Nhận thức của học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Chi Lăng về tầm quan trọng của ngữ pháp trong việc học tiếng Anh về những khó khăn của họ khi học ngữ pháp tiếng Anh

ABSTRACT This study was aimed to investigate Chi Lang High School 10th graders’ perceptions of the importance of grammar in English learning and find out their difficulties in learning E

ABSTRACT

This study was aimed to investigate Chi Lang High School 10th graders’ perceptions of the importance of grammar in English learning and find out their difficulties in learning English grammar so as to give some recommendations for English grammar teaching at the named school The data for the study were collected through a survey questionnaire for 125 grade 10 students and a structured interview with 10 students voluntarily chosen from the respondents of the questionnaire The data were first analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively and then discussed to find out answers to the research questions The study revealed that the students had positive perceptions of the importance of grammar in English learning Besides, it indicated some difficulties encountered by the students in learning English grammar Moreover, it also found out that the students preferred a combination of inductive and deductive (or implicit and explicit) grammar teaching with some additional communicative activities These findings were the basis for the researcher to give some recommendations for teaching English grammar to the 10th graders at Chi Lang High School with the hope that they will be of some help to improve English grammar teaching in Chi

Lang High School in particular as well as that at other high schools nationwide

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ……… …….i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……….………….ii

ABSTRACT ……….iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ……….iv

LIST OF TABLES AND ABBREVIATIONS……… vii

PART A: INTRODUCTION……… 1

1 Rationale ………… ………1

2 Objectives of the study……… ……… 2

3 Research questions……….2

4 Research methods ….……….……… 2

5 Scope of the study……… 3

6 Significance of the study………3

7 Design of the study……….3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT ……….………….5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ……… ……… 5

1.1 Definitions of grammar ……….… ………… 5

1.2 The place of grammar in foreign language teaching ……… ……… 6

1.2.1 For-grammar perspectives ……….… 6

1.2.2 Against-grammar perspectives ……… 7

1.3 Some approaches to grammar teaching ……… ……….8

1.3.1 Implicit and explicit approaches to grammar teaching ……… 8

1.3.2 Deductive and inductive approaches to grammar teaching ……… 10

1.3.2.1 The deductive approach ……….10

1.3.2.2 The inductive approach ………11

1.4 Some research on learner perceptions of grammar teaching ……….13

1.5 Learner variables ……… 14

1.6 Concluding remarks ……… ……….15

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY ……….………16

2.1 Setting of the study ……….………16

2.2 Methodology……… ……….17

2.2.1 Research questions……… ……….17

2.2.2 Subjects of the study ………17

2.2.3 Data collection instruments……….………… 18

2.2.3.1 The questionnaire……… 18

2.2.3.2 The interview ………19

2.2.4 Data collection procedures……….19

2.2.5 Data analysis procedures………20

2.3 Concluding remarks ……… 20

CHAPTER 3: DATA, DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ……… 21

3.1 Data of and findings from the questionnaire ………… ………21

3.1.1 Students’ perceptions of the necessity of learning English ………21

3.1.2 Students’ purposes for learning English ……….22

3.1.3 Students’ perceptions of the importance of grammar in English learning 23

3.1.4 The ways a grammatical point is usually taught ……… 24

3.1.5 Students’ level of understanding of the teachers’ grammar instruction ………25

3.1.6 Students’ evaluation of the teachers’ presentations of grammar ………26

3.1.7 Students’ evaluation of grammar parts in the new standard textbook - Tieng Anh 10 ……… 27

3.1.8 Students’ difficulties in learning grammar ……… 27

3.1.9 Students’ evaluation of the most effective way of learning grammar ……… 29

3.1.10 Students’ preferred styles of grammar teaching ……… 30

3.2 Data of and findings from the interview ………31

3.3 Discussion of the findings ……….33

3.4 Summary of the main findings……… 35

PART C: CONCLUSION ……… ……….36

1 Conclusions … ……….……….… 36

2 Recommendations for teaching English grammar to the 10th graders at Chi Lang High School 37

3 Limitations of the study ………39

4 Suggestions for further study ……… …….40

REFERENCES ……… ……… 41 APPENDICES……….I

Appendix 1: Survey questionnaire ……… ………I Appendix 2: Interview questions ……….… V Appendix 3: Interview transcripts ……….……… V Appendix 4: Some communicative activities .……… VII Appendix 5: Some examples of using games, pictures, and songs

to introduce grammatical points………XI

LIST OF TABLES AND ABBREVIATIONS

I LIST OF TABLES

- Table 1: Students’ perceptions of the necessity of learning English

- Table 2: Students’ purposes for learning English

- Table3: Students’ perceptions of the importance of grammar in English learning

- Table 4: The ways a grammatical point is usually taught

- Table 5: Students’ level of understanding of the teachers’ grammar instruction

- Table 6: Students’ evaluation of the teachers’ presentations of grammar

- Table 7: Students’ evaluation of grammar parts in the new standard textbook –Tieng Anh

