SELS Dialogues Journal Volume 3 Issue 1

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Research Initiatives A contextualized presentation of input using video material as a medium of instruction has benefitted language learners (Egbert, 2005). In fact, technological facilities have the potential to provide rewards to L2 learners as they are more appealing in nature than other kinds of material used for teaching and learning. When such material is used along with explicit treatment of language forms followed by relevant communicative practice for self-expression by L2 learners, it creates a unique effect on the learning process. Through pedagogical analysis, it seems that working on the form of the structures in the speeches in video input materials turned out to be a very strong instrument that could be utilized by teachers as the instructional means in the classroom. More interestingly, the video input materials used in the present study were applied as an instrument for a listening activity first and foremost. In fact, the students primarily focused on the subjectmatter and content of the video input materials rather than the sentences and structures used by speakers in the video clips. This makes it clear that at the very subconscious level, language learners process the linguistic code, and through the focus on form raised through explicit manipulation of linguistic data (by the teacher), they later transferred such processed data into their subconscious; this could improve the experimental group’s performance in the post-test rather than in the control group’s performance. For example, the linguistic contents of the video input material have proved efficient to be processed by the learners in the classroom when the course instructor provided explicit instruction on those syntactic forms. Also, it can be inferred that the teacher’s further intervention as the instructor of the target forms (compound and complex structures) puts the participants in the experimental group under stronger influence by video input materials compared to the control group for the L2 development. The video input materials used for treatment in the present research paved the way for real-world tasks to be fulfilled by the students. Although the focus of treatment in the present research was explicit instruction of the targeted structures, the authentic communicative nature of the video input materials in addition to the class discussions approved the fact that paying attention to linguistic elements, when the focus is on meaning or communication purposes, can bring about significant results for second language teaching and learning. Better performance in learning coordination and subordination structures by the participants in the experimental group offers some sound reasons for such superiority. On one hand, there was much exposure to L2 authentic material which was originally designed and aimed at addressing English native speakers i.e., the video input materials used in the treatment were not designed to be used as language teaching material, and hence they served as authentic input in L2. On the other hand, the tasks assigned and followed by the course teacher were of such a nature that they called for communication of meaning, or “negotiation of meaning” as the main element of task-based language teaching (TBLT) (Kumaravadivelu, 2006, p.65). In such an approach, the control over grammar structures is gained through exposure to L2 real samples with some degree of consciousness-raising implemented by the teacher. This was done by the teacher in his experimental group through selecting sentences from the lectures which included coordination and subordination structures (compound or complex sentences). Also, the teacher facilitated the discussion through writing them on the whiteboard and encouraging the learners to discuss ; as a result, the experimental group participants were able to express ideas in a more elaborate manner. The messages in the material were of a nature which necessitated the experimental group’s participants to use the relatively complicated language structures. Since these participants were always led to the main theme of the lectures by the teacher during the whole course, they were forced to apply and put into practice all the language resources available to them in the input. These language resources varied from the vocabulary items in the lectures to different grammatical structures. Essentially, the richness and resourcefulness of the input as well as the requirement for communicating the ideas of the lectures by the participants in the experimental group, propelled them to be engaged in real task of communication where the exchange of meaning was the norm while the use of compound and complex language structures was at the service of fulfilling the objectives of true communication. This finding corresponds to the theory of negotiation of meaning (Ellis, 2008). <strong>SELS</strong> DIALOGUES | 20
Research Initiatives In a nutshell, the outcome of the present study can serve useful purposes in providing a clear view about how explicit learning of grammar as one component of language can relate to authentic use of language. This is a very important response to the teachers’ and learners’ changes of expectations, and it motivates them to look at the process and practice of L2 learning from another angle. In other words, the combination of form-focused instruction and directed communicative activities can benefit learners in the process of developing the L2 competence. References Egbert, J. (2005). CALL Essentials. Principles and Practice in CALL Classroom. Alexanderia, VA. TESOL. Ellis, R. (2008). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kumaravadivelu, B. (2006). TESOL methods: Changing tracks, challenging trends. Tesol Quarterly, 40(1), 59-81. Author’s Bio Yousef has been teaching EFL, ESL, EAP, and ESP in Iran, Germany, and Canada since the early 1990s. He got his MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL from University of Leicester, UK in 2023 and received his CELTA Cambridge certification in 2013. Yousef is passionate about facilitating the second language learning through engaging the learners in the teaching/learning process actively such as setting up student-led workshops, peer to peer discussions, and doing activities collaboratively. Yousef has taught English at Centennial College since 2017. He has also taught English at YUELI, Seneca, and Humber College. <strong>SELS</strong> DIALOGUES | 21
Page 1 and 2: SELS Dialogues School of English an
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Acknowledgements.
Page 5 and 6: Managing Editor’s Note by Sherry
Page 7 and 8: Educational Technology Games are sh
Page 9 and 10: Educational Technology Machine lear
Page 11 and 12: Educational Technology • Use Imag
Page 13 and 14: Educational Technology three, build
Page 15 and 16: Pedagogy and Critical Thinking case
Page 17 and 18: Pedagogy and Critical Thinking With
Page 19 and 20: Pedagogy and Critical Thinking coul
Page 21: Research Initiatives Research quest
Page 25 and 26: Creative Pursuits Welcome to the Cr
Page 27 and 28: Creative Pursuits It was never a bu
Page 29 and 30: Creative Pursuits Stratford’s New
Page 31 and 32: Creative Pursuits Sleeping Bag Tran
Page 33 and 34: Creative Pursuits Toronto by Prabha
Page 35 and 36: SELS Dialogues Editors Sherry Hejaz
Page 37 and 38: Jill McDonald For the past 30 years
Page 39: A1-01-NOV23

SELS Dialogues Journal Volume 3 Issue 1

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