A study of Grammar Instruction
-In the case of Japanese EFL university students-
A
Thesis
Presented to
The Faculty of
Graduate School of Language and Culture
Hiroshima Jogakuin University
In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirement of the Degree
Master of Arts
By
M o e K I TA M U R A
January 2010
CONTENTS
ChapterⅠ Introduction………………………………………………..1
ChapterⅡ Theoretical Background………………………………….4
2.1 Subconscious acquisition and conscious learning…………4
2.2 Explicit knowledge and implicit knowledge………………..9
2.3 Grammar instruction in communicative activities……….12
2.4 Non-interface position and interface position…………….14
Chapter Ⅲ
A
study
of
Grammatical
Errors
and
Grammar
Instruction………………………………………………19
3.1 Purpose of research…………………………………………….19
3.2 Method…………………………………………………………...20
3.2.1 Participants……………………………………………….20
3.2.2 English proficiency……………………………………..20
3.2.3 Data analysis……………………………………………..21
3.3 Results and Discussion………………………………………..22
3.3.1
RQ1,
What
kind
of
grammatical
errors
do
EFL
students make?.....................................22
3.3.2
Grammatical
errors
of
upper
and
lower
level
students………………………………………………….29
3.3.3 Grammatical errors of English composition………..37
3.4 RQ2, Which is effective, explicit or implicit?...............40
ChapterⅣ Conclusion………………………………………………..47
Acknowledgement………………………………………………………53
References……………………………………………………………….54
i
Appendix…………………………………………………………………60
ii
Chapter 1
Introduction
R e c e n t l y, t h e J a p a n e s e M i n i s t r y o f E d u c a t i o n , C u l t u r e ,
S p o r t s , S c i e n c e , a n d Te c h n o l o g y ( M E X T ) h a s b e e n e m p h a s i z i n g
the development of learners’ communication skills.
MEXT has
done this through the integrative instruction of four skills in the
Course of Study for English activities from elementary school to
senior high school.
The standard credit hours of the curriculum
consists of communication through English Base, English I, II,
III, English Conversation, and English Expression I and II
( M E X T,
2009,
7).
Concerning
grammar
instruction,
MEXT
states that grammar instruction should be applied with language
a c t i v i t i e s i n o r d e r t o e n c o u r a g e c o m m u n i c a t i o n ( M E X T, 2 0 0 9 , 3 ) .
Grammar instruction is crucial for developing communication
skills.
H o w e v e r,
Krashen
(1983)
states
that
grammar
instruction is not always necessary for communication skills.
Tr u s c o t t ( 1 9 9 6 ) a l s o a rg u e s t h a t g r a m ma r i n s t r u c t i o n i n t h e L 2
writing class is not helpful for students and grammar correction
in L2 writing classes should be abandoned.
On the other hand,
E l l i s , S h e e n , M u r a k a m i a n d Ta k a s h i m a ( 2 0 0 8 ) d e s c r i b e t h e e f f e c t
of written corrective feedback.
Japanese EFL students often
make grammatical errors and mistakes.
1
They do not choose the
correct words and phrases in the conversation and they do not
u n d e r s t a n d w h a t o t h e r s s a y i f t h e y d o n ' t l e a r n g r a m m a r.
So the
question is, should grammar be taught or not for developing
communication skills?
Considering these problems, this study aims to examine
what kinds of grammatical errors students make, and what type
of
grammar
instruction
should
be
taught
for
developing
communication skills.
B e f o r e d i s c u s s i n g t h e a i m o f t h i s p a p e r, c h a p t e r 2 d e f i n e s
the ideas of grammar and grammar instruction.
Ellis (1993)
describes explicit knowledge and implicit knowledge and about
the interface position and non-interface position.
Schimidt
(1990) states that grammar instruction in communication is
effective for language acquisition.
Some researchers argue that
explicit instruction, noticing problems, consciousness-raising,
or practice are necessary for L2 learners, while others suggest
that implicit knowledge with comprehensible input is better than
explicit instruction.
Chapter 3 investigates which is better for Japanese EFL
learners, explicit instruction or implicit instruction through
comprehensible
input.
The
study
examines
the
university
students’ grammatical errors, including words and phrases using
the TOEIC test and English composition, and then describes how
teachers should give the explicit or implicit instructions to
identify the grammatical errors and rules and to decide the best
2
method
of
instruction.
The
theories
about
grammar
i n s t r u c t i o n ’s e ff e c t o n s e c o n d l a n g u a g e l e a r n i n g a r e d i ff e r e n t
f r o m r e s e a r c h e r t o r e s e a r c h e r.
3
Chapter2
Theoretical background
2.1 Subconscious acquisition and conscious learning
R e c e n t l y, i t i s o f t e n s a i d t h a t g r a m m a r i n s t r u c t i o n i s n o t
always important for developing communication skills (e.g.,
Krashen,
1985).
H o w e v e r,
many
grammatical mistakes and errors.
EFL
learners
make
They do not correctly convey
w h a t t h e y w a n t t o s a y, o r u n d e r s t a n d w h a t o t h e r s s a y i f t h e y d o
n o t l e a r n g r a m m a r.
Should grammar be taught or not for
developing communication skills?
As described in the structural view (cf. J.C. Richards and
T. S . R o d g e r s 2 0 0 1 , p . 2 1 ) , t e a c h i n g g r a m m a r i n c l u d e s s y s t e m s o f
structurally related elements written as phonological units (e.g.,
phonemes), morphological units (e.g., stems, prefixes, suffixes,
etc.),
grammatical/syntactical
units
(e.g.,
clauses,
phrases,
sentence types), grammatical operations (e.g., adding, shifting,
joining, or transforming elements), and lexical items (e.g.,
functions words and structure words).
Nevertheless, the question is whether all of these elements
should be taught or not.
From the point of functional view in
communicative language approach, semantic and communicative
4
dimensions are emphasized rather than grammatical elements.
Wi l k i n s ’s N o t i o n a l S y l l a b u s e s i n c l u d e s n o t o n l y e l e m e n t s o f
grammar and lexis, but also specifies the topics, notions, and
concepts the learner needs to communicate.
Rivers
(1987,
p.4)
defines
the
On the other hand,
interactive
perspective
in
language education as follows: “Students achieve facility in
using a language when their attention is focused on conveying
and receiving authentic messages.”
The notion of interactivity
is linked to the teaching of reading and writing, as well as
listening and speaking skills (see. Richards and Rodgers 2001,
p.21).
Thus, meaning-focused instruction is more emphasized
in communicative language teaching rather than grammar focused
instruction.
On
the
other
Wa k a b a y a s h i
(1999,
hand,
Shirahata,
p.321)
explain
To m i t a ,
the
Muranoi
difference
p r e s c r i p t i v e g r a m m a r a n d d e s c r i p t i v e g r a m m a r.
and
between
Prescriptive
grammar is a set of language rules which attempts to impose
correct usage on the users of a language.
O n t h e c o n t r a r y,
descriptive grammar is an approach to language analysis that
describes accents, forms, structures, and usage without making
value judgments.
It seems that English grammar taught in Japan
i s p r e s c r i p t i v e g r a m m a r.
M o r e o v e r, t h e r e i s d e c l a r a t i v e k n o w l e d g e a n d p r o c e d u r a l
knowledge,
grammar
which
and
have
descriptive
a
similar
grammar
5
meaning
to
prescriptive
r e s p e c t i v e l y.
Yo n e y a m a
(2003, pp.75, 232) explains that declarative knowledge is an
explicit knowledge and procedural knowledge is an implicit
knowledge.
is
There is a feature in which procedural knowledge
acquired
gradually
when
people
“practice”
declarative
knowledge many times.
Concerning
grammar
instruction,
there
are
some
controversial issues whether grammar instruction is effective or
not.
There are two kinds of grammar instruction (deductive
grammar
Deductive
instruction
grammar
and
inductive
instruction
is
grammar
when
a
grammar explicitly to the learner at first.
instruction).
teacher
teaches
Then, the learner
uses previously learned linguistics or conceptual knowledge to
produce sentences.
method.
It is often used in the grammar-translation
O n t h e c o n t r a r y, i n d u c t i v e g r a m m a r i n s t r u c t i o n i s
when a teacher gives a lot of sentences to learners in order to
m a k e t h e m a w a r e o f t h e r u l e s o f g r a m m a r.
It is used in the
Direct method and Communicative language teaching method and
etc.
Fr o m t h e p o i n t o f v i e w o f n o n - i nt er face p os i t i on o f gr a m mar,
Krashen
(1983)
argues
that
“conscious
become “subconscious acquisition.”
learning”
does
not
He argues that conscious
g r a m m a r c a n o n l y b e u s e d a s a M o n i t o r , o r a n e d i t o r.
In his
Monitor Hypothesis, he states that conscious learning has an
extremely limited function in adult second language performance.
This means that conscious learning does not lead to natural
6
communication.
H o w e v e r, i n J a p a n e s e E F L s i t u a t i o n s , m o s t
teachers focus on grammar teaching.
O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , G r e g g ( 1 9 8 4 ) o p p o s e s K r a s h e n ’s i d e a o f
Input Hypothesis and describes that when he studied Japanese, he
could “acquire” the ability to use Japanese in an actual situation
as he memorized the conjugations of Japanese verbs using charts
for “learning.”
From this experience, he postulates as follows:
If subconscious knowledge is capable of being brought to
consciousness, and if conscious knowledge is capable of
becoming unconscious and this seems to be a reasonable
assumption then there is no reason whatever to accept
K r a s h e n ’s c l a i m , i n t h e a b s e n c e o f e v i d e n c e ( p . 3 2 ) .
Concerning grammar knowledge, Krashen (1985) adopts the
Input Hypothesis, the theory that humans acquire language by
understanding messages or by receiving “comprehensible input.”
If
there
is
enough
“comprehensible
input,”
the
necessary
grammar is automatically provided through the concept, i + 1,
which means that the structure is a bit beyond our present level
of competence.
Howe ver,
it
seems
that
if
a
teacher
does
not
teach
structural aspects, many students neither notice, nor acquire the
appropriate rules.
Thus, an explicit grammar instruction will
be necessary for the students to confirm the correct grammar
7
even t
hough i
t i
s consci
ous l
earni
ng, because non‑
nat
i
ve
speakersdo nothave accurat
e grammat
i
caljudgment
sf
ort
hei
r
t
argetl
anguage.
El
l
i
s (1993) al
so emphasi
zes t
he i
mpor
t
ance of expl
i
ci
t
knowl
edge and Hnot
i
ci
ng･
M
Expl
i
ci
t knowl
edge i
s acqui
red
t
hrough grammar i
nst
r
uct
i
on.
Lear
ners not
i
ce grammat
i
cal
r
ul
essubconsci
ousl
ywi
t
hi
nt
henat
urali
nputaf
t
errecei
vi
ngt
he
grammar i
nst
ruct
i
on. The det
ai
l
s of expl
i
ci
t knowl
edge and
i
mpl
i
ci
tknowl
edgeareexpl
ai
nedbel
ow i
n sect
i
on 2.
2. Ascan
be seen i
nt
he fol
l
owi
ng fi
gure,El
l
i
sdi
st
i
ngui
shesi
nputf
rom
i
nt
akeknowl
edge.
