Improving grammatical knowledge of the eleventh grade students at a high school in hung yen using concept maps

DOÃN THỊ NHỤ IMPROVING GRAMMATICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE ELEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HUNG YEN USING CONCEPT MAPS Nâng cao kiến thức ngữ pháp của học sinh lớp 11 tại một trư

DOÃN THỊ NHỤ

IMPROVING GRAMMATICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE ELEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HUNG YEN

USING CONCEPT MAPS

(Nâng cao kiến thức ngữ pháp của học sinh lớp 11 tại một trường

trung học phổ thông ở Hưng Yên thông qua việc áp dụng bản đồ khái niệm)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

Hanoi- 2021

DOÃN THỊ NHỤ

IMPROVING GRAMMATICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE ELEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HUNG YEN

USING CONCEPT MAPS

(Nâng cao kiến thức ngữ pháp của học sinh lớp 11 tại một trường

trung học phổ thông ở Hưng Yên thông qua việc áp dụng bản đồ khái niệm)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

Supervisor: Huỳnh Anh Tuấn, Ph D

Hanoi- 2021

I certify that this minor thesis entitled “Improving grammatical knowledge

of the eleventh grade students at a high school in Hung Yen using concept maps”

is the study of my own research and the substance of this research has not been submitted for a degree to any other university or institution

Hanoi, 2020 Student’s signature

Doãn Thị Nhụ

this study completed This thesis would not have been feasible without their guidance and help

Firstly, I would like to express my utmost gratitude to Dr Huynh Anh Tuan,

my supervisor, for his precious guidance and constructive criticism from the start of

my work He has constantly provided me with assistance and encouragement I would not have made steady progress without his kind support It is an honor for me

to have his guidance as a supervisor to complete my thesis

Secondly, I would like to express my special thanks to all lectures of the Post Graduate Faculty of University of Language and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their scholarly knowledge that helped to enhance my interest for English Methodology and my teaching career

Moreover, I owe special thanks to the administrators of the high school where I have been working, my colleagues, and, especially, my 45 grade eleventh students for their support and enthusiastic participation throughout my research Without their patience, cooperation and attention, this study could have never been completed

Finally, I am deeply indebted to all the love, support, great care and encouragement that my family has always provided me in my professional endeavor

LIST OF TABLES vii

LIST OF FIGURES viii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale of the study 1

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 3

1.3 Research questions 3

1.4 Scope of the study 3

1.5 Methods of the study 4

1.6 Significance of the study 4

1.7 The structure of the study 5

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Grammar 6

2.1.1 Definition of grammar 6

2.1.2 Uses of grammar 7

2.1.3 Teaching grammar 7

2.1.4 Methods of teaching grammar 9

2.1.4.1 The grammar translation method 9

2.1.4.2 The direct method 10

2.1.4.3 The Audio-lingual method 11

2.1.4.4 The communicative approach 12

2.2 Concept maps 13

2.2.1 Definitions of concept maps 13

2.2.2 Basic principles of concept maps 15

2.2.3 Features of concept maps 15

2.2.5.4 System maps 20

2.2.6 Reasons for using concept maps 21

2.2.7 Ways to construct a good concept map 23

2.3 Cognitive approach to teach grammar 24

2.4 Using concept maps in teaching English grammar 27

2.5 Summary of previous researches on concept maps 28

2.6 Chapter summary 32

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 33

3.1 Research questions 33

3.2 Research approach 35

3.3 Research settings 38

3.4 Data collection instruments 36

3.4.1 Tests 36

3.4.1.1 Pre-test 36

3.4.1.2 Post-test 36

3.4.1.3 Matrix of the tests 37

3.4.2 Questionnaire 39

3.4.3 Diary 40

3.5 Data collection procedures 41

3.6 Data analysis procedures 41

3.6.1 Quantitative data analysis 41

3.6.2 Qualitative data analysis 42

3.7 Chapter summary 43

lessons 54

4.4 Discussions of major findings 59

4.5 Chapter summary 62

CHAPTER V: IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION 64

5.1 Recapitulation 64

5.2 Implications 65

5.3 Limitations of the study 66

5.4 Recommendations for further research 67

5.5 Conclusion 67

REFERENCES 69 APPENDICES I

Appendix 1: Pre-test I Appendix 2: Post-test VII Appendix 3: Post-treatment questionnaire XIII Appendix 4: The teacher’s diary XVI Appendix 5: The syllabus XXII Appendix 6: A sample lesson plan using concept maps XXV Appendix 7: Samples of concept maps used in grammar lessons XXXI Appendix 8: The students’ detailed scores of the pre-test and post-test XXXIVII

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of concept maps on improving the eleventh graders’ English grammatical knowledge The researcher employed an Action Research project with 45 eleventh grade students at a high school in Hung Yen with both quantitative and qualitative data analysis Before the research was carried out, a pre-test was given to check the students’ grammatical knowledge After eight grammar lessons using concept maps, a post-test was administered to measure the students’ achievement and to examine the effects of using concept maps on improving their grammatical knowledge During the study, a diary was kept by the researcher to identify the teacher’s difficulties while adopting the method Also, a questionnaire was carried out at the end of the research to investigate the students’ attitudes towards the use of concept maps in grammar lessons The results obtained from the tests indicated that although there were few students who did not make much progress after the treatment, the use of concept maps significantly improved the students’ grammatical knowledge Besides, the data collected from the teacher’s diary showed that there were some difficulties that the researcher encountered and dealt with during her grammar lessons The findings from the students’ answers to the questionnaire and the teacher’s diary revealed that the application of concept maps strongly stimulated their grammar learning and group work Based on the findings of the research, some pedagogical implications for both the teacher and the learners as well as recommendations for further studies

on using concept maps for teaching and learning English have been drawn

Key words: improving grammatical knowledge, concept maps, teacher’s difficulties, attitude

