Fattaneh Abbasi Talabari

Language teachers are constantly looking for the most effective methods of and approaches to language teaching and learning. Teaching language to nonnative speakers of English involves certain problems and challenges at all levels of instruction. Regarding the unsatisfactory consequences of focus on forms instruction (non-communicative nature of focus on forms instruction and the lack of correspondence between the forms practiced in the classrooms and the real-world meaning in focus on forms instruction) and focus on meaning instruction (the students’ consistent difficulties with the basic structures of language and inaccurate interlanguage forms happened during focus on meaning instruction) and their inevitable inadequacies, focus on form instruction was considered as a better candidate for classroom instruction. Focus on form instruction does not only pay attention to the importance of the communicative language teaching, but it also maintains the value of occasional and overt study of L2 grammatical forms. It is considered a more promising pedagogical choice than focus on forms and focus on meaning because of its communicatively-need oriented attention to form and its saliency in the language acquisition process. Focus on form may be considered as essential to push learners beyond communicatively effective language toward target-like second language proficiency. It may also be part of a more efficient language learning experience as it can speed up natural acquisition processes. It has a dual, simultaneous focus on form and accuracy as well as meaning and fluency. It is also seen as a psycholinguistically plausible approach as it emphasizes the kind of attention to form that occurs in real-world situation, as it addresses learners’ linguistic problems, and as it motivates noticing which is considered necessary for acquisition. Focus on form can be accomplished by providing opportunities for learners to negotiate topics which are meaningful to them, by the use of techniques such as input flooding, task essential language, input enhancement, recast, output enhancement, interaction enhancement, consciousness raising tasks, input processing and garden path. Focus on form instruction is also categorized into planned vs. incidental and reactive vs. preemptive types. Further investigations in this line of research are still needed to shed more light on whether or not focus on form instruction leads to more language acquisition. This seems crucial, since no matter how often students are exposed to form during a focus on form instruction; the true value of it lies in its ability to improve the quantity and quality of language acquisition

focus on form, focus on forms, focus on meaning