10

- Table 8: Students’ difficulties in learning grammar

- Table 9: Students’ evaluation of the most effective way of learning grammar

- Table10: Students’ preferred styles of grammar teaching

II ABBREVIATIONS

- EFL: English as Foreign Language

- ESL: English as Second Language

- MOET: Ministry of Education and Training

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

The value of grammar instruction has been argued by numerous people involved in the field of language teaching In fact, no other issue has so preoccupied theorists and practitioners as the grammar debate, and the history of language teaching is essentially the history of the claims and counterclaims for and against the teaching of grammar (Thornbury, 2004) In the early twentieth century, priority was given to grammar teaching with the argument that if one knew the grammatical rules of the language, he would be able to use it for communication However, this argument was called into question in the early 1970s for it was thought that in order to be considered a competent user of a language, one needed to know not only the rules of grammar, but also how the rules were used in real communication Therefore, grammar teaching became less prominent, and in some cases, was abandoned during this period In recent years, a growing concern about accuracy in learners’ language has resulted in

a reassertion of the role of grammar in syllabus design and the content of lessons, and even in giving explicit attention to grammatical forms and rules (Ellis, 1993c quoted in Hedge, 2000)

It is clear from this brief history of language teaching that grammar teaching has had such a crucial role in language instruction that it can not be neglected

Foreign language teaching in Vietnam, particularly English language teaching, has long been considered to be grammar-focused It can be inferred from this that grammar teaching has always been central to foreign language teaching In fact, teachers of English at Chi Lang High School always pay much more attention to teach grammar than language skills and other language knowledge This is mainly due to the school final examination, which is mainly grammar-based with their students’ pass rate as an indicator of the teachers’ success And for many of the students here, learning English is synonymous with learning its grammar Therefore, when learning English, they chiefly focus on grasping its grammar However, they have not been much successful in mastering it for, in reality, they often speak and write ungrammatically, and mistake grammar structures, especially when they do English written tests and exams which contain different grammar structures Obviously, these students value

grammar learning and spend much time on it, but they have difficulty distinguishing and memorizing grammar structures Moreover, up to now, there has not been any research on this problem at Chi Lang High School All of these reasons inspired me to conduct the survey

research entitled “Chi Lang High School 10 th graders’ perceptions of the importance of grammar in English learning and their difficulties in learning English grammar.”

2 Objectives of the study

With the above-mentioned rationale, the objectives of the study are:

 To investigate Chi Lang High School 10th graders’ perceptions of the importance of grammar in English learning;

 To find out Chi Lang High School 10th graders’ difficulties in learning English grammar;

 To give some recommendations for teaching English grammar to the 10th graders at Chi Lang High School

3 Research questions

To achieve the objectives of the study, the following research questions were proposed:

1 What are Chi Lang High School 10th graders’ perceptions of the importance of grammar in English learning?

2 What are Chi Lang High School 10th graders’ difficulties in learning English grammar?

3 What are Chi Lang High School 10th graders’ preferred styles of teaching English grammar?

4 Research methods

This is a survey research which utilized both quantitative and qualitative methods And two sources of data were used to achieve the objectives of the study and answer the research questions:

 Investigating students’ perceptions of the importance of grammar in English learning, finding out their difficulties in learning English grammar as well as their preferred styles of teaching English grammar through a questionnaire The questionnaire included both closed and open-ended questions to ensure deep data The data from the questionnaire were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively

 Interviewing 10 students to get more in-depth information for the study as well as get their suggestions for grammar teaching lessons at school The interview was a structured one

5 Scope of the study

The study is only aimed at investigating Chi Lang High School 10th graders’ perceptions of the importance of grammar in English learning, finding out their difficulties in learning English grammar, and giving some recommendations for teaching English grammar

to the 10th graders at Chi Lang High School Therefore, their perceptions of the importance of language skills and other language knowledge as well as their difficulties in learning them will

be beyond the scope of this study And the findings of the study are not intended to be generalized to other high school graders in Vietnam

6 Significance of the study

It is hoped that the results of the study will help the teachers of English in Chi Lang High School clearly understand the 10th graders’ perceptions of the importance of grammar in English learning, their difficulties in learning English grammar, and their preferred styles of teaching English grammar And the recommendations for English grammar teaching will be beneficial to the teachers here in particular as well as those who concern English grammar teaching at high schools nationwide

7 Design of the study

The study includes three parts: the Introduction, the Development and the Conclusion Part A: Introduction - deals with the rationale, objectives, research questions, methodology,

scope, significance and design of the study

Part B: Development – consists of three chapters

Chapter 1: Literature review – provides some theoretical background about

grammar, grammar teaching, learner perceptions of teaching grammar, and learner variables

Chapter 2: The study – presents the setting of the study, research questions, subjects

of the study, data collection instruments, data collection procedures and data analysis procedures

Chapter 3: Data, Data Analysis and Discussion – shows data of and major findings

from the questionnaire and interview, and discussion of the findings

Part C: Conclusion - presents conclusions, recommendations for teaching English

grammar to the 10th graders at Chi Lang High School, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

Throughout the history of foreign language teaching, grammar and grammar teaching have always been of a big concern among educational researchers, linguists, methodologists and language teachers Different definitions of grammar, views of and approaches to grammar teaching have been proposed This chapter deals with some definitions of grammar, the place

of grammar in foreign language teaching, some approaches to grammar teaching, some research on learner perceptions of grammar teaching, and learner variables

1.1 Definitions of grammar

As cited in Harmer (1987), The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines grammar as “the study and practice of the rules by which words change their forms and are combined into sentences” Accordingly, the rules of grammar, and the study and practice of the rules are two basic elements in this definition; and the rules of grammar are about how

words change and how they are put together into sentences

Celce-Murcia and Hilles (1988) have the same opinion of grammar: “we can think of language as a type of rule-governed behavior Grammar, then, is a subset of those rules which

govern the configurations that the morphology and syntax of a language assume”

It can be drawn from the two definitions above that grammar just refers to rules to combine words to make sentences But a question needs answering is that what these sentences are used for?