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 6 The students’ pre-test and post-test results analyzed by using Pair Sample T-Test

45

Table 7 Comparison between the students’ performance before and after the treatment

46

Table 15 The students’ attitudes to different types and the employment of concept maps

58

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 8 A sample of hierarchical map used for the Present Simple tense

Figure 12 A sample of concept map for Kinds of Relative Clauses in lesson 5

XXXIV

Figure 13 A sample of concept map for Conditional Sentences in lesson

6

XXXV

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study

A language is a system of arbitrary, vocal symbols that permit all people in a given culture or other people who have learned the system of that culture, to communicate or to interact In the age of globalization where the world has become

a small village, people tend to learn each others’ languages The demand for learning English language increased more and more because of its international uses for communication, economy, education, technology, and so on No one can count number of people who use English as a foreign language Teaching English has been an important issue in countries where English is not their first language, so learning second language is difficult for L2 learners because they cannot use English in real life situations, because they should learn sentences in textbooks not

in a real environment Therefore, teachers should always look for useful strategies

to reduce the difficulties of teaching English language (Long, 1969; Chen, 2007; Nunn, 2011), and they have to deal with many challenges and often have questions about the best ways to teach

In Vietnam, we are facing a lot of problems relating to teaching-learning English grammar There have been many policies applied in order to change the way which students study English in schools for ten years Summer lessons for English teachers are held so that they can improve their pedagogical skills and language skills Besides, textbooks have been updated and changed to suit students’ level and social needs A number of English tests, examinations have been held to increase improvement and interest in learning English Nevertheless, English is still one of the subjects that Vietnamese students in almost schools get the lowest marks They always complain about the boredom and difficulty of English grammar lessons although they all know that it is a necessary subject

As a teacher of English with more than ten years of teaching at a high school

in Hung Yen, I myself find that there are about ten to fifteen students in one class of forty five students who like studying English, and three or four of them can study

this subject quite well Many people admit that many Vietnamese students leaving schools can neither use English grammar correctly nor communicate with simple English words or phrases It is such a serious problem What are the results for this? From my point of view, there are some reasons relating to difficult curriculum or unsuitable distribution of the grammar points in English 11 textbooks The discontinuity of grammatical phenomena in “Language Focus” of this book makes it difficult for students to memorize grammar knowledge consistently and systematically They cannot see the connection or the relationship among the grammatical concepts Teaching method seems to be one of the other main reasons Teachers are criticized because of the ways, techniques or methods that they use in teaching grammar Lewis (1986: 18) sees that teachers of foreign languages

“usually commit a mistake when they think that the most important part of their job

is to explain the rules of grammar.”

Therefore, Leou and Liu (2004) suggest that learning can be enhanced if the learning involves interaction, student-centered and engaging activities when learners construct their understanding rather than more traditional methods of teacher-centered direct instruction in order to make learning organized and meaningful Based on the constructive learning theory whose main principle is that

“new knowledge should be integrated into existing structures in order to be remembered and receive meaning, concept maps stimulate this process by making it explicit and requiring the learner to pay attention to the relationship between concepts” (Fitzgeraled, 1999: 153) Therefore, concept maps have become more prevalent in educational program

For a long time, the researcher as well as her colleagues has tried some different methods of teaching grammar, such as translation method, audio-lingual method, communicative one, etc, but the result is not very good After studying concept map and its uses in teaching of many researchers and teachers all over the world, the researcher found that concept map may be a good technique in solving the problems mentioned above This is the reason why an action research on

Improving grammatical knowledge of the eleventh grade students at a high school in Hung Yen using concept maps is going to be conducted to facilitate and

help students visualize the grammatical concepts as well as to achieve English grammatical knowledge more easily and effectively

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study

The study aims at investigating the effects of using concept maps on improving the eleventh grade students’ grammatical knowledge In order to achieve the overall aim, following objectives are generated:

1- To identify the effect of using concept maps on improving English grammatical knowledge among eleventh graders at a high school;

2- To explore the teacher’s difficulties in applying the new method to teach grammar to students;

3- To explore the students’ attitudes towards using concept map as a learning tool

Moreover, by doing this research, the researcher aims to familiarize English language teachers with the basic principles of designing and using concept maps in teaching English grammar

1.4 Scope of the Study

Among the four main types of concept maps (mentioned in Literature review), the researcher focused on using and training students to apply three kinds

including spider map- central concept, hierarchical/ chronological map, and chart map- linear fashion System map was not involved in the treatment process because it is quite complicated for the students to follow and adopt In addition, the researcher also took into consideration five grammar points belonging to the

verbs, relative clauses, cleft sentences, conditional sentences, and conjunctions The factors such as students’ motivation, learning styles or the effect of this method on learning other language skills will not be counted in this research

1.5 Methods of the study

The research was designed under the paradigm of action research A total sample of 45 students from a class of grade 11 was chosen for the study The data was collected by using the instruments of pre-test, post-test, diary and questionnaire The data was analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively The quantitative data was obtained from the tests in the form of students’ scores and from the questionnaire Meanwhile, the qualitative data was collected from the researcher’s diary

1.6 Significance of the study

This research identifies the problems that students face when learning grammar and investigates the effects of concept maps on the eleventh graders’ acquiring grammar knowledge and their attitude towards concept maps The study

is conducted with the expectation that its findings will be useful for the researcher herself in her career and for the other teachers at the target school in applying a new teaching method in delivering English grammar knowledge to students in particular and in improving teaching and learning English situation at the high school in general It can also be the references for those who want to find the good ways to improve their English teaching Moreover, the study will stimulate specialists’ and supervisors’ interests in conducting training courses for their teachers to enhance the use of concept maps in teaching grammar Moreover, syllabus designers may

benefit from this study to modify, organize and enrich English language curricula with activities based on concept maps

