This paper shows the core - the methodology - as well as the quantitative analyses and promising findings of an investigation on the effects of redirecting adult learners' attentional foci to specific areas of a foreign language - English. The work carried out to trigger learners' awareness and 'noticing' of the concessive connectives in subordinate clauses took place during classroom practice and was implemented through a series of thematically-integrated tasks. Those aimed at exposing learners to a treatment focus that was more recurrent and salient. The findings suggest that activities which triggered the 'noticing' of the treatment foci were the main responsible for the significant changes in the use of the target structures in the written texts, and possibly for the rise of the participants' level of linguistic competence in their written production.
noticing; attention; attentional focus; focus on form; awareness
