Luận văn a minor study on some major methods of teaching english grammar to the 10th form students currently applied by teachers at yen vien high school

Table 3: Reasons why respondents thank of the role of English grammar Table 4: Students” expectations for a grammar lesson in class.. Table 5: Students’ cvaluation of the time for commun

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGLAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES:

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDEES:

NGUYEN THI THU

A MINOR STUDY ON SOME MAJOR METHODS OF TEACHING

ENGLISIT GRAMMAR TO 10™ — FORM STUDENTS CURRENTLY

APPLIED BY TEACHERS AT YEN VIEN HIGH SCHOOL

(MỘT NGHIÊN CUU NHO VE CAC PHUONG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY NGỮ

PHÁP TIẾNG ANH CHÍNH CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 10 ĐANG DƯỢC ÁP

DUNG TAI TRUONG THPT YÊN VIÊN)

MLA Minor Programme Thesis

Ficld: English teaching methodology

Code: 60 14 10

Hanoi, September 2010

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGLAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES:

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDEES:

NGUYEN THI THU

A MINOR STUDY ON SOME MAJOR METHODS OF TEACHING

CURRENTLY APPLIED BY TEACHERS AT YEN VIEN HIGH

SCIIOOL

(MỘT NGHIÊN CÚU NHỎ VỀ CÁC PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY NGỮ

PHÁP TIÉNG ANH CHÍNH CHO HỌC SINH LÓP 10 ĐANG ĐƯỢC ÁP

DỤNG TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT YÊN VIÊN)

MLA Minor Programme Thesis

Hield: English teaching methodology Code: 614 10

Supervisor: Pham Thj Thanh Thuy, M A

llanoi, September 2010

1.7 Design of the study .ccesnsseeneinmisieneeenenenneiiimieieneneenenenneesmesne need

3.2.2, How to teach gIAnNNA?, chen

2.3.1 Grammar Translation Method (GTM) non seeroeÐ,

2.3.3, The Task-based Approach (TBA) csssssneneniintnsenntsnsiinsianenennenmsnesL2 2.3.4, There is no best rnethod for aHL à sscesterriredrrrrrieeeeree, TE

1.4 Issues about how to teach grammar

2.4.1, Should we use grammatical explanations and icchnieal terminology in a CLT

ÏasS7OOIN? icon

2.4.2 Should teachers correct grammatical errors? 15

3.8 Crileria In chonse an apiprapriaLe methad

2.6 Criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching methods

4.2.1.1 Students" aftitndes towrard lsarring English -eescecxeeoee TỔ

1.2.1.3 Students’ awarcness of the role of grammar in reaching their purposes 29 4.2.1.4, Students’ expectations for a grammar lessom in elass e- e3 4.3.1.5 Students’ evaluation of grammar lessons in class 2

4.2.2 Teacher questionnaire

42.2.1 Teachers’ awareness of the purposes of teaching English at high school and the

4.2.2.2 Teachers’ focuscs whicn teaching a now giamrnaficaÌ poinf 37 4.2.2.3 Teachers’ reasons for choosing thair currenf teaching methods 9

4.2.2.4, Teachers" evaluation of their teaching mefhods + sscccecoe.4Õ 4.3 Follow-up interviews

4.3.1 Follow-up interviews for stuđents

_Teacher questionnaire

Follow-up interview for stuđenfs sec sesseee XIV

Question

student

students teacher teachers Task-based Approach

‘Yen Vien High School

Table 3: Reasons why respondents thank of the role of English grammar

Table 4: Students” expectations for a grammar lesson in class

Table 5: Students’ cvaluation of the time for communicative activities

‘Table 6: ‘Tzachers’ aims in teaching English to stadents

Table 7; Taachers” focuses when leaching grarmnar Lo students

Table 8: Teachers’ reasons for choosing the current teaching method

‘Table 9: Factors teachers base on to choose a teaching method

Table 10: Teachers’ evaluation of their teaching methods

Table LI: Teachers’ evaluation of their teaching methods in detailed factors

Figures

Figure 1: Students’ evaluation of grammar lessons in class

Figure 2: Students’ evaluation of the presentation of grammar points

Figure 3: Students’ ovalualion of pronunciation teaching

Figure 4: Students’ evaluations of the effectiveness of communicative activities

11

1.1 Statement of the problem and rationate for the study

English language has been the most popular international language for ages, In the new era of high technology and communication, English is playing a more and more important role and having a strong impact on many ficlds of the sociely Grader this impact, the demand for communicative competence in English is increasing in every comer of the world,

Tn Lorms of Lechring Fnglish as a foreign or secondary language, recent research lurns to teatiza that the best method never existed and will never exist because teaching situations are different in all places As a result, a tailored method rather than @ mass-produced one is required lo correspond with ther

To speak about leamers, it is notable that the views of learners have changed a lot Leamers aic now recognized as individuals with their own identitics, i.c they arc different in expectations, interests, styles, personalities as well as leaming experience instead of sitting passively in classrooms and trying to absorb whatever teachers give them, they have now become the eenler of the classroom activities under (he widely accepled principle: Tearncr- centerednzss Accordingly, all these differences among leamers have to be carefully considered befors preparing and conducting the classroom activities

Also, research figures out teachers’ roles should be changed as well Instead of being the controller and informant in elass, the teacher ow has lo play a wide range of roles dapending

on the specific situations With students’ activeness in class, the teacher now works as a facilitator, an encourager, an organizer and a guide In class, student-student interactions, then

student-teacher ones should become the dominant activities in classrooms.

