A study on how to apply communicative language teaching techniques in teaching grammar to first-year non major English students at Hanoi General College

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ---**0**--- VÕ THỊ HƯƠNG GIANG A STUDY ON HOW TO APPLY COMMUNIC

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

-**0** -

VÕ THỊ HƯƠNG GIANG

A STUDY ON HOW TO APPLY COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING TECHNIQUES IN TEACHING GRAMMAR TO FIRST –

YEAR NON MAJOR ENGLISH STUDENTS

AT HANOI GENERAL COLLEGE (Nghiên cứu ứng dụng các thủ thuật theo đường hướng giao tiếp đối với việc dạy

ngữ pháp cho sinh viên năm thứ nhất không chuyên

Trường Trung cấp Tổng Hợp Hà Nội)

PROGRAM I M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Methodology Code: 60 1410

Hanoi, 2010

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

-**0** -

VÕ THỊ HƯƠNG GIANG

A STUDY ON HOW TO APPLY COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING TECHNIQUES IN TEACHING GRAMMAR TO FIRST –

YEAR NON MAJOR ENGLISH STUDENTS

AT HANOI GENERAL COLLEGE

(Nghiên cứu ứng dụng các thủ thuật theo đường hướng giao tiếp đối với việc dạy

ngữ pháp cho sinh viên năm thứ nhất không chuyên

Trường Trung cấp Tổng Hợp Hà Nội)

PROGRAM I M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Methodology Code: 60 1410

Supervisor: M,Ed, Phung Ha Thanh

Hanoi, 2010

LIST OF TABLES AND ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: The teachers‟ experience of teaching English

Table 2: Time schedule for class observations

Table 3: Types of CLT techniques used in classrooms

Table 4: The frequency of CLT techniques used in the classroom

Table 5: The purposes of CLT techniques used in classroom

Table 6: The teachers‟ difficulties when applying CLT techniques in teaching grammar Table 7: Teachers‟ self-assessment of their employment of CLT techniques

ABBREVIATIONS

CLT: Communicative language teaching

VNUH: Vietnam National University, Hanoi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGES i

ABSTRACT ii

LIST OF TABLES iii

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims and objectives of the study 2

3 Scope of the study 2

4 Methods of the study 3

5 Structure of the study 3

PART II: DEVELOPMENT 4

Chapter 1: Literature review 4

1.1 Grammar teaching 4

1.1.1 Definition of Grammar 4

1.1.2 The importance of teaching grammar 5

1.1.3 Different approaches to grammar teaching 6

1.2 CLT and conceptions related to CLT 8

1.2.1 Concepts of CLT 8

1.2.2 Characteristics of CLT 9

1.2.3 CLT techniques 10

1.3 CLT techniques and teaching grammar 13

1.3.1 The use of CLT techniques in teaching grammar 13

1.3.2 Difficulties in applying CLT techniques in teaching grammar: 14

1.3.2.1 Difficulties from Teachers 15

1.3.2.2 Difficulties from Learners 15

1.3.2.3 Difficulties from Educational system 16

Chapter 2: Methodology 18

2.1 Setting of the study 18

2.2 Design of the study 19

2.2.1 Phase one: The survey 19

2.2.1.1 Sampling 20

2.2.1.2 Data collection 20

2.2.1.3 Data analysis 21

2.2.2 Phase two 21

2.2.2.1 Sampling 21

2.2.2.2 Data collection 21

2.2.2.3 Data analysis 22

Chapter 3: Results and findings of the study 23

3.1 Results of the study 23

3.1.1 Results from the questionnaire 23

3.1.2 Results from the class observation 28

3.2 Findings of the study 29

3.2.1 Difficulties from the teachers 29

3.2.1.1 Teachers‟ misconceptions about CLT 29

3.2.1.2 Deficiency in speaking English 30

3.2.2 Difficulties from the learners 30

3.2.3 Difficulties from the education systems 31

3.2.3.1 Class size 31

3.2.3.2 Poor teaching condition 32

3.2.3.3 The testing system 32

3.3 Recommendations 33

3.3.1 Using Visual aids 33

3.3.2 Group work 35

3.3.3 Role-play 36

3.3.4 Games 37

3.4 Suggestions in teaching a grammar lesson with the application of CLT techniques 37 PART III: CONCLUSION 38

3 Conclusion 38

4 Limitations and Suggestions for further study 39

REFERENCES 40

APPENDIX A 42

APPENDIX B 46

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

In recent years, English has become an important language It is not only spoken by native speakers but also the second language and official language in many countries As we can see in Vietnam, teaching and learning English as a foreign language has taken an important part and English has become a compulsory subject in most national curriculum, however, foreign language teaching in general and English language teaching in particular is said to be grammar-focused, and for many teachers of English, teaching English means teaching grammar

