textThe Effects of Noticing Function of Output on Second Language Acquisition

The Effects of Noticing Function of Output on Second Language

Ac quis itio n

Swain’ s (1985)“Output Hypothesis”maintains that output performsthreefunctions,name ly, the“notic ing/triggering function”, the“hypothe s is-testing”function,and the“metalinguistic”function.Based on the“Noticing Hypothesis”, this study aimsto investigate the role of the noticing function of output in second languageacquisition.The major findings of this research are summarized as follows:1)whencomposing, the learner could notice linguistic problems in their ineterlanguaeamongwhich problems arising from vocabulary and sentence were the most prominent. 2)with more attention paid to vocabulary, the learner could notice linguistic forms ofvarious aspects when comparing their original text to the modelsof writing.And theycould partially incorporate what they hadnoticed in models into their subsequentrevision.3)through models of writing learning, the EG learners performed better thanthe CG learnersin error correction in Composition2 which proves that output withsubsequent input learning has superiority over output without relevant input followedin facilitatingthe acquisition o f accuracy o f linguistic forms.language outputnoticingsecond language acquisitionChapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Background of the Present Research

For a long time, input was considered to be the only necessary condition for SLAto occur,while output was taken as an indication of language acquisition that hadalready taken place(krashen,1984; Long 1983). In Krashen’s view, output wastheresult of acquisition,not its cause,andlearner’s production didnot contribute directlyto acquisition.This situation changed with the emergence of some studies in outputtheory, in particularthe Output Hypothesis by Swain. Swain refined this hypothesisand identifiedthree functions of output in 1995: the noticing(triggering) function, thehypothesis testing function,and the metalinguistic(reflective)function.

Since the Output Hypothesis was put forward, researchers of the SLA fieldabroad have been conducting relevant experimental studies about its effectiveness inSLA. In contrast, the studies in China mostly werethe introduction of this theory andreview of studies abroad.Few experimental studies havebeen conducted concerningthis theory. In this case, the present study focuses on the issue of noticing function ofthe Output Hypothesis and intends to investigate its effects on SLA.

1.2 Research Questions

The present research is to explore the noticing function ofoutput in an attempt toprovidedirect empirical evidence that output, in the process of composing,plays an