12

To cover all these changes in language teaching within this thesis is an impossible mission In this thesis, the author would like to narrow herself by focusing on grammar teaching only in a high school to find out how the above changes are impacting the teaching and leaming process, what methods are being used to teach grammar and how effective these methods are She chose granumar teaching as her focus in this thesis because of some reasons

First, English grammar has always played the most important role in the Vietnamese context

through the grammar-bascd university cntrance cxaminations as well as other grammar tzsts at

school of all levels ‘fherefore, leamers’ aim of learning English used to be to pass these important cxams Sccondly, many high schools in Vigna have been eritieived for the teaching methods in which grammar is taught explicitly and then practiced in a huge number

of written grammar exercises without any interaction among students and lifile between students and their teacher/s, Teachers have been unique controllers in class Learners” needs, interests, learning styles, cte arc often neglected Thirdly, with this thesis, the author hopes to answer her question on how grammar teaching in Vietnam should be changed to adapt to the changes of FLT in tha world and learners? domands, The last reason is relaled to her porsomal profession, As a teacher of English, she has realized that it is really a challenging task to make grammar teaching satisfactory to students, She has constantly wondered how to deal with granmnar more effectively 1 classrooms The answers to this questron and the above would be

of great help to the writer as well as to other colleagues

1.2 The aims of the siudy

With the presented rationale, the specific aims of the study, accordingly, are

« To investigate how English grammar is curently

School and what methods are being used to teach it

zing taught at Yon Vien High

* To evaluate the effectiveness of those methods as perceived by teachers and Jeamers at the school

»_ Tosnggsst some changss to snake grammar leaching rmuch more effective,

13

Among these aims, the second one is the anthar’s priority in this research To achieve this aim, two other specific objectives were established The first sub-objective is to find out the Jeamers’ English learning expectations and their learning style preferences ‘These factors are crucial to affect the effectiveness of grammar learning and teaching and leamers’ evaluation of the offbriveness The sòond is (o understand the students” and teachers" views on the current grammar teaching methods with the aim of narrowing the gap between grammar teaching and jearning

amore effective?

1.4, Methods of the stusky

To reach the above aims, the study has been camied out with data collected from three different sources: (1) class observation (2) questionnaires and (3) follow-up interviews All

these instranents will be described in detail in Chapter 3

1.5 Significance of the study

It is hoped thal the findinyss from this sludy will be of some benefits to the teaches

sin

‘Vietnamese high schools in general, at YV HS in particular, especially those who are engaged

in grammar teaching The study contributes to onr understanding of the effectiveness of the curent grammar (caching methods based on lcaehcrs' and Icamers’ evaluation and offers some suggestions of needed changes to minimize the gap between the leamers’ expectations, interests and the actual practice of teaching and leaming

14

1.6 Scope of the study

As stated above, the study is conducted to find out the evaluations of leamers and teachers towards the effectiveness of the grammar teaching methodologies currently applied in order to make some methodological recommendations of grammar teaching ‘I'he study is, therefore, explorative by walure Besides, with the aims of the sludy, the rescarcher limited herself lo concentrate on a group of grade 10 students at Yen Vien High School in Hanoi

1.7 Design of the study

‘This thesis contains five chapters

+ Chapter One presents the state of the problem and rationale, the aims, the rescarch quostions, the significance as well as the scope of the study

- Chapter Two prepares the theoretical background for the thesis concerning grammar teaching methods and criteria to evaluats the efficiency of teaching methods

- Chapter Three describes in details the methodology underlying the rescarch,

- Chapter Four provides specific description of data analysis, a thorough discussion of the findings of the stady and some recorumendations as well

- Chapter Five is the conclusions

the Appendixes are the last part of the study, following the References

15

This chapter will present the theoretical background needed for the research by disc

ssing the definition of grammar, different views of teaching grammar, grammar teaching methods, main isgues in grammar teaching, ctiteria to choose an appropriate teaching method as well as

criteria fo evaluate the effectiveness of a (caching method

2.1 What is grammar?

This the fack that there are quite a few different definitions of grammar given by varied academic schools However, this study just quotes and discusses two definitions which are

relevant to the research aims

The first definition is made by Leech G., Deuchar M & Hoogenraad R, (2005) These authors consider grammar as a set of rules which allow users of a language to create speech and writing by combining words together in a meaningful way Whercas uscrs apply grammar all the time, they fail to perceive them consciously, Besides, grammar has a very close, interactive relationship with semantics (meaning), phonology (sounds or speaking) and writing systems With this definition, the authors have succeedsd in giving a quite complcic overview of grammar as well as highlighting its relationship with other elds of language like semantics, phonology as well as writing systems Clearly, people do not use grammar for its own sake,

‘but usc it as an effective tool to cxpress accurately and automatically what they want to communicate, Nevertheless, whereas this definition is a good one, it limits grammar within the level of a sentence only IL can be questioned about grammar among the larger umils like sentences, of more

Brown (1994) approaches grammar in a quite different way Lle defines grammar in a larger

‘unit, not within a scntence but a discourse In fact, he trics to make clear their distinction

According to him, grammar is a set of rules controlling the order and the connection of words

16

in the level of a sentence only The system of discourse miles shares this fanction, but in the broader level among sentences Brown also emphasizes that grammatical competence is very

important in communicative competence In fact, the close intercombination between

grammar, semantics and pragmatics frm the necessary and sufficient conditions for all crcation and digestion in language The lack of ane of them can thake eormmication fail Specifically, grammar helps us construct a sentence, semantics makes that sentence meaningful and pragmatics enables us to understand the meaning more correctly in a certain

context The master of this intercombination is crucial in successful language communication,

To sum up, il can be said thal the definition of Brown (1994) has covered all the main points

of grammar the other authors discuss First, grammar is a set of rules or patterns congolling the sequence and the mmiual interaction of words in the level of a sentence only Secondly, discourse is grammar but active in the larger units Thirdly, grammar exists in the close and interactive relationship with the other factors of a language including scmantics, phonology and the writing systems Kinally, erammar competence is one of the needed conditions for

communicative conmpetence

1.2 Different views on teaching grammar

Grammar has played a very important role in language taching for dccarles In some places, teaching grammar is teaching the language However, with the remarkable change in the needs

of learners and requirements of the new era, a huge amount of research has focused on grammar toaching to đi

all issues rated lo iL, Different ideas aro proposed on teaching grammar; however, they share in some points

2.2.1 Whether or not to teach grarimar?

Quite a few authors question whether or not to teach grammar This idea has been actively disoussed for long Krashen (1983) is the typical author who supports no formal grammar teaching in class He claims that language should be acquired through natural cxposure and comprehensible input Even though Krashen’s Natural Approach has great contibutions to the

teaching and learning process, it has been criticized for fossilized non-standard variants of the target language However, all in all, with the legitimate arguments and the experience of a teacher, Brown (1994) confidently states that judicious attention to grammatical form in the language learning classroom is not only helpful if appropriate techniques are used, but also

csscntial lo a speedy learning process

2.2.2, Ifow to teach grammar?

