The Impact of Focus-on-Form versus non Focus-on-Form instruction on accurate production of some Grammatical Structures

Abstract

Form-focused instruction is a method that emphasizes the value of communicative teaching standards, which include student-centered instruction and authentic communication.The purpose of this thesis is to examine the effectiveness of ‘focus on form’ instruction on Iranian EFL learners’ acquisition of grammatical items.In an attempt to uncover the possible effects of form-focus instruction on learners’ grammatical knowledge, an empirical study was conducted. This study used a Quasi-experimental design. In so doing,the study was performed in one of the Iranian Universities. The participants were 60 Iranian pupils (20 males and 40 females), enrolled in two classes of the second grade, and were selected through a random sampling procedure. After laying the ground for the study, participants in both experimental and control groups were pretested on the grammar measures. Afterward, grammar instruction for both groups was carried out. The main difference between two groups lay in the methods of teaching and providing feedback on the grammatical features. While the experimental group was trained through form-focused instruction for improving their linguistic competence, the control group was received no direct focus-on-form instruction on grammatical features. And the final stage dealt with post-testing participants on the same measures that were used in the first phase. To examine whether significant differences existed between the two groups of participants prior and after the instruction, descriptive statistical procedures, and ANCOVA was applied to ascertain the extent to which form-focus instruction influenced the learners’ grammatical knowledge.Upon reviewing the results of the one-way ANCOVA data analysis procedure concerning grammar knowledge of two groups, it was revealed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group after the intervention indicating that the form-focused instruction was successful in improving Iranian EFL learners' grammatical knowledge on those certain grammatical features [F (1, 57) = 127, Sig = .000, partial eta squared = .73]. Keywords: Grammatical knowledge, Form focus instruction, focus on forms.