Effects of teacher–students negotiated interaction on EFL students’ competence in past tense forms

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of teacher-student negotiated interaction on EFL students’ competence in past tense forms. Teacher–students negotiated interaction was compared with the conventional (teacher–led) instruction for teaching grammar. While prior research has established the benefits of interaction in SLA, this study introduces new empirical evidence on the role of implicit feedback and task-based negotiation in grammar learning. A total of 83 Ethiopian Grade 10 EFL students, 42 as the experimental group and 41 as the comparison group, participated in the study. Picture-based storytelling and information–gap tasks were used to teach grammar for the experimental group through classroom negotiation for 12 weeks. The classroom teacher was trained on encouraging students’ utterance, self-correction, and implicit feedback. The comparison group received the conventional (teacher–led) grammar instruction with explicit feedback. Pre– and post–tests were used to collect the data. Independent samples t–test and one–way repeated measures ANOVA were used to analyze the data. The findings of this study suggested that TSNI significantly improved the learners’ grammatical competence (p < 0.05) in grammaticality judgement, writing, and completion tasks but not in gap–filling tasks, suggesting that explicit instruction may still be required in gap–filling grammar tasks. The findings of the study showed that implicit feedback, task–based negotiation, and cognitive engagement enhanced grammar acquisition by promoting noticing, modified output, and meaningful practice.