Teaching Grammar through Form-Focused Instruction: The Case of Teaching Modal Verbs to Turkish EFL Learners

Yıl 2021, Cilt: 5 Sayı: 1, 1 - 16, 31.12.2021

Hüsnü Gümüş

https://doi.org/10.51726/jlr.886107

Öz

The present study attempted to explore the effectiveness of form-focused-instruction in a context where English is learned as a foreign language. In particular, the purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of the planned focus-on-form instruction in comparison with focus-on-forms in the acquisition of a set of modal verbs. The participants of the study were 8th grade students (n= 37) studying at a middle school in Denizli. The present study adopted a mixed-method research design. The quantitative part involved a pretest, a treatment stage, and a posttest while the qualitative part consisted of written semi-structured interviews. The data obtained from the pretest and post-test were statistically analyzed through SPSS 17.0 with the aim of measuring the effectiveness of the two instructional treatments. As for the qualitative part, interviews were translated into Turkish and the data was subjected to content analysis and thus analyzed through pattern- coding process (Miles & Huberman. 1994) to identify recurrent themes. At the end of the study, it was found that planned focus-on-form instruction was more effective than focus-on-forms instruction in the participants’ learning of target forms. In addition, at the end of the content analysis, it was found that the participants favored planned focus-on-form instruction because the they benefited from guessing the meanings out of the context as it helped them retain the knowledge for a longer period of time. In addition, the participants stated that that their exam scores have been positively affected by planned focus-on-form instruction.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Form-Focused Instruction, Modal Verbs, Focus-on-Form, Focus-on-Forms

