The effect of explicit vs implicit grammar instruction on the acquisition of the structures "be going to" and present progressive to express intentions of plans and arrangements among efl learners with spanish as L1

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study investigates the effectiveness of different grammar instruction methods (implicit and explicit) to teach the grammar structures “be going to” and present progressive to express intention of plans and fixed arrangements among EFL students with Spanish as L1 in Colombia. Thirty-four high school-students from a private non-bilingual school participated in this study, divided into two groups (implicit and explicit). The investigation consisted of five sessions. In the first session, the participants took the pre-test. From session two to four, the researcher presented the grammar structures explicitly in the explicit group and implicitly in the implicit group, with the participants engaging in various activities to practice the use of the structures in different language skills. In the fifth session, the participants took the post-test where they finally applied the knowledge acquired during the intervention. The outcomes of this research indicate that implicit and explicit grammar instruction positively impact the teaching of “be going to” and present progressive among EFL learners with Spanish as L1. Paired t-tests comparing pre-test and post-test scores within each group demonstrated significant improvement in both groups. Cohen’s d was calculated to measure the effect size, revealing a large improvement and indicating that the intervention had a substantial impact on both groups. Furthermore. the Mann-Whitney U test and an independent t-test were implemented to make a comparative analysis of the improvement distribution between both groups. The outcomes shows that, while both groups experienced substantial and statistically significant improvements, the magnitude of these improvements did not differ significantly between both groups. The absence of a significant difference in improvement distributions suggests that the intervention's impact was uniform across both instructional methods.