Elsevier

System

Volume 35, Issue 4, December 2007, Pages 509-522
System

Elicited metalinguistic reflection and second language learning: Is there a link?

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2007.06.004Get rights and content

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between the metalinguistic reflections produced by French-speaking elementary school students and their actual learning of ESL. Using a before–after design, data was collected at the beginning (Time 1) and at the end (Time 2) of a 3-month period during which the participants kept a metalinguistic journal. Metalinguistic reflection was operationalized as the verbalized rules and generalizations about English noted by L2 learners in a journal-writing task, while L2 learning was measured by testing grammatical accuracy and receptive and productive vocabulary. The results revealed that students made significant L2 learning gains; however, there was no specific relationship between these gains and their reported metalinguistic reflections. Discussed are the potential connections among metalinguistic ability, metalinguistic tasks and specific learning contexts.

Introduction

Various manifestations of metalinguistic behavior have been observed among learners in different contexts (Trévise, 1994, Vasseur and Arditty, 1996), and some researchers, such as Masny, 1989, Masny, 1991, Gass, 1994, believe that “metalinguistic awareness is a reflection of developing second language competence” (Renou, 2001, p. 249). To test the validity of this statement, this study examined the relationship between metalinguistic reflection and language learning using journals in an English as a second language (ESL) context at a French elementary school.

Metalinguistic reflection is considered by some to be an observable manifestation of language awareness (e.g., Berthoud, 1982, Bonnet and Tamine-Garde, 1984, Richelle, 1971) and, more specifically, is defined as any conscious act of reflection about language, including learners’ planning of how they will process it linguistically (Gombert, 1992).

Metalinguistic reflection stems from a cognitive perspective of language acquisition (Griggs, 2002), which emphasizes the role of mental processes (e.g., memory) in learning. One process that is primordial to metalinguistic reflection is attention. Indeed, if learning is viewed as the result of progress from controlled to automatic processing of information (Schneider and Schiffrin, 1977), attention is a prerequisite to the former.

Currently, there are two main positions on attention in the second language acquisition (SLA) literature: a coarse-grained view and a fine-grained view (Tomlin and Villa, 1994). In keeping with the fine-grained view, which is of interest here, attention is composed of a network that allows for three separate but interrelated functions, alertness, orientation, and detection, to take place (Posner and Petersen, 1990). Once these processes have occurred, intake, the result of that detection, is then available for further processing.

According to Bange, 1996, Bange et al., 2000, in a second language, attention is bifocal, implying that it normally focuses on the meaning and content of discourse, but that a peripheral orientation towards form, operating from alertness, can, with training, become central and lead to the detection of stimuli. Certain researchers believe that attention paid to specific features of language is necessary for learning to take place (Gass, 1997, Schmidt, 1990, Schmidt, 1995, Schmidt, 2001, VanPatten, 1994, VanPatten, 1996). Hence, metalinguistic reflection may play a useful role in detecting such features.

Gombert, 1988, Gombert, 1990, Gombert, 1992 suggests that it is possible to reflect on all aspects of language, and he provides examples of different metacategories (e.g., phonological, lexical, syntactic). Yet, reflection about language is not necessarily a global phenomenon; research has shown that participants who do well on one metalinguistic task do not necessarily succeed at others (Schribner and Cole, 1981). Moreover, according to Scherfer (2000), aspects related to interaction, the relationship between culture and language, and the language learning process influence the results of metalinguistic reflection. Thus, by these accounts, metalinguistic reflection can potentially help learners focus on language, although they may require some guidance.

Without question, metalinguistic reflection has interested researchers in second language acquisition and teaching since the 1970s (e.g., Bourguignon and Pouchol, 1979, Trévise, 1979), and many researchers now believe that the practice of metalinguistic reflection in language classrooms encourages and facilitates L2 development (e.g., Armand, 2000, Roulet, 1995, Swain, 1995, Tamuly, 1994, Trévise, 1994, Trévise, 1996a, Trévise, 1996b, Vasseur, 2001). Swain (1995), for example, has shown that contexts in which learners have the opportunity to reflect on language and especially negotiate form can promote the intake of linguistic input. Storch, 1999, Storch, 2001 extended this finding, reporting a specific link between the use of activities promoting reflection on language and learners’ accuracy on grammatical decision tasks.

