Naslov
The Relationship between Explicit and Implicit Foreign Language Knowledge with Regard to Learner Proficiency Level and Target Structure Complexity

Autori
Dubravac, Vildana

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Ocjenski radovi, doktorska disertacija

Fakultet
Filozofski fakultet Osijek

Mjesto
Osijek

Datum
14.11

Godina
2012

Stranica
168

Mentor
Pavičić Takač, Višnja

Ključne riječi
explicit knowledge; implicit knowledge; structure complexity; English as a foreign language

Sažetak
One of the most controversial current topics in SLA is the relationship between explicit and implicit knowledge. While the access to explicit knowledge is slow and difficult, the access to implicit knowledge is fast and easy. It is, therefore, implicit linguistic knowledge that enables speakers to communicate spontaneously. Because of that it would be ideal if all knowledge of L2 were implicit, i.e. the same as the knowledge of L1. However, L2 knowledge is only partly implicit, and usually, especially in a foreign language context, mostly explicit, as a result of different processing underlying the development of L1 and L2 knowledge. The question that arises is which benefits learners have of explicit knowledge, and whether, although different, these two types of linguistic knowledge are interrelated. This dissertation reports on a study which analysed the foreign language learners’ linguistic knowledge in terms of both explicit and implicit knowledge. Implicit knowledge was measured by means of an oral elicited imitation test and explicit knowledge by means of an untimed grammaticality judgement test and a metalinguistic test. All tests were administered to a sample of 206 participants, Bosnian EFL learners. 100 participants were learners completing primary school (aged 14-15), whose foreign language proficiency should be at A2 level, and 106 were learners completing secondary school (aged 18-19), predicted to be at B1+ level. Therefore, the level of and the relationship between explicit and implicit knowledge was analysed with regard to learner proficiency level. In addition to learner proficiency level, target structure complexity was another factor whose influence on the level of and the relationship between explicit and implicit knowledge was studied. The results indicate that explicit and implicit knowledge are interrelated and that the level of and the relationship between explicit and implicit knowledge vary with regard to both learner proficiency level and target structure characteristics. However, the features making a structure difficult in terms of explicit and implicit knowledge development are different.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Filologija

POVEZANOST RADA