The effects of structured input activities and explicit information on the acquisition of the Italian future tense

Abstract

This study addresses the question of whether or not explicit information plays a significant role in instructed SLA within the framework of processing instruction.1 Explicit information here is meant as “explanation about properties of language provided by an instructor, teaching materials or some other external sources” (VanPatten & Oikkenon, 1996, p. 6). Despite a growing body of research that has investigated the role of explicit information in instructed SLA, the role of explicit information in fostering SLA is unclear. On the one hand, some research seems to indicate that explicit information is beneficial (Alanen, 1995; de Graaff, 1997; among others). On the other hand, one study suggests that explicit information is neither beneficial nor necessary (VanPatten & Oikennon, 1996). The question is “Why are there differences in the outcomes of these studies?” One possibility is that results of VanPatten and Oikkenon’s study, being the only one that clearly showed no effect for EI in the treatments administered, are a fluke. That is, they are spurious and only replication would determine whether the results are generalizable. Another possibility is that the type of treatment used in VanPatten and Oikkenon-namely processing instruction-does not require EI because of the effect of the structured input activities contained in the treatment.