According to Bastone (1994), grammar is divided into product (the component parts or rules that makes up the language) and process (the ways in which grammar is deployed from moment to moment in communication) Clearly, Bastone’s view of grammar not only concerns rules but also rules of use

Richards, Platt, and Platt (1992) write in their Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics: “Grammar is a description of the structure of a language and the way in which linguistic units such as words and phrases are combined to produce sentences in the language It usually takes into account the meanings and functions these sentences have in overall system of the language It may or may not include the description of the sound of a language.”

I favor Richards, Platt, and Platt’s (1992) definition of grammar Because, in this definition, grammar is viewed as descriptive, which refers to the structure of a language as it is actually used by speakers and writers Furthermore, the definition indicates both linguistic and social features of grammar as it refers to not only rules to make correct sentences but also meanings and functions of such sentences in the language, which is essential for foreign language teaching and learning

1.2 The place of grammar in foreign language teaching

Grammar teaching has always received much attention from people who interest in language and language teaching and learning According to Celce-Murcia and Hilles (1988: 1), “of the many issues surrounding the teaching of grammar, perhaps the most controversial

is whether to teach it at all” From a historical perspective, this controversy should come as somewhat of a surprise: teaching grammar has been central to and often synonymous with teaching foreign language for the past 2,500 years (Rutherford, 1987 quoted in Celce-Murcia and Hilles, 1988) However, the 1980s experienced an anti-grammar movement, perhaps influenced primarily by Krashen’s (1987) idea is that grammar can be acquired naturally from meaningful input and opportunities to interact in the classroom (Hedge, 2000) Some arguments for and against grammar will be introduced briefly below

1.2.1 For-grammar perspectives

The role of grammar in foreign language teaching and learning has been acknowledged

by many scholars in the field Typically, Canale and Swain (1980) admit the importance of grammar when seeing grammar as one of four components of communicative competence and learners can communicate effectively only in a limited number of situations without grammar

In favor of Canale and Swain, Brown (2007) points out that “grammatical competence

occupies a prominent position as a major component of communicative competence” Long and Richards (1987) also claim that grammar plays a central role in the four language skills and vocabulary to establish communicative tasks

Moreover, Rutherford and Smith (1988) state that grammar can be beneficial to learners in the sense that it raises learners consciousness concerning the differences and similarities of first language and second language So, grammar teaching can be used as a

“linguistic map” with road signs to help students as they explore the “topography” of the new language As a supporter of grammar teaching, Hannan (1989) argues that grammar is highly valuable as an important part of the study of language, of ideas and of writing He also concludes that grammar reflects the power and order of the human mind and, besides, it helps

us to understand the diversity of human culture In addition, from Palmer’s (1984) viewpoint, the central part of a language is its grammar, and this should be of “vital interest to any intelligent educated person If it has not been of such interest, then the fault must be in the failure to recognize its importance within this essentially human activity”

Mentioning the significance of grammar teaching, Smith (2001) assumes that if teachers do not pay attention to grammar nor create opportunities for learners to improve their grammar, they are likely to stand the risk of fossilization or reach a point where they can cope with level of communication that is demanded of them by making use of their existing grammatical resources and communication strategies and probably with sufficient fluency not

to see the need to develop their linguistic abilities any further In short, grammar is acknowledged to be of importance in language study and foreign language teaching and learning This partly explains Hedge’s (2000) idea that recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in the role of grammar in English language teaching

1.2.2 Against-grammar perspectives

It is undeniable that although many language learners know the grammar rules of a language well, they have many difficulties communicating effectively in that language Therefore, some people suspect that grammar teaching will lead to good communication and disregard it For instance, Krashen (1987), the most prominent supporter of anti-grammar view, whose learning and acquisition hypothesis and his Monitor theory are very well-known

In his learning and acquisition hypothesis, Krashen argues that from learning the learners obtain conscious knowledge of grammar which is not responsible for actual second language performance On the other hand, acquisition is the underlying process which is responsible for the actual performance and this can only happen unconsciously through natural exposure to comprehensible inputs Moreover, according to his Monitor theory, consciously-learned grammar can only function as monitoring and monitoring overuse will only disturb the flow of production Consequently, this grow-up holds that formal and conscious study of grammar should be strongly rejected if the objective of learning the language is productive competence

To sum up, grammar plays a crucial part in language teaching for grammar is one of three key components of a language So, one cannot master a language without the knowledge

of its grammar Partly thanks to grammar, language can function as a means of communication, especially in written language A person cannot write well if he lacks the knowledge of grammar Moreover, according to Peck (1988), grammar exists to enable us to

‘mean’ and without it, it is impossible to communicate beyond a very rudimentary level because speech is no more than sounds, writing is no more than hieroglyphics Although there was a time when grammar was severely rejected, in recent years grammar teaching has regained its rightful place in the language teaching and “grammar is too important to be ignored” (Richards, 2002)

