1 Pondering over Focus on Form and Focus on FormS: Are There “Equivalent and Large Effects”?

finding that instruction does positively impact classroom L2 acquisition, provided that appropriate instruction is implemented. This finding serves as a substantial impetus for practitioners and researchers in the field to seek the best possible instructional practices. Norris and Ortega explore Long’s assertion by attempting to differentiate the magnitude of effectiveness of various types of instruction, namely, explicit versus implicit, Focus on Form (FonF) versus Focus on FormS (FonFS), and combinations of the two. Most striking, however, is the finding that "FonF and FonFS interventions result in equivalent and large effects " (Norris & Ortega, 2000, p. 417). Given that learners are equipped with limited cognitive attentional resources, it seems reasonable to expect FonF to be a more efficient and effective type of instruction that maximizes learners ' gains in the classroom. Why is it that the relative strength and effects of FonF and FonFS have been found to be almost the same? To examine this question more closely, it is useful to turn to Long’s (1991) original conception of FonF-based instruction. A defining characteristic of this pedagogical approach, according to Long, is that it be incidental (i.e., unplanned). Over the years, however, FonF ha