The next issue which is widely discussed by auncrous authors is how to teach grammar Specifically, ideas focus on whether to teach grammar explicitly (or deductive or overt gramenar toaching) ov implicitly (or inductive or covert (caching) and whethar te follow Jeamer-centered ot teacher-centered approach,

According to implicit approach, the students are presented with examples first and then they arc guided to figure out the mle or gencralization fiom the cxamples A clear grammar explanation may never be given from their teacher Explicit one is diffrent because in this approach, a rule or genoralization is first givon by the teacher or textbook and then students are allowed to practice various instances of language to which the rule applies (Brown, 1994)

Many authors (Brown, 1994, Hartnett, 1985, Gardner, 2008, etc.) discuss this issne and agrs:

in some points First, generally, an imphoit approach is more in favor because it allows students to discover some aspects of language before getting to know grammatical explanations so thal il builds more inbinsie mofivalion among them However, in some œ

8,

an explicit approach o1 a blend between the two is more appropriate In fact, the distinction between these approaches in a lesson is not always apparent All in all, the choice should dgpend on specific teaching contexts

‘The leamer-centered approach’s principle is that the emphasis in the teaching and leaming process at all times should bơ on the Icamer, not the teacher (Stevick, 1982) Stevick also

notes that leamer-centeredness does not imply that teachers should abandon the classroom to

18

The leamars, and that there should be a number of legitimate teacher functions in leamner- as

well as teacher-centered classrooms

After a large amount of research, authors come to a conclusion that whereas students prefer moving from Izacher-centered lơ more lesrmer-eenlerzd class, they still think both af these approaches are useful All in all, it is a good idea for teachers to make use of all these approaches to satisfy students,

2.2.3 What to teach in a grammar lesson?

Another hol

no rolated to grammar tcaching is whal to Leach in a grammar lesson, is, we

should focus on forms or functions or any others

According to Ilarmer (1987) language is used actually to do things, to perform certain functions, like inviting, apologizing, introducing and so on, Therefore, instead of teaching grammar, teachers should teach functions to students even though their grammatical base should be insured as well Clear evidence is thal modern courses oflen teach a grammatical

structure and then get students to use it as part of functional conversation

Frocman (2003) shares Harmer’s ideas lo some exlent However, she asscris that icaching grammar includes teaching form, meaning and use as well She clarifies that teaching, those three dimensions is really important because it will make students have enough knowledge to reach the primary goal of loarning a language which, alter all, is to cruble lo commmuniaate in

19

dimension can badly affect students As a teacher, we can choose any method or a

combination of some to serve best our students” interests, needs, personalities and experience

2.3, Methods of teaching grammar

First, whal is method? Generally, method is “a way af doing something” (Cambridge Advanced Leamers’ Dictionary, 2003) Pedagogically, method is overall means of achieving, the general objectives of a couse via conducting a set of procedures, techniques or activities (olmson & Morrow, 1981) Method is often mistaken with the other tens — approach and methodology However, their distinction is quite ambiguous and vague Therefore, it should be umccessary to Iry lo distinguish thom (Canh, 2004) The wrifer would usc thơso lơnns interchangeably in this thesis as a result

A large number of different teaching methods fell in and fell out of fashion in the process of scarching for the best method for all, In this thesis, the author prescnts only relevant methods

to get the firm hackground for the research, With each method, the characteristics, the strengths as well as the Timnits relating to grammar teaching will be discussed (the wuther’s emphasis)

2.3.1 Grammar Translation Method (GTM)

According to Brown (1994), the first dominant teaching method is grammar translation one It

is based on the principles that languages are not being taught primarily to feam oral/ aural communtvation bul lo learn for the sake of bsing scholarly

Its main features are indicated very clearly by Prator and Celce-Muricia (1979) as classes are taught in the mother longue with lille use of the largel Tanguage, long claborale explanations

of the intricacies of grammar are given; and instructions often focus on the fonm; little or no attention is piven to pronunciation, Besides, in CTM, the teacher is the authority in classrooms

and it is very important that students gct the correct answer Most of the interaction in the

classroom is activated by the teacher to the students and there is little student initiation and little student-student interaction (Freeman, 2000)

‘Two main drawbacks of GYM are no help to students” communicative ability in the target language and the sluggishmess in updating Tangumge skills and other knowledge among teachers (Brown, 1994) Moreover, GTM seems to badly afléet learners’ motivation due to compulsory memorization of endless lists of wusable grammar mules (Richards & Rodgers, 1986), However, the fact is that this method is now still uscd widely because it allows teachers

to be lazy to work hard It is also much easier to design and more objective to mark @ test on gramenar and transtation than on other langage stiffs,

2.3.2 The Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

CHT oan be said to be the current donsinant methodology (Brown, 1994; 77) Tl staris with a theory of language as communication, and its gosl is 10 devclap learners’ cormunricative competence Communicative competence means knowing when and how to say what to whom (Canale & Swain, 1980), It includes four dimensions existing in the close inter-relationship: grammatical, linguistic, discoursc, and stratcgie competences This relationship asserts the necessity of grammar to become proficient in communication

Based on the research of Li (2008), Nunan (199la; 279) and Freeman (1986), CLT is characterized by: its focus on communicative fimetions, on meaningful tasks rather than on Janguage (¢.g., grammar ar vocabulary study) even though leamers stifl have chances to lear about the language, tasks and language rclevant to @ targct group of lcamers; a lot of interactions in the target language via the use of group activities and pair works: a secure, non- threatening learning atmosphere; leamer-centeredness and material choices based on slufents? needs

Harmer (2001) specifies CL.T’s features with the two terms “whal lo teach" and “how to teach?