Along with traditional approaches, teachers of foreign languages in many countries, including Vietnam, have been encouraged to adopt an approach known as communicative

language teaching (CLT) This approach advocates the development of communicative

competence as a primary goal via the extensive use of the foreign language as a means of communication during classroom sessions Understandably, education authorities and teachers are

keen to know why CLT becomes the most favorable approach in foreign teaching language

currently and how it motivates both teachers and students as well

In Hanoi General College where I have been teaching for seven years, the students‟ levels of English is limited so teaching grammar for all students is the most important task Then, we create meaningful situations for students to practice using new English grammar structures, for example, describing pictures to partners, role-play, listening to a short dialogue or writing a paragraph and speaking with other students in order to help students both develop grammatical competence and communicative competence In my real teaching, I have tried my best to apply communicative language teaching techniques that I think are suitable to my real context However, with the difficulties I often meet in teaching, the application of CLT techniques in teaching in general and teaching grammar in particular is far from satisfactory

For the reasons mentioned above, I choose “A study on how to apply Communicative language teaching techniques in teaching grammar to First – Year non major English students at Hanoi General

College Reality and recommendations” as the title for the thesis in the hope that I can contribute a

small part in helping my students and my colleagues to improve their learning and teaching English especially in learning and teaching grammar that they may need for further study, work or leisure

2 Aims and objectives of the study

With the above-presented rationales, the specific aims and objectives of the study are the followings:

Firstly, the study carries out an investigation in to the reality of the teachers‟ application of CLT techniques in teaching grammar

Secondly, through the investigation the research will find out the difficulties the teachers encounter with their application of CLT techniques in teaching grammar

Thirdly, the study will provide practical recommendations for the possibility of CLT techniques

in order to narrow the gap between teaching styles and learning styles, thereby increasing the students‟ motivation in grammar learning as well as heightening the effectiveness of English language teaching

More specific, this study is to answer the following questions:

1 What are CLT techniques applied in teaching grammar to first-year non- English major students?

2 How are CLT techniques employed in terms of frequency and purposes?

3 What are the difficulties in applying CLT techniques in teaching grammar?

4 To what extent do teachers feel satisfied with the use of CLT techniques?

5 What are the suggestions recommended by teachers to applying CLT techniques in teaching grammar?

3 Scope of the study

The scope of this thesis is limited to the teaching grammar at elementary level and types of CLT techniques applied in teaching grammar with difficulties Along with these, the frequency and purposes

of CLT techniques with satisfaction and recommendation for possible problems are also mentioned With the minor thesis, I limited myself to focus on a group of teachers teaching English for first-year non major students at Hanoi General College

4 Methods of the study

This is a survey in nature During the study the research uses the questionnaire and class observation to select information to answer the research questions about different types of CLT techniques applied in teaching grammar, the frequency and purposes of applying these techniques in order to find out the difficulties in applying CLT techniques in teaching grammar in the college selected and recommend solutions for these The methodology will be discussed more detail in the next chapter

5 Structure of the study

This paper has three main parts:

Part one: Introduction, this part will provide my reasons for choosing the topic, aims of the

study, methods and design of the study

Part two: Development, this part has three following chapters:

Chapter 1: Literature review, dealing with some definitions about the important terms

relating to the study as: grammar, the important of grammar teaching, different approaches to grammar teaching, CLT and concepts related to CLT, CLT techniques and teaching grammar, potential difficulties affect teachers and students in allying CLT techniques in grammar lessons

Chapter 2: Methodology Firstly, it is an overview of teaching and learning English of

the first-year students in Hanoi General College Secondly, the methodology performed in the study is presented The subject and instruments used in the research will be discussed

Chapter 3: Results and discussions of the study This part presents the findings of the

study and proposes some recommendations for the findings

Part three: Conclusion, this part summarizes what are addressed in the study, points out the

limitations and provides some suggestions for further study

PART II: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

In recent years much emphasis has been put on the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) using Communicative Approach This has brought about a lot of changes in the approach to EFL The learner is considered to be an active participant in the process of language learning in the classroom Teachers who are in favor of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) are expected to use techniques or activities that would promote self-learning, group interaction in authentic situations and peer teaching That is not an easy task for the teacher, especially in the circumstance of most colleges in Vietnam where teaching grammar is the most emphasis Therefore, the use of communicative activities is a technique to make learning English grammar more interesting and meaningful in order to achieve one of the aims of the communicative approach, the grammatical competence

The purpose of this chapter is to relate the use of CLT techniques in teaching grammar The first part of this chapter discusses the teaching of grammar Then the second part provides general ideas about CLT and CLT techniques The third part is about the use of CLT techniques in teaching grammar with a review of various difficulties when teachers apply CLT techniques in teaching grammar

