Effects of types of input frequency distribution on second language construction learning

Shin, Yuna; Lee, Sang-Ki

doi:10.30961/lr.2018.54.3.509

Lang. Res. 54(3):509-529

pISSN: 0254-4474, eISSN: 2586-7113

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30961/lr.2018.54.3.509

Article

입력 빈도 분포 유형이 제2언어 구문 학습에 미치는 영향

신유나¹, 이상기²^,^*

Effects of types of input frequency distribution on second language construction learning

Yuna Shin¹, Sang-Ki Lee²^,^*

Author Information & Copyright ▼

¹평산초등학교

¹한국교원대학교

¹Pyeongsan Elementary School

¹Korea National University of Education

^*Corresponding Author : 교수, 영어교육과, 한국교원대학교 충북 청주시 흥덕구 강내면 태성탑연로 250, E-mail: slee@knue.ac.kr

ⓒ Copyright 2018 Language Education Institute, Seoul National University. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: Oct 31, 2018 ; Revised: Dec 05, 2018 ; Accepted: Dec 16, 2018

Published Online: Dec 31, 2018

ABSTRACT

English is taught and learned as a foreign language in Korea, which results in an inadequate amount of natural input, which, in turn, makes it imperative that language input be manipulated in ways that would lead to better learning outcomes. In this quasi-experimental study, 91 Korean elementary school students were randomly assigned into one of the five input frequency distribution conditions (one balanced distribution condition, three skewed-first distribution conditions with three different levels of skewedness, and one control condition) and exposed to a novel construction in English. The results showed overall that frequency did work and that the more skewed the distribution was, the more learning outcomes were observed (in terms of the extent of construction learning as well as the generalizability of the learned knowledge). The findings are discussed in light of the input-driven usage-based and frequency-based approaches to language learning.

Keywords: input frequency distribution; usage-based approach to language learning; cognitive linguistics; construction learning

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