Interactions Between Type of Instruction and Type of Language Feature: A Meta‐Analysis

TLDR

The study meta‑analysed the impact of explicit versus implicit instruction on learners’ acquisition of simple and complex English grammatical features. The analysis included 41 studies, categorizing target features as simple or complex per Hulstijn & de Graaff (1994) and classifying instructional treatments as explicit or implicit per Norris and Ortega (2000). Explicit instruction produced larger effect sizes than implicit instruction for both simple and complex features, and it enhanced learners’ controlled knowledge and spontaneous use of these forms.

Abstract

A meta‐analysis was conducted to investigate the effects of explicit and implicit instruction on the acquisition of simple and complex grammatical features in English. The target features in the 41 studies contributing to the meta‐analysis were categorized as simple or complex based on the number of criteria applied to arrive at the correct target form ( Hulstijn & de Graaff, 1994 ). The instructional treatments were classified as explicit or implicit following Norris and Ortega (2000) . The results indicate larger effect sizes for explicit over implicit instruction for simple and complex features. The findings also suggest that explicit instruction positively contributes to learners’ controlled knowledge and spontaneous use of complex and simple forms.