1.7 The structure of the thesis

This paper comprises five chapters as follows:

Chapter I, Introduction, contains the rationale of the study; aims and

objectives of the study; research questions; scope of the study; methods; significance, and the structure of the study

Chapter II, Literature Review, includes concepts and previous studies

relating to this topic This session is to establish a theoretical background for the whole study

Chapter III, Research Methodology, presents research questions, research

approach, research settings, data collection instruments, data collection procedures, and data analysis procedures

Chapter IV, Findings and Discussion, can be viewed as the most important

part of the study since it presents all the findings gathered from the pre-test, test, diary and questionnaires after analyzing data

post-Chapter V, Implications and Conclusion, summarizes all the main points of

the study Limitations of the study are also indicated and suggestions for further studies are included

References and appendices are presented in the last pages of the study

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter review theories related to terminological definitions of grammar and methods of teaching grammar Besides, concept maps and its relating information are also mentioned Simultaneously, the chapter summarizes some studies on concept maps that the current thesis is trying to bridge

2.1 Grammar 2.1.1 Definitions of grammar

Grammar is a set of patterns for how words are put together to form phrases

or clauses, whether spoken or in writing However, speech is a separate phenomenon from writing with its own regularities and patterns According to Larsen- Freeman (2006: 25), “Language is not fixed, but it is rather a dynamic system Language evolves and changes…[it] grows and organizes itself from the bottom up in an organic way, as do other complex systems.” For the last few years, English grammar teaching in schools has been a subject of criticism Some people believe that there is no correlation between teaching grammar and pupils’ improvement in writing of English

The term grammar has been used in different ways Some people see grammar as the rules which govern the language system; for others, grammar refers

to the language that the native speakers use to convey his message correctly and accurately Woods (1995: 16) believes that learning grammar is the learning of rules and learners should have an intellectual knowledge of grammar, this knowledge will provide basis on which learners can build their knowledge, these bases will act as the generative base

Grammar is defined as “a set of rules which are considered how forms are composed and used” (Woods, 1995: 16) Many teachers refer grammar to the form

of structures, how to arrange and order the words correctly to form a grammatical structure, but the problem is how to deal with the syntactic rules If teachers do not concentrate on the errors of low level-syntax, that means learners will commit mistakes and they will form ill-formed sentences, at the same time if the errors are

pointed out, the communicative quality will be lost and students will focus on grammar and rules instead of communication

Grammar is one of the resources that language includes It helps learners to communicate Choosing the correct form is as important as choosing the lexical items that will help speakers to say and expect their listeners and readers interpret to what they are saying

Finegan (1998:470) states that “all creatures had their own language to communicate, some of these creatures make meaningful sounds to make links between sounds and meaning” According to Palmer (1972), as human beings, a lot

of time in our life is spent speaking, listening, reading and writing, at the same time

we also need a link to make meaningful communication with others This link is grammar

2.1.2 Uses of grammar

The term grammar is used in different ways to mean different things, it may come in a form of a book to mean the rules of the language or a subject that teachers teach in the school to their learners to use the language correctly or it can be an approach to analyze and describe the language Kohli (1999) has the same belief for the use of grammar In his opinion, the term grammar for school students means the terminological study of sentences, but to linguistics it is the structures of a language

or the set of signals by which a given language expresses meaning Leech et al (1982) believes that grammar is the core of the language which relates the semantic with phonology

2.1.3 Teaching grammar

The value of grammar teaching is important in English language teaching field Without good knowledge of grammar, students’ knowledge of their second or foreign language is likely to remain limited to the memorization and imitation of specific phrases and structures It is stated by Leech and et al (1982) that having knowledge of grammar will improve the style of writing and it will help learners to criticize and discuss their won writing Eyres (2006) sees that grammar is something

that speakers of language need to know, because it enables them to form sentences grammatically, and it also allows them to differentiate between grammatical and ungrammatical sentences Woods (1995: 2) says that “grammar teaches how to use words, it teaches us how to use these words correctly and appropriately” According to Lock (199), communicative competence is not just the ability to produce correct sentences, but to know when, where and with whom to use them Grammar competence is an essential part of communicative competence and the development of communication is the result from the relation between grammatical competence and communication

Kohli (1999) confirms that grammar is a very important aspect in teaching A person cannot learn and practice a foreign language without having grammatical knowledge According to him, there are some principles of practicing grammar Firstly, grammar will be as a reference when the linguistic habits fail the learners Secondly, it helps learners to arrange and consolidate forms and structures that they have already learned Bedsides, grammar offers a set of labor saving rules, explanations and patterns which economize effort in language Fourthly, it helps learners to monitor the performance Grammar is preventive and corrective, it gives learners a useful feedback to the points or words-use which are especially liable to error It also helps learners to improve their written works, and makes them understand how to link sentences Moreover, teaching grammar will lead learners to more practice over a wide range of valuable practice Lastly, grammar helps learners to express their thoughts correctly either in speaking or in writing

Palmer (1971) sees grammar is central to the teaching and learning of languages It is also one of the most difficult aspects of language to teach well Many people, including language teachers, hear the word “grammar” and think of a fixed set of word forms and rules of usage They associate “good” grammar with the prestige forms of the language such as those used in writing and in formal oral presentations, and “bad” or “no” grammar with the language used in every day conversation or used by speakers of no prestige forms Kohli (1999) sees that

language teachers often focus on grammar as a set of forms and rules Teachers teach grammar by explaining the forms and rules and then drilling students on them This results in bored, disaffected students who can produce correct forms on exercises and tests, but consistently make errors when they try to use the language

in context Garcia (2003) believes that other language teachers, influenced by recent theoretical work on the difference between language learning and language acquisition, tend not to teach grammar at all Believing that children acquire their first language without over grammar instruction, they expect students to learn their second language the same way They assume that students will absorb grammar rules as they hear, read, and use the language in communication activities This approach does not allow students to use one of the major tools they have as learners; their active understanding of what grammar is and how it works in the language they have already known

