This paper is a quantitative analysis of the role of awareness in English prepositional structure learning in relation to Schmidt's noticing hypothesis about processing the target language form. The purpose is to identify the long-perplexing problem that Chinese students are reluctant to produce English prepositional structure in their writing. The research is a controlled experiment in a translation-based setting which provides empirical support for the claim that the level of awareness plays a crucial role in the learners' intake and written production the target form. The implication is that a more explicit pedagogical approach may be necessary.
