Effects Of Focus On Form On English Output Among Senior High School Students

Over the recent years, we have faced a dilemma that though with a command of basic grammatical knowledge, English output is still a big problem for the learners who have studied English for so many years. They can not produce fluent and accurate English, or even speak out in public. With rounds of teaching reforms and the transition of the teaching approach (from traditional grammar-focused language teaching to communicative language teaching) preceding in China, the communicative ability has begun to be paid more attention. However, language fluency is regarded as the unique goal in the communicative classroom with language accuracy neglected. Therefore, how to cope with the relationship between fluency and accuracy and make both of them accessible simultaneously in language learning has become a hot issue for English learners and instructors. In the1990’s, Focus on Form instruction (FonF) was defined by Long, in which model it integrated the attention on form into the meaning-focused context. Doughty (1998) found that compared with the meaning-focused instruction, FonF instruction can enhance accuracy of language output to a large extent and it is more beneficial to the second language acquisition.Since the1990’s, some empirical studies on FonF instruction have emerged abroad. Currently in China, relevant empirical studies are inadequate and mainly contributed by graduation theses making college students as the testees. Facing this phenomenon and the dilemma of English learning of senior high schools in China, the present study is made among105senior one students over three months to prove the effects of FonF instruction on English output of the simple past tense and its passive voice, concerning the affecting factors to the English output of Chinese students.This study is on the basis of information processing theory, noticing hypothesis and interaction hypothesis theoretically. It adopts empirical and quantitative methodology. The study put forward two research questions:1. Whether Focus on Form instruction has positive effect on senior high school students’ English output of the target form? If it has, which teaching techniques are more efficient?2. Is Focus on Form instruction suitable in English communicative classrooms of senior high in China?Through analyzing the results of the experiment, major findings are revealed as follows:1. Focus on Form instruction strengthens the learners’ language awareness and improves the accuracy in their production of the simple past form and its passive voice; Combination of teaching techniques of FonF generates strong power to the learners’ language output.2. Focus on Form instruction is suitable for English communicative classrooms of senior high in China.Although the study gained positive results, its validity and practibility still need to be proved due to the limitation of the present experiment as uncontrolled variables in the real communicative classroom. Future studies can be conducted and improved with different linguistic forms, testing tools and testees so as to verify effects of FonF instruction in a broader sense.