Integration Of Explicit And Implicit Grammar Instruction In EFL In Junior High Schools

English grammar teaching is part of English teaching in high schools. For a long period, grammar teaching has been a controversial subject in high school English teaching in China. Should grammar be taught? What is a more proper way of teaching grammar? How can the communicative competence and language accuracy be balanced in English teaching of high schools?As to grammar teaching, there exist two main representative approaches: explicit grammar instruction and implicit grammar instruction. The two rival claims on grammar teaching stem from the opposed theories of Krashen and Schmidt on the role of explicit and implicit learning in SLA. Krashen (1981, 1982, 1985, 1992) claims that second language development largely resulted from unconscious acquisition processes that are facilitated by a focus on meaning alone and that unconscious acquisition excels conscious learning. While Schmidt (1990, 1994, 1995, 2001) claims that learning requires awareness at the level of noticing, and that learning at the higher level of understanding seems crucial in most cases. Scholars of these two streams did many researches on this issue and studies indicated that both explicit and implicit approaches have advantages and disadvantages. Since the 1990s, most scholars suggest that the best way in grammar teaching is to integrate these two methods.Whereas the practical situation of grammar teaching in junior high schools and the serious problems it caused, this thesis is contriving to find out a more suitable way peculiar to them by integrating explicit and implicit grammar teaching effectively. And based on the theories of Krashen's acquisition-learning hypothesis and Schmidt's noticing hypothesis, and the related revision mentioned in this thesis, this study constructs an integrative grammar instruction method which will illustrate how explicit grammar teaching and implicit grammar teaching are integrated.In order to prove the higher efficiency the integrative grammar teaching method brings to Chinese junior high school students as compared to the current prevailing grammar method (i.e. the traditional grammar teaching method), an experimental study was carried out. Two Grade Eight classes (one is an experimental class, the other is a control class) from Zouping Daixi Middle School were chosen for this comparative teaching experiment. The study lasted nearly one semester. In the experiment, the experimental class (EC) received the integrative grammar instruction and the control class (CC) was taught under the traditional condition. After the experiment, the participants received a post-test and a questionnaire. The data of the tests were analyzed by the author with the SPSS 14.0 and the results indicated that the mean scores of the experimental class were much higher than those of the control class, and there existed significant difference between the two classes. Also, the results of the questionnaire showed that the experimental class students'motivation, interest and confidence in grammar learning were all increased, and their ability of solving problem was enhanced. Therefore, comparing with the current traditional grammar teaching method, the integrative method of explicit and implicit grammar instruction can bring higher efficiency to junior high school students in their grammar learning.Being an experimental research on grammar teaching and learning, the present study offers an experimental basis for improving junior high school grammar teaching and learning and also enlarges the application field of the two teaching dimensions, namely explicit and implicit grammar instruction. It carries both practical and academic significances.