1.1 Grammar teaching

Traditionally, grammar has been concerned almost exclusively with analysis at the level of the sentence Thus a grammar is a description of the rules that govern how a language‟s sentences are formed The study of grammar consists, accordingly, of looking at the way words are arranged or patterned to make sentence By contrast, recent views of grammar are expanded to cover both texts and words to the extent that texts and words are organized according to rules For the purpose of this study,

I will assume grammar to mean grammar at the sentence level; the definitions of grammar are followed

by a presentation of different views of grammar and the importance of it in teaching a foreign language

1.1.1 Definition of Grammar

There have been many ways of defining grammar – a very common and familiar term in language teaching and learning

The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (quoted in Harmer: 1987; 1) defines

grammar as “the study and practice of the rules by which words change their forms and are combined into sentences” From this definition, there are two basic elements to which attention should be paid to:

the rules of grammar; the study and practice of the rules

David Nunan has a very common definition of grammar: “Grammar is a set of rules specifying the correct words at the sentence level” (D.Nunan, 2003:154) This definition represents a typical

prescriptive grammar view It lays down the law, saying what is right and what is wrong

Similarly, from Penny Ur‟s view (1996:87), “Grammar is a set of rules that define how words (or parts of words) are combined or changed to form acceptable units of meaning within a language”

All the ideas mentioned above agree on a point that is grammar is a set of rules which form words and make sentences from words This help to orient language teachers to the focus of grammar teaching

1.1.2 The importance of teaching grammar

Most language learners and teachers agree that mastering the grammar of a language may form part of the knowledge of it Eric Hawkins (1984;150) affirms the value of grammar: “The evidence seems to show beyond doubt that though it is by communicative use in real speech acts that the new language sticks in the learner‟s mind, insight into pattern is an equal partner with communicative use in what language teachers see as the dual process of acquisition Grammar, approached as a voyage of discovery into the pattern of language rather than the learning of prescriptive rules, is no longer a bogey word” According to his ideas, he sees grammar as an interesting thing to learn (“a voyage of discovery”) Although it is not always certain that all students may find an intrinsic interest in learning grammar, it is such a sharp view of him that grammar can be an effective means to help and boost language learning

However, there exist some controversial opinions about the teaching of grammar One of the biggest challenges to the necessity of grammar teaching comes primarily from Krashen, whose insistence on the primacy of acquisition has tended to downplay the value of deliberate grammar teaching In Krashen and Tarrel‟s influential Natural Approach, it is claimed that learners need to be exposed to a lot of comprehensive and meaningful input at a level just above their own for acquisition

to take place The study of grammar has only secondary role in the language program with the goal to produce optimal monitor –user, programmers who can use grammar as a supplement to acquisition

when they have time, when the focus is on form, and when they know the rules (the Monitor Hypothesis, Krashen and Tarrel:1983) Put another way, grammar can be acquired naturally from meaningful input and opportunities to interact in the classroom and grammatical competence can develop in fluency – oriented environment without conscious focus on the language forms

Admittedly, some learners acquire second language grammar naturally without being taught Immigrants to the United States (especially young ones) who attain proficiency in English on their own can be a good example of naturalistic acquisition (Lightbown and Spada: 1999: 60) But this is not true for all learners Among the same immigrants are learners who may achieve the proficiency in English but those English is far from accurate

In fact, grammar is one of the key components of a language Thus, 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 From my observation and my experience, I find it necessary to teach grammar in all types

of English course and especially in technical and vocational colleges like those colleges I intend to carry out my study The first reason is that almost the students in technical and vocational colleges come from rural areas where they never have chance to learn grammar sufficiently Furthermore, the main objective of these students after leaving the colleges is to read materials such as manuals or instruction in English With the two reasons mentioned above, they can hard do it without grammar Moreover, 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” (Peck, 1988:127) For all these reasons, the teaching of grammar is quite important in ELT

1.1.3 Different approaches to grammar teaching

In the last over one hundred years, language teaching methodology has changed in approaches and methods of grammar teaching From the mid to late 19th century, the dominant trend was a non communicative approach It was Grammar Translation Method With this approach, grammar was taught deductively in an organized and systematic way, by studying grammar rules Learners were instructed to do exercises involving translation from the second language to the first language and vice versa River (1981:31) comments this method as follows: “There is much stress on knowing rules and exceptions” and “communication is neglected”

In the late 19th century, increased opportunities for communication among Europeans crested a demand for oral proficiency in foreign language The Direct method came into being in order to satisfy the demand The Direct method based on the belief that a language could best be taught by its vivid use

in the classroom reflected the Reform Movement There is no translation anymore and the silent study

of literature was replaced by actual use of spoken language practice, and explicit and deductive grammar instruction was replaced by an implicit and inductive approach According to Richards and Rogers (1986:9), under the Direct method grammar is taught inductively in the target language by asking and answering questions between teachers and students in small and intensive classes

