The role of processing instruction : a study on English causatives

Abstract

This study attempts to examine possible effects of two types of instruction: processing (PI) and Iraditional (TI) in learning of English causatives by Turkish learners and to see whether possible positive effects are retained well over time by PI and Tl groups. For this study, seven classes of 120 Turkish students at the School of Foreign Languages at Anadolu University, Eskişehir, Turkey were randomly assigned to three groups: (a) processing instruction, (b) traditional instruction, and (c) no instruction. Two different instructional packets and a pretest and a post / follow-up test were administered. The tests consisted of two taskg: interpretation and production. The pretest was given two weeks before the treatment. The procedure regarding the treatment and the posttest spanned two 50-minute class periods. Five weeks later, the posttest was given as the follow-up test. Raw scores from the pretest, posttest, and follow-up test were submitted to a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results were shown in tables and figures. The results of the analysis of the interpretation data indicated that both the PI and TI groups resulted in some kind of knowledge gain due to the treatments. Both the PI and TI groups had a positive effect on how learners interpreted the English causatives. The effects both the PI and TI groups were retamed over time. The results of the analysis of the production data indicated that both the PI and TI groups resulted in some kind of knowledge gain due to the treatments. Both the PI and TI groups had a positive effect on how learners produced the English causatives. However, both the PI and TI groups fai1ed to show the same performance in the follow- up test, but the drop in the TI group' s scores was greater than the drop in the PI's scores.