In terms of ‘what to teach’, CLT stresses the significance of language fimetions rather than

Janguage study, A guiding principle is to train students to use these language forms

appropriately in a variety of contexts and for a variety of purposes The ‘how to teach’ aspect

of CLT is closely related to the idea that it is plentiful exposure to language in use and plenty

of opportunities to use it are vitally impoxtant for a student's development of knowledge and skill Activities in CLT typically involve students in real ar realistic communication, where the accuracy of the language they usc is Jess important than successful achicvernent of the communicative task they are performing,

Conceming Icarners’ and teachers’ roles in CLT, learners are expected to be much more active

in the interaction with their own Jeaming, their partners, teachers and materials (Nunan, 1989) The roles of Lsachors arc also more varicd than in the past Tnsload of boing the knowledge- giver and unique controller in classes, they are now organizer, guide, facilitator of the communication process, participant within the leaming-teaching group, researcher-leamer (Breen and Candlin, 1980) and ‘need analyst’ (Nunan 1988),

CLT has left an indelible mark on teaching and lsaming, resulting in the use of commmnicative activities in classrooms all over the world (Harmer, 2001), Tlis proven thal this methed carr help develop leamers’ communicative skills in the target language, enhance their confidence

as well as their motivation in the learning process

Apart trom the above strong points, CLT also has some shortcomings First, CLT demands a relatively uncontrolled range of language use on the part of the student, and expects the

icacher to be able Lo respord lo any language problom which may come up This is really a big challenge for non-native teachers whose spoken English, strategic and sociolinguistic competences are still limited Second, that CLI mainly focuses on fluency over accuracy

xnccts the resistance frum teac!

s and students in places where grammar-based lwsting systerm

is still popular (Harmer, 2001; Detang Li, 2001), The last but not least hindrance comes from Jeamers Their low English proficiency, lite motivation for communicative competence and

avsistance to class participation into non-traditional pair work and group work acfivitics kccp

them refusing to accept CIT Same other conditions of the environment like large classes

testing system and education policy are also unfavorable to CLT

2.3.3 The Lask-based Approach ({BA)

Among recent manifestations of CLT, taxkbased instructian has cmerged as a major focal

point of language teaching practice worldwide

Firsl, whail is task? Task is simply “an activity which requires Tearners to use language, with emphasis on meaning, to attain an objective” (Skehan, 2003: 3), Task-based leaming is not a new method Rather, it simply puts a set of communicative tasks at the center of ons’s micthodotogical focus

David Nunan (19914: 279) gives us some characteristics ol a lask-based approach to langimgz loaching: emphasis on learning lo communicate through abundant interaction ‘in the target Janguage; use of authentic texts in the leaming situation, attempt to link classroom language jearning with language activation outside the classroom Teachers’ roles are also the sams as their roles in CLT above

With rogarids lo basiv stages of the Task-bised methodology, Willis (1996: 52) suggests tira: stages; the Pre-task, the Task cycle, and Language focus, In the Pre-task, the teacher explores the topic with the class and may highlight usefl words and phrases, and helps students to understand the task instrnctions, During the Task cycle, the students perform the task in pairs

or small groups while the teacher monitors fiom a distance, The students then plan how they will tell the rest of the class what they did and how it went, and they then report ơn the task cither orally or in writing, In the Language focus stage, the sludenls examine and discuss specific features of any listening or reading text which they have looked at for the task and/ or the teacher may conduct some form of practice of specific language features which the task thas provoked

Clearly, to complete a task, students have to interact with their parmers Such interaction is thought to facilitate language acquisition as learners have to work to understand each other

and to express their own meaning By so doing, they have to check to see if they have comprehended correctly and, at times, they have to seek clarification Also, they get to listen

to language which may be beyond their present ability, but which may be assimilated inte their

knowledge of the target language for use at a Jater time (Candlin & Murphy, 1987:1)

At first glance, CLT and TBA may not scem so different, However, while the task in CLT Jessons is to get students to practice a communicative fimction, the task-based lesson does not focus on a particular function or oven a particular form of the language but a wids variety of Linguistic forms at the same time to conduct the task (Long 1989)

Prabhu identified three types of tasks in TBA: information-gap activity, opinion-gap activity and reasoning-gap activity Information-gap activity involves the exchange of information among participants in order to complete a task Opinion-gap activity requires that students

give their personal preferences, foclings, or attitudes in ordor to commplots a task, A reasorting- gap activity requires students to derive some new information by inferting it from information they have been given

TBA shows its oufstanding strength to develop leamers’ communicative skills through meaningful tasks With TBA, leamets are believed to increase needed competence for

2.3.4, There is no best method for all?

For much of its history, language teaching has been obsessed with a search for the ‘tight’ method which would work for all Ieamers in all contexts (Richards 1987) More recently, it has been realized that that ideal method would never be the case because there are important

variations im the teaching context thal imflugnee whal is best

However, there still exists a relative best method for a specific situation and “it all depends,” (Prabhu, 1990: 162-163) Candin (1991) shares Prabhu’s ideas and adds that only the teacher can decide which is the best method for his’ her own sitnation by choosing the best of what

others have exporicnced with and adapt or tailor il to hissher own situation

Liilles (1988) proposes another idea for this situation Based on her research, she concludes that it is probably the case that students do best in classes in which the teacher varies the approach in order to accommodate all Icarning stylcs To prevent this lack of differentiation, she supports an approach to teaching grammar which encourages leamers to use their eyes,

their cars, and as mamy of the other sonszs as possible She conlinucs thal (fa corlain grarnenar instruction seems appropriate for a class, the teacher’s next step is to integrate grammar principles into a communicative framework, since communication is the fundamental purpose

of language In other words, grammar points should be wnght and practiced in realistic and eftective contextualization to provide students a whole picture of English and enable them to apply what they have leamed in actual situations better, even though this task is not always

casy

2.4, Issues about how to teach grammar

There arc many issues abont how to teach grammar, bul in this study, just two tmain ones arc

listed.

24.1, Should we use grammatical explanations and technical terminology in a CLT clussraom?