The Audio-Lingual method derived from structural linguistics in the United States in the 1950s, laid emphasis on mimicry of forms and memorization of certain sentence patterns which are used intensively instead of grammatical explanation or talking about the language Grammar was acquired inductively

Since the mid – 1970s the CLT appeared and has been the dominant language teaching methodology which aims at focusing on communicative proficiency by replicating contextual features

of real communication in the classroom There are two versions in this approach One advocates grammar teaching and the other rejects grammar teaching

In fact, although emphasis on grammar teaching varies from method to method, for many teachers, grammar has never taken anything other than a central role in their classroom methodology The call for form-focused instruction in recent year is an expression of a resurgence of interest in the role of grammar in English language teaching While the role of grammar in language teaching and learning is

no longer a matter of debate, the questions that follow are how to integrate grammar teaching into a communicative methodology which pays attention to all aspects of communicative competence, and what precise form that teaching should take And these imply further questions about the choice of grammatical structures to present, what kind of grammatical description to use, whether to teach grammar explicitly or implicitly, what the role of practice might be, and what forms of practice are appropriate for different types of learners In other word, there are two major different approaches to grammar: explicit and implicit When we talk about an explicit approach to grammar we are talking about starting directly, usually at the beginning of a particular activity, what the grammar is On the other hand, an implicit approach to grammar is one where students are led to the grammar through a series of steps- this is what is meant by the „discovery techniques‟, In other words, the „discovery techniques‟ aims to lead students towards a generalized grammar rule or pattern

1.2 CLT and conceptions related to CLT

1.2.1 Conceptions of CLT

Vietnamese teachers of English have been concerned a lot about CLT for the recent years CLT emerged in the 1970s and 1980s as a revolution against the Audio- lingual method It is an outcome of more attention to learners‟ effective and appropriate use of language learnt There are a variety of definitions of CLT

Nunan (1989, p194) claims that CLT views language as a system for the expression of meaning Activities involve oral communication, carrying out meaning talks and using language, which is meaningful to learners Teaching and learning objectives reflect the needs of the learners; they include functional skills as well as linguistics objectives The learners‟ role is as a negotiator and integrator The teacher‟s role is as a facilitator of the communication process Materials promote communicative language use; they are task-based and authentic

CLT is based on the theory of language as proposed by Hymes (1972) which brought together two dependent developments: transformational generative grammar and ethnography of communication Through his ideas, CLT must account not only for knowledge of formal structure but also knowledge of language use

Wilkins (1972) expands CLT with the development of functional or communicative definition of language He suggests second language curriculum based on communicative principles Furthermore, it was based on the theory that the basic categories of language were notions and functions rather than grammatical categories such as nouns, verbs or adjectives

Canale and Swain (1980) expand on the theoretical basic of CLT for both teaching and testing They are against the overemphasis on function and lack of emphasis on grammar complexity They propose a theory of communicative competence that includes four dimensions: grammatical, socio-linguistic, discourse and strategic They make the point that though “there seem to be no strong theoretical reasons for emphasizing getting one‟s meaning across over grammatical accuracy at these stages of second language learning,‟‟… “Some combination of emphasis on grammatical accuracy and emphasis on meaningful communication from the very start of second language study is suggested” (p14)

Richard (1986) also shared the same point with Canale and Swain as he said that CLT refers to the beliefs and theories of the language teaching, which emphasize that the goal of language teaching is

communicative competence Communicative competence here refers not only to knowledge of the grammatical rules of a language and how to form grammatical sentences but also how to know when, where and to whom to use these sentences in a speech community

1.2.2 Characteristics of CLT

As the concept of CLT mentioned above, CLT has several characteristics

According to Larsen-Freeman (1986, p132), the most obvious characteristic of CLT is that

“Almost everything that is done is done with communicative intent” Students use the language through communicative activities (games, role-plays and problem-solving tasks) In Johnson and Morrow,

1981, Morrow explained clearly about activities in CLT as activities that are truly communicative have three features: information gap, choice and feedback An information gap occurs when two people in a conversation want to exchange information with each other (one knows and the other doesn‟t) They are free to choose what they will say and how they will say Furthermore, true communication is purposeful A speaker can evaluate whether or not his purpose has been achieved based upon the information he receives from his listener

Another characteristic of CLT is the introduction of authentic material (Dubin, 1995; Freeman, 1986; Nunan, 2003) In CLT, it is considered desirable to give learners the opportunity to response to genuine communicative needs in realistic second language situations so that they develop strategies for understanding language as actually used by native speakers

