Cognitive Theory and Input Enhancement

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Table of Contents

Summary
Input Enhancement
Types of input enhancement
Characteristics of input enhancement
Color-Coding in Language Classrooms
Color coding as a teaching method
Color Coding in Teaching Quantifiers and Articles
Articles in English and Arabic
Methods of Teaching Articles in the English Language

Summary

Cognitive theorists have continually believed that without perceptions of everything, there are subsequently no emotions and, consequently, no behaviors. It highlights how external and internal components in the classroom influence student thinking. Therefore, the cognitive theory has been expounded to be generally focused on individuals’ thoughts to elucidate emotions and behaviors to evaluate the complete personality. Many of the approaches to teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) led to the creation of a variety of methodologies and instruments. Researchers have followed the direction taken by a number of studies in the fields of cognitive approach (Schmdit,2001). According to Visroodi (2015), the cognitive approach prevails in grammar teaching, instructors concentrate on cognitive peculiarities of their students to facilitate the teaching process. This approach implies that acquiring a new language goes beyond simple routine formation. Instead, it is an active process that employs a variety of cognitive abilities (Li, 2017). Most English article teaching instruments depend on cognitive approaches to enable the provision of instruction to learners, where educators tried to enhance the input in teaching by using either verbal or textual enhancement (Rashtchi & Etebari, 2018). Color-coding is one of the techniques that has been very widespread in delivering input enhancement. The literature review begins with outlining the input enhancement background on language acquisition, vocabulary and grammar. This chapter starts with definitions of input enhancement in relation with grammar learning. Followed by a description of color coding and how it is used in language classrooms. The rest of the chapter provides a description of English articles, investigating the core concepts of the color coding in second language acquisition

Input Enhancement

Teaching grammar to second language learners brings a number of challenges that are different from those of native speakers. One of the issues related to grammar acquisition for English learners has been finding the techniques which effectively focus the learners’ attention on the target grammar. A number of theories and strategies have been advocated for this drive to assist language learners in English grammar acquisition. Input enhancement has become one of the most researched areas due to its promising prospects in relation to EFL.

Input enhancement, as defined by its founder Mike Sharwood Smith (1981), is a concept alluded to in the Second Language Acquisition to be the basis harboring techniques used by researchers to develop salient selected elements of a language for learners, such as parts of words that express tense, word order, accents, slang, articles, and idioms. Their main objective is to draw the learner’s attention to prospects of language that have of late been viewed to have had little impact on the learner (Godfroid, Lin, & Ryu, 2017). Teachers need to understand how cognitive theory affects student learning and behavior to control. The focus of this paper is to explore utilizing an external factor, such as input enhancement, adopted by this study to the point that it could affect students’ learning.

Types of input enhancement

Today, input enhancement may take different forms as visual, audial, textual, and kinesthetic tools that can be utilized (Pourhosein Gilakjani., 2011). For instance, such textual enhancements as underlining, boldfacing, italicization, and capitalization have been established to improve the learning process. Of interest to textual enhancement is a color-coding technique (Winke, 2013). Color-coding is considered to be one of the visual tools or, as some might call it, textual types of input enhancement which has proved to be effective in English article teaching (Schneider et al., 2016).. According to Corder (1967), current analyses show that most researchers’ attention in the SLA has been objected majorly to the cognitive mechanisms that influence the learner’s input processing abilities which facilitate learning. Therefore, they have examined the effect enhancement of inputs on learning in their studies on the effects of Second Language instructions.

To further understand the role of input enhancement, traditionally, the mental registration of the information during processing has been differentiated between linguistic input that the learner has yet to process and intake (Corder, 1967). Frota proposed that conscientious exposure to feedback is needed for learning to take place (as cited in Ayoun, 2011). According to Heinz (2017), input enhancement using textual enhancements indicated improved performance in prepositions acquisitions, with post-test scoring an increase of 5.7% from the pre-test. Additional analysis of the data revealed that students of lower aptitude on average, saw a 9.6% increase in performance scores with Cloze-styled textual enhancement. By focusing on input enhancement in more detail, it is highly considered as one of the best techniques in grammar learning. According to Schmidt (1995), an L2 can be acquired by actively noticing unique types in the input enhancement. Cho (2010) argues that noticing is a crucial mechanism in SLA, focus without consciousness, and noticing. Cho (2010) asserted that it is possible to record sensed information in memory and disassociate it from consciousness. The second language learning method is seen by other researchers, including Truscott (1998), as dualistic: the development of Metalinguistic forms can be related to conscious awareness, but skill in the second language isn’t really. Consequently, we have developed a better view of the cognitive processes driving learner language production, both unconscious and conscious.

