abstract the first purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of consciousness-raising (c-r) activities on learning grammatical structures (simple present tense in this case) by iranian guidance school efl learners. the second one was to investigate the effect of gender on learning the simple present tense through c-r activities and tasks. finally, this study aimed to investigate the iranian students’ attitudes toward learning english as a foreign language prior to and after applying the c-r activities. the design of the study was experimental and the participants were one hundred and five male and female students selected from two guidance schools in zahedan, iran. they were randomly divided into two groups, functioning as the experimental and control groups. a proficiency test was administered to ensure the homogeneity of the two groups at the outset of the experiment. then, a pre-test of the simple present tense was given to the participants. its results showed that the participants didnt know the simple present tense before applying the treatment. for the last purpose, the gardners attitude questionnaire was used to investigate the participants attitudes toward learning english before and after applying c-r activities. the classes were held two sessions per week. during ten sessions the two groups were taught the simple present tense based on two approaches, the experimental group was taught based on c-r activities while the control group was instructed using pattern drills and practices. at the end, the same pre-test was used as the post-test. data analysis through an independent samples t-test indicated that using c-r activities in grammar teaching is significantly more effective than pattern drills and practices. in the case of the effect of gender in learning the simple present tense through c-r activities, the males had a better performance than the females. based on the findings, the participants attitudes toward learning english language were not much different prior to and after applying the c-r activities. therefore, it is recommended that teachers consider c-r activities as useful options in teaching grammar and other language aspects in their classes. keywords: simple present tense, consciousness-raising activities, traditional methods, efl learners, language attitude.