Final project paper for ESL 680P (L2 Educational Technology)
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
Spring, 2000 (minor revision on March 8, 2001)

Please cite as....

Typographical Input Enhancement on the Web:
Its Potential in L2 Research and Pedagogy

Ken Urano (urano@hawaii.edu)

Introduction:

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the use of typographical input enhancement on the web. First, literature in input enhancement in general will be briefly reviewed with a focus on the issues of perceptual salience of the target form. Second, the possibility of web-based input enhancement will be discussed with sample uses of different coding features of the web format for highlighting target linguistic items. Third, advantages and potential limitations of web-based input enhancement will be discussed, and suggestions are given so that the limitations discussed could be minimized. 

Typographical Input Enhancement:

Input enhancement can be broadly defined as an attempt to make a certain linguistic form salient to L2 learners by manipulating characteristics of input (Sharwood Smith, 1991; 1993). Supports for the positive role of input enhancement in SLA come from the theoretical and empirical argument that attention to form is the necessary and sufficient condition for L2 learning (e.g., Hulstijn, 1989; Schmidt, 1990, 1993; 1994; 1995). Although some researchers are against its necessity, it would be safe to assume that drawing learners' attention to form is at least facilitative to further language acquisition processes.

The effectiveness of focus on form, one of the hottest issues in current L2 research, is also based on the role of learner attention in language learning, and input enhancement is indeed considered as one technique of focus on form (Doughty & Williams, 1998, pp. 257-260, especially, Table 3, p. 258). When discussed within the focus-on-form context, input enhancement is usually defined narrowly as highlighting the target form in the input either intonationally or typographically. Typographical input enhancement, the central issue of this paper, is input enhancement in this narrower sense with regard to the written mode of input.

There have been several empirical studies in the effects of typographical input enhancement on SLA (e.g., Alanen, 1995; Leow, 1997; Robinson, 1996; White, 1998). Although effects of input enhancement were found in some studies (e.g., Robinson, 1996), others obtained somewhat inconclusive results (e.g., Alanen, 1995; Leow, 1997; Williams, 1998). Williams (1998) argues that the mechanism in which input enhancement draw learners' attention to a form which later turns to acquisition of the form is fairly complicated, and at least a few factors, such as salience, explicitness, and density of the target form, and learners' developmental framework, need to be considered to account for the effects of input enhancement (pp. 101-106).

Perceptual salience is one of the crucial factors in input enhancement studies.  Although enhanced input is expected to draw learners' attention to the target form, highlighting the form does not necessarily guarantee that the learner "notices" the key linguistic feature in the input that is highlighted (Sharwood Smith, 1993). Jourdenais, Ota, Stauffer, Boyson, and Doughty (1995) addressed this particular issue, and tried to investigate L2 learners' perception of enhanced input by using the think-aloud protocol procedure. The results suggest that textual input enhancement does draw learners' attention to the target form.

Web-based Input Enhancement:

Before describing the characteristics of web-based input enhancement, it would be helpful to review the types of the enhancement in the previous studies. Jourdenais et al. (1995) summarized the techniques employed in the study as follows (p. 187):

• manipulation of typography (i.e., larger type faces, different type face)
• use of typographic cues (i.e., italic, bold face, CAPITAL LETTERS, underlining, color coding, etc.)

Other input enhancement studies used some or all of the techniques described above. It is also important to note that more than one technique is often employed at the same time to increase the perceptual salience of the target form. For example, White (1998) used the italic, bold face, and larger type faces to the target form.

Once upon a time there was a king. He had a beautiful young daughter. For her birthday, the king gave her a golden ball that she played with every day.

(p. 107)

In this study, English possessive determiners (his and her) were the target forms. As the sample paragraph above shows, White highlighted all the third-person singular pronouns using the bold face and the italics.  In addition, the target forms (two instances of her in the above sample) were further highlighted through larger type faces.

It should be noted that this type of highlighting can be done quite easily using the web, or HTML, format (remember, this very document, including the above sample, is written in HTML!). Although these techniques can be used without any knowledge of HTML with the arrival of many user-friendly web authoring applications, it would be of some use to introduce the "grammar" of HTML that makes these types of enhancement available.

The very basic of HTML (hypertext markup language) is that a text (a string of letters, words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs) is sandwiched by special tags which determine the typographical characteristics of the text. Take a look at the sample below (the sample uses Times New Roman as the base font). The third-person singular morpheme -s is highlighted.

As you can see, the use of tags for these types of highlighting is quite simple and intuitive.  Also, it is obvious that use of only one type of highlighting is not sufficient to make the target form salient. More than one techniques can be used simultaneously in that case, just as previous paper-based input enhancement studies (see below).

Another set of highlighting techniques is to change the characteristics of fonts used. A special tag for the font attributes (<font> tag) is used for this type of highlighting. Font sizes, faces, and colors can be changed by using the <font> tag. Font size can be specified between 1 (smallest) to 7 (largest). See the sample below (the base font is Times New Roman, and the base font size is set as "4").

With regard to the font faces, HTML allows you to use whatever faces that are installed in the client's machine (this issue is important and will be discussed later).

In order to specify colors, you have to use special color codes for computers (e.g., '#0000ff" for "blue"). However, newer web browsers accept actual color names (e.g., "black" or "pink") that are easier to use.

Again, more than one attribute can be put together, as in the example below.