On the other hand, Fazlali and Shahini (2019) established that consciousness-raising instruction had a significant effect on increasing both lexical and grammatical collocation knowledge of Iranian EFL learners. The researchers further noted that the consciousness raising group outperformed the input enhancement group and the control group (no treatment). They established that input enhancement had a significant effect on increasing the grammatical collocation knowledge of Iranian EFL learners. However, Fazlali and Swahili (2019) noted that input enhancement had no significant effect on the progress of lexical collocation knowledge. Notably, the consciousness-raising group outclassed the input enhancement and control group.

The aforementioned results of numerous studies point to the fact that input enhancement can be implemented as an effective means of improving a learner’s ability to obtain language skills. Moreover, input enhancement is not limited to one particular method but rather involves utilizing different approaches. Nevertheless, there are other viable strategies, such as consciousness-raising, which can outperform input enhancement in certain contexts and, on average, yield better results when addressing a specific area of language acquisition. Therefore, when creating a plan for teaching a foreign language, it would be reasonable to mix input enhancement with other proven techniques to generate a comprehensive program.

Characteristics of input enhancement

By focusing on input enhancement in more detail, it is highly considered that noticing is considered as the first step in the learning process. Richards and Reppen (2014) agree that noticing is the first phase of transforming unfamiliar linguistic units into learners’ language accuracy. During the noticing stage, a student should be able to single certain grammar structures in a text. Evidently, background knowledge is a prerequisite for having an eye for these new structures. Noticing does not mean immediate acquisition as in actuality, at this stage, it is common to feel confused or make mistakes. The most important faculty is triggering the attention for patterns to examine further. At the second stage, a student is capable of comparing what he or she has learned with the new intake, which is logged in their newly taught material. Lastly, they integrate the old and the new knowledge into their own individual linguistic system, which belongs to the domain of the long-term acquisition of the language (Richards & Reppen, 2014). The researchers note that input enhancement can be beneficial and should be utilized in combination with different forms of instruction. It is also important to make sure that learners’ attention is concentrated on one or small part of grammar units. Otherwise, their attention will be distracted, which will lead to the disruption of the learning process and students’ feeling overwhelmed.

To expound on the implications of input enhancement on cognitive theory, this study will be based on the color-coding teaching technique as a form of input enhancement on articles to draw critical conclusions. Input enhancement has become one of the most researched areas due to its promising prospects in relation to EFL.

Color-Coding in Language Classrooms

Multiple studies show that color-coding could be an efficient way to boost vocabulary and grammar learning. Further, color-coding is also considered to have various effects for tutoring different such language aspects as grammar article (Schneider et al., 2016). According to Schneider et al. (2016), the use of color-coding has been one of the approaches aimed at enhancing students’ results through acquisition and understanding of language. The use of color to illustrate the target language units suggests color-coding technique as one of the best cognitive methods. In vocabulary development and grammar training, this approach has proven to be explicitly useful where the emphasis on the form has been established to improve language and learning. Educators illustrate particular units that are readily noticed, such as parts of the word, a word, and a phrase.

Grammar learning can be seen as a daunting process for many learners who, because of the difficulty of this component of a foreign language, seem to lose interest and dedication. Kian and Gorjian (2018) noted that attention triggering techniques such as color-coding can improve learning connectors. Therefore, such enhancement techniques as the use of colors may be effective in teaching grammar to the SLA learners. Color-coding has continually helped solve these challenges and improve the efficiency of grammar learning by making students more involved (Behzadian, 2016). Specific colors draw people’s interest and variations of tinges, which increase the probability of students seeing the forms studied. Many pioneers in EFL put an emphasis on the benefits of the technique (Inceoglu & Loewen, 2016). Through instruction, teachers can steer students’ attention and help them notice linguistic patterns. Those patterns that are made more salient, i.e. noticeable, on purpose frequently have a higher likelihood of being understood and recalled (Myles & Mitchell, 2014).

