A critical examination of the relationship between explicit and implicit knowledge and language teaching

Abstract

This paper offers a critical perspective on the implicit/explicit knowledge (IE) distinction in second language acquisition (SLA) research, with particular attention to the conceptual and methodological problems that arise when this distinction is applied to language teaching. First, the IE framework exhibits systematic measurement instability: individual tasks are extracted from test batteries without independent validation; factorial separation may reflect methodological artifacts, and researchers disagree on which tasks measure which knowledge types. These patterns suggest that the distinction functions as a formative rather than a reflective construct. Second, intervention studies face a measurement-pedagogy dilemma: measures with strong construct validity are ecologically distant from classroom performance, while ecologically valid measures cannot reliably isolate implicit knowledge. Although the IE framework does not support a realist cognitive explanation, it can still be used instrumentally. Despite these limitations, we offer minimal conditional principles for those who choose to employ it.