1.3 Some approaches to grammar teaching

As mentioned above, grammar is so important to language teaching that it can not be neglected Now the issue is that how to teach it effectively Numerous approaches to and methods of grammar teaching have been proposed throughout the history of language teaching

in general and foreign language teaching in particular Below are four major approaches in

detail

1.3.1 Implicit and explicit approaches to grammar teaching

Scott’s (1990) viewpoint of implicit and explicit approaches is as follows: the implicit

approach emphasizes that students should be exposed to grammatical structures in a meaningful and comprehensible context in order that they may acquire as naturally as possible the grammar of the target language; in contrast, the explicit approach insists upon the value of deliberate study of a grammar rule in order to organize linguistic elements efficiently and accurately According to DeKeyser (1994), implicit teaching of grammar means that no rules are formulated; explicit means rules are formulated (either by the teacher or the student, either before or after examples/practice)

For scholars who advocate an implicit approach to grammar teaching, students will develop “naturally” all the grammatical competence they need to communicate effectively if they are exposed to comprehensible, meaningful linguistic input Indeed, Krashen and his colleagues (Krashen, 1987; Krashen & Terrell, 1983) led the evolution against explicit grammar teaching The distinction that Krashen makes between “learning” (a conscious process) and “acquisition” (a subconscious process) forms the basis of his theory of implicit teaching strategies He maintains that second language acquisition can take place in the classroom without the explicit study of grammar if students are exposed to enough comprehensible input Moreover, according to Krashen & Terrell (1983), the conscious study

of grammar does not aid in the natural acquisition process as “…grammar exercises…can be valuable as tool to encourage learning However, it should be kept in mind that while their function is important, very little acquisition will take place during their use”

However, Krashen’s hypothesis has been criticized by many scholars as it is not validated by experimental evidence For instance, Lopéz (2004) and Andrews (2007) carried out experimental studies on the effects of implicit-explicit grammar instruction on EFL and ESL students’ performance The results indicate that students who were taught the target structures explicitly performed better than those who received the implicit method of instruction Moreover, Celce-Murcia (1991) warns that the implicit approach “can lead to the development of a broken, ungrammatical pidginize from of the target language beyond which students rarely process” (p 162) Such learners, she explains, are often said to have fossilized

in their acquisition of the target language In addition, there are many other advocates of the

explicit method of grammar instruction Mclaughlin (1990) supports the value of explicit grammar teaching by distinguishing between controlled processing and automatic processing

in learning a foreign language He stresses that language skills are learned and become automatic only after the use of controlled process In other words, students develop automatic control of a grammatical structure after passing through a deliberate, conscious stage of learning grammatical rule and their application In addition, Savignon (1991) points out that while involvement in communicative event is seen as central to language involvement, this involvement necessarily requires attention to form or explicit language teaching

In a word, each above-mentioned approach to grammar teaching has its own strengths and which one is chosen as the leading approach to grammar teaching depends on many factors such as, learning and teaching contexts, learners’ learning motivation and styles, teachers’ competence, etc

1.3.2 Deductive and inductive approaches to grammar teaching

1.3.2.1 The deductive approach

In the deductive approach, a grammatical rule is first presented explicitly by the teacher and examples applying the rule will follow Next the students practice the rule with various kinds of exercises, for example drills and translation into and out of the target language The deductive approach is also often compared with other more traditional methods

of grammar teaching It aims at teaching various grammatical rules one at a time through presentation and explanation by the teacher Moreover, it is seen to facilitate the learners’ acquisition by “making learners notice structures that they might not otherwise have noticed” (Ellis 1993, 1995, as quoted in Ruin 1996:104) This is done by giving the learners explicit interpretations and time to internalize the rule instead of making them to use or produce structures they cannot yet fully master Also, as the approach gives the teacher a simple and quick way for teaching the rules, there will be more time for practicing the structure Actually, according to Smith (1980, as quoted in Rutherford and Smith 1988:109), explicit instruction that focuses on form outside its context can result in deeper learning than natural acquisition

On the other hand, knowing explicitly about a rule does not necessarily mean that it is truly acquired As a matter of fact, Shaffer (1989:395) thinks that students might not fully understand the rule from the presentation and do not really know how to actually use

it Decoo (1996:107) agrees with Shaffer but sees also that examples can help the learners to acquire the rule The deductive approach has also been blamed for making the learners’ role rather passive as much of the attention is focused on the teacher explaining the rules and showing the examples Moreover, usually the grammar instruction is given by using the learners’ mother tongue, thus leaving little opportunity for them to hear or practice the target language According to Thornbury (2004:30), especially young learners might not yet have sufficient metalanguage to understand the abstract grammar concepts involved as they may not have yet been taught about them in their mother tongue, and therefore, might lose their interest Besides, this approach to grammar can lead to a wrong conception that knowing the rules is all that is needed to learn a language However, it is still used in language teaching for it is traditional, time-saving, and confirms many students’ expectations about classroom learning effectiveness but recently the interest has been towards more communicative approaches Next I will present the inductive approach and its view of grammar teaching