Larsen-In addition, “activities in the Communicative Approach are often carried out by students in small groups” (Larsen-Freeman, 1986, p132) It meant that CLT favors interaction among small numbers of students in order to maximize the time each students has to learn to negotiate meaning Teachers therefore select activities in which students have the opportunity to use language meaningful and authentic rather than the merely mechanical practice of language patterns

Another point to make about CLT is learner- centeredness The reason is that the types of classroom activities proposed in CLT implied new roles in the classroom for teachers and learners Learners now had to participate in classroom activities that were based on a cooperative rather than individualistic approach to learning Students had to become comfortable with listening to their peers in group work or pair work tasks, rather than relying on the teacher for a model They were expected to take on a greater degree of responsibility for their own learning And teachers now had to assume the role of facilitator and monitor

In brief, CLT is identified with the following characteristics:

- It makes communicative competence the goal of teaching

- It develops procedures for the teaching of the four language skills that acknowledge the independence of language and communication

- It considers learner and his communicative needs the center of language teaching process

1.2.3 CLT techniques

In applying CLT methodology in the classroom, new classroom techniques were needed and as

we saw above, new roles for teachers and learners in the classroom acquire new methods in teaching Instead of making use of activities that demanded accurate repetition and memorization of sentences and grammatical patterns, activities that required learners to negotiate meaning and to interact meaningfully were required

CLT techniques are the kinds of classroom activities that best facilitate learning and they are employed in the communicative method in language teaching, which are called communicative activities (Jack, C Richard, 2006) In other words, as defined by Harmer (1987), communicative activities are those that give students who are somehow involved in both the desire to communicate and

a purpose involving them in a varied use of language Such activities are important in a language classroom since the students can do their best to use the language individually, arriving at a degree of language autonomy

Jack Richard in Communicative language teaching today also pointed out that with CLT began a movement away from traditional lesson formats where the focus was on mastery of different items of grammar and practice through controlled activities such as memorization of dialogs and drills, towards the use of pair work activities, role plays, group work activities and project work He divided the CLT activities into three main categories as the followings:

* Accuracy versus fluency activities: One of the goals of CLT is to develop fluency in language

use Fluency is natural language use occurring when a speaker engages in meaningful interaction and maintains comprehensible and ongoing communication despite

limitations in his or her communicative competence Fluency is developed by creating classroom activities in which students must negotiate meaning, use communication strategies, correct misunderstandings and work to avoid communication breakdowns

Fluency practice can be contrasted with accuracy practice, which focuses on creating correct examples

of language use Differences between activities that focus on fluency and those that focus on accuracy can be summarized as follows:

Activities focusing on fluency

• Reflect natural use of language

• Focus on achieving communication

• Require meaningful use of language

• Require the use of communication strategies

• Produce language that may not be predictable

• Seek to link language use to context

Activities focusing on accuracy

• Reflect classroom use of language

• Focus on the formation of correct examples of language

• Practice language out of context

• Practice small samples of language

• Do not require meaningful communication

• Choice of language is controlled

(Jack, C Richard, CLT today, p14)

* Mechanical, meaningful, and communicative practice:

Mechanical practice refers to a controlled practice activity which students can successfully carry out without necessarily understanding the language they are using Examples of this kind of activity would be repetition drills and substitution drills designed to practice use of particular grammatical or other items

Meaningful practice refers to an activity where language control is still provided but where students are required to make meaningful choices when carrying out practice

Communicative practice refers to activities where practice in using language within a real communicative context is the focus, where real information is exchanged, and where the language used

is not totally predictable

The distinction between mechanical, meaningful, and communicative activities is similar to that given by Littlewood (1981), who groups activities into two kinds: Pre-communicative activities and Communicative activities Pre-communicative activities emphasize grammatical accuracy (the cognitive aspect) Communicative activities emphasize social acceptability (the behavioral aspect of language)

* Information-gap activities

An important aspect of communication in CLT is the notion of information gap This refers to the fact that in real communication people normally communicate in order to get information they do not possess This is known as an information-gap More authentic communication is likely to occur in the classroom if students go beyond practice of language forms for their own sake and use their linguistic and communicative resources in order to obtain information When doing this they will draw available vocabulary, grammar, and communication strategies to complete a task

*Jig-saw activities

These are also based on the information-gap principle Typically the class is divided into groups and each group has part of the information needed to complete an activity The class must fit the pieces together to complete the whole In so doing they must use their language resources to communicate meaningfully and so take part in meaningful communication practice

One important thing is that most of the activities discussed above reflect an important aspect of classroom tasks in CLT, namely that they are designed to be carried out in pairs or small groups