For
maL
l
nS
一
r
uC
t
1
0n
E3
(
Pl
l
⊂
i
t
l
L
L
1 ‑ ‑ l l ‑ T 一 一 o
kn
w
e
dge一 一 ｢ 一 一
Fo
L
2L
｢
Mont
Or
l
ng
l
N十
車
l
nl
a
k
e
1
1
い
I
nLe
rhng
ua
ge
F
T
gL
We
l
l
▼
十
L
L
C
十
l
【
r
np I
L
knowl
e
dge
oFL2(
l
L■
s
y
s
t
em)
Ou叩ut
(
El
l
i
s,1993,p.
97)
a
We
a
kl
n
t
e
r
h
c
e
P
o
s
i
t
i
o
n
AModeloFL2Ac
qui
si‑1
｡nl
nc
or
p｡mt
ng
l
nputreferst
ot
heL2sampl
est
hatt
hel
earneri
sexposed
t
o as a resul
tofcont
actwi
t
ht
he l
anguage i
n communi
cat
i
on
(
oral and wri
t
t
en). On t
he ot
her hand,i
nt
ake ref
ers t
ot
he
l
i
ngui
st
i
c proper
t
i
es i
nt
he i
nput t
hatt
he l
ear
ner at
t
ends t
o･
However
, not al
l of t
hese proper
t
i
es wi
l
l be i
mmedi
at
el
y
i
ncor
porat
edi
nt
ot
hel
ear
ner'
si
nt
erl
anguagesyst
em;Onl
yt
hose
f
eat
urest
hataref
i
nal
l
yl
nCOr
pOrat
edbecomei
mpl
i
ci
tknowl
edge
8
of the L2 variety (Ellis, 1993, pp. 97-98).
Furthermore,
knowledge,
supporting
Schmidt
and
the
Frota
importance
(1986)
of
explicit
describe
that
“noticing-the-gap” occurs when a teacher gives feedback (or
corrections) clearly in an English speaking class.
According to
Schmidt and Frota (1986), this model predicts that explicit
knowledge can convert directly into implicit knowledge under
c e r t a i n , f a i r l y s t r i n g e n t c o n d i t i o n s r e l a t e d t o t h e l e a r n e r ’s s t a g e
of development.
It also allows explicit knowledge to have an
indirect effect on acquisition by helping to facilitate the process
of noticing and “noticing-the-gap.”
Schmidt
communications
(1990)
states
that
is
effective
for
grammar
instruction
language
in
acquisition.
E s p e c i a l l y, i t i s e f f e c t i v e t o u r g e “ n o t i c i n g . ”
Thus, it is hypothesized that learners who know about a
grammatical feature through grammar instruction are in a better
position to take in grammatical rules from input and also are
better able to notice the difference between input and their own
production.
Therefore,
it
can
be
said
that
grammatical
explanation is helpful for EFL learners to understand rules.
Also, they notice the rules by repetitive practice.
2.2 Explicit knowledge and implicit knowledge
Ellis (1994) describes explicit knowledge and implicit
knowledge
as
follows:
Explicit
9
knowledge
is
a
conscious
linguistic
knowledge,
form-focused
and
it
instruction.
is
He
mainly
acquired
writes
that
through
the
acquirement is promoted in the following respects:
a
linguistic
(1) It will
make easily noticing the language form (grammar) within the
input possible.
(2) It will help the learner to pay attention to
his or her own errors.
her
own
output.
(3) It helps the learner to correct his or
On
the
other
indicates subconscious knowledge.
hand,
implicit
knowledge
This knowledge is intuitive
a n d i t i s n o t p o s s i b l e t o e x p l a i n c l e a r l y.
Te r r e l l ( 1 9 9 1 ) s u g g e s t s
that explicit knowledge can function as a kind of “advance
organizer” that helps the learner to understand and segment the
input and also as a “meaning-form focuser” that enables the
learner to establish meaning-form relationships.
Ellis (1993)
also describes the importance of explicit knowledge in the
following points.
1.
Explicit
knowledge
monitoring.
is
also
available
for
use
in
Monitoring can occur before an utterance
i s p r o d u c e d o r a f t e r.
source of input.
Monitored output constitutes one
A s Te r r e l ( 1 9 9 1 ) p u t s i t “ m o n i t o r i n g
can apparently interact with acquisition, resulting in
learners acquiring their own output” (p.61)
2. Explicit knowledge can help learners to notice features
in the input and also to notice the meanings that they
realize.
10
3. Explicit knowledge may help learners to incorporate
features that have become intake into their developing
interlanguage grammars by facilitating the process by
which they compare their existing representation of a
grammatical feature with that actually observed in the
input (p.98).
Ellis (1991) contends that explicit L2 knowledge becomes
implicit L2 knowledge when grammar instruction is directed at
“consciousness-raising”
indicates
the
instruction.
rather
importance
of
than
“practice.”
This
“consciousness-raising”
idea
through
Gattegno (1972) also describes the importance of
“ a w a r e n e s s ” t h r o u g h t h e S i l e n t w a y.
He states that the learning
system is active only through intelligent awareness, and silence
is considered the best vehicle for learning.
He (1976) refers to
“repetition” as follows:
Repetition
(as
opposed
to
silence)
consumes
time
and
encourages the scattered mind to remain scattered (p.80).
Howe ver,
“consciousness-raising”
is
more
difficult
than
“practice” for the learners who do not understand grammatical
rules.
This is because “consciousness-raising” ability varies
greatly among individuals.
Some learners realize grammatical
errors, while others do not.
In the case of “practice”, everyone
11
will be able to use the form (grammar) in practice so long as
learners do in fact practice.
H o we v e r, R i c h a r d s a n d R o d g e r s ( 2 0 0 1 , p . 8 3 ) d es c r i be t ha t
“awareness” is teachable.
A s o n e l e a r n s “ i n a w a r e n e s s , ” o n e ’s
p o w e r s o f a w a r e n e s s a n d o n e ’ s c a p a c i t y t o l e a r n b e c o m e g r e a t e r.
Thus, it seems that it is difficult to judge something arbitrarily
as right or wrong, because there are various opinions about
“practicing” and “noticing.”
Rutherford (1975) states that the difficulty to learn rules of
English in his Modern English text concerning English as a
second language as follows:
The way to learn the correct use of the articles is more
through practice than close study of the rules and their
many exceptions (p.127).
Both
“noticing
the
rule”
and
“practice
the
rule”
are
important to acquire language, but it varies considerably from
person to person.
Is it possible for most of EFL learners to
acquire grammatical rules through “practice” or “notice” the
grammatical rules without learning?
2.3 Grammar instruction in communicative activities
The definition of grammar has been described above, but
concerning grammar instruction, it will be necessary for us to
12
see
the
purpose
and
techniques
of
grammar
instruction.
Grammatical knowledge plays an important role in accurately
understanding the meaning of what others say or write in the
i n t e r a c t i o n b e t w e e n s p e a k e r a n d h e a r e r, o r b e t w e e n w r i t e r a n d
readers.
Thus,
grammatical
knowledge
is
necessary
understanding the message in communication.
for
According to
Canale and Swain (1980), “communicative competence,” the term
which is first presented by Hymes (1972), includes grammatical
knowledge
and
grammatical
other
competence
three
2.
competences
sociolinguistic
as
follows:
1.
competence
3.
discourse competence 4. strategic competence.
Grammatical competence refers to procedural competence
t h a t o p e r a t e s w i t h i n t h e l i n g u i s t i c s y s t e m , s u c h a s v o c a b u l a r y,
word formation, sentence formation, pronunciation, and spelling
a c c u r a c y.
Sociolinguistic competence refers to a situation in
which people consider the social background and situation before
using the language appropriately in an actual scene.
Discourse
competence refers to the need for people to read sentences and
listen to utterances before they can understand what other people
want to know from the entire context, or even consistently write
(or speak) sentences.
Strategic competence refers to a situation
in which people cover limited knowledge, and making several
efforts
to
continue
communication
(e.g.,
repeat
important
sentences and words, emphasize important points, use gestures
and draw pictures).
13
Yo s h i t o m i ( 2 0 0 5 ) e x p l a i n s t h a t t h e t e a c h e r t e a c h e s o n l y a
part
of
grammatical
competence
to
grammar-translation method in Japan.
the
learner
in
the
She also describes that
the practice of strategic competence is fundamentally limited.
It can be said that four competences are very important for
constructing
interpersonal
relationships
and
dialogues.
It
seems that it is important to learn all competences in a balanced
m a n n e r, b u t i t i s b e y o n d t h e s c o p e o f t h i s p a p e r.
Instead, this
paper will focus on grammatical competence, as mentioned by
Canale and Swain (1980).
2.4 Non-interface position and interface position
Relating to explicit and implicit instruction, other terms
are also used.
Ellis (1994) describes Interface position and
Non-interface position as follows: Interface position indicates
t h a t t h e l i n g u i s t i c f o r m ( g r a m m a r ) i s l e a r n e d c o n s c i o u s l y, a n d
“explicit knowledge” shifts to “implicit knowledge.”
That is to
s a y, t h e r e i s a p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t “ l e a r n i n g ” b e c o m e s “ a c q u i s i t i o n . ”
This shift is assumed to be achieved by “use” and “practice.”
contrast,
Non-interface
position
indicates
that
In
“explicit
knowledge” does not change into “implicit knowledge.”
Input
H y p o t h e s i s , p r o p o s e d b y K r a s h e n a n d Te r r e l l ( 1 9 8 3 ) , i s t h e
representative example of Non-interface position.
Many researchers argue that the Interface position is
effective for developing communication skills (e.g., Stevick,
14
1980; Bialystok, 1982; McLaughlin, 1978).
Stevick (1980)
explains how “learning” becomes “acquisition” by the “use” of
l e a r n e d g r a m m a r.
Bialystok (1982) states “explicit knowledge”
changes into “implicit knowledge” by using and practicing the
g r a m m a r.
McLaughlin (1978) asserts that “controlled process”
and “short-term store” changes into “automatic process” and
“long-term store” when a speaker formulates an expression.
Oka (1994, p.249) states that the following activities are
important for conducting a speaking lesson in EFL classes.
First step. Comprehension (confirm the vocabulary and
grammar)
Second step. Drill (practice of a pronunciation, imitation
of dialogue, pattern practice)
Third
step.
Application
(practice
of
communication,
mutual activities)
The above mentioned steps are promoted in the following
processes: The
students in the
classroom
first confirm the
vocabulary and grammar within the text for comprehension, and
then
intake
the
related
pronunciation
and
dialogue
through
pattern practice and drill, and finally apply what they’ve learned
to communication outside the classroom.
R e b e r,
Kassin,
Lewis
and
Cantor
(1980)
posit
that
patterned language is proposed explicitly in the beginning, but
15
then it will become proposed implicitly as well as the first
language acquisition.
When learners understand this function,
they will be able to acquire language and the learning of the
linguistic structure will improve.
H o w e v e r, t h e i r r e s e a r c h i s
based on studies of first language acquisition.
whether
the
same
result
is
obtained
in
It is unknown
second
language
acquisition.
The views of grammar instruction mentioned above are
d i f f e r e n t f r o m r e s e a r c h e r t o r e s e a r c h e r.
The characteristics of
t h e s e v i e w s a r e s u m m a r i z e d i n Ta b l e 1 .
