Focus on Form and Its Effect on Taiwanese EFL College Students’ Learning of Past Tense Verbs

Focus on form教學法對台灣五專生英文過去式動詞學習成效之研究

此研究目的在比較著重形式教學法(focus on form instruciton; FonF)和以形式為主教學法(formS-focused instruction)對台灣大專生英文過去式動詞學習成效的影響。參與研究者來自於兩個班級，共95位學生，她們為某技術學院五專一年級護理科之學生。兩個不同班級分別被指定為控制組及實驗組，分別接受著重形式教學法(focus on form instruction)以及以形式為主教學法(formS-focused instruction)。在為期一個月的指導前後，參與研究者分別接受前後兩次測驗來比較他們在英文過去式動詞的學習成效，兩次成績分別經過independent t-test及paired-samples t-test進行比較。結果顯示，分別接受不同教學法的兩組學生在經過教學後成績都有進步，顯示兩種教學法對英文過去式動詞有相似的正面效應。然而，結果也發現，接受著重形式教學法(focus on form instruction)的全數實驗組學生，在後測時成績都有進步，原因可能是透過著重形式教學法(focus on form instruction)較能吸引所有學生將注意力集中在特定的文法上，而這也是本研究所發現著重形式教學法(focus on form instruction)的優點。

This quasi-experimental study investigated and compared the effects of focus on form (FonF) and formS-focused instructions on the learning of past tense verbs by Taiwanese EFL college students. The participants, 95 first-year junior college students from two intact classes, enrolled in the daytime program of the nursing department at an institute of technology in Taiwan. The participants were divided into the control (formS-focused) and experimental (FonF) groups by the class. After a one-month instruction period, mean scores of their pretests and posttests were calculated by the independent t-test and paired-samples t-tests to see whether there were any significant differences between the performances of the two groups. The results revealed that both instruction techniques had positive effects at a similar level. Despite insignificant differences between the two groups’ mean scores of the posttest, it was determined that the participants in the experimental group improved their scores, compared to only some of the participants in the other group. Presumably, the improvement was a result of the attention given to the target form. Therefore, this study has found that focus on form instruction has a better effect on drawing students’ attention to the specific feature than the formS-focused instruction does.