Unfortunately, metalinguistic reflection has received only limited attention until recently because of the dominance of the communicative approach in L2 classrooms. As this approach requires that learners use the target language as a means of communication, it places considerable emphasis on the teaching of meaning and the message (Germain and Leblanc, 1987) to the exclusion of metalinguistic and form-focused activities. In fact, the latter two have generally been considered obstacles to communication.

Renewed interest in metalinguistic reflection in the last decade stems largely from criticisms of the communicative approach used in L2 classrooms (Candelier, 1992, Gnutzmann, 1997), especially as applied in its extreme forms (e.g., Gnutzmann, 1997). Indeed, classroom-based studies have shown that some communicative language learners demonstrate a lack of accuracy in oral production (e.g., Lightbown and Spada, 1990). Researchers such as Candelier, 1992, Dabène, 1986, Dabène, 1990, Trévise, 1993 attribute this lack of accuracy, at least in part, to an absence of metalinguistic discussion in communicative language classrooms.

In an effort to overcome the limits of the communicative approach, certain researchers have suggested that reintegrating metalinguistic reflection into L2 classrooms may be beneficial to learners. This recognition has led to the development of learning activities that foster classroom metalinguistic reflection. Researchers (e.g., Bourguignon and Candelier, 1984, Bourguignon and Pouchol, 1979) have elicited metalinguistic reflection by using pedagogical activities that include questioning learners about specific grammar points and having them explain the strategies they use to understand. Swain (1995) mentions the use of think-aloud and dictogloss processes as well as scaffolding which result in metalinguistic reflection and discussion. In addition to the activities Swain talks about, Simard and Wong (2004) discuss numerous other activities used to increase language awareness, including textual enhancement, input flooding, processing instruction, guided reflection, cross-linguistic exploration, corrective feedback, and the garden-path technique.

Another means of promoting metalinguistic reflection is with journals. Allison, 1998, Simard, 2004a, Simard, 2004b, Fortier, 2006 have specifically investigated the use of journals in an effort to have L2 learners reflect on language. Allison (1998) investigated how journals were used to enhance language awareness among university students in a “Meaning System of English” English as a second language course. Throughout this course, which provided an introduction to semantic and pragmatic analysis, the students recorded their ideas about meaning and language use. They submitted their journals to tutors for feedback twice over the term, and their content was analyzed in terms of: (1) amount of writing produced, (2) classroom activities, and (3) course-related content and language. Although the results of the study did not explicitly link the use of journals to increased language awareness, Allison offers multiple examples of students’ reflections about language and a suggestion that more research investigate journal use as a tool for promoting metalinguistic reflection among L2 learners.

Simard (2004b) further explored the use of journals. Her study of French-speaking learners addressed three questions: (1) Can journal-writing promote metalinguistic reflection among grade six ESL learners? (2) If so, what kind of metalinguistic reflection do these learners produce? (3) Does this reflection differ according to the type of students who produce it? The participants were assigned to different groups (i.e., Enriched, Regular, or Control) and were measured at three times using a pre-test, an immediate post-test, and a delayed post-test. The study found that the enriched students most frequently wrote explicit comments about the L2 in their journals but that all students noticed and reported elements of the L2 in their journals.

In a similar study, Fortier (2006) investigated the use of diaries to promote metalinguistic reflection among adult French as a second language (FSL) learners enrolled in the Certificat en français écrit pour non-francophones (Certificate in Written French for Non-Francophones) program at a university in the greater Montreal region. The questions she addressed were: (1) Can a diary promote metalinguistic reflection among FSL adult learners? (2) If so, what type of metalinguistic reflection occurs? In order to answer these questions, the students had to consider what they noticed in the French they read, heard, or produced and record their answers weekly in a diary over a 2-month period. The metalinguistic reflections were then analyzed and coded into ten categories. The results of the study indicated that the journal-writing activity led to verbalizations about the target language, especially about syntactic aspects.

