SLA researchers agree that explicit knowledge and learning play an important role in adult L2 development. In the field of cognitive linguistics, it has been proposed that implicit and explicit knowledge differ in terms of their internal category structure and the processing mechanisms that operate on their representation in the human mind. It has been hypothesized that linguistic constructions which are captured easily by metalinguistic descriptions can be learned successfully through explicit processes, resulting in accurate use. However, increased accuracy of use arising from greater reliance on explicit processing may lead to decreased fluency. Taking these hypotheses as a starting point, I present a case study of an adult L2 learner whose development of oral proficiency was tracked over 17 months. Findings indicate that explicit knowledge and learning have benefits as well as limitations. Use of metalinguistic tools was associated with increased accuracy; moreover, there was no obvious trade-off between accuracy and fluency. At the same time, resource-intensive explicit processing may impose too great a cognitive load in certain circumstances, apparently resulting in implicit processes taking over. I conclude that explicit and implicit knowledge and learning should be considered together in order to gain a full understanding of L2 development.
2023. Investigating Indonesian EFL learners’ knowledge and use of English causative constructions. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 61:2 ► pp. 361 ff.
Pan, Yun
2022. Searching for the unit of meaning: Knowledge construction in university small group talk. Applied Linguistics Review 13:5 ► pp. 899 ff.
Khezrlou, Sima
2021. Effects of timing and availability of isolated FFI on learners’ written accuracy and fluency through task repetition. The Language Learning Journal 49:5 ► pp. 568 ff.
Shintani, Natsuko
2017. THE EFFECTS OF THE TIMING OF ISOLATED FFI ON THE EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE AND WRITTEN ACCURACY OF LEARNERS WITH DIFFERENT PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF THE LINGUISTIC TARGET. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 39:1 ► pp. 129 ff.
Rodríguez Silva, Luis Humberto & Karen Roehr-Brackin
2016. PERCEIVED LEARNING DIFFICULTY AND ACTUAL PERFORMANCE. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 38:2 ► pp. 317 ff.
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