Despite these conclusions appearing self-evident, some scholars claim that color-coding also has detrimental impacts on language when the emphasis on the form deviates from learners’ willingness to pay the required attention to the context. According to Cintrón-Valentín and Ellis (2016), learner’s prior linguistic experience derived from attention processes can shape their willingness toward cues in the input, despite helping form focused instruction (FFI) in SLA learners, thus can subdue the long-term benefits, hindering the verb-tense morphology.

Specific colors can deflect people’s interests, and the human eye may misperceive some hues. Both this information can be evaluated to provide the basis for the creation of appropriate teaching methods. Pam and Karimi (2016) argue that if the instructor gives transparent and comprehensive guidance, the negative findings described above can also be avoided. Learners should keep concentrated, which can be accomplished by establishing the right environment. The current thesis investigates the use of color-coding in grammar instruction based on these observations and conclusions. According to Godfroid, Lin, and Ryu (2017), color usage is the typical strategy used within the multisensory approach framework. Grammar is taught with the aid of colorful rods, blocks, and grids designed to attract students’ attention and enable them to understand and remember such details. As argued by Pam and Karimi (2016), color-coding has become a standard method in grammar instruction, as recent research provides a considerable amount of proof of this instrument’s efficacy. Teachers integrate color into various tasks, including but not limited to content, assessments, and reviews. According to Pam and Karimi (2016), color-coding as one of the input enhancement methods outperformed the control group, which lacked any input enhancement technique. Further, Pam and Karimi established that the application of such textual techniques as color-coding could enhance the incidental idiom learning. In this regard, it is valid to argue that input enhancement has improved academic performance of EFL learners.

Researchers identify any of the potential practices that learners are encouraged to perform while studying grammar. The emphasis is on the use of new grammatical and color structures in verbalized learning. Fazlali and Shahini (2019) indicated input enhancement is useful for students who struggle to learn a second language and students who are in the early stages of studying foreign languages. When exposed to the correct input, students showed better outcomes. The learners’ poor performance exposed to output suggests that improvement of input is a beneficial facilitator of grammar learning. The incompetence of the mixed output and inputs exercises may be embedded in the activities’ particularities, as the output tasks could be confused or too complicated for the individual.

Color coding as a teaching method

According to Clark (2013), the color-coding method is commonly used in instructor reviews, aside from integrating color-coding into exercises and projects, which is considered an integral part of the teaching process. Clinton et al, (2016) concentrated on the correlation between the use of color in tacit or implicit disciplinary guidance (knowledge garnered from personal experience and context) and English papers by students. Importantly, in teaching indefinite articles, colorful explicit input proved useful, although the positive link was lacking for the definitive use of the grammar articles (Clinton et al., 2019). As far as implicit feedback is concerned, students who struggle to use papers appropriately found the use of color in grammar learning to be beneficial. It can also be claimed that color-coding is exceptionally successful in explicit feedback and positively impacts students’ learning in embedded feedback (Masoudi, 2017). In the above case, color-coding makes it easy for students to note one of the learning assumptions. The question arises as to whether achromatic colors (black, white, and shades of gray) are better than chromatic colors for teaching a second language grammar. Nozari and Siamian, (2015) concluded in their paper that chromatic colors proved to be a better visual aid than their achromatic counterparts. This hypothesis is confirmed by a similar study by Kohler (2009) that demonstrated that using colors indeed was more beneficial than using only black and white color schemes. The study by Kohler (2009) may be especially relevant for the present research as it focuses on teaching articles using color-coding for learners’ accuracy. The only difference, mainly, is that Kohler (2009) investigates the issue in relation to the German language. The researcher speculates that perhaps one of the reasons why using colors shows better efficiency is the versatility of the method. A black and white color scheme may only give one so many options while other colors give an educator more freedom to encode teaching materials (Kohler, 2009). Furthermore, chromatic colors draw attention, which is especially important for the first step in the input process which is noticeable. Moreover, Kohler (2009) agrees that chromatic colors are more appropriate for incorporation than black and white color schemes. If, suppose, this assumption is correct, then it is only reasonable to ask as to what color schemes should be used in terms of type, intensity, and other properties. In recent years, there has been a huge focus on making education more accessible for ESL students with varying teaching abilities.

