Focus on form in the uptake, stability and transfer of relative clause use across tasks

Abstract This study compares the effectiveness of two instructional interventions on the uptake and transfer of relative clauses (RCs) during picture-based oral narrative tasks: (1) Focus on Form (FonF), which involves incidental focus on language problems as they arise naturally in learners’ language during meaning-focused task-based communication, and (2) Focus on Forms (FonFs), which involves explicit attention to specific forms felt by the teacher or materials planner to be natural, useful or essential to the performance of a task ( Long, 2015 ). A third treatment, focus on meaning (FonM), which involved no form-focused instruction at all, provided a baseline to compare the relative effects of these two instructional interventions. Thirty-six Chinese ESL learners participated in the study. The study employed a pre-test, post-test, and delayed post-test design. Results revealed that FonM did not promote uptake or transfer of RCs, and that FonFs and FonF had comparable effects on the uptake, stability, and transfer of RCs to novel versions of oral narrative tasks. The study demonstrates that: (1) form-focused instruction was essential in promoting uptake and transfer of challenging task-relevant language; and (2) FonF was at least as effective as FonFs for promoting Chinese ESL learners’ use and acquisition of task-relevant structures. The results of the study provide support for the use of FonF in instruction as consistent with the principles of task-based language teaching.