Factors Affecting Taiwanese EFL Learners’ Grammaticality Judgment: Time Constraint, Task Stimuli, and Task Modality

[[abstract]]此研究旨在探討台灣英文學習者在文法判斷測驗當中的表現是否會因為1) 時間限制(限時與非限時)，2) 試題刺激(合乎文法與不合文法)，3) 試題形式(聽力與閱讀)，而有所差異以及此三項因素間之相關性。 此研究共有42位大學生參與測驗，受測者需完成四項文法判斷測驗，此四項測驗之題目皆相同，然其中兩個以聽力測驗的形式，另外兩個則是以閱讀的形式，而兩個聽力或者閱讀測驗中，一個必須在限時內完成，另一個測驗則沒有時間限制。此外，受測者需在每個文法判斷測驗後同時完成一份簡短的問卷，其目的為調查受測者在測驗進行當中所使用之策略。最後，受測者需完成一項後設語言知識測驗。此研究結果顯示出，受測者在沒有時間限制下進行測驗，明顯地能獲得更高分數；受測者在所有的文法判斷測驗當中，能更準確地判斷合乎文法之句子；而至於試題形式對受測者的影響則是，受測者在閱讀方式進行測驗下明顯地能獲得更高的分數。[[abstract]]The present study investigated the extent to which learners’ judgments of grammaticality vary in relation to three factors: (1) task stimuli (grammatical versus ungrammatical), (2) task modality (aural versus written), and (3) time pressure. Forty-two EFL learners from one university in Taiwan participated in the study. The participants completed four grammaticality judgment tests (GJTs), all of which required them to indicate whether sentences were grammatical or ungrammatical. The four GJTs had the same items, but two were delivered in a written mode and the other two were delivered in an aural mode. One of the aural/written GJTs was timed (i.e., the participants had to respond under time constraint), whereas the other one was untimed (i.e., the participants could take their time to complete the test). Each of the GJTs consisted of 64 items, targeting 16 English grammar features. The participants also completed a metalinguistic test and a questionnaire, designed to explore the participants’ strategy use while they were completing the GJTs. Results showed that all the three factors had an effect on the learners’ performance. Participants performed better in the grammatical items than in the ungrammatical items. They also performed better in the untimed GJTs than in the timed GJTs. In terms of task modality, the participants had higher accuracy scores in the written GJTs than in the aural GJTs.[[note]]碩