Focusing strategies in second language development : a classroom-based study of Italian L2 in primary school

This paper will first discuss 'Teacher talk' as an area of interest for both first and second language acquisition research in relation to the contribution of the linguistic environment, eg linguistic input, to language acquisition and its relationship with developmental readiness. Second it will present some preliminary findings from a current research project linking developmental readiness with form-focused aspects of instruction and feedback and, third, attempt to relate variation in learning rates among groups of learners to aspects of teachers linguistic behaviour. The categories used in the observation of teacher's linguistic behaviour will be exemplified from the research data. This latter part will of necessity be somewhat exploratory given the 'in vivo' character of classroom-based research and the hitherto limited quantification.