Focus on Form

in Second Language
Acquisition
Cheng Xiaotang
School of Foreign Languages and
Literature
Beijing Normal University

I. What is focus on form?

Background:
After a long time of debate on the
advantages and disadvantages of formfocused instruction and meaning-focused
instruction, in the late 1980s and early
1990s, the mainstream view on this issue
seemed to agree that second language
teaching (acquisition) that is primarily
meaning-focused can be improved if
some degree of attention is paid to
form.

A few definitions:
Focus on form overtly draws
students attention to linguistic
elements
as
they
arise
incidentally in lessons whose
overriding focus is on meaning or
communication
(Long,
1991,
cited in Doughty, 2001)

Focus on form involves an occasional

shift in attention to linguistic code
features by the teacher and/or
one or more students triggered by
perceived
problems
with
comprehension or production (Long
and Robinsin, 1998)

Focus on form: within a

communicative approach, referring to
learners and teachers addressing
formal features of language that play a
role in the meanings that are
negotiated. This is contrasted with a
focus on formS, which emphasis
formal aspects rather than meaningful
activities (Carter and Nunan, 2001).

II. Difference between focus

on form and focus on formS
Focus on form
(FonF instruction)

Focus on forms
(forms-focused
instruction)

The word form refers to

Forms refers to discrete,
language form in general; isolated, specific
language forms
Learners first engage in
meaning; then explore
some linguistic features.

Primary attention to form

Occasional shift of
attention to form

Most attention to form

Focus on form
(FonF instruction)

Focus on forms
(forms-focused
instruction)

Triggered by perceived
problems in
comprehension or
production

Pre-selected in the
syllabus

Linguistic features are

explored in contexts.

Forms are taught in

isolation

Analytical approach

Synthetic approach

Summary:
a focus on form entails a focus on
formal elements of language, whereas
focus on forms is limited to such a focus,
and focus on meaning excludes it. the
fundamental assumption is that
meaning and use must already be
evident to the learner at the time that
attention is drawn to the linguistic
apparatus needed to get the meaning
across (Doughty and Williams, 1998).

III. Why focus on form?

(1) When classroom second language learning
is entirely experiential and meaning-focused
(e.g., the immersion program in Canada),
some linguistic features do not ultimately
develop to target-like levels.

(2) Aspects of the L2 input learners need to

notice, but do not (for whatever reason), will
require
some
kind
of
pedagogical
intervention (Doughty, 2002).

(3) Pedagogical interventions embedded

in communicative activities can be
effective in overcoming classroom
limitations on SLA.
(4) Focus on form can push learners
beyond communicatively effective
language toward target-like second
language ability; It can speed up natural
acquisition processes

IV. Different responses to focus

on form

Teachers
adhering
to
communicative language teaching
reject it;
Traditional
grammar-oriented
teachers take it as an justification
for a return to grammar
FonF enthusiasts try to explore
how FonF can be implemented

V. Research issues on
FonF
(1) Whether or not to focus on form:
There are reasons both for and against
form on form. Presently it is generally
agreed the classroom context should
be considered when deciding whether
or not to focus on form.
(2) Timing for focus on form: What is
the ideal time for FonF to take place?
Pre-decided or only when triggered by
need? How long should it be?

(3) Contextual factors affecting

focus on form: What factors need
be considered when deciding on
the nature and degree of focus on
form, e.g., the nature of the
language program (immersion vs.
intensive programs) and learner
factors (e.g., age)?

(4) Proactive versus reactive focus on

form: A proactive approach would entail
selecting in advance an aspect of the
target to focus on, whereas a reactive
stance would require that the teacher
notice and be prepared to handle various
learning difficulties as they arise.

(5) What forms to focus on: Which

forms do learners need to focus on? What
forms are amendable to FonF?
(6) The degree of explicitness: To what
extent should attention to form be
explicit? That is, should learning tasks
aim to draw learner attention to form
unobtrusively or, instead, to direct learner
attention to the problem area more
explicitly?

(7) Curricular decision: Can certain tasks

be designed during which problematic
forms are likely to arise so that there is an
opportunity to focus on form?
(8) Cognitive underpinnings of focus on
form: What are the cognitive processes
that the learner goes through when focus
on form takes place? (Doughty, 2001)

VI. Focus on form and

language teaching pedagogy
Focus on
meaning
Natural
Approach
Metho Immersion
Procedural
dolog Syllabus
y

Focus on form Focus on

formS
Task-based
Grammarlang. teaching translation
ContentSilent Way
based
lang. TPR
teaching
Structural
Process
syllabuses
Syllabuses

VII. Ways of focusing on form

Conscious reflection
Noticing the gap
Hypothesis formulation and testing
Meta-talk
recasting
Typographical (visual) input enhancement:
manipulation of italics, bolding,
enlargement, underlining, colouring,

References
Carter, Ronald and Nunan, David. 2001. The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English
to Speakers of Other Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Doughty, Catherine. 2001. Cognitive underpinnings of focus on form. In Robinson,
P. (ed.), Cognition and Second Language Instruction. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Doughty, Catherine, 2003. Instructed SLA: Constraints, compensation, and
enhancement. In Doughty, Catherine and Long, Michael (eds.), The Handbook
of Second Language Acquisition. Blackwell.
Doughty, Catherine and Williams, Jessica. (Eds.) 1998. Focus on Form in
Classroom Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Long, Michael and Robinson, Peter. 1998. Theory, research and practice. In
Doughty, Catherine and Williams, Jessica. (Eds.), Focus on Form in Classroom
Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Long, Michael. 1991. Focus on form: A design feature in language teaching
methodology. In K. de Bot, Ginsberg, R. and Kramsch, C. (eds.), Foreign
Language Research in cross-cultural perspective. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.