Focusing on Phonology to Teach Morphological Form in French

Much recent research in language pedagogy has advocated a form–focused approach, noting that input can be tailored to promote acquisition of specific phenomena (R. Ellis, 1990; Harley, 1993; Herschensohn, 1990; Lee & Valdman, 2000; Leeman, Arteagoitia, Fridman, & Doughty, 1995; VanPatten, 1996). In this article, we argue for the importance of phonological form in the second language (L2) classroom, proposing that a thorough grounding in L2 phonological patterns is essential for language learners; we use as evidence for our position the importance of phonological information for the auditory detection of morphological form in French. We offer a pedagogical means by which the morphological rule of gender agreement for adjectives, which involves final consonant alternation, can be imitated in a L2 context through a context–based focus on phonological form. We present empirical evidence that such a focus produces statistically significant results in a classroom experiment that tests listening discrimination of gender alternation in adjectives. Our results also have implications for the effectiveness of an explicit, meaning–oriented focus on form for listening comprehension, inasmuch as the auditory discrimination of contrasts contributes to that process.