There is a growing body of evidence that form-focused instruction (FFI) promotes second language learning, specifically when it raises learners’ awareness of linguistic form (Ellis 2001). However, very few studies of phonological acquisition have been performed to date within a FFI framework. This paper seeks to determine whether three different FFI-techniques raise students’ awareness of the pronunciation ‘rule’ governing the syllable structure of –ed verb forms in English and whether this greater awareness is related to learning in comparison with subjects instructed in a less form-focused manner. The results of a pretest-treatment-posttest design lend support to the view that more explicit instruction results in greater learning when measuring phonological performance by means of discrete-item tests.