1.3.2.2 The inductive approach

The inductive approach, in its turn, moves from specific to general The learners are first shown many examples containing a certain grammatical structure in different contexts and they have to work out the rules by themselves Next the learners apply the rules with various exercises and in different contexts to learn how they actually work in real language use Yet here theorists have differing opinions about whether or not the rule should be verbalized at all Some consider it to be helpful for the learners but others think it only disturbs the process of acquisition (Decoo 1996:97) This approach is also often compared with the Audio-Lingual method that sees language learning as habit formation where, according to Shaffer (1989:395), learners will learn the structure through examples until it becomes automatic He also thinks that the students will not know what they are learning unless the teacher gives the explanation to them Grammar is here presented in context

and the learners can consciously work with the language In fact, consciousness-raising

is seen as an important feature in language learning as it focuses learners’ attention actively on a grammatical structure through examples and guides them to work out the rules of the target language themselves, instead of giving them everything ready and waiting (Ruin 1996:106) This approach also involves the learners in a more active participation and

as they need to figure out the rules by themselves, the learners will remember and acquire them better than just by hearing them from the teacher Despite the advantages of the inductive approach, it might not always be a good way to approach a grammar item Firstly, it can be very time consuming as the teacher has to create the many examples needed to demonstrate the rules well enough and it might also take much time for the learners to actually discover the rules The time taken to the discovery might not leave enough room for exercises and in this case the learners could only depend on their own conclusions Secondly, the learners might hypothesize the wrong rules which might lead to incorrect assumptions of the grammar item (Thornbury 2004:54) Now, if the rules are not verbalized at all, it might be very difficult later to unlearn what the learners have originally acquired and, thus, it could lead to bad habits in real language use Again, the researchers are not completely satisfied with the method although many have found it functional Here the learners get to participate more but, on the other hand, this participation might lead to incorrect knowledge about the language and also take time from actually practising the rules

To sum up, although quite much research has been done comparing the approaches, the various studies have not shown big differences in favour of either one of them Some have found supporting results for the one but then another study shows better results for the other Corder (1988, as quoted by Ruin 1996:109) sees the pros of both of the approaches, as according to him, in the deductive approach the learners’ attention is directed to the problem

by giving the rules first to raise their awareness of it, whereas by giving the examples first in the inductive approach the learners are encouraged to use their own intuitions and observations to figure out the rules by themselves Therefore an ideal syllabus might be to use both deductive and inductive approaches together depending on the topic and its level of difficulty

1.4 Some research on learner perceptions of grammar teaching

In order to attain the goal of a new curriculum, particularly one that is learner- centered, it is very important to know learner perceptions Because, according to Eva Bernat (2008), perceptions and beliefs play a significant role in directing human behavior and how students’ beliefs have the potential to shape their cognitive and affective processes in the classroom and impact on their actions Up to now, there have been several studies on issues related to learner perceptions of foreign language teaching and learning in general and grammar teaching and learning in particular

Some research conducted in foreign language situations reveals that students find error correction and grammar instruction helpful in language learning In fact, Schulz’s (1996, cited

in Anne Pazaver and Hong Wang, 2009) study on students’ and teachers’ views on error correction and the role of grammar instruction in a foreign language setting indicates that many students had a more favorable attitude towards grammar instruction than their teachers The students also believed that in order to master a language, it was necessary to study grammar Peacock (1998, quoted in Anne Pazaver and Hong Wang, 2009) finds that learners were much in favor of error correction and grammar exercises

Horowitz (1990, cited in Anne Pazaver and Hong Wang, 2009) claims that there isoften a mismatch in perception between students and teachers on the use of grammar and that this may often result in negative effects The goal of her study was to determine students’ beliefs on language learning so that teachers could bear them in mind while teaching Kern (1995, quoted in Anne Pazaver and Hong Wang, 2009) believes that an awareness of this mismatch is important in understanding conflicts that could result in lack of motivation or anxiety

In their study on Asian Students’ Perceptions of Grammar Teaching in the ESL Classroom, Anne Pazaver and Hong Wang (2009) find out that although having similar cultural and educational backgrounds, the Asian students’ perceptions of form-focused instruction varied widely Their different perspectives were based on their previous language learning experiences, their language proficiency, current academic needs, and future career choices

In short, it is important to not only be aware of students’ perceptions of the role of grammar in language learning, but also to understand how these ideas about language learning were formed It may be that students’ prior language learning experiences shaped their perceptions Alternatively, their teachers’ beliefs about language may contribute to their choice of teaching methods, which in turn may contribute to the shaping of the perceptions of their students

1.5 Learner variables

With regard to the type of grammar instruction or grammar activities appropriate for ESL or EFL learners and when or how to teach grammar, teachers need to consider the following learner variables proposed by Celce-Murcia (1991) Firstly, language learners have different learning strategies or styles Some learners, consciously or unconsciously, have an analytic style and learn best by formulating and testing hypotheses or “rules.” Other learners have a holistic style and learn best by experiencing, gathering, and restructuring relevant data but doing little or no apparent analysis Secondly, age is an important learner variable in helping ESL/EFL teachers decides the extent to which they should focus on form If the ESL learners concerned are young children, it is most likely that little explicit grammar instruction

is needed If the students are adolescents or adults, however, their learning may well be facilitated by some explicit focus on form Thirdly, proficiency level is also a variable If the ESL students are beginners (regardless of age), there is little justification in focusing on form However, if the learners are at the intermediate or advanced level, it may well be necessary for the teacher to provide some form-related feedback and correction in order for the learners to progress Fourthly, the educational background of the students is another learner variable If students are preliterate with little formal education, then it is probably not very productive to focus extensively on form Even this population (i.e., preliterate or semiliterate adults with little formal education) may demand some grammar because of cultural expectations regarding what constitutes language instruction While they may not benefit linguistically from grammar instruction, the teacher who satisfies their cultural expectations with some grammar may then

do other things that will be beneficial and which the students will accept On the other hand, if

the students are literate and well educated, they may become frustrated and annoyed if the teacher does not provide adequate opportunity for them to focus on the formal aspects of the target language, which would, of course, include correction of their errors and answers to their questions Clearly, “there is no single method or approach that can work…for all learners or under all conditions” (Canh, 2004: 95)