Byrd (2004: 144) states that the goal of grammar instruction is to enable students to carry out their communication purposes This goal has three implications Firstly, students need overt instruction that connects grammar points with larger communication contexts Secondly, students do not need to master every aspect of each grammar point, only those that are relevant to the immediate communication task Thirdly, error correction is not always the instructor’s first responsibility

2.1.4 Methods of teaching grammar

There are four main methods of teaching grammar as shown below:

2.1.4.1 The grammar translation method

Grammar translation is not a new method with different names It was called the classical method because it was used to teach the classical language, then the method was used to help learners to use and practice the foreign languages The philosophy of this method is to “help learners to study the grammar of the language

by using their native language” (Freeman, 2000: 11) And Woods (1995) says that the idea of this method is based on teaching grammar by using the native language

Advantages and disadvantages of grammar translation method

According to Kohli (1999), there are some advantages when this method is used by teachers Firstly, translation saves efforts and time, especially when teachers teach vocabulary and phrases of the foreign language Secondly, teachers’ labor is saved, the method is easy to follow, and it suits average of students and teachers Thirdly, comprehension is not easily stated, teachers may ask their students to tell them what they have learnt in their mother tongue This strategy suits the learners in the early stages

Freeman (2000) indicates that the method has some disadvantages The process of learning is teacher-centered, which means that the teacher had the authority in the classroom and he plays the main role during the process of learning and teaching Furthermore, the method does not take into consideration the feelings

of the learners And the method is concentrating on vocabulary and grammar, and there is much less attention given to speaking and listening Besides, teachers supply the errors of the students directly with the correct answer without giving them chance to correct themselves or to make pair correction

2.1.4.2 The Direct method

This is also an old method with its name derived from the fact that

“meanings can be conveyed directly in the target language through the use of practice, demonstration and visual aids” (Freeman: 200; 23)

Advantages and disadvantages of the direct method

Kohli (1999) states that this method has some of the following strong points: (1) The method is natural; it makes a great demonstration and practice in learning a foreign language, the same way in which learners learn their native language

(2) It makes use of the audio-visual aids It emphasizes the use of the instruments and aids in the classroom to help learners understand and practice the language

(3) Teaching through conversation, the method neglects translation, explanation and analyzing the rules of the language

(4) It facilitates reading and writing It concentrates on speaking and conversation, so naturally that it will improve writing and it will increase love for reading

Not having the same idea with Kohli, Freeman (2000) mentions some disadvantages of this method Firstly, the method is not complete It focuses on speech and conversation, while writing and reading do not receive due attention Secondly, it needs competent teachers who have the ability of pronunciation and speaking the language correctly and perfectly Thirdly, it is not suitable for all learners Moreover, it is difficult in explanation

2.1.4.3 The Audio-lingual method

Woods (1995) states that audio-lingual method is related to the behaviorists approach It is an oral-based approach The idea of this method is that the language

is divided into structures which learners practice through drilling Teachers drill the structure and learners learn from over drilling rather than describing the rule of the language

Advantages and disadvantages of the audio-lingual method

According to Freeman (2000), the teacher in audio-lingual method is a leader-conducting, guiding and controlling the students’ behavior in the target language And the method has several advantages First of all, the method emphasizes speech, so learners will be able to learn vocabulary and structure Secondly, it emphasizes the good relation between learners through chain drills or when learners take different roles in dialogue Thirdly, teacher emphasizes the use

of the target language, so there is no use of the native language

Nunan (1991) mentions some disadvantages of this method They are: Learners are like parrots They imitate their teacher; (2)- Audio-lingual method rejects mistakes that learners may commit during the process of learning, for them these mistakes are not acceptable; (3)- It emphasizes speaking more than other

(1)-skills; (4)- There are no considerations for the learners’ feelings; (5)- Drilling of the language and structures will affect learners, and they may feel bored and easily forgotten

2.1.4.4 The communicative approach

Communication is humanistic feature where people use words to convey their messages Todd (1992) defines language as a set of signals by which we communicate Therefore, human language communication is not a vocal system only as it can be expressed by writing Expressing needs, feelings, opinions and thoughts needs words and these words should be stored in good form; therefore, grammar is important to help learners to convey their messages Woods (1995) sees that grammar teaches how to use words correctly and appropriately

Advantages and disadvantages of the communicative approach

Hamdan (1991) also notices some advantages and disadvantages of the communicative approach Firstly, it emphasizes the use of the four competences in the real life communication with concentration on the social competence Secondly,

it gives the learners chances to use the language for their own purpose Thirdly, they are more tolerant with learners’ mistakes They believe that these mistakes are the outcome of communication It also takes care of the learners’ feeling, so they will enjoy learning However, this approach has some disadvantages: (1)- Communicative approach does not offer security for teachers in the textbook; (2)- It

is more difficult to evaluate; (3)- It makes a great demand on professional practice, training and competences; (4)- It does not meet withhold learners and teachers

As far as the author can see from the points mentioned above, grammar is a set of rules which are considered how words are put together to form phrases or clauses It is a link for us to make meaningful communication with others When it

is used in different ways, grammar means different things In English language teaching field, grammar teaching is important because grammar enables students to develop their communicative competence, express their thoughts and ideas correctly

either in speaking or writing Grammar is the centre of teaching and learning languages and one of the most difficult aspects to teach There are various methods

of teaching grammar such as the grammar translation method, the direct method, the audio-lingual method, and the communicative approach Each method has its own advantages that should be utilized and disadvantages that need to be minimized

