Enhancing English Past Tense Acquisition
Comparative Effects of Structured Input, Referential, and Affective Activities
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5899945 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kaiqi Shi (0009-0008-5619-5237, University of Hong Kong, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 9 |
| Pages | 212 |
| Publication date | 2025-08-28 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Languages (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2226-471X • E-ISSN: 2226-471X |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/languages10090212 |
| OpenAlex | W4413796385 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 23 |
This study investigates the impact of structured input, referential activities, and affective activities on English simple past tense acquisition in a second language (L2). Thirty-three participants from a senior high school were divided into four groups based on the pretest-posttest design: referential only, affective only, a combination of both, and a control group. A self-paced reading (SPR) test was used to measure accuracy and response times to evaluate the effectiveness of these instructional strategies. Structured input and referential tasks enhance grammatical acquisition more rapidly and accurately than affective-only treatments or controls, showing the beneficial effects of structured input on grammar acquisition. The results emphasized the importance of designing instructional strategies that address specific processing challenges in L2 learning by focusing on form-meaning connections. By demonstrating differential impacts of structured input activities on grammatical learning and processing efficiency, the research contributes to the field of second language acquisition. The SPR method was selected for its ability to capture subtle, immediate differences in processing at the word level, its suitability for controlled classroom-based online administration, and its established validity in L2 processing research. Unlike other methods, SPR allows precise measurement of reaction times for specific sentence components, isolating processing effects of the target grammatical form while minimizing the influence of explicit knowledge
Control (management · Focus on form · Grammar · Language acquisition · Linguistics · Mathematics education · Meaning (existential · Natural language processing · Past tense · Reading (process · Second-language acquisition · Sentence · Verb · Computer Science · Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism · Psychology · Reading and Literacy Development · Second Language Acquisition and Learning · Artificial Intelligence
Processing Instruction
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Metalinguistic Knowledge and Language Use in Acquisition-poor Environments
Modelling Learning Difficulty and Second Language Proficiency
The effects of structured input and working memory on the acquisition of English causative forms
The Effects of Processing Instruction and its Components on the Acquisition of Gender Agreement in Italian
Missing Surface Inflection or Impairment in second language acquisition? Evidence from tense and agreement
Processing Instruction
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |