Series | SAIL
Volume 29 | Monograph | La focalizzazione sulla forma nell’apprendimento e nell’insegnamento delle lingue straniere

La focalizzazione sulla forma nell’apprendimento e nell’insegnamento delle lingue straniere

Aspetti linguistici, psicolinguistici e glottodidattici

open access
  • Paolo Della Putta - Università degli Studi di Torino, Italia - email
  • Elisa Ghia - Università degli Studi di Pavia, Italia - email

Abstract
The current volume explores the key construct of Focus on Form (FonF) and its practical applications to a variety of second language teaching and learning contexts. FonF is a type of cognitive process occurring during the reception or delivery of a linguistic message, in which the smooth flow of discourse is disrupted by a momentary attention to its form. In L2 learning settings, this can be prompted by the deliberate attention to specific language aspects driven by a language instructor or more competent user, or by comprehension problems experienced by learners during interaction. FonF has been shown to have a powerful impact on L2 development, and has been studied especially within interactionist and usage-based approaches to Second Language Acquisition. Given its cognitive nature, it is linked to the notions of attention and noticing, and has been widely studied in both classroom and naturalistic L2 learning settings also in relation to the related processes of Focus on Meaning (FonM) and Focus on Forms (FonFs). The book is divided into four chapters, which move from a theoretical definition of FonF to examples of its emergence and use in formal and less formal L2 English and L2 Italian learning settings. In these terms, the volume aims to stimulate both academic and pedagogical reflection among teachers, students and applied linguists. The first chapter provides a background to FonF by describing the characteristics of L2 input and the key cognitive constructs of selective attention, noticing and memory. Chapter 2 outlines a brief history of FonF within the cognitive-interactionist and usage-based perspectives, followed by its conceptualization in the foreign language teaching field. Chapter 3 describes the continuum from FonM to FonF up to the explicit practice of FonFs, each one having different applications and pedagogical potential. Such potential is clearly illustrated in Chapter 4, which shows concrete examples in L2 English and L2 Italian teaching and learning practices, useful for both learners and teacher reflection.

Keywords Noticing • L2 learning • L2 teaching practice • Focus on Form • Input

Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-899-6 | e-ISBN 978-88-6969-899-6 | ISBN (PRINT) 978-88-6969-900-9 | Published Feb. 18, 2025 | Submitted Nov. 9, 2024 | Language it

Copyright © 2025 Paolo Della Putta, Elisa Ghia. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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