The above studies all suggest that L2 learners reflect on the target language when using a journal and that journals containing open-ended questions are useful for eliciting L2 learners’ metalinguistic reflection. What these studies did not examine was the possible link between metalinguistic reflection ability and actual L2 learning.

Although few in number, some studies on metalinguistic ability have focused on aspects of language learning. For example, Alderson et al. (1997) examined whether there was a relationship between metalinguistic ability and proficiency and aptitude among English-speaking university students learning French. They used a metalinguistic assessment test composed of a parts of speech identification task, a grammaticality judgment task, and an error correction and explanation task. The main results of the study showed that participants varied in their metalinguistic ability and that there was a significant (albeit weak) positive correlation between high levels of metalinguistic ability and language proficiency.

Renou (2001) also examined the potential link between metalinguistic ability and L2 proficiency in English-speaking university students learning French. She measured metalinguistic ability using grammaticality judgment tests (oral and written) and assessed language proficiency using the University of Ottawa’s French Proficiency Test. The findings revealed a significant positive correlation between the scores on the grammaticality judgment tests and the proficiency tests overall. Thus, taken together, the findings from Alderson et al., 1997, Renou, 2001 provide evidence of a possible relationship between individuals’ metalinguistic ability and general L2 proficiency.

In another study, Griggs (1997) examined the link between the quantity of metalinguistic work done by French-speaking ESL learners during communicative activities (i.e., interviews and discussions) and their improvement on these activities over time. Metalinguistic ability was operationalized as the use of repairs, or as any explicit focus on or manipulation of language forms that interrupted the normal flow of production during the activities (p. 407); the use of repairs was assessed at three different times. The author concluded that, overall, learners who performed more repairs were likely to perform L2 communication tasks more accurately, suggesting in turn a possible link between metalinguistic ability and accurate language use.

The previous three studies provide evidence that metalinguistic ability may be related to different aspects of L2 learning including proficiency and communicative accuracy; however, in these studies, the measures of metalinguistic ability were compared with performance on a particular task or with overall L2 achievement at particular points in time. By contrast, this study examined the potential connection between intensive ESL learners’ metalinguistic reflection – the ability to verbalize thinking about English – in a journal and gains in the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar over time.

Section snippets

Context

This study took place in an intensive ESL class in central Quebec. The class under observation used a 5-month/5-month intensive model where students cover their entire French curriculum (French language, math and social sciences) in the first 5 months and receive only ESL instruction in the remaining 5 months.

The main objective of these programs, according to French (2006), “is to equip students with a ‘functional’ knowledge of English” where “students are able to comprehend and express basic

Results

The results of the analyses conducted on the data gathered from the tests and the journal-writing task are presented in this section.

Table 2 presents the means and standard deviations for the scores obtained by the participants on the vocabulary and grammar tests.

The results in Table 2 show that the participants improved from the pre-test to the post-test on both the grammar and vocabulary tests. Paired t-tests were used to verify whether there was a statistical difference between the scores

Discussion

This study set out to investigate whether there was a relationship between the ability to verbalize thinking about English as a second language in a journal and the acquisition of English grammar and vocabulary among sixth-grade French-speaking learners. In order to examine this question, a 3-month pre-test/post-test design was used. The measures taken at the start and end of the study were grammar and vocabulary tests (receptive and productive). The experimental condition was a journal-writing

Conclusion

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the metalinguistic reflections produced by French-speaking elementary school students and their actual learning of ESL. Their metalinguistic reflections were gathered using an open-ended writing task (journal), while learning was operationalized using both grammar and vocabulary tests. While this study once again showed that students can use journals to reflect on language and that their grammar and vocabulary improved over time,

Acknowledgements

Data for this study were presented by D.S. and L.F. at the annual conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics, Costa Mesta, California, 2007. The authors wish to thank the intensive English teacher, Steven Jansma, and his students who took part in the study. The authors also wish to thank Marilyn Bédard and Jocelyn Wright who helped during various phases of the project.

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