ABSTRACT
Leow and Martin (2017) reported an overall lack of benefit attributed to the role of enhancement, in spite of attention paid, thus raising the need to address the potential role of depth of processing (Leow, 2015) in this strand of research. In a partial replication of Leow et al. (2003) and Shook (1994), 34 first-year L2 learners of Spanish were randomly assigned to one of two conditions to read two written enhanced texts with the present perfect or present subjunctive for content. Both Conditions A and B were asked to pay attention to the enhanced forms, but Condition B was also asked to formulate a rule for these forms. Think-aloud protocols were coded for depth of processing, L2 development was measured via two controlled written production tests, and the design was a pretest–exposure–immediate posttest–delayed posttest. The results indicated that depth of processing played a role in comprehension and L2 development. Suggestions for future research and potential pedagogical implications are also provided.