Ta b l e 1
Vi e w s o f g r a m m a r i n s t r u c t i o n
① Non-grammar instruction
The
Input
Hypothesis:
humans
acquire
language
by
understanding messages or receiving “comprehensible input”
(Krashen, 1985).
② The need for Grammar instruction in EFL
Memorization
of
conjugation
and
learning (practicing) (Gregg, 1984).
③ Interface position
16
the
use
of
charts
for
A.1) Explicit L2 knowledge converts into implicit L2 knowledge
through
grammar
instruction
and
“consciousness-raising”
(Ellis, 1993).
2) “Noticing-the-gap” occurs when a teacher gives feedback
clearly in the class (Schmidt and Frota, 1986).
B.1) “Practice” rather than “notice” (the correct use articles)
(Rutherford, 1975).
2)
Learning
(explicit
knowledge)
becomes
acquisition
(implicit knowledge) by the “use” of learned grammar (Stevick,
1980; Bialystok, 1982).
3) “Controlled process” and “short-term store” change into
“automatic process” and ”long-term store” while the speaker
formulates an expression (Mclaughlin, 1978).
4) Explicit instruction and “practice” to the output are
effective in EFL situations (Oka, 1994).
The literature review above shows that the effects of
explicit and implicit grammar instruction on second language
learning in both ESL and EFL situations are different from
learners to learners.
the
differences
learning
and
The effect of grammar instruction lies in
between
conscious
subconscious
learning
with
acquisition
explicit
noticing, consciousness-raising, or practicing.
without
instruction,
The learners
who can notice the grammatical rules with comprehensible input
might
be
better
learners
than
17
those
who
receive
explicit
instruction.
H o w e v e r, t h e q u e s t i o n i s w h e t h e r o r n o t l e a r n e r s
notice the grammatical rules and errors through comprehensible
input.
It seems that there are many learners who do not notice
errors even though they have explicit instruction.
Thus, this paper aims to examine how grammar should be
taught for developing communication skills.
Which is better
for Japanese EFL learners to facilitate communication, receiving
explicit
instructions,
comprehensible input?
or
implicit
instructions
through
It seems that it would be better to
c o n s i d e r u n d e r t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n i n t h e n e x t c h a p t e r.
18
Chapter3
A study of Grammatical Errors and Grammar
Instruction
3.1 Purpose of research
A s m e n t i o n e d i n t h e p r e v i o u s c h a p t e r, t h e l i t e r a t u r e r e v i e w
shows that the beliefs on the effects of grammar instruction on
second
language
r e s e a r c h e r.
noticing
learning
are
different
from
researcher
to
Some researchers argue that explicit instructions,
problems,
consciousness-raising,
or
practice
are
necessary for L2 learners, while others suggest that implicit
knowledge with comprehensible input is better than explicit
instructions.
H o we v e r, t h e p ro b l e m i s w h e t h e r o r n o t E FL
learners who do not have enough communicative interaction in
English and lack learning time in English as a foreign language
can
notice
grammatical
explicit instructions.
grammatical
instructions.
rules
rules
and
errors
without
It is assumed that EFL learners acquire
through
practice
after
receiving
chapter
explicit
H o w e v e r, s o m e s t u d e n t s m a y n o t i c e g r a m m a t i c a l
rules and errors though comprehensible input.
this
receiving
investigates
which
is
better
for
A c c o r d i n g l y,
Japanese
EFL
learners, receiving explicit instructions, or implicit instructions
through
comprehensible
input.
19
The
study
examines
the
university students’ grammatical errors, including words and
phrases using the TOEIC test and English compositions.
The
specific research questions addressed in the study are as follows:
1. What kind of grammatical errors do EFL students make?
2. Which is effective, explicit or implicit instruction?
any
difference
between
intermediate
and
Is there
beginning
level
learners in understanding explicit instructions in EFL classes?
3.2 Method
3.2.1 Participants
The number of participants is 42 Japanese EFL university
freshmen (21 women and 21 men) who studied English for six
years in junior and senior high schools who have not learned any
grammar in university because April is the beginning of the
s e m e s t e r.
Thus, they received explicit instructions about some
grammatical
rules
in
Japanese
EFL junior
and
high
school
situations, but it is unknown whether they understand grammar
or not.
In order to examine whether or not they understand
grammar through instruction, this study will investigate the
grammatical ability of the students.
3.2.2 English proficiency
F o r E n g l i s h p r o f i c i e n c y, t h e s t u d e n t s t o o k a C - t e s t a n d t h e
TOEIC
grammar
section
in
April.
20
The
C-test
score
was
developed
by
the
Wr i t i n g
Research
Group,
JACET
Kansai
C h a p t e r ( 1 9 9 8 ) t o s h o w b a s i c E n g l i s h p r o f i c i e n c y, a t e s t w h i c h i s
taken within 15 minutes.
T h e Wr i t i n g R e s e a r c h G r o u p g a v e t h e
C-test to 1,440 students of 16 universities, and the mean of the
test was 52.81 on average.
According to Hayashi (1999), the
C-test score has a highly significant correlation with the TOEFL
score
(r=.53,
p<.01)
(see.
Wr i t i n g
Kansai Chapter 1999, pp.33-42).
Research
Group,
JACET
I n t h i s s t u d y, t h e C - t e s t s c o r e
of the 42 students was 53 on average.
Thus, it can be said that
the proficiency level of the participants is at parity with the
1,440 university students.
According to the average score of
the C-test (53 score), the level of the students was divided into
“upper” and “lower”.
which
consists
of 60
F o r g r a m m a r p r o f i c i e n c y, t h e T O E I C t e s t ,
grammatical
questions,
was
used
and
students chose the correct answer out of the 4 items.
In
addition, in order to see grammatical errors in more detail, this
study examined the students’ errors of English composition by
analyzing essays based on the topic: “what is your favorite
occupation?”
T he st u de nt s wr ot e t he i r e ss ay s i n S e pt e mb e r,
a f t e r h a v i n g s t u d i e d s o m e E n g l i s h f o r f i v e m o n t h s i n u n i v e r s i t y.
The compositions were written within the time limitation of 15
minutes.
3.2.3 Data analyses
As mentioned in chapter 2, teaching grammar includes
21
systems of structurally related elements, such as phonological
units
(e.g.,
phonemes),
morphological
units
(e.g.,
stems,
prefixes, suffixes, etc.), grammatical/syntactical units (e.g.,
clauses, phrases, sentence types), grammatical operations (e.g.,
adding, shifting, joining, or transforming elements), and lexical
items
(e.g.,
functions
words
and
structure
words).
Thus,
grammar tests include grammatical/syntactical units such as
clauses, phrases, sentence types, grammatical operations, and
lexical items.
T h a t i s t o s a y, t h e w o r d s a n d p h r a s e s a r e
involved in grammatical errors because some questions about
phrases and lexical items involve a word order like “article +
adjective + noun”, the choice of adjective instead of adverb, etc.
M o r e o v e r, g r a m m a t i c a l e r r o r s w e r e d i v i d e d i n t o “ i m p l i c i t
instruction” and “explicit instruction” based errors.
“Implicit
instruction” contains the words and phrases that students should
guess the meaning from the context, and “explicit instruction”
contains words, phrases and sentence structures that the teachers
should teach to students.
3.3 Results and Discussion
3.3.1 RQ1, What kind of grammatical errors do EFL students
make?
Ta b l e 1 s h o w s t h e m e a n a n d s t a n d a r d d e v i a t i o n o f t h e
C - t e s t f o r E n g l i s h p r o f i c i e n c y a n d g r a m m a r.
C-test marks the
examination papers on the basis of 100 points a maximum of 60
22
p o i n t s f o r g r a m m a r.
Ta b l e 1 M e a n s a n d S D o f C - t e s t a n d G r a m m a r ( N = 4 2 )
Upper
Lower
Total
C-test
(score=100)
M
SD
66.2
8.9
41.3
6.7
53.0
14.8
Grammar
(score=60)
M
SD
29.9
4.4
23.7
4.1
27.0
5.2
Concerning the C-test, the mean of upper level students is
25 points higher than that of lower level students.
H o w e v e r,
i n t he c a se o f gr a m ma r, t h e r e i s n o t s o mu c h di ffe r e nce i n S D ,
a l t h o u g h t h e u p p e r l e v e l ’s m e a n i s h i g h e r t h a n t h e l o w e r l e v e l ’s
mean.
Concerning
the
relationship
between
the
C-test
and
g r a m m a r , Ta b l e 2 s h o w s t h e c o r r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n t h e t w o .
Ta b l e 2 C o r r e l a t i o n o f C - t e s t a n d G r a m m a r
total
upper
lower
C-test Grammar C-test Grammar C-test Grammar
0.64**
0.53**
0.03
** (p<.01)
The grammatical knowledge displayed has a significantly
high correlation to English proficiency based on the C-test
(0.64**, p<.01).
H o w e v e r, i n t h e c a s e o f u p p e r l e v e l s t u d e n t s
there is a high correlation between English proficiency and
grammar ability (0.53**, p<.01), but in the case of lower level
23
s t u d e n t s , g r a m m a r h a s n o c o r r e l a t i o n w i t h E n g l i s h p r o f i c i e n c y.
This means that for low level learners, English the knowledge of
l i n g u i s t i c s t r u c t u r e i s n o t r e l a t e d t o E n g l i s h p r o f i c i e n c y.
It is
not possible for them to understand English sentences through
linguistic structure.
Thus, grammatical knowledge is related
w i t h E n g l i s h p r o f i c i e n c y, b u t t h e p r o b l e m i s h o w t h e E F L
learners acquire grammatical knowledge.
In order to solve the
problem, this paper first replies to research question 1, what
kind of grammatical errors do students make, and examines
whether
the
grammatical
rules
are
acquired
explicitly
or
i m p l i c i t l y.
The
60
questions
about
grammar
and
the
number
of
grammatical errors and the percentage of each item are written
o n t h e Ta b l e o f A p p e n d i x .
grammatical
errors
and
the
Ta b l e 3 s h o w s t h e n u m b e r o f
percentage
of
each
item
consists of 60 questions, and the method of instruction.
which
Correct
answers are filled in the underlined parts in the questions except
for items 41, 43, and 55.
Ta b l e 3 R a n k o r d e r o f T O E I C g r a m m a t i c a l e r r o r s o f 6 0 q u e s t i o n s
N=42
rank
item
questions
* n/e
％
1
20
Mr. K accused Boris of procrastinating….
38
90.5
2
38
37
88.1
3
59
4
50
The recession is not expected to abate
until year's end.
A slow-moving area of low pressure will
continue….
…how efficient Miss Choo is.
24
36
85.7
35
83.3
instruction
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Verb structure,
Explicit
5
6
57
10
7
22
8
33
9
10
43
14
11
17
12
24
13
14
32
25
15
29
16
31
17
18
41
19
19
46
20
1
21
4
22
23
24
25
26
30
51
5
12
40
27
56
28
47
29
54
30
60
31
9
…to provide outstanding durability.
…they only stirred up the hot, humid air.
…plans should be evaluated like any other
financial commitment.
Participation in the saving plan is
voluntary….
Twenty-four banks they have agreed on a
formula….
It is worth examining the steps nations
can take to facilitate….
The work orders have been released to the
production….
…timetable is subject to change without
notice.
