Technology and the Study of Awareness

Abstract

Language awareness is an internal phenomenon that can be externally affected by consciousness-raising or attention-focusing techniques. The implementation of technology in the study of second language (L2) awareness is a recent development: The field caught full speed in the mid-1990s, becoming one of the most innovative areas in SLA research. Technology is used to address questions about external conditions leading to awareness, levels of awareness attained during input processing, the association between awareness and language development, and individual variables (such as cognitive capacity) that are posited to explain the differential effects that the same conditions have on the development of awareness. The range of technology used in this subfield of SLA research-which began with audio and video recordings and old-fashioned overhead transparencies-today includes computers that deliver multimedia treatments and tests, as well as recording performance (both accuracy and reaction time), and that are fast replacing paper-and-pencil materials. Computers are also used as tools to record verbal (think-aloud) protocols and to track performance (e.g., click behavior). Furthermore, more complex devices are now being adapted from cognitive psychology and neurolinguistics for use in research on second language awareness; the number of publications that rely on eye-tracking and neuroimaging techniques like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and event-related potential (ERP) data is growing exponentially.