental learning opportunities from the input in ISLA? Verspoor/Nguyen (2015) show that enhancing the overall input quantity and opportunities for “revisiting” can enhance learning processes, but empirical evidence of learning from so-called input floods is mixed. A series of two-week classroom studies with adult learners of L2 German (n=96), targeting the notoriously difficult sein ‘be’ + present participle construction, shows how usage-based assumptions regarding (type and token) frequency effects in language processing can help to optimize (incidental learning from) input floods (Madlener 2016, 2018). For instance, higher degrees of repetition lead to better entrenchment and better pattern abstraction in first contact with a new construction, whereas in consolidation, more varied input induces good generalization, but also overgeneralization. Skewed input effects significantly interact with type frequency distributions and prior knowledge, but may actually enhance both implicit and explicit construction learning from input floods. Based on selected empirical findings, I discuss options, strengths, and limitations of a usage-based pedagogical Focus on Form approach for ISLA, focusing on the optimization of incidental learning processes during input processing.
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/29411
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	Licence according to publishing contract
Departement:	Applied Linguistics
Organisational Unit:	Institute of Language Competence (ILC)
Appears in collections:	Publikationen Angewandte Linguistik

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Madlener-Charpentier, K. (2023, June). The more, the merrier? : frequency effects in instructed second language acquisition. Evidence-Based Foreign Language Learning - Multilingualism in Education (EBFL), Congressi Stefano Franscini Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland, 7.-10 June 2023.

Madlener-Charpentier, K. (2023) ‘The more, the merrier? : frequency effects in instructed second language acquisition’, in Evidence-based Foreign Language Learning - Multilingualism in Education (EBFL), Congressi Stefano Franscini Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland, 7.-10 June 2023.

K. Madlener-Charpentier, “The more, the merrier? : frequency effects in instructed second language acquisition,” in Evidence-based Foreign Language Learning - Multilingualism in Education (EBFL), Congressi Stefano Franscini Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland, 7.-10 June 2023, Jun. 2023.

MADLENER-CHARPENTIER, Karin, 2023. The more, the merrier? : frequency effects in instructed second language acquisition. In: Evidence-based Foreign Language Learning - Multilingualism in Education (EBFL), Congressi Stefano Franscini Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland, 7.-10 June 2023. Conference paper. Juni 2023

Madlener-Charpentier, Karin. 2023. “The More, the Merrier? : Frequency Effects in Instructed Second Language Acquisition.” Conference paper. In Evidence-Based Foreign Language Learning - Multilingualism in Education (EBFL), Congressi Stefano Franscini Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland, 7.-10 June 2023.

Madlener-Charpentier, Karin. “The More, the Merrier? : Frequency Effects in Instructed Second Language Acquisition.” Evidence-Based Foreign Language Learning - Multilingualism in Education (EBFL), Congressi Stefano Franscini Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland, 7.-10 June 2023, 2023.