Possible effect of explicit knowledge on L2 learning

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【Abstract】 Ellis （2004） had given a specific working definition of explicit knowledge in the definition and measurement of L2 explicit knowledge. He said this kind of knowledge is “the conscious awareness of what a language or language in general consists of and / or of the roles that it plays in human life.” To be more specific， explicit knowledge is part of declarative memory， and it is stored in the limbic system of the brain. Besides， it is always presented in consciousness and can be verbalized. For example， a L2 learner can point out that in this sentence “The boy plays basketball”. “-S” should be put after the predicate “play”， because the subject of the sentence is the third person singular pronoun. Also， the process of learning explicit knowledge is controlled or monitored. In general， experts test explicit knowledge mainly by grammar. But there are also some other aspects of explicit knowledge that need to be considered， such as the pronunciation， vocabulary， pragmatic features and so on. This essay considers what effect of the aspects I have mentioned above might have on second language learning.

【Key Words】 Effect explicit knowledge l2 learning

1. Potential Advantages of Explicit Knowledge

Above all， explicit knowledge has the possibility of promoting L2 learners’ ability of listening comprehension， which has been proved by Takeki’s research （2005）. In this study， he wanted to find out if explicit knowledge （prosody） can benefit L2 learners， making them be able to distinguish the two determiners “du” and “deux” in French. “du” means some， like “Nous avons du chocolat （we have some chocolate） .” And “deux” refers to two， such as “Nous avons deux chocolats （we have two chocolates）.” He thinks these two words are very hard to identify in French. First， he asked 3 French native speakers to read the 48 sentences he prepared. And he found the vowel in the word “deux” was obviously longer than the one in “du”， also appeared to be higher than that of “du” in F0. Then he wondered if the awareness of such differences could help L2 learners’ distinction. 14 Japanese speakers were selected to prove his hypothesis. These people had learned French as a L2 at a language school in Paris for some time （9 months to 4 years）. They were ordered to listen to the 48 sentences read by native French speakers and identified the two words. The procedure of the experiment made up of three parts： pretest， training and posttest. For training， he divided them into three groups： first one， no explicit feedback： just gave them some examples used in the training session. Second one， explicit description of the articulator and perceptual differences and feedback of training. Last group， explicit description of frequently observed prosodic patterns and the same feedback as group two. The result indicated that the learners who were given the knowledge of prosody enhanced their score， especially with those who had a problem to finish the pretest. This study suggests that explicit knowledge， like prosody might facilitate the process of second language learning. So did Newman and White （1999） find in their experiment of pronunciation？

In addition， explicit knowledge plays an important part in L2 grammar learning. It exceeds the speed of learning a L2. The more explicit knowledge learners learn， the higher level they reach in L2. Through explicit knowledge， learners can tell the grammatical mistakes of a sentence quickly. Also， they are able to correct the mistake and what grammar rule is applied to the correction. Many eminent scholars have done such researches to evaluate this point. Here is a case of explicit knowledge benefits grammar learning. Green and Hecht （1992） had done a grammaticality explanation test among 300 German-speaking English learners from secondary schools and a university. They had accessed to English from 3 to 12 years. Researchers gave them 12 sentences which included different kinds of grammar errors. Learners were asked to correct the mistakes and explained why. Accuracy of correcting reached 78% averagely， and their best even achieved 97%. However， when moving to explanation， only 46% were able to tell the reason. For the better English learners， such as university students， they could get 85% right. After analysis， they found if the learners enabled to say why the sentence was incorrect， 97% of the answers were correct. Otherwise， only 43% of the sentences could be corrected. This illustrates that explicit knowledge contributes to the task of correction greatly. The research Scott did in 1989 also demonstrates that compared to implicit knowledge， the students who obtained more explicit knowledge did much better in grammar tests.

2. Potential Limitations of Explicit Knowledge

Although L2 learners have acknowledged explicit knowledge in second language learning， it cannot be sure that they will not make any mistake during the process of output. This can be viewed both from my teaching and learning experience. When I was teaching， my students had the ability to describe a grammar rule precisely. However， when it came to an output task， like writing or speaking， they always made mistakes. For example， students who access to English for one or two years， they know almost all the plural forms of nouns. However， when they are speaking， they usually have such grammar mistakes. Even for me， who learned English for almost ten years？ I still have lots of grammar mistakes during communication. After I say something wrong， I realize that and I know the rule. But it may be too late to correct. As a result， explicit knowledge works on the knowledge of language， but not how to use it in communication. Not surprisingly， communication accuracy of L2 learners is not so good. This also can be demonstrated by the IELTS research of Elder and Ellis on L2 language proficiency. They took advantage of untimed grammaticality judgment tests （UGJT） and metalinguistic knowledge test （MKT） to measure explicit knowledge. Meanwhile， implicit knowledge was also studied by elicited oral imitation test and timed grammaticality judgment test （TGJT）. The result was almost the same as what I state above. Explicit knowledge worked well on receptive skills， but it had little effect on productive skills. The latter skills were found to be more strongly related to implicit knowledge.

Moreover， during L2 learning， explicit knowledge also may have an age limitation. According to some second language learning theories， like neurolinguistics， compared to children， L2 learning process of adults tend to more explicit. Adults have the completed cognitive system and they are more likely to use explicit knowledge. While for children， they may rely on implicit knowledge rather than the explicit one.

At last， the way of gaining explicit knowledge is simplex. The main input approach is teaching.

3. Conclusion

There is no doubt that explicit knowledge is crucial in L2 learning， especially in the aspects of listening and grammar. But it may be limited by factors like age and simplex input approach. Also， a learner who has good explicit knowledge can have low communication accuracy.

References

[1] Elder， C.， Ellis， R. et al. Implicit and explicit knowledge in second language learning， testing and teaching. Bristol： Multilingual Matters， 2009.

[2] Ellis， R. The definition and measurement of L2 explicit knowledge. Language Learning， 2004.

[3] Green，E.，& Hecht，K. Implicit and explicit grammar：An empirical study. Applied linguistics， 1992.

[4] Kamiyama， Takeki. Does explicit knowledge help L2 comprehension Phonetics Teaching and Learning Conference， London， 2005.

[5] Newman， J.， & White， L. A pilot study of language awareness at the New Zealand tertiary level. New Zealand Language Teacher ， 1999.

[6] Scott， V M. An empirical study of explicit and implicit teaching strategies in French. The Modern Language Journal， 1989.