The Effect of Syntactic Awareness-Raising Techniques on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ Written Narrative Task Performance

Abstract

Attention to language awareness is prominently increasing with the passage of time due to the effects different awareness-raising techniques might have on language learners' performance. The present study specifically focused on the effects of syntactic awareness-raising techniques on Iranian intermediate EFL learner's written narrative task performance. The participants in the study included 40 intermediate learners whose initial homogeneity in terms of language proficiency was assessed via a General English Test. They were further randomly assigned to one control group and one experimental group, each comprising 20 participants. The amount of instructional time was 17 sessions, during which the participants in the experimental group received syntactic awareness-raising techniques through 'story grammar elements' and 'word order correction'. Right after the treatment, a post-test comprising a written narrative task was administrated. Data analysis results demonstrated that the experimental group which received the syntactic awareness-raising techniques outperformed the control group in retelling short stories in written form. The findings of the current study highlight the contribution of language awareness to the improvement of proficiency in EFL learners and pave the way for its inclusion in language teaching syllabuses.