Focus on Form, Tasks, and Technology

Abstract In the main, second language acquisition research and the applications of technology to language learning have remained relatively separate areas, with occasional exceptions in research studies (e.g., Doughty, 1991) and book length treatments (Chapelle, 2001). This article will explore connections between technology, and especially, web-based learning, on the one hand, and current views of second language acquisition, in the shape of what is becoming known as the "focus on form" literature, on the other. After a general introductory section, in which the concept of focus on form is discussed, a review is provided of current work in task-based instruction, as the major current implementation of focus on form concepts. This research is then analysed in terms of how task findings contribute to the two processes, on the part of the language learner, of how change in the underlying interlanguage system occurs, and then how the learner achieves control over what has changed. These findings and analyses are then related to opportunities and dangers in the use of technology for language learning.