Brown (1994) also wars English teachers to be very cautious to explain grammar and its terms, or else they will make their students more overloaded with complicated knowledge However, he emphasizes that if they give grammatical oxplanation skillfully, heir adult Jearers can find it very useful

Haycraft (1992) suggests onc tip to help teachers work out cxplanation effectively The tip is that if there is a point a teacher wishes to explain to his/ her students, try to werk it out for himsclf! horsclf by deductive analysis firsl Spocifically, he/she shold bese on typical contrasting examples fo think of explanations and make sure the explanations are easy for them to understand, ‘hen, teachers should try to unvolve their students in that process of deduction as well If doing so, learners will understand the point more clearly Teachers should let students look at the cxamples and find out the differcnec, The merc teachers involve students, the mare motivated they will be

2.4.2 Shouk teachers correct grammatical errors?

For this issue, Brown (1994) also discusses the two sides of the problem Lle conchides that icachets shoud pay attention to and hofp sludents overcome grammatical errors, bul in a tactful way so that students’ comnmmicative flows are not interrupted Li (2001) agrees with Brown but wams that teachers should make grammar the end of their teaching to prevent

Jcarncrs’ communicative activities from being interrupted

It should also be noted that learners will never truly attend to form unless they want to and are

able lo They will Icarn best once they have achioved basie comprebinsion and can acecpt feedback on the form of their production in meaningful discourse, either spoken or written In other words, feedback on form becomes more important after the student has acquired mninimal competence and can absorb this focdback (Marianne Cclec-Murcia Sharon Hilles, 1988)

3.5 Criteria to choose an appropriate method

Stevick (1982) and Candlin (1991) argue that suecess or failure in Janguage teaching depends not so much on whether one adopts inductive or deductive techniques for teaching grammar,

ot whether one engages in meaningful practice rather than in pattern drills, but in the extent to

which one caters to the learner-related factors Therefare, if a method is chascn, it should encourage leamers to adopt the right attitudes, interests and motivation in the target language and culture, as well as in the leaming environment in which they find themselves, and then successful Jcaming will occur, In contrast, if these affcetive factors arc not right, thon no sct of techniques is likely to succeed,

The factor proposed above seems 10 be quite abstract whereas it is extremely difticult to conclude which approaches and methods are most appropriate for one’s own teaching situations To make this process easter, based on common conclusions of other research, Harmer (2001) orcates very clearly a list of important clements including constant exposure to languagi

remember langusge Bols, ngpÏieaHon of CT,T and TBÁ ss ä koy parL of loaching proooss lo

comprehensible input and some conscious language study to help students

offer real learning benetits together with some other supplementary methods, relaxing lenrring environment for learning to take place, chances for students to discover the language themsdlves for belicr retention in the long run, caching grammar and lexis scrnntivally and pragmaicaly, and the harmony between methodology and leamers’ culture Harmer also reminds teachers that they should use up all these flexibly to decide what and how to teach,

ems tp work in their own contexts

achicve, then compare between these results and the actual achicvements of teachers to sce

te a

‘how much they met In teaching, those results exist in the form of aims set by educational

institutions and expectations of the learners

In this study, the author concentrates on finding out the goals of the teaching which are set by MOET (Ministry of Education and Training), the needs and inlerests of the Isarners, the teaching methods currently applied and then evaluating whether or not those goals are met,

2.7, Summary

‘This chapter has covered theoretical background needed to support the study ‘that background includes the clear definition of grammar, naticcable views of grammar teaching, same rolcvant grammar teaching methodologies, considerable issues related to this issue, c1iteria to choose

an appropriate teaching method as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of one method The

CHAPTER II: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents a detailed description of the research methodology the author chose for the achievement of the aims and objectives of the study and the data collection and analysis procedures

3.1 Research questions and method ortentation

As stated in 1.3, this study was designed to seek answers to the following questions: (1) How

is English grammar being taught at Y¥ Ligh School? Specifically, what methods are being used to teach English grammar? (2) Haw effective are these methods as percatved hy teachers

and stsdenis al YV HS? (3) What can be done to make English grammur teaching at YV HS

more effective? The answers to these questions would help us realize the current changes in terns of grammar methodologies as well as ils gap in comparison with learners’ needs and

1nterests

To give the best answers to these questions the author caployed both qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods, The combination of the two is believed to gain deeper data for analysis

3.2 Selection of subjects

‘This study was carried out with three 10" classes at Yen Vien Ligh School in Hanoi liach

lass has 50 students, both male and female They all hay udicd English s

followed the new English textbook series applied by MOET (Ministry of Education and

inec grade 3 and

Training) since they were in prade 6 The new texthooks were expected to incorporate the latest methodology in second language teaching — CLT with task-based approach and leamer- cenferedness (Hoang et al 2006) Also, these 3 classes are taught by Vietnamese teachers of English

‘The reason for choosing grade 10 is that these stndents have had up to fonr years’ experience

of teaming English at secondary school and one more year at high school with the new textbook series and they are, therefore, supposed to have much to say about grammar teaching and learning What is more, students in grade 10 seem to be more relaxed than ones in grade

11 or 12, who are more prevecnpicd wilh cxamination preparation so their response to the research question may be atfected by their examination-biased perspectives

Those three classes were randomly choscn to conduct class obscrvation for English periods After the class observation, 30 students were selected by chance to answer the student questionaire The other questionnaire — the tsachor one - was deliverad to three abscrved teachers, After the questionnaires bad been analyzed, 15 student respondents (five from each observed class) were chosen randomly and all teacher ones were selected for a follow-up interview for more in-depth data Ths interview was consisted of questions the answers to which necded to be more clarificd as well as questions to gct futher information which the questionnaires failed to obtain

The researcher intended to attend as many classes as possible, however, most teachers refused

to let her observe their classes with the reasons that their classes had finished the learning programs and turned to revision for cxams and that class obscrvations, therefore, would be of little help for her thesis, Fortunately, after much effort, the writer got the permission from

30

three ather teachers, The observatton, then, was conducted randomly in three English periods with these teachers at three different classes of grade 10, Each teacher was observed once with very short notice (5 minutes) before their period in the hope that their lessons would be conducted naturally and objectively