1.6 Concluding remarks

This chapter has provided the literature review related to the research questions It includes the definitions of grammar, the place of grammar in foreign language teaching, four approaches to grammar teaching, some research on learner perceptions of grammar teaching, and learner variables The literature review is the basis for the researcher to design the survey questionnaire and interview, then to analyze the data gathered as well as to propose some recommendations for teaching English grammar to the 10th graders at Chi Lang High School

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY

This chapter describes the setting of the study Besides, the methodology of the study

is also introduced in detail

2.1 Setting of the study

Chi Lang High School was established in 1965 and is located in Chi Lang district in Lang Son, a mountainous province in the north-east of Vietnam The school is about 40 kilometers from the center of Lang Son and fourth biggest high school in Lang Son province with 30 classrooms of which three are computer-equipped and three are equipped with overhead projectors

In terms of students, most of them come from ethnic minorities and the majority of their parents are farmers with low incomes Therefore, the students here do not have best learning conditions As a result, their average level is lower than that in other schools in the province And due to level of the students, the Basic Stream is prescribed by the school’s board of administrators as the only stream for its students to pursue According to the curriculum proposed by the MOET, English is a compulsory subject for high school students, and students pursuing the Basic Stream have three English classes per week and each class lasts for forty five minutes Grade 10 students at Chi Lang High School all studied English with the new textbooks designed by the MOET for four years at lower-secondary schools However, the lower-secondary school students here do not have to take any English examinations in order to be qualified for the lower-secondary school diploma or pass the grade

10 entrance examination, so they often pay little attention to English learning as a result their English is very limited

With regard to teaching materials, teachers and students in high schools in Vietnam are working with two new sets of English textbooks: the standard textbooks and the advanced ones The standard textbooks are for students studying in the Basic Stream and Natural Science Stream; the advanced textbooks are for those studying in The Social Science Stream And these textbooks, according to the MOET, are aimed at developing students’ communicative competence The Basic Stream is chosen by Chi Lang High School’s board of

administrators as the only stream for its students, so the English textbooks currently used by teachers and students here are the standard ones

Concerning the teaching staff, six teachers of English are working at Chi Lang High School and all of them are females Their ages are from 23 to 50 and their teaching experience ranges from 1 to 26 years These teachers all graduated from Vietnam National University, College of Foreign Languages, four of them took part in in-service course and the rest took part in regular course The teachers are completely devoted to their teaching job, enthusiastic and supportive to their students as well as to their colleagues

2.2 Methodology

2.2.1 Research questions

In order to find out Chi Lang High School 10th graders’ perceptions of the importance of grammar in English learning and their difficulties in learning English grammar so as to give some recommendations for teaching English grammar to the 10th graders at Chi Lang High School, the research focuses on answering three following questions:

1 What are Chi Lang High School 10th graders’ perceptions of the importance of grammar in English learning?

2 What are Chi Lang High School 10th graders’ difficulties in learning English grammar?

3 What are Chi Lang High School 10th graders’ preferred styles of teaching English grammar?

2.2.2 Subjects of the study

The subjects of the study consisted of 125 students at Chi Lang High School in Lang Son

The study was applied to three 10th classes at Chi Lang High School in Lang Son The three classes make a total of 125 participants, both male and female These students were aged from 16 to 17 The study was carried out at the end of 2nd semester with its subjects were grade

10 students for they are assumed to have something to tell about grammar teaching and learning after one year studying English; besides, they are also believed to have more free time and be more enthusiastic to take part in the study

2.2.3 Data collection instruments

The researcher used two instruments to collect data for the study, questionnaire and interview, with the hope to ensure the reliability and the objectiveness of the study

2.2.3.1 The questionnaire

The questionnaire seems to be the most common method of data collection in second language research Dornyei (2003) states that the popularity of questionnaires is due to the fact that they are easy to construct and uniquely capable of gathering a large amount of information quickly in a form that is readily processable Items in questionnaires can be open-ended in format, allowing respondents to reply in their own words, or closed, requiring the respondents to select one from among a limited number of responses While closed question formats, such as multiple choice, are useful for obtaining quantitative information and are easier to analyze, open-ended questions can be useful for gathering qualitative information and for discovering new variables in responses

For the objectives of the study are to find out students’ perceptions of the importance

of grammar in English learning and their difficulties in learning English grammar to give some recommendations for teaching English grammar to the 10th graders at Chi Lang High School, the researcher decided to use only one questionnaire for the students and it consisted

of 10 closed and open-ended questions The questionnaire had been piloted on 15 students from three different classes and it was revised basing on the responses before being given to the target students at the end of the second term of the school year 2010 – 2011 All questions were written in Vietnamese in order that the students have a clear understanding of the questions before answering them and are able to express their thoughts more easily in open-ended questions The purpose of the questionnaire was to investigate:

