The Impact of Input Flooding and Textual Enhancement on Iranian EFL Learners’ Syntactic Development

Abstract

The present study was an attempt to examine the impact of input flooding (IF) and textual enhancement (TIE) on EFL learners' syntactic development. Four homogenous groups were selected based on the pre-test and placement tests. During the treatment, the first group (i.e., IF) received reading comprehension passages in which the structure was flooded. The second group (i.e., TIE) received reading comprehension passages in which the structure was textually enhanced. The third group (IF + TIE) received the reading comprehension passages with the structures enhanced through both input flood and textual enhancement. The fourth group received reading texts in which the structure was neither flooded nor textually enhanced. The results showed that textual enhancement and input flooding have positive effects on the recognition and production of syntactic development. These techniques resulted in higher acquisition scores in production and recognition when combined. The findings of the present study are further discussed with implications for teachers in second/foreign language teaching.