Focus on grammatical form: explicit or implicit?

Etherington, S; Burgess, JE

Abstract

Grammar teaching has been and continues to be an area of some controversy and debate have led to the emergence of a new classroom option for language teachers: that of Focus on Form (as opposed to Focus on Meaning or Focus on FormS). Against this background of ‘interesting times’ for grammar teaching, this paper reports research into teachers' attitudes to grammar and its teaching and learning within an EAP context. Responses from 48 EAP teachers in British university language centres produced both quantitative and qualitative data. Results indicate that the majority of teachers in this study appreciate the value of grammar for their students and possess a sophisticated understanding of the problems and issues involved. There is evidence to support a favourable attitude to Focus on Form approaches among this group. A further finding concerns the importance of student characteristics, needs and wishes in influencing teachers' classroom actions in relation to grammar.

Citation

Etherington, S., & Burgess, J. (2002). Focus on grammatical form: explicit or implicit?. System, 30(4), 433-458. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0346-251X%2802%2900048-9

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2002
• Deposit Date: Jan 20, 2009
• Journal: System
• Print ISSN: 0346-251X
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 30
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 433-458
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0346-251X%2802%2900048-9
• Keywords: Explicit, form, grammar, implicit
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0346-251X(02)00048-9