2.2 Concept Maps

studied the education field as an aid for learners to increase understanding (Richardson et.al, 2005) The strategy was born out of the constructivist theory of learning which holds that the learner constructs or builds his own knowledge as opposed to the previous one (Basso and Margarita, 2004)

The idea is based on the Ausubels’ (1978) assimilation theory of cognitive learning who sees that the meaningful learning takes place when new knowledge is consciously incorporated into the concepts and ideas previously acquired by the learner Ausubels advocates the use of the advanced organizer which is based on the idea that the teacher is given a short description to the new material before the lesson to prepare the students to accept the new material

2.2.1 Definitions of concept maps

Concept map is visualized through a graphical representation Concepts are usually depicted by circles or boxes, forming the nods of the new work by labeled links (Buzzetto-More, 2007) Juall and Moyet (2005: 7) maintain that “concept maps are an educational technique that uses diagrams to demonstrate the relation of one concept or situation, by linking a central concept to another one, to help the learners to understand the central concept better.” Therefore, concept maps are presented as a pyramid seen from above and they are arranged hierarchically with the super ordinate concepts at the top of the map and subordinate at the bottom which are less inclusive than higher ones

Novak and Canas (2006) see that concept maps are graphical tools for organizing and representing knowledge They include concepts usually closed in

circles or boxes of some types and relationships between concepts indicated by connecting or linking two concepts or words on line, referred to as linking words or linking phrases The link between the concepts can be one-way or non-directional The concepts and the links may be categorized and the concepts may shoe temporal

or casual relationship between concepts

The researchers in the field of education study concept maps as a means to facilitate quick and effective learning Concept map is defined by Novak and Gowin (1984) as graphical representation of knowledge that are comprised of concepts and the relationship between them Having the same ideas with Novak and Gowin, Rubin and Babbie (2005) also see that concept mapping is the relationship among concepts in graphical format Beside, Vakilifard and Armand (2006) state that concept map is a graphic representation which not only transmits basic information, but also presents relationship between the concepts

Figure 1 Model of a Concept Map (Novak & Gowin, 1984)

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Model-of-a-Concept-Map-Novak-Gowin-1984_fig1_272738731

Talebinezhad (2007) maintains concept maps for Novak represent the relation among concepts, with the visual presentation of key words Students can

identify main issues of text and organize these key issues of text and organize these key issues in a meaningful way

According to Jeresa and Jorge (2006: 13), “concept map is a graphic organizer which used schematic representation to hierarchically organize a set of concepts connected by means of words in order to build meaningful statements.” Showing meaningful relationship between concepts in a shape of prepositions, the concept map reveals students’ comprehension and knowledge structure

From the previous definitions, the researcher sees that concept maps are an educational strategy which has different shapes and it is arranged hierarchically with the super ordinate concept at the top and subordinate at the bottom, and there are some links among concepts to represent the relationships between the concepts

2.2.2 Basic principles of concept maps

Novak (2001) indicates that concept map is a tool for organizing and presenting knowledge This knowledge is mostly semantic so it needs to be organized and presented hierarchically from the most general concept to the most specific one

Pill and et al (2005) mentions the main principles of concept maps: (1)-Key ideas are presented in a hierarchy, which moves from the most general ideas to the most specific ones; (2)- Key ideas are additionally arranged in domains or clusters, which visually define their association and related boundaries; (3)- The nature of the interrelationships between the key ideas is identified through the use of relationship lines These lines are annotated to clearly indicate the nature of these relationships within discrete sections of the map and between the different domains; (4)- The lowest point of hierarchical representation of ideas is illustrated by the use

of relevant examples

2.2.3 Features of concept maps

There are three features of concept maps that are important: the hierarchical structure that is represented in a good map, the concise accurate linking words and long cross-links interrelating distant words

In a concept map, the concepts should be represented in a hierarchical fashion with the most inclusive, most general concepts (i.e Animals) at the top of the map and more specific, less general concepts (i.e Dogs) and specific examples (i.e My terrier named Spot) arranged hierarchically At the bottom, there are specific examples or actual images of events or objects that help to clarify the meaning of a given concept When scoring a map’s hierarchy, one evaluates whether the author of the map understands fundamental ideas like: not all animals are dogs and not all dogs are terriers named Spot Concise accurate linking words or phrases are very important to demonstrate the relationship between concepts in a map The author of the map shows their level of understanding by the type of words and the number of different links they create More valid links in a concept map are rewarded by more points Another important characteristic of a concept map is the inclusion of “cross-links” These are long connections (propositions = linking lines with linking words) between concepts in different domains of the concept map Cross-links help us to see how some domains of knowledge represented on the map are related to each other In the creation of new knowledge, cross-links often represent creative leaps on the part of the knowledge producer and garner more points

Figure 2 A sample of a concept map

https://www.profweb.ca/en/publications/real-life-stories/using-2.2.4 Concept maps and teaching

Leou and Liu (2004: 22) state that “learning can be enhanced if learning involves interaction, student-centered and engaging activities when learners construct their understanding rather than more traditional methods of teacher-centered direct instruction in order to make learning organized and meaningful.” Therefore, concept maps became more prevalent in educational program Instructors began to explore ways to utilize them more effectively to facilitate student learning (Love, 2004)

There are different ways of using concept maps, and they can reach all the fields of education Affana and Khozendar (2007) suggest some certain steps that the teacher can follow inside the classroom to have an effective teaching and learning

going to teach with identification for the main concepts in the lesson

Secondly, teachers identify the sub-concepts which are in relation to the main one Teachers can write them on the board to give students the chance to know them Thirdly, teachers find key words or link-words between the sub-concepts in order to make a meaningful relation between these concepts

