The Effect of Consciousness-Raising Tasks on Iranian Elementary EFL Learners' Syntax Acquisition

Abstract

This study was carried out to examine the effect of consciousness-raising tasks on the syntax acquisition of Iranian elementary EFL learners. To this end, a Cambridge Key English Test (KET) was administered to 85 elementary level learners at a Language Institute in Tehran, Iran. From among these learners, 60 homogeneous subjects were selected and divided into control group and experimental group. Before starting the treatment, a pretest was administered to both groups and t-test results showed no significant difference in their information about the grammatical structures under study. Then, the control group learned these structures traditionally whereas the experimental group worked on a sequence of consciousness-raising tasks. At the end, all subjects in both groups were post tested to check the progress they made after receiving the treatment. The results of the analysis of data showed that the experimental group outperformed the control group on the posttest.