Color Coding in Teaching Quantifiers and Articles

The word input enhancement is attributed to Jones and Waller (2017), who recommended that certain form of advancement may be beneficial in increasing the salience of input for students. Without this importance, he argues, students may miss aspects of the input they obtain, as much of it is likely to be analyzed for interpretation. As defined by Jones and Waller (2017), observing is the conscious recording of frequented specific situations of language. Additionally, Fakher Ajabshir (2020) describes Input Enhancing (EL) as a piece of manipulating information in such a manner that it draws students’ focus to the target sequence and makes it more conceptually vivid to them. The concept of input enhancement has sparked a profusion of studies that examined how enhanced input aids in learning the second language (L2) features through various manipulations, such as typographical enhancement and input enrichment. A few researchers have looked into the impacts of textual input enhancement, which involves underlying or bolding target terms in written input; however, the results are mixed.

The critical element to emphasize is that acquisition of a specific linguistic trait occurs due to the learner’s attention to that trait (Kian & Gorjian, 2018). This view is consistent with the belief that language elements made more visible or amplified are more likely to be noticed. Various specialists (e.g., Kian & Gorjian, 2018) have undertaken various scientific research to support the concept that more learning occurs in this discipline when a greater emphasis is placed on the form. It could be achieved by output production or input augmentation, or a combination of the two. As has been demonstrated in recent SLA-related research, a high premium has been placed on the role of input augmentation in the consumption of linguistic properties, particularly grammatical structures.

In the study by Vu and Peters (2019), students learning German as a different language go through a translated literature in German with around half the test examples typographically augmented and the other half not. The instant posttest findings indicate that typographic sensitivity had a considerable impact on the students’ ability to remember the structure of formulaic patterns and single words. Clinton, Morsanyi, Alibali and Nathan (2016) examined the relationship between learners’ English manuscripts and the application of color in implicit or tacit supervisory guidelines (knowledge gained from individual perspective and relevance).

Notably, colorful explicit input was beneficial in educating indefinite articles, despite the absence of a potential connection to the conclusive application of the grammar articles (Clinton Legerski & Rhodes, 2019). In terms of implicit feedback, learners with proper paper usage found that using color in learning grammar is advantageous. Additionally, color-coding is extremely effective in explicit feedback and has a beneficial effect on learners’ education in integrated responses. In the example above, color coding enables learners to identify one of the educational hypotheses quickly.

Articles in English and Arabic

A grammatical feature that is researched more often by EFL-oriented educators but is understated in an ESL perspective is articles. The article’s structure in English is different from the standard Arabic language. For instance, the English form of articles includes the indefinite articles “a ” and “an ”, the definite article “the,” and the zero articles. Conversely, the Standard Arabic Language inscribes “definiteness” with the definite prefix, which commonly forms auxiliary to nouns [ال], for instance, [المدرسة] “the school.” In this regard, the absence of indefinite articles in the Arabic language is bound with the definite article when they learn English as a second language, they highlighted the over use of English definite articles (Alhaisoni et al., 2017).

Moreover, definite articles are incorrectly used due to transfer from L1 When using abstract nouns in the English language. A good example is the sentence; “the past” instead of “past”. In other instances, such variations are noted when mass nouns are applied to infer generalization. Examples include “the water” rather than “water”, proper nouns such as “The Arabic nation” rather than “Arabic nation” (Shalaby, 2014). Notably, the use of an article with two separate nouns containing a conjunction results in the negative L1 transfer. A good example is a use of “and”, such as “the spoon and the plate” instead of “spoon and plate”. Arabic ESL learners’ misuse of the English article ‘the” has been recognized in numerous research articles. Shalaby (2014) and Alhaisoni et al. (2017) are cases where a critical evaluation of Arabic learners’ records discovered the Misuse of the definite article. The over employment of the definite article “the” was accredited to students’ transfer of their L1 knowledge because the definite article was used to substitute the zero articles.

Other studies have misrepresented the use of definite errors by ESL learners. Particularly, Thyab (2016) stated that the standard Arabic Language would apply a definite article in this perspective despite it being auxiliary to the second noun. Since Arabic relates the use of definite articles in such phrases, as shown above, no particular article was indicated in the example, thus resulting in inaccuracy to factor such faults as transfer errors. Based on the studies reviewed formerly, the over the employment of the definite article and subsequent replacement of the English zero or indefinite is an error endorsed by L1 influence. As discussed above, the study on the effect of L1 Arabic transfer acquisition of the English articles, specifically definite articles, is deficient and additional analysis is needed.