Next, teacher organizes the concepts in a pyramid form or put the link-words

on the arrows

Then, teacher explains the sub-concepts by giving examples so that the teachers can transfer his students from main concepts at the top of the map to subordinate at the bottom

Lastly, teacher asks students to make concept maps in the subject matter either individually or groups

Concept maps during the process of teaching

Hwidi (2005) suggests that the concept maps can be used in three ways during the process of learning

1 Pre-teaching: Teachers can survey the concept maps in front of the students

as an advanced organizer, either by drawing the map on the board or by using the overhead projector

2 While-teaching: Students may use concept maps during their learning when teachers copies the map and gives everyone a copy to benefit from

3 Post-teaching: Teacher can ask individual or groups of learners to build up concept maps for the lesson or for the unit, then, he checks it to know the places of weaknesses and the places of strength to help them to overcome the weakness later

2.2.5 Types of concept maps

According to William Breitsprecher (2016), there are four main types of concept map: Spider map, hierarchical map, flowchart map, and system map

2.2.5.1 Spider map- Central concept

A spider map is a graphic organizer used to describe the attributes and functions of a central idea or theme, each central theme has four or more branches

to organize details

Figure 3 A sample of a spider map

A spider map is easy to configure All data is organized around a unified theme (diagnosis) Therefore, this kind of map is easy to read However, it is difficult to show relationships without making the map very messy and hard to read The map also does not allow for integration of all data and the relationships among data

2.2.5.2 Hierarchical/ Chronological map

A hierarchical concept map organizes concepts from more general to more specific, with the more general overarching terms above and the more specific terms below Labeled lines with arrows show linkages between concepts and how they are related This kind of map follows a definite pattern Most general data is located at the top and moves to the most specific; therefore, it is easy to follow

Figure 4 A sample of a hierarchical map

2.2.5.3 Flowchart map

A flowchart is a type of diagram that represents a workflow or process A flowchart can also be defined as a diagrammatic representation of an algorithm, a step-by-step approach to solving a task The flowchart shows the steps as boxes of various kinds, and their order by connecting the boxes with arrows This diagrammatic representation illustrates a solution model to a given problem

In a flowchart map, the information is organized in a logical, ordered fashion; therefore, it is easy to read and follow Very minimal data, however, is noted on this kind of concept map

Figure 5 A sample of a flowchart map

2.2.5.4 System map

A system map is a synthetic representation that shows in one single frame all the different actors involved in a service delivery and their mutual links (for example, flows of materials, energy, information, money, documents, etc.) The system map clarifies how the different service components and roles are connected one to the other, highlighting the values they exchange This kind of map is very complete because it includes all data on the map and shows many relationships between the data It uses critical thinking along with problem solving skills It also

links theory and practice very well However, a systems map takes more time to complete and is sometimes difficult to read due to the number of relationships noted

Figure 6 A sample of a system map

2.2.6 Reasons for using concept maps

There are many researchers who have found a lot of reasons for which concept maps should be used Pill (2005) mentions some reasons for using concept maps Firstly, concept maps can facilitate the development of self-directed learning within which conceptual and prepositional relationships can be reflectively and critically explored Secondly, concept maps can also enhance problem-solving practically in the context of acquisition and sequencing of the new information

Thirdly, the technique aids the development to deep meaningful teaching moving towards critical thinking than more surface approaches Furthermore, concept maps have potential value in assessment during students’ learning journey

Kommers (2004) has some more reasons for using concept maps in common: (1)- Concept map can be used as an advanced organizer to improve learners’ achievement;

(2)- It provides teacher with a meaningful and practical structured approach; (3)- Concept map is also gaining in roads as a tool of problem solving in education;

(4)- Concept map also allows students to reflect on their own misunderstanding and take ownership of their learning

Moreover, Ruiz-Primo (2005: 28) sees that concept maps may give students an opportunity to:

(1)- think about the connection between the terms being learned;

(2)- organize their thought and visualize the relationships between the key concepts in a semantic way;

(3)- reflect on their understanding

Another important reason for using concept maps is that they can be used as

an effective assessment tool According to Ozdermir (2005: 11), “concept maps can

be typically used as an evaluation method before and after teaching” Francis (2006) indicates that concept maps can be used as an assessment tool in education and it provides the faculty of interesting and effective ways to assess learning by students

in all academic areas

Ruiz-Primo (2000) assumes that researchers use the term assessment to reflect the belief that reaching judgments about individuals’ achievement, in a domain requires an integration of several pieces of information; therefore, concept maps as an assessment tool is characterized by:

1 A task that invites a student to provide evidence bearing on his or her knowledge structure in a domain

2 A format for the students’ response

3 A scoring system by which the students’ concept map can be accurately and consistently evaluated

Kommers (2004: 53) also suggests that concept maps can be used in educational assessment and described two main purposes:

1 Formative evaluation of teaching and teaching materials He sees the formative evaluation where the teachers can assess the students’ learning at a particular point Veccia and Pedroni (2007) state that this kind of evaluation plays as a diagnostic role in which it is geared towards defining the compensatory intervention should the monitoring operations show that the learner is having difficulties processing through his or her training program

2 Using concept maps as part of the achievement test, then who concludes that concept maps provide a theoretically powerful and psychological sound tool for assessing conceptual change in experimental and classroom setting

2.2.7 Ways to construct a good concept map

In learning to construct a concept map, it is important to begin with a domain

of knowledge that is very familiar to the person constructing the map Since concept map structures are dependent on the context in which they will be used, it is best to identify a segment of a context, a laboratory or field activity or a particular problem

or question that one is trying to understand This creates a context that will help to determine the hierarchical structure of the concept map It is also helpful to select a limited domain of knowledge for the first concept maps