To be more specific, Nolasco and Athur (1993) characterized communicative activities as follows:

- They involve using language for a purpose

- They create a desire to communicate This means must be some kind of “gap” which may be information, opinion, affect, or reason that students seek to bridge

- They encourage students to be creative and contribute their ideas

- They focus on the message and students concentrate on “what‟ they are saying rather than

“how” they are saying it

- The students work independently of the teachers

- The students determine what they want to write and say The activity is not designed to control what the students will

(Nolasco and Athur, p58)

1.3 CLT techniques and teaching grammar

1.3.1 The use of CLT techniques in teaching grammar

As mentioned above, the rationale for teaching grammar is multifaceted and grammar is acknowledged to be of importance in language study in general and in language teaching and learning

in particular Therefore, how to integrate CLT techniques in the process of teaching grammar is very important as to make grammar an interesting thing to learn and use in communication

Celce- Murcia (1988, p27) divides a grammar lesson into four parts: Presentation, Focused Practice, Communicative practice and Teacher feedback and Correction

In the presentation the grammar structure is introduced either inductively or deductively A variety

of techniques and resources such as listening and responding, using pictures, visual aids, games, verse…can be applied during this stage Basing on the teacher‟s ability, students‟ preferences, and the nature of the structure, the teacher can make appropriate selections

The presentation is followed by focused practice in which learners manipulate the structure under consideration The purpose of this step is to allow the learner to gain control of the form for communication The next stage should not be started until most students have mastered at least the form of the structure Once again a number of techniques can be used in this stage

The next step is communicative practice in which the learner engages in communicative activities

to practice the structure being learned This kind of activities can be information gap, choice and feedback During this stage various communicative are provided so that students have opportunities to communicate in the target language

The last stage is teacher feedback and correction Although this is seen as a final stage, it must take place throughout the lesson Celce- Murcia (1988, p28) stated that: “during the third part, communication should not be interrupted Instead, the teacher should take notes of errors and deal with them after communicative exercises

MA, Nguyễn Thị Uyên, 2009, from Trade University also divides the grammar lesson into four steps as the followings:

Step 1: Starting up activities (SA) This is a short activity to introduce the new grammar

structure It helps students to define when and how to use the grammar structure in the next part

Step 2: Grammar guide (G.G) It is the short and precise introduction to the new grammar

structure so that Students can apply correctly in communication

Step 3: Activities This step requires students to apply successfully grammar points in the Guide

to Grammar situations through various types of exercises such as conversations (dialogues), questionnaire, and language games These activities are based on the Pair Work / Group Work with certain duration Practice (drills) plays a crucial role in communication; it helps students demonstrate understanding of theories and points of grammar and communication applications in a scientific way

Drill includes three steps:

Mechanical Drills Meaningful Drills Communicative Drills

Step 4: Accuracy Practice (A.P): This is the last step to check what Students have learned and

practiced through homework

In fact, there are many ways to apply CLT techniques in a grammar lesson and no technique is the most desirable for every purpose Therefore, the most important thing is that for each new grammar structure, teacher has to choose appropriate techniques to make the lesson effective and to achieve the set goals

1.3.2 Difficulties in applying CLT techniques in teaching grammar

It is the matter of fact that teaching and learning grammar is very important in the process of teaching and learning a language The objective of language teaching is seen to develop communicative competence which is the ability to communicate though language Recently, teachers have tried their best to do two tasks at the same time in a grammar lesson: to equip students with grammatical

competence and to encourage students to use the knowledge they learnt in communication They vary CLT techniques in different stages of the lesson in order to help students to learn grammar effectively However, it is not an easy task They may have to encounter many difficulties such as difficulties of themselves, difficulties from learners and the educational system

1.3.2.1 Difficulties from Teachers

Teacher‟s role is one of the most important components in applying CLT techniques to language learning In CLT class, teachers are facilitators of students‟ learning They are also the manager of classroom activities They establish situations to promote communication They give students opportunities to express their personality by encouraging them to share ideas and opinion This help students “integrate the foreign language with their own personality and thus to feel more emotionally secure with it” (Littlewood, 1981, p94) Thus, teachers need to be supported to fulfill these roles For the ones who never or rarely attend any language courses on CLT, it is hard for them to integrate CLT techniques in teaching especially in teaching grammar The reason is that teachers‟ teaching techniques that usually correspond to an approach and a method can vary from one teacher to another Traditional methods such as the Grammar Translation method, the Direct method often lead teachers to the choice of using teacher-centered techniques which mostly focus on grammatical and phonological accuracy These techniques are, for instance, choral repetition, drilling substitution, content explanation and narrative presentation seem so mechanical and simple that they will result in learners‟ passiveness and limit their participation in learning On the contrary, in the light of CLT, teachers‟ techniques turn into learner-centered instead of teacher-centered The examples of these techniques can be named as role-play, problem-solving, games, pair and group work, interview and discussion

