Differential Effects Of Pre-task And Post-task Form-Focused Instruction On Senior High School Students' Vocabulary Learning

There is now substantial theoretical and empirical evidence to suggest that form-focused instruction is beneficial to L2 language learning and the effectiveness is dependent on various factors.The pedagogical timing of form-focused instruction is one of them.Considerable amount of empirical research over the last decade has demonstrated the positive effect of integrated form-focused instruction while the empirical studies investigating the role of isolated form-focused instruction is in the minority.Besides,little research has attached the importance of learners' L2 proficiency levels to the effect of form-focused instruction.Therefore,this study aimed to investigate the differential effects of pre-task form-focused instruction and post-task form-focused instruction on the vocabulary learning of learners at different proficiency levels.There are two research questions:(1)on the whole,what effects do pre-task form-focused instruction and post-task form-focused instruction have on vocabulary learning?(2)For learners of different proficiency levels,what differential effects do pre-task form-focused instruction and post-task form-focused instruction have on their vocabulary learning?The participants of the study were Grade Three students from three parallel classes of a senior high school in Hunan(N=123).Each class was divided into high and low proficiency groups.Two classes were randomly chosen as experimental groups.One was pre-task group,which was provided with pre-task form-focused instruction and the other served as post-task group,which received post-task form-focused instruction.The last one was the control group,which accepted no form-focused instruction.The results of statistical analysis showed that(1)on the whole,both pre-task and post-task form-focused instruction had positive effects on EFL learners' vocabulary learning,and post-task form-focused instruction was more effective;(2)for high L2 proficiency learners,both pre-task and post-task form-focused instruction had good immediate effects,but post-task FFI was more effective and it also had a better lasting effect on their vocabulary learning;for low proficiency learners,post-task form-focused instruction demonstrated an advantage over pre-task form-focused instruction in both their immediate effect and lasting effect on their vocabulary learning.In a word,form-focused instruction is efficient for EFL learners' vocabulary learning,and post-task form-focused instruction proves to have a better effect than pre-task form-focused instruction.In vocabulary teaching,teachers can choose the appropriate methods flexibly by taking learners' language proficiency levels into consideration.