The author acted as a non-pasticipant observer and videotaped the classroom procedures These notes were then transcribed and analyzed to find out how grammar is being taught and

what methods arc being uscd to teach gramunar as well as students’ overall reactions to them

3.3.2 Questionnaires

3.3.2.1 Student questionnaire

After the lessons, 30 students in each class were chosen by chance to answer the student questionnaires These questionnaires aimed at exploring students’ needs, expectations, their attitudes towards the curently uscd grammar teaching mcthods and their suggestions about changes ‘rhe results of these questionnaires were then analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively to reach the mosl remarkable issues,

‘The student questionnaire included 7 questions both closed and open-ended to ensure deep data (sce Appendix 3), but to make il zasy Cor respondents to give le best answars, the closed ones outnumbered the open 5 to 2 A closed item is one im which the range of possible responses is determined by the researcher, whereas an open item is one in which the respondents can doide what to say and haw ta say il (Numan 1992: 143) Atl questions were written in Vietnamese to ensure students’ accurate understanding of all the questions before answering them Their answers were also written in Vietnamese which enabled them to expross their ideas fully and casily

The questions focus on the following categories: students” general attitudes towards learning English (Q1), their purposcs of studying English (Q2); their awarencss of the importance of grammar in reaching those purposes (Q3); their expectations for a grammar Iesson in class

31

(Q4); their evaluation of the effectiveness of the current grammar teaching methods, and their suggestions for necessary changes to increase the effectiveness of such method (QS); their preference for and boredom with grammar lessons they have experienced (Q6, Q7)

3.3.2.2 Teacher questionnaire

Like the questionnaire for students, the questionnaire for teachers also included both open and close-ended questions, Even though high school teachers should have good competence in English and decp professional knowledgc, the questions were asked and answered in Vietnamese as well so that teachers could feel easy to fully express what they really mean

This questionnaire aimed to find out; teachers’ awareness of the aims of teaching and learning English at high school (Q1,Q2); their perception of the role of grammar in gaining such aims (Q3); their common ways of teaching grammar in class (Q); their focuses in a grammar Jesson (Q5); the reasons why they used such methods to teach grammar (Q6); the factors they often base on to choose a method of teaching grammar (Q7); their evaluation of the cficotivencss of their grammar icaching mathods and their siuđonis` preforonee for such methods (Q8); their intention of changes to increase the efiectiveness of the methods (Q9); and their perception of a successful grammar tecture (10) (See Appendix 4 for details)

There were 7 teachers in charge of teaching English for all classes of grade 10 However, just three observed teachers agreed to answer the questionnaire Like students’ responses, their

answers, then, wers analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively as well

‘To enable all the student and teacher respondents to have enough time to answer, they were allowed to bring the questionnaires home and raquired lo relum on the nex! day

3.3.3 Follow-up interviews

As stated above, after the questionnaires had been analyzed, 15 student respondents including

7 males and 8 females at the same age of 16 (5 in each observed class) were chosen randomly

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and all teacher ones (all of them were famate at the age of 48, 35 and 32 respectively) wer selected for a follow-up interview The interview was consisted of questionnaire questions whose answers needed to be more clarified as well as questions to get further information

which the questionnaires failed to obtain In fact, the interview was a structured one in which

nature, therefore the researcher chose the structured interview in order to achieve consistence

Her purpose in conducting the student interviews was to get better insights into students’ Jearning styte preference, evaluation of the way grammar was curently approached by their teachers, and their recommendations for changes in the methods of teaching grammar The teacher intervicws were implemented to have cloarcr understanding of teachers’ awaroness of Jeamers’ needs, the procedures they often use to teach grammar, their evaluation of the effectiveness of those methads, their intention for changes lo improve that cfloctiveness as well as their difficulties in teaching grammar

Fach of the strident interviewees was asked 4 questions (sore questions were the sare as in the questionnaires due to the fact that they had not been answered reasonably) (see Appendix 5) To make sure more in-depth information could be gained, the writer decided to interview a small group sclocied randomty from the question

ponents ut oqually among ths

three observed classes

so all of thom were invited to

There were only Unree teachers answering the questionnair

have follow-up interviews with the researcher In the questionnaire, the teachers seemed to be reluctant to, even missed describing their most cammon ways of teaching grammar and giving

an cvaluation of the effectiveness of their own tzaching methods As a result, the questions

33

about these issues were repeated in the interview with some modifications All in all, they had

to answer 5 questions (both old and new ones) (see Appendix 6)

All these interviews were videotaped to record ths information It should also be noted that all the videotapes of the rescarch were not allowed to publicive because of the respondents?

disagreement

3.4 Procedures of data analysis

Data collected from these three different sources were analyzed in tums with close interaction

‘between the parts and with the focus on four tain issuos: (3) grammar tsaching methods arc currently being, used, (b) teachers and students’ evaluation of the effectiveness of those

methods, (c) leamers’ English leaming expectations and their leaming style preference, (d) teachers and students" suggestions for changss to make grammar teaching more effective The data were discussed in this way for achicving, answers to the rescarch questions set for the study Table and pie charts were used to present the quantitative data while qualitative data fromm classroom obscrvations, open-ended questionnaire items, and interviews were prascnied

by quoting relevant responses from the respondents

3.5 Summary

This chapter presented the research questions, the research methodology, instruments of data collection, and procedures of data analysis, ‘To achieve data for the research, three different instruments were used: class observations, questionnaires and follow-up interviews for both students and teachers These instruments were employed in the hope to gain triangulation and more reliable and valid data, Next chapter, chapter our will present the data analysis and

discussion.