1.3.2.2 Difficulties from Learners

Given the preceding perspectives and as communication is a goal of second and foreign language teaching and learning, it is obvious that grammar is now part of language teaching With regard to the type of grammar instruction or grammar activities appropriate to the learners and when or how to teach grammar, factors such as learners‟ age, proficiency level and their educational background should be taken into consideration (Celce-Murcia, 1988) The fact is that some students did not learn English at school while a lot of them started to learn it at the sixth grade This definitely hindered both the teaching and learning English

One of the general factors we should take into account is learning styles which refer to characteristics of individuals for the intake or understating of new information Ellis (1994:499) defines learning styles as: “the characteristic, affective and physiological behavior that serve as relative stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with an respond to the learning environment… Learning style is a consistent way of functioning, that reflects underlying causes of behavior”

Willing (1985, cited in Nunan, 1989:93) classified learner styles into four types:

Concrete learners: they preferred learning by games, pictures, films and videos, talking in pairs and learning through the use of cassettes

Analytical learners: these learners liked studying grammar, studying English books, finding their own mistakes, and learning through reading newspaper

Communicative learners: they liked to learn by observing and listening to native speakers, talking to friends in English and learning English wherever possible

Authority-oriented learners: they liked the teacher to explain everything, writing everything in their notebooks, having their own textbooks, learning to read, studying grammar, and learning English words by seeing them

Understanding of learners‟ style preferences is of great importance to teachers‟ methodological decisions especially in learners-centered environment It is now widely acknowledged that learners are different individuals and each learner has his or her own learning style Some may have passive learning style preference; others are more active in tttheir learning It is the difficulty for teacher in applying CLT techniques in teaching in which learners activities are the most important

1.3.2.3 Difficulties from the Educational system

In CLT classes, facilities are an important part However, it isn‟t easy to find a suitable classroom in most colleges in Vietnam The tables are a common problem They are fixed to the floor, which are very difficult to rearrange seats to form groups for discussion In addition, classrooms are in bad conditions: bad chalkboard, missing light bulbs, etc There is only one overhead projector that is a problem when some classes are in need at the same time So, to use CLT techniques in teaching grammar, certain equipment and facilities must be needed When facilities are not available, using CLT

is hard

Large class size is also a problem In large classes, students are heterogeneous and different in learning styles, preferences, level of English proficiency, general attitudes toward English Therefore, these classes are usually multilevel and cause enormous challenges for effective learning and teaching English especially in teaching grammar with CLT techniques According to Ur (1996:303), teachers of large classes also face with the problems of discipline, correcting written works, creating effective learning for all, finding suitable materials, and activating all students, especially, silent ones Moreover, foremost among the dimension of large classes that hinders students‟ learning is the lack of teacher-students interaction with opportunities for questions and discussions

Unsuitable textbooks and time limited are two main categories that cause difficulties for

teaching in CLT classes The fact is that in almost in colleges there have been no fixed textbooks The teachers and administrators keep changing them after assessing new textbooks For instance, they began from teaching Streamlines, then Cambridge, Headway, New Headway and then Lifelines The textbooks cover teaching four skills and the teachers have to finish all the things in the textbooks before giving students extra activities But the time allocated for each unit is fixed, not flexible So, the teachers often choose the safe way to teach which means that they take advantage of the textbooks and are not motivated in apply CLT techniques

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

The previous chapter has presented a brief look into grammatical theory in general This chapter provides the setting of teaching and learning English grammar at Hanoi General College, which lays a foundation for the study However, the primary focus of this chapter is to describe the methods of the study, how the data is analyzed

2.1 Setting of the study

Hanoi General College was found in 1999 It provides eight training programs for all kind of students as: accounting, office secretary, applied arts and crafts, electronics and telecommunication, informatics, business administration and tourism The students have full-time training in two years After that they go out for work There are two semesters for them to learn English with fifteen weeks in each semester It means that they just learn English in the first year There is one lesson per week This lesson consists of four periods and one period lasts around forty-five minutes It means that the teachers have only three hours per week to teach English The aim of the course is at the end of two semesters the students have a basic knowledge of grammar as well as vocabulary, and they can communicate in meaningful situations The textbook is New Headway English Elementary

The number of students in each class is from fifty to sixty The students are all from different provinces in Northern part of Vietnam such as: Nam Dinh, Bac Ninh, Thai Binh, etc Most of the students are diploma The large population have just graduated from high schools; the others left school some years ago Their English proficiency levels are mixed Most of them are from rural areas so their level of English is limited Some of them can speak English, but just a few simple sentences The rest are unable to speak English They often feel ashamed when speaking English with their friends as they are not confident enough