…to approve proposals and to oversee
their implementation.
Practically no one in the group passed up
the opportunity….
In this company there has been little
regard for the needs….
Coral, popular for necklaces, is made of
tiny sea animals.
The corporation adopted his present name
in 1981.
…as long as your policy remains in
effect.
A flurry of promising economic news in
the last ten days….
Private financing can take a variety of
forms.
The satellite photographed a previously
undetected moon….
…believe there will be a gradual
35
34
81
34
81
33
78.6
33
The amount of material published on the
general topic….
The trend toward shorter working hours
continues.
Unfortunately, there are those who will
probably not respect….
Before adopting a particular distribution
strategy,….
Before playing tennis, Simon had to get
his hair cut.
…relative to their counterparts in other
industrialized states.
Information about the meetings can be
obtained….
…in the midst of change, both creatively
and financially.
You need about forty different nutrients
25
78.6
32
76.2
32
76.2
31
73.8
30
71.4
29
69
29
69
29
69
29
69
27
64.3
27
64.3
26
61.9
26
61.9
26
slowdown in October.
83.3
26
25
25
24
61.9
61.9
59.5
59.5
57.1
24
57.1
23
54.8
23
54.8
23
54.8
22
52.4
Noun structure,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Part of speech, Structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrases,
Explicit
Lexical phrases,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Verb structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Implicit
Collocation,
Explicit
Article,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit, Implicit
Part of speech, Structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Uncountable noun,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Uncountable noun,
Explicit
(lexical) Phrase,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
to stay healthy.
32
23
33
35
34
42
35
45
36
49
37
52
38
39
40
41
13
37
58
11
42
16
43
21
44
45
46
47
48
49
34
27
28
39
48
53
50
55
51
18
52
36
53
54
55
56
57
2
3
26
44
15
Explicit
…make reservations two to three months
beforehand.
The comptroller has predicted that in ten
years….
That client is used to receiving prompt
attention.
…duration of registration, which runs
until the end of August.
The passport is a traveler's primary
means of identification….
A video telephone enabling two people to
talk to and to watch… .
Dance is the subject of several movies
playing….
Improvements in local bus service have
brought….
There have been many disputes over the
proper way….
Quarterly earnings are seldom reported to
the shareholders.
…tend to dismiss incompetent employees
more frequently.
From the turn of the century, concern for
wildlife has led to….
I am surprised they moved your office
next to mine.
…to express her appreciation for the
retirement gift.
After four years in sales, Mr. LeConte
finally was able to….
…your securities safe in our vault under
strict audit controls.
…to contact the box office as soon as
possible.
…just slightly only more than a week
after the national elections.
Export law it became a key factor in
international trade.
Automobiles are put out of gear by
moving the gearshift to neutral.
For the new museum visitor as well as for
the veteran museum….
It is one of the most interesting books on
the topic.
…are located in the capital of the
22
52.4
22
52.4
22
52.4
22
52.4
22
52.4
22
52.4
21
21
50
21
50
20
The human heart is wider at the top than
at the bottom.
Most students were able to find good
jobs….
I have a heavy workload this month.
26
47.6
20
47.6
20
47.6
19
18
45.2
42.9
18
42.9
18
42.9
18
18
42.9
42.9
17
40.5
16
38.1
16
38.1
15
15
country.
50
13
13
10
35.7
35.7
31
31
23.8
Lexical phrases,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrases,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
3rd singular,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Collocation,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Countable noun,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure, Tense,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit, Implicit
Collocation,
Explicit
(lexical) Phrase,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Implicit
(lexical) Phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Conjunction,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit, Implicit
Comparative structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure, Tense,
Explicit
58
59
60
6
8
7
Inflation is likely to affect personal
spending quite a bit in July.
…earn higher salaries on the west coast
than on the east coast.
Mrs. Kawabata is ready to see you now.
Thank you for waiting.
9
21.4
8
19
2
4.8
Collocation,
Explicit
Comparative structure,
Explicit
Collocation,
Explicit
* n/e: the number of error
* guess the meaning: guess the meaning of the words from the context
More than 70 percent of the students made 13 grammatical
and lexical phrases out of 60 items.
Most of the errors are
sentence structures and lexical phrases.
For sentence structure,
the students cannot accurately judge the kind of verb, the use of
an adjective or adverb, the use of a noun instead of an adjective,
and double pronouns.
The students learned grammatical rules
and sentence patterns that employ adjectives, adverbs, nouns and
pronouns, etc. in high school days, but the grammatical errors
indicate that they cannot apply those sentence structures in the
new complicated phrases and sentences.
For lexical phrases, the errors indicate that there are many
difficult words and phrases for the students, and the students
cannot accurately choose the words and phrases from context.
The words and phrases such as “procrastinating,” “abate,” and
“stirred up” are somewhat difficult for the students to guess the
meaning from context.
Even though teachers explicitly teach
several phrases and sentence patterns, when the students do not
try to understand the meaning of the words in context, it is
difficult for them to get correct answers.
Thus, both explicit
and implicit instructions appear to be necessary for the students
27
to understand the meaning of lexical phrases and grammatical
rules.
Thus, the students need to make an effort to memorize
words and phrases, and sentence structures.
In this case, the
students should have rich vocabulary knowledge.
On the other hand, there are also a small number of other
g r a m m a t i c a l e r r o r s t o b e c o n s i d e re d ( i t e ms: 1 5 , 6 , 8 , 7 ) . H o w e v e r,
those errors are formulas, such as the conventional greeting,
routine daily work, collocations, idioms, such as “thank you for
～ ing,” and “is likely to ～ .”
The students learned those
grammatical rules, lexical phrases, and idioms in the senior high
school classroom explicitly in the repetition through the present,
practice, and produce method as mentioned by Richards and
Rodgers (2001, p.246).
Practice and repetition through the
explicit instructions become familiar with the words and phrases,
and sentence structures.
Gundel
and
Ta r o n e
(1983)
discuss
“markedness”
and
“unmarkedness”: Linguistic notions of “markedness” are usually
d e f i n e d i n t e r m s o f c o m p l e x i t y, r e l a t i v e i n f r e q u e n c y o f u s e o r
departure from something that is more basic, typical or canonical
in a language.
T h a t i s t o s a y, “ m a r k e d n e s s ” m e a n s u n f a m i l i a r
voca bul a ry and gra m mar, and “ unma rkedness ” me a ns fa mil i ar
ones.
F r o m t h i s p o i n t o f v i e w, i t s e e m s t h a t 1 3 e r r o r s a r e
unfamiliar grammar and lexical phrases.
For the study of
lexical phrases, there are several ways such as rote learning
28
(explicit)
and
c o m p e t e n c y.
incidental
In
learning
Japanese
EFL
(implicit)
classrooms,
memorize vocabulary through rote learning.
to
improve
many
students
H o w e v e r, K r a s h e n
(1983) argues that vocabulary and grammar are acquired through
comprehensible
input.
In
other
words,
students
learn
vocabulary and grammar through incidental learning.
3.3.2 Grammatical errors of upper and lower level students
A s Ta b l e 3 s h o w s , b o t h e x p l i c i t a n d i m p l i c i t i n s t r u c t i o n s
are necessary for students to understand sentence structures and
lexical phrases before practicing.
Familiar sentence patterns
and lexical phrases are easy to understand for learners.
section
examines
whether
there
is
any
difference
This
in
the
characteristics of errors between upper level and lower level
students.
Ta b l e 4 s h o w s t h e n u m b e r o f g r a m m a t i c a l e r r o r s o f t h e
upper level and the percentage of each item which consists of 60
questions.
Ta b l e 4 G r a m m a t i c a l e r r o r s o f u p p e r l e v e l s t u d e n t s
n=20
rank
item
questions
* n/e
％
1
20
Mr. K accused Boris of procrastinating….
19
95
2
50
18
90
3
4
22
38
…how efficient Miss Choo is.
…plans should be evaluated like any other
financial commitment.
The recession is not expected to abate
until year's end.
29
17
85
17
85
instruction
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Verb structure,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit
5
6
7
8
43
32
33
10
9
17
10
19
11
59
12
41
13
14
15
16
17
57
11
14
24
25
18
29
19
1
20
23
21
31
22
13
23
46
24
58
25
26
4
30
27
34
28
36
29
37
30
40
31
47
Twenty-four banks they have agreed on a
formula….
…to approve proposals and to oversee
their implementation.
Participation in the saving plan is
17
16
16
voluntary….
…they only stirred up the hot, humid air.
The work orders have been released to the
production….
…as long as your policy remains in
effect.
A slow-moving area of low pressure will
continue….
The corporation adopted his present name
in 1981.
…to provide outstanding durability.
Quarterly earnings are seldom reported to
the shareholders.
It is worth examining the steps nations
can take to facilitate….
…timetable is subject to change without
notice.
Practically no one in the group passed up
the opportunity….
In this company there has been little
regard for the needs….
Private financing can take a variety of
forms.
…make reservations two to three months
beforehand.
Coral, popular for necklaces, is made of
tiny sea animals.
Dance is the subject of several movies
playing….
A flurry of promising economic news in
the last ten days….
There have been many disputes over the
proper way….
The satellite photographed a previously
undetected moon….
…believe there will be a gradual
I am surprised they moved your office
next to mine.
For the new museum visitor as well as for
the veteran museum….
Improvements in local bus service have
brought….
Before adopting a particular distribution
strategy,….
…relative to their counterparts in other
30
80
80
15
75
15
75
15
75
15
75
14
70
14
13
70
65
13
65
13
65
13
65
13
65
12
60
12
60
12
60
11
55
11
55
11
55
10
10
slowdown in October.
85
50
50
10
50
10
50
10
50
10
50
10
50
Sentence structure,
Implicit
Lexical phrases,
Explicit, Implicit
Part of speech, Structure,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Collocation,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Implicit
Noun structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrases,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrases,
Explicit, Implicit
Verb structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Article,
Explicit, Implicit
Countable noun,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Conjunction,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
industrialized states.
32
33
49
51
34
56
35
60
36
37
38
39
40
41
5
12
35
52
55
27
42
45
43
9
44
16
45
18
46
42
47
48
49
54
21
39
50
48
51
53
52
2
53
54
55
56
57
3
28
26
44
6
Explicit
The passport is a traveler's primary
means of identification….
The amount of material published on the
general topic….
Before playing tennis, Simon had to get
his hair cut.
…in the midst of change, both creatively
and financially.
The trend toward shorter working hours
continues.
Unfortunately, there are those who will
probably not respect….
The comptroller has predicted that in ten
years….
A video telephone enabling two people to
talk to and to watch… .
Export law it became a key factor in
international trade.
…to express her appreciation for the
retirement gift.
…duration of registration, which runs
until the end of August.
You need about forty different nutrients
to stay healthy.
…tend to dismiss incompetent employees
more frequently.
Automobiles are put out of gear by
moving the gearshift to neutral.
That client is used to receiving prompt
attention.
Information about the meetings can be
obtained….
From the turn of the century, concern for
wildlife has led to….
…your securities safe in our vault under
strict audit controls.
…to contact the box office as soon as
possible.
…just slightly only more than a week
after the national elections.
It is one of the most interesting books on
the topic.
…are located in the capital of the
10
10
After four years in sales, Mr. LeConte
finally was able to….