A good way to define the context for a concept map is to construct a Focus Question, that is, a question that clearly specifies the problem or issue the concept map should help to resolve Every concept map responds to a focus question, and a good focus question can lead to a much richer concept map When learning to construct concept maps, learners tend to deviate from the focus question and build a concept map that may be related to the domain, but which does not answer the

question It is often stated that the first step to learning about something is to ask the right questions

Given a selected domain and defined question or problem in this domain, the next step is to identify the key concepts that apply to this domain Usually 15 to 25 concepts will suffice These concepts could be listed, and then from this list a rank ordered list should be established from the most general, most inclusive, for this particular problem or situation at the top of the list, to the most specific, least general concept at the bottom of the list Although this rank order may be only approximate, it helps to begin the process of map construction

The next step is to construct a preliminary concept map It is important to recognize that a concept map is never finished After a preliminary map is constructed, it is always necessary to revise this map Other concepts can be added Good maps usually result from three to many revisions

Once the preliminary map is built, cross-links should be sought These are links between concepts in different segments or domains of knowledge on the map that help to illustrate how these domains are related to one another Cross-links are important in order to show that the learner understands the relationships between the sub-domains in the map

Finally, the map should be revised, concepts re-positioned in ways that lend

to clarity and better over-all structure, and a “final” map prepared

2.3 Cognitive approach to teach grammar

Cognitive refers to mental activity including thinking, remembering, learning and using language As its name implies, the cognitive process deals with mental process like memory and problem solving By emphasizing mental processes, it places itself in opposition to behaviorism, which largely ignores mental processes

In the other words, cognitive approach is a reaction of behaviorist features of the audio-lingual approach; it is influenced by cognitive psychology (Neisser, 1967) and Chomskyan linguistics (Chomsky 1959, 1965) Noam Chomsky argues that linguistics should be a branch of cognitive psychology, or the study of mental

processes like critical thinking, problem solving, and language He also thinks that the study of language acquisition ha important contributions to make to the study of cognition

Jerome Bruner (1915 ) is also one of the researchers contributed significantly

to the development of cognitive psychology He has developed a learning theory based upon categorization Jerome Bruner has a great effect upon cognitive learning theory Based upon the idea of categorization, Bruner's theory states "To perceive is

to categorize, to conceptualize is to categorize, to learn is to form categories, to make decisions is to categorize." He maintains that people interpret the world in terms of its similarities and differences and suggests a coding system in which people have a hierarchical arrangement of related categories Each successively higher level of categories becomes more specific

Grammar is viewed by many teachers and learners as the biggest challenge

of foreign language learning, not only because of its abstractness, but also because

of its conceptual inaccessibility This may explain why learners perceive grammar

as tedious, monotonous or dry (Loewen et al., 2009) The Cognitive Linguistic approach (Lakoff, 1987; Lakoff & Johnson, 1980; Langacker, 2008; Talmy, 2000)

is a fruitful way to describe grammar as a meaningful and conceptually motivated system that is in line with general principles of cognition such as salience, specificity, perspective, metaphorization as well as conceptual archetypes arising from embodied experiences in language, such as motion, force and space Although the potential benefits of visual, cognitive linguistic explanations of grammatical principles in the context of second language teaching have been amply described in Achard (2004), De Knop & Perrez (2014), De Knop & Dirven (2008), Suñer (2013), empirical research has just begun to provide evidence for these descriptions’ added value, especially those based on insights from Cognitive Grammar (see for example Bielak & Pawlak, 2011; Bielak, Pawlak, & Mystkowska-Wiertelak, 2013; Buescher & Strauss, 2015; Jacobsen, 2015; Liamkina, 2005; Lysinger, 2009;

Masuda, 2013; Reif, 2012; Suñer & Roche, 2019; Tyler, 2008; Tyler, Mueller, &

Ho 2011)

Over the past few years, the application of insights from cognitive linguistic approaches to foreign language teaching has received much attention Earlier studies have focused mainly on the development of cognitive linguistic approaches

to different areas of grammar and the formulation of general implications for the context of second learning, (Suñer, 2013; Bellavia, 2007; De Knop & Perrez, 2014;

De Knop & Dirven 2008) A second group with still relatively few studies, however, has developed cognitive linguistic approaches to grammar teaching and tested their effectiveness empirically (Niemeier, 2017: 64)

For instance, the intervention study by Bielak and Pawlak (2011) looks at whether a pedagogical approach grounded in cognitive linguistics can be used to teach the English progressive more effectively than the traditional approach commonly used in textbooks The materials use the concept of a keyhole to elucidate the meaning of the progressive aspect as a way to zoom in on a single component within a processual event, whereas the non-progressive aspect is presented as the maximal frame of view that shows both the beginning and the end

of a processual event The analysis of the results shows that the cognitive linguistic group slightly outperform the group with the traditional approach and the control group

In a more recent study, Kohl-Dietrich et al (2016) investigates the teaching

of the English phrasal verbs by using concepts such as radial categories and conceptual metaphors The results reveals that the experimental group that works on the conceptual motivation of phrasal verbs does not significantly outperform the control group on the retention test, but they achieve significantly better results on a test measuring the transfer to novel phrasal verbs

From the points mentioned above, the researcher can understand that when a cognitive approach is applied to learning and teaching, the understanding of

information and concepts is focused on If we are able to understand the connections between concepts, break down information and rebuild with logical connections, our retention of material and understanding will increase It means that using concept maps in grammar teaching is one of the common applications of cognitive approach because it is related to classification, coding system, hierarchical arrangement, understanding and establishing relationships among concepts in a logical system Through concept maps, learners can visualize and easily remember the knowledge they have learned Activities which can be described as cognitive strategies include making concept maps, mind maps, visualization, association, and memorization

