Measuring Implicit and Explicit Knowledge in Second Language Learning: Focusing on the Three Design Features of the Grammaticality Judgement Test

抄録

It is widely accepted that implicit knowledge is unconscious knowledge while explicit knowledge is conscious in second language acquisition. A controversial problem of implicit/explicit knowledge is how these two kinds of knowledge are related to each other (i.e., interface issue). In order to solve this problem, the measures of implicit/explicit knowledge are needed to be developed. The present study focused on the three design features (time condition, modality, and stimulus type) of the grammaticality judgement test (GJT). By incorporating comprehension questions into GJTs, the present study attempted to make learners focus on ‘meaning’ while engaging in grammaticality judgement tasks. It conducted analysis of variance (ANOVA) and principal component analysis in order to examine how the three design features affect learners’ performance in GJTs and explore how each feature is related to implicit/explicit knowledge. The results showed that the modality feature taps the purest implicit/explicit knowledge of the three design features. The results also indicated that scores on grammatical stimulus sentences of GJTs may not reflect learners’ pure grammatical knowledge.