The human heart is wider at the top than
at the bottom.
Most students were able to find good
jobs….
Inflation is likely to affect personal
spending quite a bit in July.
31
50
10
50
10
50
9
9
45
45
9
45
9
45
9
45
8
40
8
40
7
35
7
35
7
35
7
35
7
6
6
35
30
30
6
30
6
30
5
25
5
country.
50
5
4
4
3
25
25
20
20
15
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit, Implicit
Uncountable noun,
Explicit
(lexical) Phrase,
Explicit
Part of speech, Structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Lexical phrases,
Explicit, Implicit
Collocation,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
3rd singular,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
(lexical) Phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Uncountable noun,
Explicit
Sentence structure, Tense,
Explicit
Collocation,
Explicit
(lexical) Phrase,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit, Implicit
Comparative structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Collocation,
Explicit
58
59
60
15
I have a heavy workload this month.
2
Mrs. Kawabata is ready to see you now.
7
1
Thank you for waiting.
…earn higher salaries on the west coast
8
10
Explicit
Collocation,
5
1
than on the east coast.
Sentence structure, Tense,
Explicit
Comparative structure,
5
Explicit
* n/e: the number of error
* guess the meaning: guess the meaning of the words from the context
More than 70 percent of the upper level students made 13
grammatical and lexical phrases out of 60 items.
errors
were
sentence
structures
and
lexical
Most of the
phrases.
For
sentence structures, the upper level students cannot accurately
select the kind of verb, the use of adjective and adverb, the use
of a noun instead of an adjective (e.g., durability), and the
double pronoun.
The students learned the grammatical rules
and sentence patterns in high school days, but the grammatical
errors indicate that they cannot apply those structures’ sentences
in
the
new
complicated
phrases
and
linguistic
sentence
structures.
For lexical phrases, the errors indicate that there are many
difficult words and phrases for the students, and the students
cannot choose the correct words and phrases from context.
The
words and phrases such as “low pressure,” “released,” “oversee,”
and “evaluated” are difficult for even upper level students to
guess the meaning through context.
instructions
are
necessary
for
Thus, explicit and implicit
the
students
difficult words and sentence structures.
make
an
effort
to
memorize
words,
32
to
understand
Also, they have to
phrases,
and
sentence
structures to have rich vocabulary and grammatical rules (e.g.,
practicing them many times and doing extensive reading etc.).
On the other hand, upper level students understand half of
the 60 questions (the errors have less than 50%).
Those errors
include formulas such as conventional greetings, routine daily
work, collocations, idioms and sentence structures.
They seem
to be able to acquire the lexical phrases and grammar by studying
themselves after receiving explicit instructions.
Practice and
repetition through the explicit instructions become familiar with
the words, phrases, and sentence structures.
Ta b l e 5 s h o w s t h e n u m b e r o f g r a m m a t i c a l e r r o r s o f l o w e r
level students and the percentage of each item which consists of
60 questions.
Ta b l e 5 G r a m m a t i c a l e r r o r s o f l o w e r l e v e l s t u d e n t s
n=22
rank
item
1
57
2
3
4
59
38
10
5
14
6
20
7
24
8
17
9
22
questions
…to provide outstanding durability.
A slow-moving area of low pressure will
continue….
The recession is not expected to abate
until year's end.
…they only stirred up the hot, humid air.
It is worth examining the steps nations
can take to facilitate….
Mr. K accused Boris of procrastinating….
…timetable is subject to change without
notice.
The work orders have been released to the
production….
…plans should be evaluated like any other
financial commitment.
33
* n/e
％
21
95.5
21
95.5
20
90.9
19
86.4
19
86.4
19
86.4
18
81.8
17
77.3
17
77.3
instruction
Noun structure,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrases,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
10
11
12
13
14
15
31
33
50
4
5
12
16
25
17
29
18
30
19
43
20
46
21
51
22
23
54
9
24
41
25
42
26
27
28
1
21
32
29
40
30
45
31
56
32
16
33
28
34
35
35
47
36
52
Coral, popular for necklaces, is made of
tiny sea animals.
Participation in the saving plan is
17
17
voluntary….
…how efficient Miss Choo is.
17
The satellite photographed a previously
undetected moon….
The trend toward shorter working hours
continues.
Unfortunately, there are those who will
probably not respect….
Practically no one in the group passed up
the opportunity….
In this company there has been little
regard for the needs….
…believe there will be a gradual
slowdown in October.
Twenty-four banks they have agreed on a
formula….
A flurry of promising economic news in
the last ten days….
The amount of material published on the
general topic….
Information about the meetings can be
obtained….
You need about forty different nutrients
to stay healthy.
The corporation adopted his present name
in 1981.
That client is used to receiving prompt
attention.
Private financing can take a variety of
forms.
From the turn of the century, concern for
wildlife has led to….
…to approve proposals and to oversee
their implementation.
Before adopting a particular distribution
strategy,….
…duration of registration, which runs
until the end of August.
Before playing tennis, Simon had to get
his hair cut.
…tend to dismiss incompetent employees
more frequently.
After four years in sales, Mr. LeConte
finally was able to….
The comptroller has predicted that in ten
years….
…relative to their counterparts in other
industrialized states.
A video telephone enabling two people to
34
16
16
16
77.3
77.3
77.3
72.7
72.7
72.7
16
72.7
16
72.7
16
72.7
16
72.7
16
72.7
16
72.7
16
15
72.7
68.2
15
68.2
15
68.2
14
14
63.6
63.6
14
63.6
14
63.6
14
63.6
14
63.6
13
59.1
13
59.1
13
59.1
13
59.1
13
59.1
Verb structure,
Explicit
Part of speech, Structure,
Explicit
Verb structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Part of speech, Structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Implicit
Article,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit, Implicit
Uncountable noun,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure, Tense,
Explicit
Lexical phrases,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
3rd singular,
Explicit, Implicit
Uncountable noun,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrases,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Collocation,
talk to and to watch… .
37
38
60
19
39
39
40
48
41
49
42
53
43
37
44
2
45
46
3
13
47
23
48
27
49
58
50
51
52
53
54
18
26
34
44
15
55
55
56
8
57
58
59
60
11
6
36
7
Explicit
…in the midst of change, both creatively
and financially.
…as long as your policy remains in
13
12
effect.
…your securities safe in our vault under
strict audit controls.
…to contact the box office as soon as
possible.
The passport is a traveler's primary
means of identification….
…just slightly only more than a week
after the national elections.
Improvements in local bus service have
brought….
It is one of the most interesting books on
the topic.
…are located in the capital of the
Dance is the subject of several movies
playing….
…make reservations two to three months
beforehand.
…to express her appreciation for the
retirement gift.
There have been many disputes over the
proper way….
Automobiles are put out of gear by
54.5
12
54.5
12
54.5
12
54.5
11
50.0
10
45.5
10
The human heart is wider at the top than
at the bottom.
I am surprised they moved your office
next to mine.
Most students were able to find good
jobs….
I have a heavy workload this month.
Export law it became a key factor in
international trade.
…earn higher salaries on the west coast
than on the east coast.
Quarterly earnings are seldom reported to
the shareholders.
Inflation is likely to affect personal
spending quite a bit in July.
For the new museum visitor as well as for
the veteran museum….
Mrs. Kawabata is ready to see you now.
Thank you for waiting.
45.5
45.5
10
45.5
10
45.5
10
45.5
9
moving the gearshift to neutral.
54.5
12
10
country.
59.1
9
9
9
8
40.9
40.9
40.9
40.9
36.4
8
36.4
7
31.8
7
6
6
1
31.8
27.3
27.3
4.5
(lexical) Phrase,
Explicit
Collocation,
Explicit
Collocation,
Explicit
(lexical) Phrase,
Explicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Lexical phrases,
Explicit, Implicit
Lexical phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Countable noun,
Explicit
(lexical) Phrase,
Explicit, Implicit
Comparative structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure, Tense,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Implicit
Comparative structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Collocation,
Explicit
Conjunction,
Explicit
Collocation,
Explicit
* n/e: the number of error
* guess the meaning: guess the meaning of the words from the context
35
More than 70 percent of the lower level students made 22
grammatical and lexical phrase errors out of 60 items.
Most of
the errors were sentence structures and lexical phrases such as
“is made of ～ ,” “previously undetected,” “there are those who
～ ,” and “practically no one ～ .”
For sentence structures, the
lower level students cannot judge the correct answers of sentence
structures and lexical phrases.
They do not understand the
grammatical functions of verbs, adjectives or adverbs, nouns and
pronouns.
The students learned the grammatical rules and
sentence patterns when they were high school students, but the
grammatical errors imply that they cannot apply that basic
understanding of grammar with the new complicated phrases and
linguistic sentence structures.
For
lexical
phrases,
the
errors
imply
that
there
are
difficult and unfamiliar words and phrases for the students, and
the students cannot exactly choose the words and phrases from
context.
The words and phrases such as “slowdown,” “abate,”
and “procrastinating” are difficult for the lower level students to
guess the meaning from context.
Even though a teacher teaches
several words, phrases, and sentence patterns, it is difficult for
them to guess the meaning of words from context.
They also
made grammatical errors having to do with prepositions and
uncountable nouns.
Some examples are “amount of material,”
and “information.”
Compared with upper level students, it is
necessary for lower level students to repeat and practice words,
36
phrases,
and
sentence
structures
from
the
early
stages
of
learning.
On the other hand, the kinds of errors that 30 percent of
the students made are also grammatical errors (items: 6, 36, 7).
Those
errors
idioms.
are
conventional
greetings,
collocations,
and
The students learned those grammatical rules and
l e x i c a l p h r a s e s i n t h e s e n i o r h i g h s c h o o l c l a s s r o o m e x p l i c i t l y.
Practice
and
repetition
through
explicit
instruction
created
familiarity with many words and phrases.
3.3.3 Grammatical errors of English composition
Besides
examined
the
the
TOEIC
s t u d e n t ’s
grammatical
errors
of
errors,
English
this
study
composition
in
September after having studied some English for five months in
u n i v e r s i t y.
your
The students were asked to write about “what is
future
minutes.
occupation?”
within
the
time
limitation
of
15
Ta b l e 6 s h o w s t h e r e s u l t s o f g r a m m a t i c a l e r r o r s o f
English composition.
Ta b l e 6 G r a m m a t i c a l e r r o r s o f u p p e r a n d l o w e r l e v e l s t u d e n t s o f
English composition
errors
When I was a student…, I want
to be(become) a/ an…,
N=42
upper
lower
(n=20)
(n=22)
*n/e
%
*n/e
%
*n/e
%
18
42.9
8
40
10
45.5
16
38.1
10
50
6
27.3
government, nervous, clearly,
knowledge, ability, support,
problem, heart,
37
instruction
Article,
Explicit, Implicit
Spelling,
Explicit, Implicit,
I'm interested in…, connect
with…, I want to…, I want to
11
26.2
4
20
7
31.8
6
14.3
4
20
2
9
4
9.5
2
10
2
9
3
7.1
1
5
2
9
be/become…, come to…,
I want to work at school….
various things, many skills,
parents are…, two days are…,
how to keep health…,
It is necessary…, English is
3
necessary…,
7.1
0
0
3
Sentence structure,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit, Implicit
Plural,
Explicit, Implicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit, Implicit
13.6
Sentence structure,
Explicit, Implicit
Lack of comma and
however, I have to…
3
7.1
0
0
3
13.6
period,
Explicit, Implicit
what I should do to…,
Sentence structure,
2
4.8
2
10
0
0
2
4.8
0
0
2
9
2
4.8
1
5
1
4.5
Explicit, Implicit
I want to be an interviewer.