Because English is a minor subject in the whole curriculum, all of the students do not pay much attention to learn English They learn it as they are forced to learn Some of them can have good mark (as mark 8, 9 or 10) because they like English and they practice it every day; others have lower mark (as mark 4, 5 or 6) Otherwise, using English to communicate is a big challenge for most of them who think that learning a language means learning grammatical rules or a list of irregular verbs and so on

As a result, they either keep silent all the time or are not willing to participate in class activities

Because of time limited and large class, the two main factors in our English program, teaching grammar for all students is the most important task As a result, it is difficult for the teachers to monitor

the class and the students do not have enough time to practice in the class Furthermore, the students hardly have opportunities to communicate with foreigners, especially with native speakers

There are 10 teachers of English at Hanoi General College They are believed to play an important role in the study of their students They are energetic and are willing to devote their time and energy to teaching Two of them have acquired an M A degree and two are following a postgraduate course or an M.A course The rest are university bachelors However, none of them has attended a training course in English speaking countries To a certain level, it shows their limitations of

communicative competence in language teaching

2.2 Design of the study

The participants in this study were all teachers who are teaching English for first year non major students at Hanoi General College

The study was divided into two phases In phase one the researcher aimed at a general description of teachers‟ frequency and purposes of using CLT techniques in teaching grammar, what possible difficulties they might meet and their recommendations In phase two, the researcher moved into closer investigation of the teachers‟ real teaching process in which they applied CLT techniques in teaching grammar Therefore, two different instruments were used in the two phases to collect the need data in order to answer the research questions In phase one, the researcher used survey questionnaires with 10 participants to seek answers to the five research questions In phase two, the researcher conducted class observations with three teachers selected to check the results of the questionnaires

2.2.1 Phase one: The survey

The aims of this phase were to answer the research questions:

1 What are CLT techniques applied in teaching grammar to first-year non- English major students?

2 How are CLT techniques employed in terms of frequency and purposes?

3 What are the difficulties in applying CLT techniques in teaching grammar?

4 To what extent do teachers feel satisfied with the use of CLT techniques?

5 What are the suggestions recommended by teachers to applying CLT techniques in teaching grammar?

2.2.1.1 Sampling

There are 10 teachers involved in the survey Of the 10 teachers, 2 are master holders, 2 are

doing master course at the National University, and the rest have graduated from University of Languages and International studies and Hanoi University They are aged from 23 to 42 and their experience varies from 1 year to 20 years All of the teachers have been trained in CLT Most of them have the knowledge about CLT in University method course and the others get the knowledge through reading English teaching books Over two third of the teachers have been retrained in CLT because they have had the opportunities to attend English teaching conferences on CLT or they have learnt it in Post – graduate teaching courses At the time of the research, they are all teaching New Headway Elementary to first-year non major students in Hanoi These teachers were asked to complete a questionnaire and handed it in three weeks

Years of teaching Number (No) Percentage (%)

The questionnaire (see Appendix A, p) was designed for 10 teachers in order to collect

information about their age, their experience of applying CLT in teaching English grammar The questionnaire also aimed at to find information about what types of CLT techniques and the frequency, the purposes and the satisfaction of applying these techniques in teaching, the difficulties they meet in the process of teaching as well as recommendations to improve their teaching grammar lessons It contained 8 closed and open ended questions in English in accordance with the five research questions

The questionnaire focuses on the following categories:

- The teachers‟ experience (Question 1,2,3)

- The teachers‟ reality of practice (Question 4,5,6,7)

- The teachers‟ recommendations for the difficulties they met (Question 8)

The procedure of data collection consists of three steps as the followings:

Step 1: Preparation The questionnaire items were designed by the researcher and the organization

of the items in accordance with the research questions and the layout were decided

Step 2: Revising the questionnaires and selecting participants After piloting the questionnaires, the researcher selected 10 teachers of English at her college to attend the survey and do the questionnaires

Step 3: Delivering the questionnaires The questionnaires were delivered to 10 chosen teachers and collected within 3 three weeks

2.2.2 Phase two: The class observation

The aims of this phase are to confirm and recheck the information collected from questionnaire

A class observation was carried out to evaluate how the teacher would apply CLT techniques in teaching grammar in terms of frequency and purposes, whether she would give the lesson successfully, and what difficulties she would face during the lesson

2.2.2.1 Sampling

Table 2: Time schedule for class observation

Hoa C1/09 1 Week 3, 8 am, Monday, 15th March, 2010

Nam C2/09 1 Week 3, 8 am, Tuesday, 16th March, 2010

Nhan C3/09 1 Week 3, 8 am, Wednesday, 17th March, 2010