Timing of Explicit Rule Instruction and Its Different Effectiveness

Abstract

This paper examined the effects of the timing of explicit rule presentation on L2 syntax learning, specifically whether it is more effective to present rules explicitly before, in between, or after performance on a meaning-focused task. Adult learners were trained on an artificial language under the sequences of (i) Explicit (E)-Implicit (I), (ii) I-E-I, and (iii) I-E. After training, they were tested by means of grammaticality judgments and subjective measures of awareness. The results indicate that the E-I condition is more facilitative of L2 learning, as it results in better performance in applying the rules in new contexts. The awareness measures further suggest that the E-I group developed implicit and explicit knowledge more accurately than did the other groups. The experiment thus provides evidence that adult learners learn an L2 more effectively when they are instructed in the rules before receiving naturalistic L2 exposure.