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Chapter Three presents the chosen research methodology and instruments of data collection, which included classroom observations, the survey questionnaires and the follow-up interviews This chapter analyzes the data both descriptively and interpretively as well as disousses the findings

4.1 Class obiservations

As stated in Chapter 3 (Methodology), only three teachers of Linglish permitted the researcher

to observe their classes To insure the lessons would be conducted naturally and objectively, the researcher attended their classes randomly with very short notice to the teachers (5 minutes) before their periods ‘These class observations were carried out from the fizst to the severth of March, 2010 Tach teacher was observed once All the lessons were videotaped to get the fullest data, The videotapes were then transcribed and two of them were attached in the appendixes ‘The following are the interpretations and discussions of these lessons

The first class the author observed did not have the teacher for two periods In fact, the teacher said that she was too busy with some other work to teach in the class, Instead, she gave the students some grammar exercises and asked them to work on these exercises until she came back and she would check their work, However, for an unexpected cause, after two periods, the teacher did not retum to the class ‘The students scemed tired and bored, perhaps

‘beeause they wenl to schod! bul learnt nothing on that day This fact helped strengthen ane of the results shown by the student questionnaire and student follow-up interview below that the jessons in which teachers are too preoccupied with other work rather than teaching are the

ones many students hated most

In another class cbsarved by the wriler, the lesson was about revision (see Appendix 1) Tn

35

some exercises on the hoard, she did not tell them what to do next This must have made the classroom atmosphere lumbering and boring As a matter of fact, the whole class was deep in silence Some students did not know what they had to do, so they faced down on the table or kept talking with their partners Only when the teacher finished her work and came back to her task, did the class become more workable Here was a tovision lesson and the pracedares the teacher employed seemed to be appropriate, She did not give her own feedback and explanation to students right away, but called for comments from ths class She also required students to work out the rules again to help their fricnds recognize their mistakes and reinforce her students’ understanding of the rules She also gave the students who did the exercises wrongly a chanoo to corraol the mistakes befre going on, Tl can be said thai her teaching suethod in this lesson was quite leamer-centered and made the knowledge more memorable to the students

However, it was also clcar that the teacher just focused on written grammar cxcreises only

“There were no other activities like games or pair work or gronp work to help students revise the knowledge in a more communicative way

En the last class, it was quite iucky for the researcher that she had a chance 1o observe a real grammar lesson To be more exaet, according to the learning curricula, if was the Tasl gramenar Jesson before revision for exams (See Appendix 2)

Th can be said thal this leacher’s (caching method was quite different fom the ont tcachcr

In all Jesson, she kept an enthusiastic attitude and made the leaming environment relaxing and involving to the students It seemed that most of the students had a chance to contribute theirs ideas in the lessơn and gọt their friends" and Isacher’s feedback, They were praised wher giving correct answers and were helped to correct themselves when they made mistakes This procedure appeared to be very motivating to the students

competence of many students

4.2 Questionnaires

4.2.1 Student questionnaires

90 questionnaires were delivered, but only 87 retuned After analyzing the results of the questionnaire, the most interesting and significant findings were sclected to present here

4.2.1.1, Siudents’ attitudes foward learning English

The first question in the questionnaize asked the respondents whether they liked English or not (Q1) ‘The results showed that slightly more than half of the students responded favorably to the learning of English af the school, over a Ulird had the nicutral allitude lo il wherzas just a sinall number disliked it straightforwardly (see Table 1)

Number of Like or like very Dou’d like learning, Neither like nor

Table 1: Students’ attitudes tawards learning English at Yen Vien High School

That result suggested that most students seemed to be quite motivated to learn English

‘Typical reasons they gave for their interest in leaming English were “learning English is very

imteresting” (5 snuđents); “Tinplish will be very necessary for my life and my job in the fumre™ (5 Ss), “English always brings great passion to me I think I have the inbom talent for it I study it to well prepare for the future” (3 Ss), “I want to become a tourist guide in the future to introduce our country to global tourists” (2 Ss); and “1 like all the Linglish lessons because they arc fascinating ad very tasy lo understand” (4 8s)

Besides, up to 9 students said that they like English becanss leaming English will help them

‘be able to communicate with forcigncrs and lcam about other countrics’ cultures and socictics Many other students emphasized the fact that English is still considered as the most popular international language all over the wortd as their main reason for cnjaying learning English Passing and having good results at the school leaving or university entrance exams was also mentionsd by 10 students as one of the reasons

This result helpcd us infor that difforcnt students arc motivated to lcam English in different

ways That motivation could be intrinsic or extrinsic

Asked about why they had neutral attitude towards Ieaming English, 32 students shared two opinions ‘They blamed their bad leaming of Lnglish and unclear understanding of the knowledge for their ncubulity fn fact, they emphasized they bad complex feclings to learning English Specifically, when they studied it well enough to understand all the knowledge of the lessons, they really liked it, otherwise they did not Even thongh students did not accuse icachets’ teaching methods straightforwardly as onc main rcason for their lack of

‘understanding and their disinterest in learning English, those methods should bz an important

38

thanks to the help from teachers with the teaching methods Nevertheless, their teachers” current teaching methods did not seem to be effective for these students

4.2.1.2, Students’ purposes of learning English

The second question in the student questionnaire was to find oul students’ purposes of learning English (Q2) Together with the result of Question I, the answer to this question was hoped to supplement and clazify the reasons for students’ motivation in learning English The results

showed that the purposes of lcaming English among respondents were very vaticd (sce Table

6, To listen to and understand English songs and wale anovies in English 39

7 To search for information on the Intemet in Enghish 61

9 To get better understanding of other counties 48

Other reasons

Table 2; Students” purposes of learning English

‘The results showed that the most popular purposes of leaning English among the students were to search for information on the Intermet in English (61 Ss), to Tisten to and understand English songs and watch movies in English (59 Ss), to well communicate with foreigners (58 Ss), and to get a good job after leaving school (58 Ss) The second most ones were to get

‘better understanding of other countries (48 Ss) and to pass the schoo! leaving cxarrintion (46

39

Ss) Those purposes revealed that most stidents were well aware of the importance and necessity of English in their life now and in the future Plainly, like discussed above, most students are intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to leam English Moreover, some of the

: (English language ‘Veaching) sel by MORT (Ministry of Education and Training) (2006: 5) for high school as fullows

students’ learning purposes were the same as the targets of

i “Use English as a meaus for basic communication both in spoken and written channels,

2 Master basic and relatively systematic knowledge of English snited to their levels of proficiency and ages

3 Acquire some general understanding of the people and cultwes of some English-speaking countries aud develop @ positive attitude towards the people, cultures and language of these countries: cultivate the pride in, love for and respect to the Vietnamese culture and language” (MOET, 2006: 5)

