The Language Awareness of Finnish and German EFL Senior High School Learners and Student Teachers Regarding English Grammar and Its Teaching

Abstract
The aim of this study is to examine and contrast the language awareness of Finnish and German EFL senior highschool students and student teachers regarding aspects of English grammar and its teaching. Data was collected fromFinland and Germany during the academic school years of 2015–16 and 2016–17. It consists of the responses to twosurvey questions of 1st year EFL senior high school students (n = 200 from Finland, n = 200 from Germany) andstudent teachers (n = 118 from Finland, n = 118 from Germany). The study utilizes both qualitative (content analysis)and quantitative (frequencies, percentages, cross tabulation [χ2-test]) research methods. The results show that thesubjects’ awareness of English grammar and its teaching was mainly based on intuitive, implicit knowledge. It wasdifficult for both senior high school learners and student teachers to build a cognitive understanding that wouldincrease their awareness of English grammar, and, as a result of this, its teaching, and respectively theirgrammar-related didactical competences.