More dynamic presentations of the target form can be achieved by using other web-related techniques.  Use of image files is one of the options, and your imagination is the only limitation when images are used. I created a very simple animation GIF file (which took me only three minutes by using PaintShop Pro 5.01) so that the target form -s can be highlighted like this:

Ken like apples.

Other sophisticated techniques of HTML, such as Dynamic HTML (DHTML), can produce a more of these types of input enhancement that traditional paper-based materials cannot provide. However I will not introduce such techniques since it is beyond the scope of this paper.

Advantages and Limitations:

There are advantages and limitations of using the web for input enhancement both in L2 research and pedagogy. Some of them are discussed here, and a few suggestions will be given to deal with some of the limitations.

The most remarkable advantage of the web format for input enhancement is its wider variety of presentation methods. It can cover almost all the techniques that paper-based highlighting can do, and more dynamic ways to present the target form are available that cannot be done on paper. What types of presentation method should be used, however, needs to be studied since there have been no web-based input enhancement studies to my knowledge.  Perhaps literature in cognitive psychology can provide some information about perceptual salience under different types of visual presentation.

Another advantage is its ease of creation and presentation. Making enhanced text on the web format is at least as easy as typing it in a word-processing application. The difference between a web-based text and other types of text, including paper-based and other computer-based texts, is that HTML is intended to be useable across-platform. In other words, any computer (e.g., Windows-based PCs, Macs, UNIX-based machines, etc.) equipped with any web browser (MS Internet Explorer, Netscape Communicator, Opera, etc.) should be able to show a web-based enhanced text in a similar manner.

However, it is important to note that the actual appearance of a web text could be different depending on the computers, operating systems, web browsers, etc. I would call this a limitation, rather than a problem or disadvantage, since there are ways to remove, or at least minimize those differences. In place of conclusion, I would like to present the known issues in this area and provide some ways to deal with them.

First, typefaces, or fonts, installed in computers differ. For example, Windows 95/98 and Macintosh OS offer many typefaces, not all of which overlap. It is safer to use common type faces across platform unless you are sure that all the computers you will use have those specific fonts used. There are some fonts that are installed in both PCs and Macs, and others that are different in labels but are somewhat compatible. More than one typeface can be specified in the <font> tag (e.g., <font face="Arial,Helvetica">ABCDE</font>), so those similar typefaces could be used.

Note. Those typefaces with an asterisk and some other fonts (e.g., Georgia, Verdana) are offered by Microsoft, and can usually be found in Macintosh computers in which Microsoft Word is installed.

Second, physical appearance, especially the size of fonts, of a web text could be different depending on the computers and/or software used. This is not a serious problem for L2 pedagogy since the difference, if any, would be relatively small. However, if web-based input enhancement is to used for research purposes, a care should be taken to minimize such a variable that could obscure that collected data. Using the same type of computers (especially with the same type of the monitors) is desirable in that case.

In conclusion, I would like to introduce a resource book for web design:

Lynch, P. J., & Horton, S. (1999). Web style guide: Basic design principles for creating web sites. New Haven: Yale University Press.

This is not a book on HTML; rather it discusses the design issues of the web, including cross-platform issues such as different typefaces, just discussed above. The same authors maintain a web site with similar information in it (http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/manual/).

References:

Alanen, R. (1995). Input enhancement and rule presentation in second language acquisition. In R. Schmidt (Ed.), Attention and awareness in foreign language learning (Technical Report #9, pp. 259-302). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii, Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center.

Doughty, C., & Williams, J. (1998). Pedagogical choices in focus on form. In C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition (pp. 197-261). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Hulstijn, J. (1989). Implicit and incidental language learning: Experiments in the processing natural and partly artificial input. In H. Dechert & M. Raupach (Eds.), Interlingual processing (pp. 49-73). Tübingen: Gunter Narr.

Jourdenais, R., Ota, M., Stauffer, S., Boyson, B., & Doughty, C. (1995). Does textual enhancement promote noticing?: A think aloud protocol analysis. In R. Schmidt (Ed.), Attention and awareness in foreign language learning (Technical Report #9, pp. 183-216). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii, Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center.

Leow, R. (1997). The effects of input enhancement and text length on adult L2 learners' comprehension and intake in second language acquisition. Applied Language Learning, 8, 151-182.

Lynch, P. J., & Horton, S. (1999). Web style guide: Basic design principles for creating web sites. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Schmidt, R. (1990). The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 11, 17-46.

Schmidt, R. (1993). Awareness and second language acquisition. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 13, 206-226.

Schmidt, R. (1994). Implicit learning and the cognitive unconscious: Of artificial grammars and SLA. In N. Ellis (Ed.), Implicit and explicit learning of languages (pp. 165-209). London: Academic Press.

Schmidt, R. (1995). Consciousness and foreign language learning: A tutorial on the role of attention and awareness in learning. In R. Schmidt (Ed.), Attention and awareness in foreign language learning (pp. 1-63). Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.

Sharwood Smith, M. (1991). Speaking to many minds: On the relevance of different types of language information for the L2 learner. Second Language Research, 7, 118-132.

Sharwood Smith, M. (1993). Input enhancement in instructed SLA: Theoretical bases. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 15, 165-179.

White, J. (1998). Getting the learners' attention: A typographical input enhancement study. In C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition (pp. 85-113). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.