Because, I like talk to my
friends and family and I am
Paragraph structure,
Explicit, Implicit
outgoing person.
housework, information,
I'm serious and
Uncountable noun,
Explicit
Sentence structure (lack
isn't
2
late…,
4.8
0
0
2
9
of subject or predicate),
Explicit, Implicit
looking forward to ～ing…,
1
I can speak…,
this work becomes…, young man
doesn't want to …,
I want to help someone…,
2.4
1
5
0
(lexical) Phrase,
0
Explicit
1
2.4
0
0
1
4.5
1
2.4
0
0
1
4.5
1
2.4
0
0
1
4.5
I was taught…,
1
2.4
0
0
1
4.5
～but I don't have…,
1
2.4
0
0
1
4.5
Sentence structure,
Explicit, Implicit
3rd person,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Sentence structure,
Explicit
Conjunction,
Explicit, Implicit
*n/e: the number of error
Half of the grammatical errors were sentence structures
such as lack of “want ～ , ” “I’m interested in how to keep
h e a l t h y, ” “ E n g l i s h i s n e c e s s i t y, ” a n d “ I w a n t t o h e l p a n y b o d y, ”
instead
of
‘keep
h e a l t h , ’ ’ n e c e s s a r y, ’ a n d
‘someone.’
The
students cannot correctly use verbs, adjectives or adverbs, nouns,
and pronouns.
A s fo r w o r d o r d e r, s u c h a s “ I d o n’t k n o w w h a t
38
should I do to grant my dream,” even upper level students made
errors
in
their
English
compositions.
The
examples
of
c o n j u n c t i o n e r r o r s a r e “ I h a v e a n o l d b r o t h e r a n d s i s t e r, ( m i s s e s
b u t I ) d o n ’t h a v e a l i t t l e b r o t h e r a n d s i s t e r. ”
Also, there were a lot of morpheme errors that include
articles,
plurals,
the
3rd
person,
contractible auxiliary verbs.
contractible
copula,
and
Most students made errors about
a r t i c l e s a n d p l u r a l s s u c h a s “ I w a n t t o b e h i g h s c h o o l t e a c h e r, ”
“When I was high school student,” “I will study many subject
from now on,” and “I study various thing hard for the time
being.”
U s u a l l y,
students
would
check
their
grammar
and
sentences, but in the case of this writing test, it can be said that
they might not be able to check the grammar and sentences
because there was a time limitation.
mistakes instead of errors.
Also, there might be some
H o w e v e r, h e r e i n t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n ,
the number of mistakes is included in the number of errors,
because it is difficult to make distinction of errors from mistakes.
Hence, students cannot judge correct grammatical structures
without receiving explicit instruction.
Concerning
morphemes,
Krashen
(1983)
argues
that
explicit instruction is not necessary from the point of view of
“The Natural Order Hypothesis,” because there is a natural
acquisition
order
about
grammatical
morphemes.
Ho w e ver,
when one considers English composition, there are a lot of
39
morpheme errors concerning articles, plurals, the 3rd person, and
auxiliary
verbs.
Thus,
the
problem
is
whether
explicit
instruction is necessary or not.
A c c o r d i n g l y, f o r r e s e a r c h q u e s t i o n 1 , t h i s c h a p t e r c a n b e
summarized as follows: The most grammatical errors made are
sentence structures and lexical phrases which are difficult and
unfamiliar for the students.
As for upper level students, it is
important to give explicit and implicit instruction, because it is
n e c e s s a r y f o r t h e s t u d e n t s t o g u e s s a n d i n f e r.
On the other hand,
both levels of the students need to make an effort to memorize
words, phrases, and sentence structures to have a rich vocabulary
and
to
understand
necessary
for
instruction
grammatical
but
grammatical
lower
the
structure
level
effect
and
rules.
students
of
the
lexical
to
Also,
receive
explicit
phrases
it
might
an
explicit
instruction
are
be
on
controversial
among researchers.
3.4 RQ2, Which is effective, explicit or implicit?
The previous section examined what kinds of grammatical
errors students made, and it seems that it is necessary to give
explicit and implicit instruction for EFL students.
This section
describes how a teacher should give the explicit instruction for
students to notice the grammatical errors and rules.
Is it
necessary for teachers to give explicit instructions in EFL
classes?
Do the students who receive a lot of comprehensible
40
input notice grammatical rules or errors by themselves?
Tr u s c o t t ( 1 9 9 6 ) c o mp i l e d a r e v i e w o f c a s e s a g a i n s t t h e u s e
of grammar instruction in the L2 writing class.
According to
his evidence, grammar correction in L2 writing classes should be
abandoned as research shows it to be ineffective and not helpful.
H o w e v e r , a s m e n t i o n e d b e l o w, t h e r e a r e m a n y r e s e a r c h e r s
who
support
Fotos
the
(1993)
produced
by
effect
of
investigates
two
types
feedback
the
of
for
amount
grammar
language
of
learner
teaching.
noticing
consciousness-raising
treatments designed to develop formal knowledge of grammar
structures.
One was teacher fronted grammar lessons and the
other was interactive grammar problem solving tasks.
The
focus of attention was adverb placement and relative clauses in
a n E F L s e t t i n g a t a J a p a n e s e u n i v e r s i t y.
Findings of the study
produced evidence that explicit grammatical knowledge can be
developed through grammar consciousness-raising tasks which
subsequently result in noticing grammatical features on the part
o f t h e l e a r n e r.
Furthermore, the production requirement served
as an extra form-focused activity which helped to make the
learners
notice
input.
She
concludes
that
repeated
communicative exposure to grammar structures presented in
formal
instruction
a c c u r a c y.
consolidates
and
increases
the
learners’
Ellis (1991) also states explicit instruction and
“consciousness-raising” are important for students.
H o w e v e r,
it seems that it is also important to practice through repetition so
41
that the explicit instruction becomes familiar with the words and
grammatical rules.
Lightbown and Spada (1990), Carroll and Swain (1993),
a n d E l l i s , S h e e n , M u r a k a m i a n d Ta k a s h i m a ( 2 0 0 8 ) s t a t e t h a t
feedback is effective in language teaching.
Lightbown and
Spada (1990) examined the effect of corrective feedback and
focus on form in a communicative language classroom.
The
learners are native speakers of French who had received a
5-month intensive ESL course in the stages of grade 5 and grade
6 in elementary school.
The teachers focused on meaning-based
activities, provided opportunities for the negotiation of meaning
in group work, and supplied rich and various input.
The result
showed differences between classes in the accuracy in the use of
g r a m m a r.
The class that received the greatest amount of focus
on form teaching (30% of the teaching time) was most accurate,
and the class whose teacher virtually never focused on grammar
had the lowest accuracy rates.
The result of this study also
provides further support for the hypothesis that form-based
instruction within a communicative context contributes to higher
levels of linguistic knowledge and performance.
They claim
t h a t a c c u r a c y, f l u e n c y, a n d o v e r a l l c o m m u n i c a t i v e s k i l l s a r e
probably best developed through instruction that is primarily
meaning-based but in which guidance is provided though timely
form-focus activities and correction in context.
It appears that
explicit instruction (meaning-based) is necessary to understand
42
grammatical rules and words.
Carroll and Swain (1993) state various types of negative
feedback and how they affect adult ESL learners.
The four
groups of subjects received varying degrees of feedback ranging
from
explicit
metalinguistic
information
to
non-feedback.
(Group 1 subjects were given explicit metalinguistic information
about a generalization.
response was wrong.
Group 2 subjects were told that their
Group 3 subjects were corrected when
they made errors, giving them a model of the response desired
along with implicit negative evidence that their response was
incorrect.
if
they
Gr oup 4 subj ec ts, ha ving ma de a n err or, we re a sked
were
sure
about
their
response.)
The
focus
of
instruction was dative alternation and the subjects were to decide
whether a particular verb alternates.
produce
a
structure.
correct
sentence
If so they were to orally
structure
using
an
alternative
The results showed that out of all the treatment
groups, negative feedback performed better than the control
group.
They found that simply telling a subject that she was
wrong and providing indirect feedback with the right forms did
not
help
as
metalinguistic
instruction
much
as
supplying
information.
(explicit
It
instruction)
the
learners
seems
and
that
guessing
with
explicit
meaning-based
the
grammar
(implicit instruction) are important in the case of listening.
E l l i s , S h e e n , M u r a k a m i a n d Ta k a s h i m a ( 2 0 0 8 ) d e s c r i b e t h e
effect of written corrective feedback about the definite article
43
and the indefinite article.
The subjects were divided into 3
groups (1. A teacher gave feedback that focused only on articles
when students made errors.
2. A teacher gave some feedbacks
when students made errors.
3. A teacher didn’t give feedback
and only made comments such as “good!,” even though the
students made errors.)
The results showed that group 1 and 2
were better than group 3.
It was not so much differences
between group 1 and 2, but it might be easy to understand the
grammatical rules for students when a teacher gives focused
feedback.
A l s o , Va n P a t t e n a n d O i k k e n o n ( 1 9 9 6 ) a t t e m p t e d t o e x p l a i n
how explicit information and structure input activities effect
l e a r n i n g o b j e c t p r o n o u n s a n d w o r d o r d e r.
performance
examined.
on
interpretation
and
Wa y s t o i m p r o v e
production
tests
were
The formal instruction included explicit information
and structured input.
The group that received the former was
given explanations about the properties of the language and were
supplied with reasons why they were wrong when they had errors
in their performance.
They did not receive any practice.
The
latter group that received processing information received an
explanation of form and practiced structured activities.
The
third group only did the activities that involved the subjects
interpreting
simple
sentences.
They
did
not
receive
any
feedback on their performance nor did they receive any explicit
information about the language structure.
44
The findings showed
that the beneficial effects of the instruction were due to the
structured input activities and not to the explicit explanations
p r o v i d e d t o t h e l e a r n e r.
Whether one accepts this particular
position or not, the present study at least calls into question the
necessity of explicit information in processing instruction; it
may
be
enough
to
push
learners
to
make
form-meaning
connections during appropriately structured input activities.
Skehan (1998) states that in selecting or designing tasks
there is a trade-off between cognitive processing and focus on
form.
More difficult, cognitively demanding tasks reduce the
amount of attention the leaner can give to the formal features of
messages, something that is thought to be necessary for accuracy
and grammatical development.
In other words, if the task is too
d i f f i c u l t , f l u e n c y m a y d e v e l o p a t t h e e x p e n s e o f a c c u r a c y.
He
(1998) suggests that
tasks can be designed along a cline of difficulty so that
learners can work on tasks that enable them to develop
both fluency and an awareness of language form (p.97)
T h a t i s t o s a y, i t i s i m p o r t a n t t h a t t e a c h e r s g i v e a n e x p l i c i t
instruction,
and
lexical phrases.
students
notice
the
grammatical
rules
and
“ Aw a r e n e s s ” m e a n s t h a t s t u d e n t s n o t i c e t h e
meaning themselves and it is a similar meaning to “notice.”
