The role of explicit grammar in second language teaching: instructional effectiveness of processing instruction

Abstract

The role of explicit grammar teaching has become a point of controversial debate over the last decades in the field of second language teaching. Krashen’s Monitor Theory questioned the role of formal instruction and relegated it to a minor driving force in the process of interlanguage development. However, research has by now shown sufficient evidence supporting its beneficial effects and so a return to focus on grammar has been demanded. In order to combine research findings with a communicative approach to language teaching, Long (1991) proposes a focus on form embedded in communicative tasks and motivated by a communicative need. In this paper we will adopt Long’s proposal and we will make suggestions as to how to carry it out effectively in the classroom. After an introduction on the extent to which formal instruction can contribute to interlanguage development, we will move to a discussion on what is meant by formal instruction and on the need of a pedagogical grammar. Then, some instructional considerations as well as a description of tasks and techniques in focus on form will be given. The paper concludes with a description of VanPatten’s Processing Instruction and its validity as an instructional resource.