Down the Garden Path: Another Look at Negative Feedback

Page No.: 
9
Writer(s): 
Rod Ellis, Temple University; H. Roderick Rosszell, Temple University Japan; Hidekuki Takashima, Hyogo University of Education

This paper reports a replication of two studies carried out by Tomasello and
Herron 0988, 1989), which provide support for a "Garden Path" instructional
approach. In this approach, learners are led into producing errors of the kind
that occur naturally in second language acquisition, and are then corrected.
Tomasello and Herron found this approach more effective than a traditional
Error Avoidance method of instruction. The two studies reported in this article,
however, fail to show any advantage for the Garden Path approach. This paper
demonstrates the importance of canying out replication studies. It also suggests
that in order for empirical studies of formal instruction to be effective it is
necessary to define the instructional treatments as narrowly as possible.

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