Kaynakça

• Abdolmanafi, S. (2012). Effects of form-focused instruction on the learning of relative clauses. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies,8(1),0-210.Retrieved from https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/jlls/issue/9935/122952.
• Aktaş, T. (2005). Yabanci dil öğretiminde iletişimsel yeti. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 1(1), 89.
• Al-Qeyam, F. R., Bataineh, R. F., & Smadi, O. M. (2016). The effect of form-focused instruction on learning and retaining pragmatic knowledge among Jordanian EFL tertiary-level learners. Journal of International Doctoral Research, 5(1), 28-50.
• Arslan, R. & Işık-Doğan, S. (2020). Investigating the effectiveness of planned focus on form method in teaching young learners English as a foreign Language. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 16 (1), 418-439.doi: 10.17263/jlls.712869.
• Bandar, B., & Gorjan, B. (2017). Teaching Grammar to EFL learners through focusing on form and meaning. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Learning 2017, 3(4): 88-96. Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Sage Publications, Inc.
• Dekeyser, R.M. (1998). Beyond focus on form: cognitive perspectives on learning and practical second language grammar. In C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition (pp. 42-63). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge university Press.
• De la Fuente, M. J. (2002). Negotiation and oral acquisition of Spanish L2 vocabulary: the roles of input and output in the receptive and productive acquisition of words. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 24: 81-112.
• Doughty, C., & Williams, J. (1998). Issues and terminology. In C. Doughty and J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition (pp. 1-11). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Ebrahimi, S., & Rezvani, & E., Kheirzadeh, S. (2015). Teaching grammar through FormS focused and form focused instruction: The case of teaching conditional sentences to Iranian intermediate EFL learners. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research 2 (1), 10-25.
• Ellis, R. & He, X. (1999). The roles of modified input and output in the incidental acquisition of word meanings. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21: 285–301 Ellis, R. (2001). Introduction: Investigation of form-focused instruction. Language Learning, 51, Supplement 1, 1-46.
• Ellis, R. Basturkmen, H., & Loewen, S. (2002). Focusing on form in the classroom. Diverse Voices, 2, 168-188.
• Ellis, R. (2005). Instructed second language acquisition. Department of Applied Language Studies and Linguistics. The University of Auckland.
• Ellis, R. (2008). Investigating grammatical difficulty in second language learning: Implications for second language acquisition research and language testing. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 18, 4–22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1473- 4192.2008.00184.x.
• Ellis, R. (2009). Task-based language teaching: Sorting out the misunderstandings. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 19(3), 229-246. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1473- 4192.2009.00231.x
• Ellis, R. (2012). The study of second language acquisition (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
• Ellis, N. C. (2015). Implicit and explicit learning: Their dynamic interface and complexity. In P. Rebuschat (Ed.), Implicit and explicit learning of languages (pp. 3-23). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Implicit_AND_Explicit_Learning_EllisPreprint.pdf
• Etikan, I., Musa, S. A., & Alkassim, R. S. (2016). Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 5(1), 1-4. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtas.20160501.11.
• Farrokhi, F., & Chehrazad, M.S. (2012). The effects of planned focus on Form on Iranian EFL learners ‘oral accuracy. World Journal of education, 2(1), 70-81. Harmer, J. (1989). The practice of language teaching (3rd ed.). Completely revised and updated, New York.
• Işık, A. (2008). Yabancı dil eğitimimizdeki yanlışlar nereden kaynaklanıyor? Journal of Language and Linguistics, 4(2), 15-26.
• Kimura, N. (2014). Differential effects of focus on form and focus on forms on English relative clause by EFL learners in Japan, Journal of Educational Research,29; 29-39.
• Krashen, S. D. (1981). Second language acquisition and second language learning (1st ed.) [Internet edition]. Retrieved from http://www.sdkrashen.com/content/books/sl_acquisition_and_learning.pdf
• Larsen-Freeman, D. (2001). Teaching grammar. In M. Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd ed., pp. 251-266). USA: Heinle & Heinle Thomson Learning.
• Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2008). Form-focused instruction: Isolated or integrated? Tesol Quarterly. 42(2), 181-207. Retrieved March 25, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40264447DOI: 10.1002/j.1545-7249. 2008.tb00115. x.
• Long, M.H. (1991). Focus on form: a design feature in language teaching methodology. In K.de Bot, R. Ginsberg, & C. Kramsch (Eds.), Foreign language research in cross cultural perspective (pp.39-52). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
• Long, M.H. (1996). The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In W.C. Ritchie, & T.K. Bhatia (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp.413-468). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
• Long, M. H., & Robinson, P. (1998). Focus on form: Theory, research, and practice. In C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition (pp.15-63). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Long, M. H. (2000). Focus on form in task-based language teaching. In R. Lambert & E. Shohamy (Eds.), Language policy and pedagogy. Essays in honor o f A. Ronald Walton (pp. 179-192). Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
• Miles, M, B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. (2nd ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Norris, J. M., & Ortega, H. (2000). Effectiveness of L2 instruction: A research synthesis and quantitative meta-analysis. Language Learning, 50(3), 417-528.
• Nourdad, N., & Aghayi, E. T. (2014). Focus on form in teaching passive voice of different tenses. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 98, 1400-1408.
• Oğuz, E. (1999). İlköğretimde yabancı dil (İngilizce) öğretimi sorunları (The Problems of foreign language (English) teaching in elementary schools). Unpublished Master Thesis. Kocaeli University: Kocaeli.
• Othman, J., & Ismail, L. (2008). Using focus on form instruction in the teaching and learning of grammar in a Malaysian classroom. The Journal of Asia TEFL,5(2), 93-115.
• Paker, T. (2007). Problems of teaching English in schools in Çal Region and suggested solutions. 21. Yüzyıla Girerken Geçmişten Günümüze Çal Yöresi: Baklan, Çal, Bekilli. Çal Yöresi Yardımlaşma ve Dayanışma Derneği Yayını, 3, 684-690
• Ranjbar, S., Amalsaleh, E., & Shirazi, Z. H. R. (2015). The effects of form-focused instruction on lower intermediate EFL Iranian learners’ grammar learning. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET), 2(2). 96-116.
• Roothooft, H. (2014). The relationship between adult EFL teachers’ oral feedback practices and their beliefs. System, 65, 65-79.
• Saeidi, M., Zaferanieh, E., & Shatery, H. (2012). On the effects of focus on form, focus on meaning, and focus on forms on learners‟ vocabulary learning in ESP context. English Language Teaching, 5(10), 72-79.
• Schmidt, R. (1990). The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 11,129-158.
• Schmidt, R. (2001). Attention. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition and second language instruction (pp.3-32), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Sheen, R. (2002). "Focus on form" and "focus on forms". ELTJ, 56(3), 303-305.
• Shintani, N. (2013). The effect of focus on form and focus on forms instruction on the acquisition of productive knowledge of L2 vocabulary by young beginning-level learners. TESOL Quarterly, 47, 36-62.
• Şen, S. (2017). Ölçme araçlarında bulunması gereken nitelikler. Retrieved from https://sedatsen.com/category/olcme-ve-degerlendirme/.
• Teng, M. F. (2018). The effect of focus on form and focus on forms instruction on the acquisition of phrasal verbs by Chinese students. Asian EFL Journal, 20(6), 145-173.
• Tilfarlioglu, F. Y. & Öztürk, A. R. (2007). An analysis of ELT teachers’ perceptions of some problems concerning the implementation of English language teaching curricula in elementary schools. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 3(1), 202- 217.
• Uysal, H. H., & Bardakci, M. (2014). Teacher beliefs and practices of grammar teaching: Focusing on meaning, form, or forms? South African Journal of Education, 34(1),1- 16.