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Impact of post-task explicit instruction on the interaction among child EFL learners in online task-based reading lessons

  • Yoojin Chung EMAIL logo and Andrea Révész
Published/Copyright: January 1, 2025

Abstract

L2 researchers increasingly agree that task-based teaching, combined with timely form-focused instruction, offers an ideal environment for L2 learning. However, the timing of form-focused instruction is debated, with concerns that pre-task interventions may distract learners from focusing on meaning. While some studies address this issue for adults, little is known about children. Hence, this study examined the impact of post-task explicit instruction on children’s task-based interactions in an online EFL setting. Thirty-three Korean EFL children aged 7–11 participated in seven online lessons using Zoom and Padlet. They read a storybook and completed a collaborative post-reading task. The +Explicit Instruction group (+EI) received a three-minute grammar explanation before the task, while the −Explicit Instruction group (−EI) did not. The children’s interaction was analysed for language-related episodes (LREs). Although the number of LREs was small, the −EI group generated significantly more and more elaborate LREs than the +EI group. Regardless of group, the participants attempted to address the majority of linguistic issues raised, but importantly, LREs related to the target form hardly ever occurred. Overall, the analyses of task-based interactions revealed that participants’ primary attention remained on meaning, regardless of whether or not they received explicit instruction.


Corresponding author: Yoojin Chung, Department of English Language and Applied Linguistics, University of Reading, Whiteknights House, RG6 6UR, Reading, UK, E-mail:

  1. Research ethics: Research ethics approval was received from the Research Ethics Committee at University College of London, Institute of Education. Prior to the study, the participants and their guardians were given an introduction and an information sheet describing (a) the purpose of the study (b) the duration and procedure of the study, (c) the participants’ freedom to withdraw from the study at any time, and (d) the measures taken to ensure privacy and confidentiality. Each participants’ and guardian’s agreement to participate in the study was obtained by signing an online consent form.

  2. Author contributions: The authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  3. Competing interests: The authors state no conflict of interest.

  4. Research funding: None declared.

  5. Data availability: The raw data can be obtained on request from the corresponding author.

Appendix A

A.1 Pre-reading activity

A.2 Post-reading activity

A.3 Post-reading activity

A.4 Class Padlet wall

Appendix B: Explicit instruction slide

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Received: 2024-06-10
Accepted: 2024-12-08
Published Online: 2025-01-01
Published in Print: 2025-09-25

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Young L2 learners in diverse instructional contexts
  4. Research Articles
  5. Impact of post-task explicit instruction on the interaction among child EFL learners in online task-based reading lessons
  6. Can we train young EFL learners to ‘notice the gap’? Exploring the relationship between metalinguistic awareness, grammar learning and the use of metalinguistic explanations in a dictogloss task
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