Effects of the Signalling Principle on EFL Learning: A Study of Explicit Presentation of Frequent Grammar Mistakes Using an Adapted Functional Teaching Approach

Abstract

This piece of research presents the results of a quasi-experimental study on the effects of the signalling principle (Mayer 2001) in a sample of Chilean university EFL learners exposed to pictures and text with explicit presentations of grammar mistakes. One group was presented explicitly some frequent grammar mistakes previously elicited from ten experienced teachers of English that included the signalling principle (using several colours, sounds and semiotic signs). The other group was exposed to the functional approach, where grammar mistakes were implicitly dealt with, using the same pictures as teaching resources used by the experimental group. Both groups kept the interactive and functional practice. After using different instruments to test recognition and oral production, findings revealed there were no significant differences with a P-value of 0.314 and a 5% level of significance when both groups were compared in the recognition stage of mistakes. This means that both groups benefited from explicit and implicit presentation of specific English contents. However, in the oral production stage, the group that was explicitly exposed to some grammar mistakes did a better job at "monitoring" and self-correcting some of the mistakes that had been shown in the presentation stage. These results show that using explicit presentations of grammar mistakes on one hand was neither detrimental nor unnecessary for recognising such mistakes, and on the other hand, learners increased their monitoring and self correcting learning capacities.