Methods of Teaching Articles in the English Language

Teaching the English language has long been regarded as critical and a top priority on a global scale. As a result of technological advancements, learner statuses and educator profiles have shifted, and scholars have been looking for additional teaching interventions that better fit the new learner profile. In this sense, active learning methodologies to teach English as a foreign language (EFL) are now considered more effective than teacher-centered approaches (Turan & Akdag-Cimen, 2020). Previous research on English grammar articles has identified various effective teaching approaches and methodologies for the articles a, an, and the (Har, 2011). As learning and acquiring English grammar articles has historically presented difficulties for students, linguists have developed various instructional strategies and methodologies for teaching the articles (Har, 2011). These strategies are aimed at making the process of teaching and learning the pieces more productive. The English grammar articles a, an, and the are classified as determiners (Har, 2011). The English article framework is among the most frequently used features of the English language’s grammar.

The most frequently used words in the English language are the articles a and the, accounting for two top ten most frequently used terms (Har, 2011). The article’s structure is extensively utilized in all four abilities of listening, writing, speaking and reading, whether knowingly or unknowingly. It is critical for language learning because it assists in achieving fluency and accuracy in the English language and communication techniques (Har, 2011). Therefore, some of the methodologies or approaches that instructors may use to teach articles in the English language include the Deductive process – which involves engaging students in jigsaw discussions and group work and employing close texts (Har, 2011). Har (2011), in Strategies for Teaching the Articles a, an and the suggests that jigsaw exercises and group activities enable learners to engage in more real-world interaction while also teaching them to be more accountable for their learning. This teaching method is cost-effective because it can be accomplished easily by guiding students to the grammar rules contained in teacher-prepared handouts.

Secondly, Zugic (2017), in How to Teach the Article System to ESL Students, hypothesized a six-step instructional series for teaching English articles centered on their convenience of elaboration and probability of occurrence. The following six steps were recommended: first, the quantity of nouns (singular and plural difference), for instance, Mary has a pencil versus Mary has four pencils. Second, generic plural in sentences, e.g., all apples are red, and apples are red. The third step regards the usage of non-count nouns (A lot of versus much and many). For instance, Peter bought a lot of pens while John drank a lot of water. Fourth, regards the use of determiners (Which-NP question and first or subsequent mention), e.g., which cups are green? The cups are on the table. The other step is regarding the use of quantity and quantifiers. For instance, one of the pens on the plains is red. The last step is to use generic articles, e.g., a rat is bigger than a mouse and rats are bigger than mice.

Thirdly, Cansiz and Cansiz (2019) have argued that the traditional methodology is the most convenient way for students to learn the articles in English grammar and instructors to teach them. In contrast to teaching articles regarding concepts or theories to explain how to use the articles as structured guidelines. Additionally, they (Cansiz & Cansiz, 2019) reports that the approach contained in grammar books may be deficient in terms of actual concepts and information regarding the proper usage of the articles. Lastly, Lopez (2019), in Definiteness and Specificity in Linguistically-Informed Instruction, suggests that any examination of the English article system’s linguistic properties reveals its sophistication. The complexity explains why prolonged inconsistencies are frequently cited, even among advanced L2 subscribers (Lopez, 2019). Further, Lopez (2019) enumerates some debate in the academic framework about what correctness and precision imply and how they are portrayed in languages with and without an article system.

It is clear that the teaching of article use in the English language can be a difficult task, and therefore numerous methods of doing it have been developed. One of the main approaches is the introduction of jigsaw discussions and group work to a curriculum which implies giving the students a chance to choose the correct article in different situations. Another methodology involves six steps, starting from plurals, of explaining the use of English articles based on how often particular articles appear in sentences and how easy it is to explain them. Some researchers believe that the most reliable way of teaching articles is through traditional theories and concepts. There is also color-coding, the method which appears to be the most effective way of enabling students to gain an understanding of article usage in English. Color-coding improves students’ ability to remember certain articles since colors help them to focus their attention on articles. Essentially, color-coding promotes students’ capacity to concentrate on the articles utilized in the sentences which they study. Thus, color-coding should be the primary method when teaching the article because it entails considerable benefits for the learner.

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