How can we as teachers help students notice target forms? Cross (2002) summarizes factors that draw attention to certain features in input:
- Explicit instruction -- instruction explaining and drawing attention to a particular form.
- Frequency -- the regular occurrence of a certain structure in input.
- Perceptual Salience -- highlighting or underlining to draw attention to a certain structure.
- Task Demands -- constructing a task that requires learners to notice a structure in order to complete it.
Also, Rod Ellis outlines five teaching activities to develop grammatical knowledge of a problematic feature (Ellis 2002, pp. 30-31):
Listening to Comprehend: Students listen to comprehend a text that has been structured to contain several examples of the target form.
Listening to notice: Students listen to the same text again, but are given a gap-fill exercise. The target form is missing and the students simply fill it in exactly as they hear it to help them notice the form.
Understanding the grammar point: With help from the teacher, the students analyze the data and "discover" the rule.
Checking: Students are given a written text containing errors and are asked to correct them.
Trying it: Students apply their knowledge in a production activity.
Ellis warns that this is not designed to develop implicit knowledge, but simply to develop awareness of grammar, which -- when supplemented with other forms of input and communicative tasks -- may aid in the eventual acquisition of implicit knowledge.