Analysis on the Essay “Second Language Learners’ BeliefsAbout Grammar Instruction and Error Correction”

趙天毓

Abstract：The first paragraph is a brief introduction to the definition and the significance of learners beliefs in second language learning. In this part， the authors state the background and the necessity of the research. Then the purpose of the research—the beliefs of L2 learners， the subjects of the research—754 L2 students， and the method they use in the research—questionnaire， and follows the data analysis of the questionnaire and the results of the research.

Introduction——

From three points， the author got the conclusion that it is necessary to do the present study about learning belief about grammar instruction and error correction.and then point out the gap between the previous research and the present situation， and thus define the purpose of the essay.

Literature Review——

This part mainly focuses on the current debate about the role of grammar instruction and error correction in the L2 classroom in second language acquisition. the authors first reviewed the relative literature from meaning- focused instruction and form-focused instruction.

As for the meaning focused instruction， two opposite opinions were shown in the paper. One was represented by Krashen， New-mark， Schwartz， Terrell and Truscott， whose ideas were based on the assumption that L2 acquisition occurs unconsciously and implicitly. However， Swain and Skutnabb-Kangas doubted the effectiveness of the meaning focused instruction， stating their ideas in the respective book：Input in Their Second language Acquisition and Linguistische Beriche.

Form-focused instruction （FFI） was given a clear definition by Ellis in the book entitled Language Learning. Although there is still considerable debate regarding the most effective type（s） of FFl which focuses on the discussion about “forms” and “form”， there is some consensus that it is beneficial and even necessary. For this， many scholars like Doughty， Ellis， Basturkmen， Gass， Lighebown， Loewen have expressed their agreement.

Also， it is essential to consider theoretical and empirical arguments regarding the feasibility and efficacy of grammar instruction， it is also important to consider teachers and students beliefs on the topic.Learners beliefs have in general received less attention than teacher beliefs. Interest in L2 learner beliefs was stimulated by Horwitzs creation of the well-known Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory questionnaire. Of the few studies specifically examining L2 learners beliefs about grammar instruction， the most influential are probably those by Schulz， about the role of grammar instruction ad error correction in language learning.endprint

Several other studies have highlighted learners belief that error correction in important. But there is no consensus on how this error correction should by implemented.

Research Questions——

Based on the above statements of researches on beliefs， the authors put forward three questions as the researching guideline.

Methods——

Next part is a detailed introduction about the research methods， which can be divided into six stages：

Participants：the authors described the participants in detail——754 participants， different target language， their school year， gender， age， and first language， and also the instruction they received and receiving.

Instrument： the authors used a questionnaire to elicit learners responses. In this part， the authors introduced the structure of the questionnaire： the three parts of the questionnaire， then the items in the quantitative section and the other two instruments in the remaining section. And the reason of the employment of the questionnaire， the distractors， and examples.

Data Collection： The authors described the process of the operation of the questionnaire： when and how and where the questionnaire was completed， and the return rate of the questionnaire.

Analysis： The authors analyzed the data from the questionnaire with two methods： quantitative and qualitative methods. According to the three figures， the authors gave detailed analysis on the questionnaire.

Results——

For quantitative results， the questionnaire return rate was 89% and quantitative Analysis and qualitative Analysis were employed to deal with the data. Subsequently， research results were showed in the following tables.the authors used Table 3 to state the six factors and the average scores for each item and the descriptive statistics in Table 4.. Then the authors described a discriminant function analysis through Table 5， the structure coefficient of each predictor variable on the two functions in Table 6， the group centroids in Table 7， and one-way ANOVAs to confirm the disciminant analysis.

For qualitative results， the authors in turn presented the themes in response to the prompt I like studying grammar because…. In the first paragraph，

The first theme that many participants felt that studying grammar benefited them in learning a language and that grammar was central to the language learning endeavor was shown.

The second theme that grammar helped them with specific aspects of the language with examples was shown in paragraph 2.endprint

The third theme that learners saw grammar as being beneficial for other， more extrinsic， reasons. With examples， the authors also presented the results from the responses that some learners enjoyed studying grammar and some others were less positive about grammar.

In paragraph 6， the second prompt， I dont like studying grammar because…，probed the negative aspects of grammar study. 25% of the learners stated negatively about grammar studying， and some complained about grammar studying， and some learners contrasted grammar study with other aspects of language study that they valued more. Still teachers and grammars perceived lack of relation to real life contributed to learners dislike of grammar. And also some positive or partially positive comments in response to the second prompt were stated in paragraph 10.

For the third prompt I like to be taught grammar in the following ways…，in paragraph 11， example followed and two themes in relation to this prompt followed in paragraph 12 and 13， as well as two differences between the English and foreign learners.

For the final prompt I dont like to be taught grammar in the following ways…，the authors presented three themes： learners did not like to be left on their own when studying grammar； they did not like to rely solely on textbooks； and they did not like memorization.

The last paragraph of this part is a conclusion of the results. The authors stated the quantitative and qualitative results， and the six factors found in the quantitative results. Learners studying different TLs differed significant in their responses on these factors. Also the reasons why learners like and dislike studying grammar presented in the qualitative results， and the differences among learners studying different languages， and also the authors reported that like grammar instruction involved contextualized examples and explanations， as well as activities. The last is the ways that learners did not like to be taught on grammar.

Discussion——

Afterwards， there was a discussion about the study.

In the first paragraph， responding to the first research question， the authors suggested that learners have several aspects to their beliefs system that may need to be investigated separately. Then three suggestions were given and one differentiation gave advice for future studies.

In paragraph 2， 3 and 4， the authors discussed the second research question. “It was clear that learners studying different TLs， particularly ESL versus foreign language learners， responded differently to the questionnaire .” As to this difference， the authors gave two possible explanations in paragraph 2 and 3 and a related issue that learners of Chinese and Arabic were more positive about grammar instruction and error correction than were learners of other languages in paragraph 4.

Paragraph 5 gives the discussion about the third research question and further relationships between the quantitative and qualitative analyses in the last paragraph.

Conclusion——

Finally， the author drew a conclusion that the present study sought to investigate the topic from the perspective of the L2 learner. And it provided an exploration of the underlying constructs involved in L2 learners beliefs about grammar instruction and error correction. However， two limitations to this study were also put forward.endprint