2.4 Using concept maps in teaching English grammar

In the field of English language teaching, Tezci, Dermirli and Sapar’s research (2007) is on the use of concept maps for the second language vocabulary acquisition For the authors, a concept map is a heuristic device and as such it helps learning by allowing students to see, read, write, and alter concepts As students see same theme concepts interrelated in the concept map, this promotes assimilation, potentializing contextual comprehension which, for the authors, is one of the main goals in language teaching The authors claim that concept maps can be used in language teaching not only for “presenting information by teachers, and students’ management and evaluation of their own learning”, but also for promoting the learning of a word and related vocabulary, how words are used, how to read and write them, their grammatical structure, and how they aid text comprehension and vocabulary expansion (pp.4-5) Chularut and DeBacker’s investigation (2003) concentrates on the effectiveness of concept mapping on students’ achievement when learning from English language texts The study involves the creation of concept maps and concentrates on their relationship with the use of self-regulation and self-efficacy strategies for language learning related to four variables: achievement, self-monitoring, knowledge acquisition, and self-efficacy Research

findings reveal higher gains in the four variables for students who have used concept maps than for students who have employed their own learning strategies

Few studies have been carried out using concept maps in teaching grammar (Boyle & Weisharr, 1997; Clemens-Davis & Ley, 1991; Dimino et al., 1990) One more study in the area of English grammar available to us is Nada (2008) which focuses on the use of concept map to teach conditional sentences, voice, and complex tenses This study, like those in the Sciences and Social Sciences, reveals that concept mapping facilitates retention and achievement in the concepts learnt

2.5 Summary of previous researches on concept maps

There have been many different methods and strategies used to teach English grammar, and one of these is using concept maps which are basic principle to build

up new knowledge with reference to the previous one Concept maps are used to enhance communication, learning, teaching and to bring about good achievement

The literature on concept mapping has been primarily concerned with the application of concept maps to science contexts There are many studies that consider concept maps as a tool for achievement Almost researchers’ results show that the groups taught with concept maps achieved significantly better result (Esiobu and Soyibo, 2006; Pankratius, 2006; Wang and Dwyer, 2004; AL Wsimi, 2001) Willerman and MacHarg (1991) finds that a concept map used as an advance organizer results in a positive significant difference in the science achievement of eighth-grade students Esiobu and Soyibo (1995) verify the efficacy of concept mapping under cooperative, cooperative-competitive, and individualistic whole-class learning conditions in improving student achievement in ecology and genetics

Using quantitative measures to evaluate concept maps, Austin and Shore (1995) find concept maps are useful in assessing the understanding of relationships between the concepts required for multiple-step problem solving in physics According to Rice (1998), a year-long study implemented in seventh grade life science classes indicates that concept mapping is useful in assessing declarative and procedural knowledge Gold (1998) has tested concept mapping in teaching

complex notions in urban geography and found that concept mapping techniques increased students’ understanding Stoddart in his study (2006) describing the use of concept maps to assess the understanding of science concept and science language production of elementary students shares the idea that concept maps allow students

to demonstrate what they have learned in their primary or second language or both Moreover, the result in the study reveals that the concept maps can be used to assess growth in English language learners’ understanding of science concepts

Willerman and Harg (2006) share the same idea with the above researchers They believe that concept map can provide the classroom teachers with a meaningful and practical structured approach for using advanced organizers in their classes Besides, Rice and et.al (1998) in a study suggest that a concept map might

be used in assessing declarative and procedural knowledge, both of which have a place in the science classroom One important implication of these results is that science curriculum and its corresponding assessment need not be dichotomized into knowledge/ comprehension versus higher-order outcomes In addition, concept mapping has a positive effect on average (lower) ability level science students (Snead and Young, 2003) Attieh and Boujaouda (2003) have the same view when they explore the effects of using concept maps as study tools on achievement in chemistry They say that concept mapping helps low achievers achieve higher in their chemistry Students exhibit positive attitudes toward using concept maps in chemistry

In recent years, there have been a lot of educators who have begun to report

on the benefits and effectiveness of concept mapping strategies in second language settings and for a variety of purposes In the domain of second language reading comprehension, for instance, Carrel, Pharis and Liberto (1989) argue the effectiveness of text mapping techniques in enhancing second language reading as a proper alternative to traditional pre-reading and post-reading activities In this application, they use mapping as a tool not only to introduce the key vocabulary

from the passage, but also to provide the teacher with an assessment of the students’ prior knowledge on the topic

Ghanizadeh (2007) in his study reports the positive influence of concept map construction on EFL learners’ reading comprehension as well as on the attitudes toward EFL reading comprehension The study reveals that as the result of integrating concept mapping technique during reading or post-reading phase

Chularu and DeBacker (2004) investigate the effectiveness of concept mapping used as a learning strategy with students in English as a Second Language classroom The findings show that a statistically significant interaction of time, method of instruction, and level of English proficiency for self-monitoring, self-efficacy, and achievement For all of four outcome variables, the concept mapping group shows significantly greater gains from pre-test to post-test than the individual study group Similarly, in the paper of Tablebinezhad (2007), he investigates the effectiveness of concept mapping as a learning strategy on students’ self-regulation (metacognitive self-regulation, time and study environment, effort regulation, peer learning and help seeking) After the experiment, he finds that students gain higher self-regulation as the result of concept mapping strategy teaching These findings have implications for pedagogy as well as for research

Besides, in Vietnam, researches on concept maps used in teaching and learning English have also attracted attention from educators and researchers Ha Manh Hung (2006) proposes that concept mapping and sentence diagramming are the two techniques that have the potential to effectively solve the inefficient concept manipulation and the structural language ambiguity problems of natural language narrative The quantitative result of this thesis shows that students achieve slightly higher mark on comprehension of the narrative text test then the spatial text test However, the qualitative result shows that the main reason that all students do not

do as well as on the spatial text test is because they do not thoroughly understand the symbols used in the pilot experiment