An Exploration of L2 Teachers’ Use of Pedagogical Interventions Devised to Draw L2 Learners’ Attention to Form

Abstract

This descriptive observational study aimed at exploring the form‐focused instruction (FFI) interventions used by four French and four English as‐a‐second‐language high school teachers to draw their students’ attention to form. With the help of an Intervention‐on‐Form(s)‐Observation Scheme (IFOS) developed and tested for this purpose, each FFI intervention observed during 60 hours of video‐recorded class time was coded according to its type (e.g., corrective feedback, explanation, enhancement, form‐oriented exercises) and its related characteristics (e.g., linguistic focus, interactional pattern, source of the intervention). The results show that grammar‐oriented interventions are rather frequent in these second‐language classes and that some differences in preferences of intervention types exist in the two contexts. Although FFI interventions are more frequent in the English classes observed, the overall time spent on FFI is significantly higher in the French classes. The reasons for this as well as details regarding the characteristics of the interventions coded through the use of the IFOS will be discussed.