Can Grammar Be Learned Implicitly? Insights From the Omani EAP Classroom

Abstract

The focus of this study is on the implicit knowledge that L2 learners acquire when they are asked to complete a communicative task. The study is couched within the framework of the Instructed Second language Learning (ISLA) and contributes to the discussion on the acquisition of implicit knowledge as an important pre-requisite for communicative competence. The study claims that implicit knowledge can be acquired when language learners are asked to complete a communicative task enriched with the target structure of the English passive. Seventy first year EAP students participated in the study, and they were asked to describe the process of frankincense production in writing based on prompts provided to them. The prompts were developed to elicit the target structure after the participants read a text enriched with the structure of the English passive. The results of the written production task were statistically significant despite the participants’ low performance on the task. This suggests the development of implicit knowledge of the target structure that learners tapped into when communicating meaning; however, to achieve better outcomes, it is believed that learners need more tokens of the target structure over time. Future research may investigate the effects of token frequency integrated into a communicative task on the development of implicit knowledge. The study advocates for a change in language learning curricula from instruction structured around grammatical forms to task-based instruction.