- students’ general attitudes towards the necessity of learning English

- students’ purposes of learning English

- students’ perceptions of the importance of grammar in English learning

- the ways a grammatical point is usually taught

- students’ level of understanding of the teachers’ grammar instruction

- students’ evaluation of the teachers’ presentations of grammar

- students’ evaluation of grammar parts in the new standard textbook - Tieng Anh 10

- students’ difficulties in learning grammar

- students’ evaluation of the most effective way of learning grammar

- students’ preferred styles of grammar teaching

2.2.3.2 The interview

Along with the questionnaire, an interview with the students was designed It was the structured one and consisted of two questions which aimed at finding out whether the students focused on learning grammar or not, and getting the students’ suggestions for better grammar lessons 10 students were voluntarily chosen from the questionnaire respondents to participate

in this interview

The language used in the interview was Vietnamese in order that the interviewees would fully understand all the questions and be more comfortable to express their answers

2.2.4 Data collection procedures

The copies of the questionnaire were delivered to 125 students from three different classes which were randomly selected among 12 grade 10 classes at Chi Lang High School during their last English classes of the second term And the researcher herself delivered the copies to the participants Before the participants wrote their answers, all of them had been informed in Vietnamese about the purposes of the questionnaire and how to answer all the questions so that they were clear about what and how they would have to do When the students were writing their answers, the researcher was there with them to give any explanations if necessary And about 30 minutes later, the copies were also collected by the researcher herself

The interview was implemented to 10 students voluntarily chosen from 125 questionnaire respondents and it took place in a classroom with the hope that the interviewees would express all their truthful thinking in such a friendly and comfortable atmosphere All the questions and answers in the interviews were in Vietnamese and taken notes by the researcher

2.2.5 Data analysis procedures

Data gathered from the questionnaire were analyzed under 10 categories and those from the interview were analyzed under 2 categories The quantitative data were shown in the form of tables while the qualitative data were presented by quoting relevant responses Then the two types of data were analyzed both descriptively and interpretively

2.3 Concluding remarks

This chapter has introduced the setting and the methodology of the study When mentioning the setting of the study, some information such as the location of the school, teaching and learning facilities, the students, the teaching staff and the teaching material were provided Concerning the methodology of the study, the research questions, the subjects, the instruments, and data collection and data analysis procedures were described in detail One questionnaire and one interview were used to obtain data for the study

CHAPTER 3: DATA, DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter is divided into four main sections The first section presents the data of and findings from the questionnaire The second section analyzes the data of and findings from the interview The third section is devoted to discussing the findings of the study in correspondence with the three proposed research questions The last section is a summary of this chapter

3.1 Data of and findings from the questionnaire

3.1.1 Students’ perceptions of the necessity of learning English

The first question in the questionnaire related to the students’ perceptions of the necessity of learning English The responses to this question are illustrated in the following table:

Level of necessity Response

Table 1: Students’ perceptions of the necessity of learning English

The results in Table 1 show that the students responded positively to the question regarding the necessity of learning English All of the students thought that learning English was either very necessary or necessary And below are some main reasons for their high appreciation of learning English:

- English is an international language so knowing English enables me to communicate with foreigners, so I can understand their country as well as culture better This widens

my knowledge

- Knowing English is of great help to me in my daily life because it is used in many fields

of life such as culture, economy, politics, society, etc

It can be revealed from the above findings that all the students were aware of the necessity of learning English for English is an international language and used widely around the world Knowing English enables the students to communicate with people from abroad, so

they can get better understanding of other countries as well as cultures This widens their knowledge Moreover, English is of great help to their daily life because it is used in many fields of life such as culture, economy, and entertainment and so on To sum up, knowing English brings the students such a great deal of benefit that they all agree upon the necessity of learning it

3.1.2 Students’ purposes for learning English

Question 2 asked the students about their purposes for learning English The table below shows the responses to this question:

Purposes for learning English Response

To pass the school final examination 65 (52%)

To enter colleges or universities 4 (3.2%)

To communicate with foreigners 21 (16.8%)

Other purposes: ……… 1 (0.8%)

Table 2: Students’ purposes for learning English

The data from Table 2 indicate that more than half of the students (52%) learned English since it is one of the compulsory subjects they have to take in order to pass the school final examination Over one-sixths of them (16.8%) learned it to communicate with foreigners The same number of students learned English for the purpose of having a good job for they recognize the importance of English to their employment opportunities in the future Besides, widening knowledge through reading books or watching programmes in English was the reason for 11 out of 125 students (8.8%) to learn English Surprisingly, only 4 students (3.2%) responded that they learned English to enter colleges or universities This emerges that very few students are going to take English as a university entrance examination subject Two (1.6%) was the number of students who learned English for recreational purposes like listening to English songs or seeing English-speaking movies For other purposes, interestingly, one student (0.8%) said that she learned English so that she could be of some

help to her younger sister “I learn English to teach my younger sister to learn it” Clearly,

learning English is beneficial to not only the learners themselves but also others In short, the students’ purposes for learning English were varied and contributed to their intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in learning the language

