Acceso usuarios
Eun Sung Park, Lama Nassif
Research on textual enhancement (TE) has given rise to several factors that may play a role in generating learners’ noticing of target forms, one of which pertains to the nature of the target form(s). In particular, results have suggested that learners are more likely to notice more meaning-bearing forms than less meaning-bearing forms. Motivated by such insight, the present study investigated the effects of TE on two Arabic structures: the comparative form (which carries substantive semantic weight), and the dual pronoun (which is mostly grammatical in its function). The results indicated that TE did not play a facilitative role in promoting learners’ noticing of the target forms, and that it actually interfered with learners’ comprehension of the text when targeted at the less meaningful form. Results are discussed with suggestions for future TE research targeting Arabic as a second language.
