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In:TBLT for Young Learners: Challenges, opportunities and goals
Edited by Sima Khezrlou
[Task-Based Language Teaching 21] 2026
► pp. 178–202

Chapter 9
Implicit focus on form activities for young L2 learners in task-based classes

 | University of Vienna
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
This chapter challenges the view held by some commentators (Littlewood, 2007; Swan, 2005), including both teacher educators and teachers, that explicit instruction is the sole way of drawing learners’ attention to form. It presents an overview of how indirect focus on form procedures — both within task (recasts, focused tasks) and outside task (task planning, task repetition, pre-task modeling) (Ellis, 2016) — can provide opportunities for young learners to engage in form-meaning mapping. Furthermore, it highlights the potential benefits these options bring to teachers working in classrooms with young learners.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Task-internal FonF procedures
    • Recasts
    • Focused tasks
  • Task-external FonF procedures
    • Task planning
    • Task repetition
    • Task modeling
  • Conclusion
  • Author queries
  • References
  • Suggestions for further reading
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Suggestions for further reading
Shintani, N. (2015). The incidental grammar acquisition in focus on form and focus on forms instruction for young beginner Learners. TESOL Quarterly, 49, 115–40. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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