The Effect of Textual Input Enhancement and Metalinguistic Explanations on Learning Simple Past and Past Progressive Tenses by Iranian EFL Learners

The present research was an attempt to examine the effectiveness of three techniques for teaching two target structures (simple past and past progressive) in English grammar. The participants were 90 Iranian students randomly assigned to three groups: Group A as the control group, Group B as the first experimental group (receiving enhanced input), and Group C as the second experimental group (receiving enhanced input plus metalinguistic explanations). To make sure the participants did not possess any background knowledge of the target structures, a pretest was administered. Then, three techniques were utilized to present the grammatical input to the three groups. A posttest was also administered after implementation of the treatment. Statistical analysis revealed the participants in the first and the second experimental groups experienced the largest improvement in recognition and intake of the structures. Given the higher mean of the scores for the participants in Group C and the integrated nature of the technique, typographically enhanced input plus metalinguistic explanations seems to be more effective in teaching grammar.