A c c o r d i n g l y, a l t h o u g h t h e r e a r e s o m e c o n t r o v e r s i a l i s s u e s
45
on the effect of feedback and explicit instruction, for research
question 2, this chapter suggests that it is necessary for EFL
students to receive an explicit and implicit instruction, and for
teachers to devise how to teach explicit and implicit knowledge
according to students’ level.
In the case of lower level students,
a
form-focused
teacher
should
give
instruction
meaning-based instruction (explicit instruction).
upper
level
s t u d e n t ’s
case,
teacher
gives
and
As for the
form-focused
instruction (explicit instruction) and encourages guessing the
meaning (implicit instruction).
46
Chapter 4
Conclusion
This paper has attempted to clarify the effectiveness of
grammar instruction for developing the communication skills of
EFL university students.
instruction
is
communication
not
always
skills.
grammatical errors.
Krashen (1983) states that grammar
necessary
H o w e v e r,
many
for
EFL
developing
learners
make
I f t h e y d o n o t l e a r n g r a m m a r, i t w i l l b e
d i f f i c u l t t o c o n v e y w h a t t h e y w a n t t o s a y, o r u n d e r s t a n d w h a t
o t h e r s s a y.
In order to examine the necessities of grammar instruction,
chapter 2 has focused on the ideas of grammar and grammar
instruction.
Conce rni ng gra m ma r, Ri chards a nd Rodgers (2001)
state that teaching grammar includes systems of structurally
related elements written as phonological units, morphological
units, grammatical/syntactical units, grammatical operations and
lexical items.
S h i r a h a t a , To m i t a , M u r a n o i a n d Wa k a b a y a s h i
(1999) explain the difference between prescriptive grammar and
d e s c r i p t i v e g r a m m a r.
It seems that English grammar taught in
t h e J a p a n e s e c l a s s r o o m i s p r e s c r i p t i v e g r a m m a r.
M o r e o v e r,
Yo n e y a m a ( 2 0 0 3 ) e x p l a i n s t h a t d e c l a r a t i v e k n o w l e d g e i s a n
explicit knowledge and procedural knowledge is an implicit
47
knowledge.
As
for
grammar
instruction,
there
are
some
controversial issues concerning whether grammar instruction is
effective
or
not
(e.g.,
deductive
grammar
instruction
and
inductive instruction, explicit knowledge and implicit knowledge,
interface
position
and
grammar
instruction
non-interface
is
when
a
position.)
teacher
Deductive
teaches
grammar
explicitly to students, and inductive grammar instruction is when
teacher gives a lot of sentences to learners in order to make them
a w a r e o f t h e r u l e s o f g r a m m a r.
Ellis (1994) describes that
explicit knowledge is a conscious linguistic knowledge, and it is
mainly acquired through a form-focused instruction.
Explicit
instructions will make grammatical rules easier to notice and
help the learners to notice their errors.
Schmidt (1990) also
states that grammar instruction in communication is effective for
language acquisition and it is effective to urge “noticing.”
the
other
hand,
knowledge.
implicit
knowledge
indicates
On
subconscious
This knowledge is intuitive and it is not possible to
e x p l a i n c l e a r l y.
Ellis (1994) describes Interface position and
Non-interface position as follows: Interface position indicates
that
the
grammar
knowledge”
shifts
is
to
learned
c o n s c i o u s l y,
“implicit
knowledge.”
and
“explicit
There
is
a
possibility that “learning” becomes “acquisition.”
This shift is
assumed to be achieved by “use” and “practice.”
In contrast,
Non-interface position indicates that “explicit knowledge” does
not
change
into
“implicit
knowledge.”
48
Input
Hypothesis,
p r o p o s e d b y K r a s h e n a n d Te r r e l l ( 1 9 8 3 ) i s t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e
example of Non-interface position.
Bialystok
(1982),
and
H o w e v e r, St e v i c k ( 1 9 8 0 ) ,
McLaughlin
(1978)
argue
that
the
Interface position is effective for developing communication
skills.
Oka (1994, p.249) states that the next activities are
important for conducting a speaking lesson in EFL classes.
First step: Comprehension (confirm the vocabulary and
grammar)
Second step: Drill (practice of a pronunciation, imitation
of dialogue, pattern practice)
Third
step:
Application
(practice
of
communication,
mutual activities)
These literature reviews show the effects of explicit and
implicit grammar instruction on second language learning in ESL
and EFL situations.
The learners who notice the grammatical
rules with comprehensible input will understand grammatical
rules more than those who receive only explicit instructions.
H o we ver, t he q ue st i o n i s ho w l ea r ner s not i c e t he g r a m mat i c a l
rules
and
errors
through
comprehensible
input,
because
"noticing" grammatical rules is more difficult than "practicing"
words
for
explanation.
the
students
who
cannot
understand
a
teacher's
It seems that there are many learners who do not
notice errors even though they receive explicit instructions.
49
Thus, chapter 3 has investigated what kind of grammatical
errors EFL students make, and which instruction is effective,
explicit or implicit instruction.
42 Japanese EFL university
freshmen took a C-test, the TOEIC and an English composition
test to find what kinds of grammatical errors they make and to
investigate
whether
or
not
grammatical instructions.
they
need
explicit
or
implicit
They received explicit instructions
for some grammatical rules in Japanese EFL junior and high
school situations, but it is unknown whether they understand
grammar or not.
According to the average score of the C-test
(53 score), the level of the students was divided into “upper” and
“ l o w e r. ”
The results of research question 1 suggest that the kinds of
grammatical errors made show that both levels of students made
grammatical
lexical
errors
phrases
connected
which
are
with
difficult
sentence
and
structures
unfamiliar
for
and
the
students, such as “procrastinating,” “abate,” and “stirred up.”
Both levels of students need to make an effort to memorize words,
phrases, and sentence structures to have rich vocabulary and
grammatical knowledge.
In the case of upper level students, it
is important for them to enhance their guessing ability for
unknown words from context in order to understand complicated
grammatical rules and difficult lexical phrases.
Thus, it is
necessary for the students to receive both explicit and implicit
instructions.
50
In the case of lower level students, it might be necessary
for them to receive explicit instruction, but the effect of explicit
instruction on grammatical structure and lexical phrases is
controversial among researchers.
argues
against
the
The latter half of chapter 3
necessities
implicit instructions.
of
explicit
instructions
and
Truscott (1996) argu es that gr ammar
correction in L2 writing classes is not helpful for students.
H o w e v e r, t he r e a r e m a n y r es e a r c he r s w h o s u p p o r t t he e ff e ct o f
feedback for language teaching.
For example, Lightbown and
Spada (1990) examined the effect of corrective feedback and
focus-on-form in a communicative language classroom.
teachers
focused
on
meaning-based
activities,
The
provided
opportunities for the negotiation of meaning in group work, and
supplied rich and various input.
The class received the greatest
amount of focus-on-form teaching (30% of the teaching time),
was most accurate, and the class whose teacher virtually never
focused on grammar had the lowest accuracy rates.
that
explicit
instructions
(meaning-based)
understand grammatical rules and words.
are
It appears
necessary
to
M o r e o v e r, Sk e h a n
(1998) states that it is important that teachers give explicit
instruction,
and
students
notice
the
grammatical
rules
and
lexical phrases better when they receive it.
The results of research question 2 show that it is necessary
for EFL students to receive explicit and implicit instructions and
for teachers to devise a way to teach explicit and implicit
51
k n o w l e d g e a c c o r d i n g t o a s t u d e n t ’s l e v e l .
In the case of lower
level students, it will be necessary to teach form-focused and
meaning-focused instruction (explicit instruction) to understand
the grammatical rules.
A s f o r t h e u p p e r l e v e l s t u d e n t ’s c a s e , i t
will be necessary to teach form-focused and meaning-focused
instruction (explicit instruction) while encouraging guessing the
meaning (implicit instruction).
The upper level students should
make an extra special effort to guess the meaning of unknown
words from context.
F o r F u r t h e r St u d y
Concerning research question 2, the author of this paper
was not able to clearly verify the effective grammar instruction
of EFL classes.
students
who
Also, it will be necessary to study whether the
receive
a
lot
of
comprehensible
grammatical rules or errors by themselves.
input
notice
In order to examine
these research questions in more detail, the author will study the
subject continuously in the near future.
52
Acknowledgement
I n w r i t i n g t h i s p a p e r, I a m d e e p l y g r a t e f u l t o P r o f e s s o r
Keiko Hayashi at Hiroshima Jogakuin University and Ronnie who
teaches English at English conversation school for their kindness.
Professor Hayashi carefully looked through all parts of this
paper and gave me a lot of useful and thoughtful comments.
In
doing this research, I am very thankful to Professor Keiko
Hayashi for her cooperation to conduct a survey about grammar
test to 42 university students.
mistakes of this paper in detail.
53
Ronnie corrected my English
References
Bialystok, E. (1982). On the relationship between knowing and
using linguistic forms. Applied Linguistics, 3(3), 181-206.
Canale,
M.,
&
Swain,
M.
(1980).
Theoretical
bases
of
communicative approaches to second language teaching
and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1(1), 1-47.
Carroll, S., & Swain, M. (1993). Explicit and implicit negative
feedback: An empirical study of the learning of linguistic
ge ner aliz ations. Studies in Second Language Acquisition,
15(3), 357-386.
D u l a y, H . , B u r t , M . , & K r a s h e n , S . ( 1 9 8 2 ) . L a n g u a g e t w o . N Y:
Oxford University Press.
Ellis, N. (1994). Implicit and explicit learning of languages.
London: Academic Press.
Ellis, R. (1991). Communicative competence and the Japanese
l e a r n e r. J A L T J o u r n a l , 1 3 ( 2 ) , 1 0 3 - 1 2 9 .
Ellis, R. (1993). The structural syllabus and second language
acqui siti on. TESOL Quarterly , 27(1), 91-113.
Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language acquisition.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (1995). Interpretation tasks for grammar teaching.
TESOL Quarterly, 29(1).
Ellis, R. (1997). Second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
54
E l l i s , R . , S h e e n , Y. , M u r a k a m i , M . , & Ta k a s h i m a , H . ( 2 0 0 8 ) . T h e
effects
of
focused
and
unfocused
written
corrective
feedback in an English as a foreign language context.
System, 36(3), 353-371.
Fotos, S. (1993). Consciousness raising and noticing through
focus on form: Grammar task performance versus formal
instruction. Applied Linguistics, 14(4), 385-407.
G a t t e g n o , C . ( 1 9 7 2 ) . Te a c h i n g f o r e i g n l a n g u a g e s i n s c h o o l s t h e
s i l e n t w a y . N Y: E d u c a t i o n a l S o l u t i o n s .
Gattegno, C. (1976). The common sense of teachi ng forei gn
l a n g u a g e s . N Y: E d u c a t i o n a l S o l u t i o n s .
G r e g g , K . ( 1 9 8 4 ) . K r a s h e n ’s m o n i t o r a n d o c c a m ’ s r a z o r . A p p l i e d
Linguistics, 5(2), 79-100.
G u n d e l , J . , & Ta r o n e , E . ( 1 9 8 3 ) . L a n g u a g e t r a n s f e r a n d t h e
acquisition of pronominal anaphora. In S. Gass, & L.
