Effects of Class-based Learning of English Articles Through Metalinguistic Explanation and Textual Enhancement

This experimental study was an attempt to investigate the effects of class-based learning of English articles (i.e., a, an & the) through metalinguistic explanation and textual enhancement among Iranian intermediate EFL learners. In doing so, 80 EFL learners were randomly selected from an English language institute in Isfahan, Iran. The Quick Placement Test (QPT) was administered to select homogeneous participants so that 60 intermediate EFL learners were selected and divided randomly into two groups of Experimental 1(EG1) and Experimental 2 (EG2), each comprising 30. Both groups received a valid and reliable researcher-made pretest in which the items testing on the use of articles were taken from two popular grammar books entitled ‘English Grammar Digest’ and ‘English Grammar in Use’. Then the English articles were taught to the learners using ‘Four Corners’ book (Student’s book 3) through metalinguistic explanations to EG1 and via textual enhancement to EG2 in the class. After the treatment, both groups received a posttest. The results revealed that the learners in EG2 outperformed their counterparts in EG1 meaning that textual enhancement proved to be a more effective tool for teaching grammar in the class.

Keywords:

Class-based Learning , English Articles , Metalinguistic Explanation , Textual Enhancement