The Effects of Meaning-Based and Form-Based Input on the Initial L2 Acquisition of Polish Verbal Morphology

Abstract

This is a preliminary study on the effects of two types of input presenting on the early development of grammar knowledge (i.e. verbal inflection) in the second language acquisition (SLA). Two groups of L1 French initial learners of Polish (TL) were exposed for two weeks to the monolingual input which was similar in terms of linguistic content, quantity and temporal distribution but distinct in terms of input presenting, and to some extent, in terms of received corrective feedback. The impact of two teaching modalities, i.e. meaning-based input with no focus on form nor explicit corrective feedback vs. form-based input containing focus on form and explicit corrective feedback, was measured through a grammaticality judgment type test administrated at the end of each teaching session. Both experimental groups showed significant gains (from 69% on) on the delayed task concerning the subject-verb agreement in Polish. However, the comparison between the results obtained by the learners trained in the two teaching sessions reveals that the learners from the form-based group show a greater accuracy in the grammatical evaluation of TL verbal inflections, and thus, are more successful with respect to the learners from the meaning-based group. These results suggest that the form-based input facilitates the learning of inflectional morphology, and as a consequence, it might be beneficial for L2 linguistic development. Furthermore, the study gives evidence of complex interrelations between various factors involved in L2 grammar learning.