Durak+CESUR-+ARTICLE+REFLECTION

** ARTICLE REFLECTION ** ** THE EFFECTS OF EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT INSTRUCTION ON GRAMMAR ** ** by FERYAL CUBUKCU and TUĞBA NIGDELI ** This article includes the results of a research study that was conducted to find out the possible different effects of implicit and explicit instruction on the grammar teaching. The research was conducted in Turkey where the explicit grammar teaching is more widespread. At the very beginning of the study, the researchers supply the readers with the necessary background knowledge and basic terms to understand the content of the paper properly. The information supplied by the researchers is quite clear and comprehensible. The language of the paper and the presentation of the results are understandable. The idea of the study was to find out an answer to the ongoing debate on whether to use explicit or implicit presentation of grammar rules to better teach them to the learners. One point that I support in the article is that the answer can be different according to situations like the age of the learners. This is a good point because we have learnt that young and adult learners have different learning strategies. Moreover; even the purpose of the language learning can have an impact on the type strategy used in the process of learning determining the functionality of the presentation type. Conducting this study in Turkey makes me more involved in the research as I have witnessed these kinds of debates in my own education environment. In my country; presenting the grammar rules or forms explicitly is more common. However; it is an undeniable fact that Turkish schools are not very successful in teaching foreign language. Therefore, finding an answer to this debate is crucial for us to determine the problem in Turkish //way of language teaching.// If the answer is **//the explicit or implicit grammar teaching makes no difference//** **//on the performance of learners//**, we can or should do further researches to detect the problem. As for the possible answers, I think the proof of explicit presentation of grammar rules as the best choice would be better for Turkey because we are already using this type of teaching. So, there would be no need to change the system in Turkish schools. In the opposite condition, namely the proof of implicit presentation as the best choice would cause a big problem for Turkish teachers as they would have to change everything in their teaching styles. Due to the reasons mentioned above the importance of this study for Turkish educational environment is high. The findings of the study may not be a reference for the educational authorities around the world because of limitations in the process of introducing it to the world but, it is a very good starting point for Turkey. I think Turkish learners and teachers are different from other nations in sense of conditions and contexts so, these findings are unique for us and they are very valuable. In this point, we need to properly analyze the results and produce new strategies to fill the gaps in our system or improve it. The results of the study clearly indicate that using explicit or implicit teaching of grammatical forms actually does not make so much difference on the performance of learners. These findings are very crucial for academic environments. If this research is proved reliable and valid these people will find the answer that they have been looking for during the past decades. This research may not be enough to accept the results and needs improving and repeating to be proved valid. I think the results of the study is correct because the use of explicit or implicit instruction of grammar rules doesn’t have any impact on the effect of teaching because the different learner types and learning environments. One of these types can be effective in one situation but not effective in another one. So, I think I accept the results personally. I also agree with the writer that the results of this study may not be reliable and valid due to the limitations in the process of conducting. **Comments on Burak’s article reflection ** I agree with Burak about the idea that deciding how to teach grammar – implicitly or explicitly- depends on the student age. It is a widely accepted fact that young learners learn grammar rules better and permanently if they are taught implicitly while older learners learn grammar rules better when taught explicitly. I also agree with the idea that changing the existing grammar teaching system of Turkey into an implicit teaching type has some disadvantages and will cause problems.
 * Durak CESUR **

However, I agree neither with the writer of the article nor with Burak about the statement that it does not make so much difference to use implicit teaching or explicit teaching. I accept the idea of learner differences and multiple intelligences, but according to me it does differ which type of teaching is given. For example, when I ask my peers if they remember clearly a specific subject taught at a specific course, most of them say yes if we were involved in the teaching process, and most of them will say no, not exactly if the subject matter was taught us directly by the teacher. As for my ideas, implicit teaching simplifies learning an remembering what is learned, and it is kind of a learning by living it.