The results also made it clear that the final purpose of most students was to be able to communicate fluently and accurately in Linglish in all four skilis Besides, they also needed to master English grammar to pass al] important cxams at school However, the former purpose

outmmbers the latter 58 to 48 students

The number of students who did not find English interesting at all and leamed English as a compulsory subject at school, luckily, was only 4 ‘This result was quite the same as the result shown in Question 1 (5) All in all, it can also be stated that these students were still extrinsically motivaled ty some extent They could became mors couperalive with teachers in

class and teachers still had a chance to make them more interested

4.2.1.3, Students’ awareness of the role of grammar in reaching their purposes

Referring to the importance of grammar ((Q3), it 1s interesting to figure out that up to 84 per 86

students agrocd thai granmmr plays ø crucial role im achisving their purposes of Iearning English in Table 2 above whereas only 2 others negated that role This result showed that there was a vital need of learning English grammar among the students

3, Mastery of prammar will help me do well all grammar cxercises, so I will have | 75

good marke for all examinations

7 Mastery of grammar will help me communicate in English more effectively s8

Other reasons

+ Grammar is an important part of English, so mastery of grammar will help me | 1

learn thig subject beller

Table 3: Reatons shy respondenls thúnk of the role of English grammar

This table once again confirmed the students’ awareness of great importance of gramunar in gaining their purposes It also noted the two main reasons for their choice that mastery of

gramenar would help thom do well all grannnar cxorcisos, so thoy would have good marks fer all examinations and that mastery of grammar would help them comumnicate in Enelish more effectively, owever, more students thought grammar was indispensable for their exams than for communication (75 comparcd with 68), This is bccausc the fact that grammar still plays a

‘very important part in high school examinations of English, so, in order to have high marks for these exams, naturally students have to leam grammar through a wide variety of grammar cxcrviscs, Far communication, rescarch shows thal grammar is also esscntial ta achieve communicative competence in English (Canale & Swain, 1980) However, it is the tact that sometimes communication can still take well without much grammar These arguments can explain why more sludents valued the role of grammar for their school cxams over for communication, even though both the numbers were high

4l

In short, it can bs inferred that almost all respondents found grammar essential to mest their purposes of learning English They wanted to learn Enplish grammar to have good results for all exams in which grammar exercises still occupy a large part and to be able to use English to communicate competently at all four skills

4.2.1.4, Students’ expectations for a grammar lesson in class

Question 4 touched students’ expectations for a grammar lesson in class The results of the responses from the students to the question “What do you expect from a grammar lesson in class?” are presented in the table below

Texpect to be tanght the forms of a grammar structure kì 3

To be tanght meanings and uses of a grammar structure 30 2

To be tanght and practice the prominciation ofa grammar structure 75 1

Grammar points are presented briefly, clearly and easy to R3 1

undersiand

Praclice new grammar suclures with A LOT of grammar exercises 57 2

Practice new grammar structures with SOME grammar exercise and 59 4

have time for other commmnicative activities

can apply new grammar stmictures to express what I want

‘The classroom atmosphere is exciting and effective 79 0

‘To be intruded lo express wiral [ wanl to gay 76 1

Table 4: Stustents’ expectations for « grammar lesson in class

Based on the table, it is advisable to analyze the results in two categories: Grammar structure

c aclivitics,

presentation ard practi

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To start with grammar structure presentation, mast stndents expected ta learn the forms, the

pronunciation, especially the meanings and uses of a new grammar structure This expectation

is reasonable because the knowledge of these fields is essential for them to apply grammar points in doing grammar exercises as well as in communication correctly and effectively Morcover, they desired forms, prommcialion, meanings and uses lo be presented briefly, clearly and easy to understand, This kind of presentation is crucial io make students understand the learning points and interests them to learn English as well It concurs with the reasons why some students disliked English as prescnted by Question 1

Practice activities are an indisponsable part of a learning process As the table showed, thers seemed to be two main types of practice activities: practice new grammar structures through doing erammar exercises and through communicative activities in pairs and in groups ‘Ihe results revealed that quite a large mumber of students (57 Ss) wanted to practice through doing

a Jot of grammar exercises However, slightly more respondents (59 Ss) disagreed to do a lot

of grammar exercises Instead, they expected the combination of practice through grammar exordisos and communicative aotivilics in a lesson These two resulls were not contradictory at all as a respondent could choose more than one choices In fact, it is noticeable that most respondents (75 $3) had a strong wish for many communicative activities in pairs and groups

so that they could usc new grammar poinls to convey what they wanted to say To put il in

another way, most participants in the questionnaire desired lessons to help them develop their communicative skills in English

The results also emphasized respondents’ expectation tor a remarkable change in the role of

teachers and classroom atmosphere Most of them (76 Ss) expected teachers to work as a

guide or an instructor sơmchow Lo assist thom in communieative activilics 79 respondents also expected classroom atmospheres to be more exciting and effective, Clearly, this condition

is important for the greater motivation and better learning among students

4.2.1.5, Students’ evaluations of grammar Iessons in class

Question 5 required students to evaluate the effectiveness of grammar lessons in class in

general, then in a more detailed scale Generally, the results were displayed in the pie chart below,

DBlitte effective or ineffective

Figure 1: Students’ evaluation of grammar lessons in class (the percentages were rounded up)

We are pleasant to find that the number of students thinking that grammar teaching in their

school was effective was higher than that of ones dissatisfied with its effectiveness (77%

compared with 23%)

To clarify this evaluation, the students were asked to see whether or not and how effectively their expectations above were met in grammar lessons in class

Most of the students agreed that they were taught all the features of a grammar structure

including forms, meanings and uses They also evaluated the effectiveness of the presentation

as in the pie chart below,

Difficult or very difficult to understand]

1 Quite difficult to understand

‘The results indicate that the percentage of respondents commenting that teachers” presentation

of grammar points was easy to understand was about the same as that of the Ss who reported it quite difficult to digest (44 % against 43%) Besides, the number of students complaining that