3.1.3 Students’ perceptions of the importance of grammar in English learning

The responses to the third question concerning the students’ perceptions of the importance of grammar in English learning are shown in Table 3:

Level of importance Response

Very important 64 (51.2%)

Table 3: Students’ perceptions of the importance of grammar in English learning

It is clear from the table that a majority of the students (97.6%) admitted the important role of grammar Below are some of their statements:

- Mastery of grammar helps me get good marks in the written tests and exams which are mainly grammar-based

- I can do the exercises more quickly and correctly with a good knowledge of grammar

- Mastery of grammar makes me more confident when speaking and writing English

- Grammar helps me learn reading and listening skills more effectively

From the above statements, it can be concluded that most of the students had positive perceptions of the importance of grammar in English learning Success in English written tests and exams was the typical benefit that mastery of grammar brought them This accounts for the fact that although grammar and four language skills are paid equal attention to at school, tests and exams are still mainly grammar-based In addition, a good knowledge of grammar was also very essential to language skills learning because it, as some students said, helped them learn reading and listening skills more effectively and made them more confident when speaking and writing in English However, three students (2.4%) assumed that grammar was not important to English learning According to them, vocabulary was more important than grammar because grammar structures consisted of vocabulary and if they did not know the

vocabulary, they could not also understand the structures “I think vocabulary is more

important than grammar because it constitutes grammar structures If I don’t know the vocabulary, I can’t understand the structures” In a word, grammar was advocated by a large

amount of the respondents for they thought that mastery of grammar would guarantee their success not only in tests and exams but also in communication This supports the idea that

“The central part of a language is its grammar, and this should be of vital interest to any intelligent educated person” (Palmer, 1984: 9)

3.1.4 The ways a grammatical point is usually taught

In the questionnaire, question 4 asked the students about the ways a grammatical point

is usually taught Table 4 shows the results of the responses:

Ways of teaching grammar Response

A The teacher provides the grammatical rule, then gives examples, after

that asks students to do exercises in the textbook 31 (24.8%)

B The teacher gives examples, and guides students to analyse them, then

asks students to draw the grammatical rule and do exercises in the

textbook

0

C The teacher gives examples, and guides students to analyse them, then

asks students to draw the grammatical rule, after that affirms the correct

rule, finally lets students do exercises given by him/her or in the textbook

90(72%)

D The teacher gives examples containing the grammatical point, and

introduces its function without explaining the rule, then asks students to

communicate with their classmates using the structure so that they can

grasp the rule

0

E The teacher integrates grammar teaching into language skills teaching 4 (3.2%)

Table 4: The ways a grammatical point is usually taught

As can be seen from the table, more than two-thirds (72%) of the students confirmed that their teachers usually taught grammar according to way C This means the teachers implemented a combination of deductive and inductive (or explicit and implicit) approaches in

their grammar teaching and considered it as their leading approach A quarter (24.8%) of them affirmed that way A was their teachers’ main way of teaching grammar This means these teachers applied the deductive approach (explicit teaching) to grammar teaching Very small percentage (3.2%) of them said that their teachers integrated teaching grammar into teaching language skills And none of the students chose ways B and D as their teachers’ normal way

of teaching grammar

3.1.5 Students’ level of understanding of the teachers’ grammar instruction

With regard to the students’ level of understanding of the teachers’ grammar instruction (Question 5), the results of the responses from the students are illustrated in the following table:

Table5: Students’ level of understanding of the teachers’ grammar instruction

As mentioned in the previous section, only three ways of teaching grammar (A, C, E) were affirmed by the students as their teachers’ ways of grammar teaching Table 5 indicates the students’ level of understanding of teachers’ grammar instruction when the teachers employed those ways to teach grammar Among 31 students confirmed that their teachers usually followed way A to deal with grammar, 16 students understood very well or well their teachers’ grammar instruction, and 15 students had low or very low understanding of it Way

C was approved to be the teachers’ usual way of teaching grammar by 90 students among

whom 46 conceded that they had very high or high understanding of their teachers’ grammar instruction, and 44 asserted that they understood vaguely or nearly did not understand at all 4 was the number of the respondents who affirmed that their teachers’ usual way of teaching grammar was way E Of these respondents, 2 students had high understanding of their teachers’ grammar instruction, and the rest had low or very low understanding It is clear from these figures that nearly half of the students had low or very low understanding of the teachers’ grammar instruction This is a big challenge facing Chi Lang High School teachers

of English when teaching grammar

3.1.6 Students’ evaluation of the teachers’ presentations of grammar

The responses to question 6 which concerned the students’ evaluation of the teachers’ presentations of grammar are demonstrated in the following table:

Table 6: Students’ evaluation of the teachers’ presentations of grammar

As can be seen from the table, only 31.2% of the respondents found their teachers’ presentations of grammar interesting or quite interesting The reasons for these respondents to consider their teachers’ presentations of grammar to be interesting or quite interesting were:

“Discovering the rules makes me feel like participating in an exploration It is really interesting” or “I am interested in learning grammar in integration into language skills Because it helps me understand the use and function of a grammar structure better.”

Whereas, the proportion of the respondents who evaluated that their teachers’ presentations of

grammar were quite boring or boring was 68.8% And they supported this by saying: “The

teacher almost uses one way to deliver grammar in all lessons This bores the students”, “The lessons will be more interesting if my teacher employs various ways to teach grammar”, “I