Selinker (Eds.), Language transfer in language learning
(pp.281-296). Rowley: Newbury House.
Hymes, D. (1972). On communicative competence. In J. Pride, &
J.
Holmes
(Eds.),
Sociolinguistics.
England:
Penguin
Books.
Koike, I. (2003). Kenkyusha dictionary of applied linguistics.
To k y o : K e n k y u s h a .
Krashen,
S.,
&
Te r r e l l ,
T.
(1983).
The
natural
approach:
L a n g u a g e a c q u i s i t i o n i n t h e c l a s s r o o m . N Y: P r e n t i c e - H a l l
International.
55
Krashen,
S.
(1985).
The
input
hypothesis:
Issues
and
i m p l i c a t i o n s . L o n d o n a n d N Y: L o n g m a n .
Krashen, S. (1987). Principles and practice in second language
a c q u i s i t i o n . N Y: P r e n t i c e - H a l l I n t e r n a t i o n a l .
Lassen-Freeman, D., & Long, H. M. (1991). An introduction to
s e c on d l an g u a g e a c q u i s i t i o n re s e a rc h . E n g l a n d : L o n g m a n .
L i g h t b o w n , P. M . , & S p a d a , N . ( 1 9 9 0 ) . F o c u s - o n - f o r m a n d
corrective feedback in communicative language teaching:
E ff e c t s o n s e c o n d l a n g u a g e l e a r n i n g . St u d i e s i n S e c o n d
Language Acquisition, 12(4), 429-448.
McLaughlin,
B.
(1978).
The
monitor
model:
Some
methodological considerations. Language Learning, 28(2),
309-332.
M i n i s t r y o f E d u c a t i o n , C u l t u r e , S p o r t s , S c i e n c e a n d Te c h n o l o g y
(MEXT)
(2009).
Koutougakko
gakusyuu
shidouyouryou
kaisetu, gaikokugo hen. (The Course of Study for high
school, foreign language edition. 2009, December)
O k a , H . ( 1 9 9 4 ) . ｢ ス ピ ー キ ン グ と オ ー ラ ル・コ ミ ュ ニ ケ ー シ ョ
ン｣
In SLA 研 究 会 (Ed.), 『 第 二 言 語 習 得 研 究 に 基 づ
く 最 新 の 英 語 教 育 』 (pp.239-265). 東 京 : 大 修 館 書 店 .
R e b e r, A . ( 1 9 7 6 ) . I m p l i c i t l e a r n i n g o f s y n t h e t i c l a n g u a g e s : T h e
role
of
instructional
set.
Journal
of
Experimental
Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 2(1), 88-94.
R e b e r , A . , K a s s i n , S . , L e w i s , S . , & C a n t o r , G. ( 1 9 8 0 ) . O n t h e
relationship between implicit and explicit modes in the
56
learning
of
a
complex
rule
structure.
Journal
of
Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory,
6(5), 492-502.
R i c h a r d s , J . C . , & R o d g e r s . T. S . ( 2 0 0 1 ) . A p p r o a c h e s a n d
m e t h o d s i n l a n g u a g e t e a c h i n g ( 2 n d e d . ) . N Y: C a m b r i d g e
University Press.
R i v e r s , W. M . ( E d . ) . ( 1 9 8 7 ) . I n t e r a c t i v e l a n g u a g e t e a c h i n g .
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
R u t h e r f o r d , W. ( 1 9 7 5 ) . M o d e r n E n g l i s h ( 2 n d e d . ) . N Y: H a r c o u r t
Brace Jovanovich.
Schmidt, R., & Frota, S. (1986). Developing basic conversational
ability in a second language: A case study of an adult
l e a r n e r . I n R . D a y ( E d . ) , Ta l k i n g t o l e a r n ( p p . 2 3 7 - 3 2 6 ) .
Rowley: Newbury House Publishers.
Schmidt,
R.
(1990).
The
role
of
consciousness
in
second
l a n g u a g e l e a r n i n g . A p p l i e d L i n g u i s t i c s , 11 ( 2 ) , 1 2 9 - 1 5 8 .
Sharwood-Smith,
M.
(1981).
Consciousness-raising
and
the
s e c o n d l a n g u a g e l e a r n e r. A p p l i e d L i n g u i s t i c s , 2 , 1 5 9 - 1 6 9 .
S h i r a h a t a , T. , To m i t a , Y. , M u r a n o i , H . , & Wa k a b a y a s h i , S . ( 1 9 9 9 ) .
A g u i d e t o E n g l i s h l a n g u a g e t e a c h i n g t e r m i n o l o g y . To k y o :
Ta i s h u k a n .
S k e h a n , P. ( 1 9 9 8 ) . A c o g n i t i v e a p p r o a c h t o l a n g u a g e l e a r n i n g .
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Stevick, E. R. (1980). The levertov machine. In R. Scarcella & S.
K r a s h e n ( E d s . ) , R e s e a rc h i n s e c o n d l a n g u a g e a c q u i s i t i o n :
57
Selected
papers
of
the
Los
Angeles
second
language
a c q u i s i t i o n re s e a rc h f or u m ( p p . 2 8 - 3 5 ) . M A : N e w b u r y
House Publishers.
Te r r e l l ,
T.
(1991).
The
role
of
grammar
instruction
in
a
communicative approach. Modern Language Journal, 75,
52-63.
Tr u s c o t t , J . ( 1 9 9 6 ) . T h e c a s e a g a i n s t g r a m m a r c o r r e c t i o n i n L 2
writing classes. Language Learning, 46(2), 327-369.
Va n P a t t e n ,
B.,
&
structured
Oikkenon,
input
in
S.
(1996).
processing
Explanation
instruction.
versus
St u d i e s
in
Second Language Acquisition, 18(4), 495-510.
Va n P a t t e n , B . ( 1 9 9 6 ) . I n p u t p r o c e s s i n g a n d g r a m m a r i n s t r u c t i o n :
Theory and research in second language acquisition. USA:
Ablex Publishing Corporation.
Wr i t i n g R e s e a r c h G r o u p , J A C E T K a n s a i C h a p t e r ( 1 9 9 8 ) . C - t e s t
Score List. (unpublished)
Wr i t i n g R e s e a r c h G r o u p , J A C E T K a n s a i C h a p t e r ( E d . ) . ( 1 9 9 9 ) .
The
effect
of
listening
and
dictation
activities
on
g r a m m a t i c a l c o r r e c t i o n . Te a c h i n g W r i t i n g i n C o l l e g e s a n d
Universities: Practical reports (3), 33-42.
Yo n e y a m a , C . ( 2 0 0 3 ) . K e n k y u s h a d i c t i o n a r y o f E n g l i s h l a n g u a g e
l e a r n i n g a n d t e a c h i n g . To k y o : K e n k y u s h a .
Yo s h i t o m i , A . ( 2 0 0 5 ) . ｢ コ ミ ュ ニ ケ ー シ ョ ン 能 力 と は 何 か ー ま
ず は 教 師 の 意 識 改 革 か ら ー ｣ Retrieved July 10, 2009,
from
58
h t t p : / / w w w. o b u n s h a . c o . j p / a r g u m e n t / 0 4 - 1 / t o k u s h u / s i d o 6 / m
ain.html.
59
Appendix
item
question
1
Private financing can take a variety of forms.
2
It is one of the most interesting books on the topic.
3
The corporate headquarters are located in the capital of the country.
4
The satellite photographed a previously undetected moon in orbit around Saturn.
5
The trend toward shorter working hours continues.
6
Inflation is likely to affect personal spending quite a bit in July.
7
Mrs. Kawabata is ready to see you now. Thank you for waiting.
8
Executives of small companies earn higher salaries on the west coast than on the east coast.
9
You need about forty different nutrients to stay healthy.
10
The ceiling fans were on, but unfortunately they only stirred up the hot, humid air.
11
Quarterly earnings are seldom reported to the shareholders.
12
Unfortunately, there are those who will probably not respect the arbiter's decision.
13
Dance is the subject of several movies playing over the holiday season.
14
It is worth examining the steps nations can take to facilitate the removal of trade barriers.
15
I have a heavy workload this month.
16
Today many managers reward only good performers and tend to dismiss incompetent employees more frequently.
17
The work orders have been released to the production department.
18
Automobiles are put out of gear by moving the gearshift to neutral.
19
This identification card is valid as long as your policy remains in effect.
20
Mr. Kekkonen accused Boris of procrastinating when he handed in his report a week late.
21
From the turn of the century, concern for wildlife has led to numerous international conservation programs.
22
When corporations decide to buy life insurance for their executives, the various plans should be evaluated like any other financial commitment.
23
To vacation at that mountain resort, you must make reservations two to three months beforehand.
24
Information listed in this timetable is subject to change without notice.
25
Practically no one in the group passed up the opportunity to attend the computer skills seminar.
26
The human heart is wider at the top than at the bottom.
27
Mrs. Barker gave a short speech after lunch to express her appreciation for the retirement gift.
28
After four years in domestic sales, Mr. LeConte finally was able to transfer to the international division.
29
In this company there has been little regard for the needs of part-time workers.
30
Economic experts believe there will be a gradual slowdown in October.
31
Coral, popular for necklaces, is made of tiny sea animals.
32
One of the major responsibilities of this position is to approve proposals and to oversee their implementation.
33
Participation in the saving plan is voluntary, but often reaches ninety percent.
34
I am surprised they moved your office next to mine.
35
The comptroller has predicted that in ten years the space used by the research department will have to double.
36
For the new museum visitor as well as for the veteran museum goer, the Museum Highlights Tour offers an excellent opportunity to see the most popular exhibits.
37
Improvements in local bus service have brought increased business to the area.
38
The recession is not expected to abate until year's end.
39
The bank invites you to keep your securities safe in our vault under strict audit controls.
40
Before adopting a particular distribution strategy, a segment of the market should be tested.
41
The corporation adopted his present name in 1981.
42
That client is used to receiving prompt attention.
43
Twenty-four banks they have agreed on a formula to refinance 1.6 billion of the country's short-term foreign debt.
60
44
Most students were able to find good jobs three to six months after graduation.
45
We are waiving the entrance fees for the duration of registration, which runs until the end of August.
46
A flurry of promising economic news in the last ten days has caused analysts to revise their forecasts for the stock's growth.
47
Local government workers in this state generally are underpaid relative to their counterparts in other industrialized states.
48
Due to the popularity of the stars, theater patrons are advised to contact the box office as soon as possible.
49
The passport is a traveler's primary means of identification abroad.
50
The format in which the data is presented in this research paper shows how efficient Miss Choo is.
51
The amount of material published on the general topic has tripled since March.
52
A video telephone enabling two people to talk to and to watch each other has been patented by two inventors.
53
The strike began unexpectedly, just slightly more than a week after the national elections.
54
Information about the meetings can be obtained by calling the Berlin Chamber of Commerce.
55
Export law it became a key factor in international trade.
56
Before playing tennis, Simon had to get his hair cut.
57
The machine's different typing elements have been carefully designed to provide outstanding durability.
58
There have been many disputes over the proper way to train child actors.
59
A slow-moving area of low pressure will continue to spread cloudiness and showers across the metropolitan area tonight.
60
The recording industry is in the midst of change, both creatively and financially.
61