Effects of Focus on Forms and Focus on Form Instruction on Middle-Aged and Elderly Learners’ English Grammar Acquisition

Abstract

Kyungmi Choi, Daria Soon-Young Seog, and Incheol Choi. 2022. Studies in Modern Grammar 115, 119-137. Effects of Focus on Forms and Focus on Form Instruction on Middle-Aged and Elderly Learners’ English Grammar Acquisition. This study, to find an effective way for older adult learners to acquire English, aims to investigate the extent instruction needs to be intentional or explicit. Traditionally, the issue was dealt with in terms of the effect of two instructional approaches—focus on forms (FonFs) and focus on form (FonF). The results of the grammaticality judgment test with audio stimuli show that FonFs instruction is a more appropriate method for middle-aged and elderly groups’ acquisition of grammatical knowledge than FonF instruction. In addition, it suggests that even among older adult learners, age still matters. That is, “the younger, the better” applies to adult learners of age 40 and above.