The appropriateness of CLT focus on form instruction to high school students at To Hien Thanh School = Khảo sát sự phù hợp về việc dạy ngữ pháp theo đường hướng20150227

It is aimed at finding out the appropriateness of teaching grammar in the light of CLT to students at To Hien Thanh high school in general and students of grade 11 here in particular.. W

ABSTRACT

The minor thesis is concerned with “ The appropriateness of CLT focus on form

instruction to high school students at To Hien Thanh School”

It is aimed at finding out the appropriateness of teaching grammar in the light of CLT to students at To Hien Thanh high school in general and students of grade 11 here in particular The objectives of study are to investigate contextual factors affecting the application of CLT focus on form instruction to students; to evaluate contextual appropriateness of the focus on form approach then to give some suggestions and some solutions of teaching method to bring about better results in CLT English language teaching and learning

To achieve the aims and the objectives of the thesis, many references were selected, read and filtered for information The author used Survey questionnaires for 5 teachers and 100 students at To Hien Thanh high school, Class observation, Post-observation interviews All the data collected were consolidated and categorized The results were analyzed and presented in forms of tables and figures The observational notes were jotted down to provide the findings in form of reflections

The minor thesis consists of three parts and three chapters Part I is introduction It provides a general overview of the study with specific references to the rationale, the aims and the objectives of study, research questions, research methods, context of study, data collection method, scope of study, purpose and significance of study Part II is

development Part II consists of three chapters: Chapter I, Literature review, is concerned

with definitions and concepts of the terms: Focus on Form vs Focus on Forms, Contextual

Appropriateness of teaching methods Chapter II, Research methodology, introduces context of study, methodology, survey instruments, data analysis Chapter III, Findings

and discussion, is devoted to a detailed description of findings and the discussion In this

chapter, explanation and interpretation of the findings are explored Part III, conclusion, gives a conclusion, recommendations, limitations of the study and then gives some suggestions for further study

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1.Rationale……… 1

2 Aims and objectives of study………2

3 Research questions………2

4 Research method……… 3

5 Context of study………3

6 Data collection method……… 4

7 Scope of the study……… 4

8.Purpose and Significance of study……… … 4

9 Design of the study……… 4

PART II - DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW……… 6

I.1 Focus- on- forms vs Focus- on- form……… 6

I.1.1 Focus on forms……….7

I.1.2 Focus on form……… 8

I.2 Contextual Appropriateness of teaching methods……….9

CHAPTER II: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY II.1 Context of study……… 10

II.1.1 The syllabus……… 10

II.1.2 The participants……… 10

II.1.3 Textbook………11

II.1.4 The Socio-cultural environment 13

II 2 Methodology……… 13

II 3 The survey instruments……… 13

II.3.1 The questionnaires 13

II.3.2 Classroom observation……… 14

II.3.3 The post-observation interviews with two teachers……….…….15

II.4.Data analysis……… …… 15

II.5 Summary……… 16 CHAPTER III: THE FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

III.1 Findings and discussions……… 17

III.1.1 The findings from survey questionnaires and discussion………17

III.1.2 The findings from classroom observation and discussion………25

III.1.3 The findings from post-observation interviews and discussion………… 29

III.2 Summary……… ……….31

PART III: CONCLUSION 1 Conclusion 33

2 Suggestions……… ………34

3 Limitations of the study……… 34

4 Recommendation for further study……… 35 REFERENCES……… I APPENDIXES……… III

Appendix I Survey questionnaire for teachers.……… III Appendix II Survey questionnaire for students IV Appendix III Two lesson plans……….….VI Appendix IV Interviews………XII

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CLT Communicative Language Teaching

ELT English Language Teaching

GCSE General Certificate of Secondary Education

LIST OF TABLES

Number

of table

Name Page

Table 2 Teacher’s opinions about the role of grammar in teaching

Table 5 Teacher’s ways of correcting students’ mistakes while

PART I : INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

There is no doubt that English has been used as a tool of communication among native speakers as well as non-native ones No one can deny the important role of English in every field of life Nowadays, the demand for learning English is increasing in Vietnam People learn English for many purposes, such as getting jobs in foreign companies, studying abroad, communicating in English with foreigners, passing exams, etc Learning English now is not only an interest but also a practical need for many people

Together with the growing demand for learning English, there has been an innovation in English teaching and learning methods everywhere in Vietnam Nowadays, teacher not only transfers knowledge but also guides, organizes students’ learning activities The aim

of language teaching is to help students understand language as well as use it actively in real life; after a language lesson, students can communicate in English To reach these purposes teachers have to try a lot

In fact, at To Hien Thanh high school, teaching English grammar in the light of communication has some problems, such as students’ levels, teachers’ methods, facilities, textbooks, etc Students here are almost bad at English They are lack of knowledge of English: vocabulary, grammar They spend little time on learning English They pay more attention to learning natural science subjects: Maths, Physics, Chemistry Because of students’ bad attitude to learning English, the teachers of English at To Hien Thanh high school have many difficulties in applying communicative language teaching Further more, facilities here are not good There are no cassettes to teach listening When teaching listening lessons, teachers have to read tape scripts Students have no chance to practice English in real life, no chance to listen to English from native speakers Besides those reasons, textbook is also a difficult problem for students at To Hien Thanh high school

Most tasks in textbooks Tieng Anh 10, 11, 12 are in the light of communication Those

tasks give students situations to practise English and require them to use English actively

It is very good for students to learn and practise , but for students at To Hien Thanh high school, it is a problem

In Vietnam each school year has two semesters Students of secondary schools have at least three English lessons per week They have to take four or five written tests and only

one oral test per semester Furthermore, what they learned at secondary school is little In English lessons of high school, teacher almost starts from basic structures and the simplest knowledge With the experience of 18 years working as a teacher of English and of 14 years teaching English at To Hien Thanh high school, the author always concerns with how to help students learn English better, how to motivate them in learning English and how to reach the aim of teaching English in the light of communication Those are the questions the author always thinks of Successful application of CLT requires certain conditions such as class size, language environment, facilities, teachers’ facilitative role, students’ active role, textbook, etc Those things can not be all met in the context of English teaching and learning at To Hien Thanh high school The question of how to equip students with grammatical competence so that they can use the language to communicate

in any situation has become a matter of teachers of English in general and teachers of English at To Hien Thanh high school in particular

For the above reasons, in this minor thesis, The author intends to investigate the appropriateness of focus on form instruction in the light of CLT to high school students

at To Hien Thanh high school then to give some suggestions to make English teaching

and learning activities at To Hien Thanh high school more communicative The author hopes that this study will have some contribution to improving the application of CLT in ELT in general, English grammar teaching in particular at To Hien Thanh high school

2 Aim and objectives of study

The aim of the study is to find out the appropriateness of focus on form instruction in

the light of CLT to high school students at To Hien Thanh school

The objectives of study are:

First, to investigate contextual factors affecting the application of focus on form approach

at To Hien Thanh high school

Second, to evaluate contextual appropriateness of the focus on form approach at To Hien

Thanh high school

Last, to give some suggestions and some solutions of teaching method so that applying

CLT in teaching and learning English at To Hien Thanh high school has good results and effectiveness

3 Research questions: To achieve the aims and the objectives of the thesis, the

following research questions were proposed:

1 To what extent is focus on form instruction used at To Hien Thanh high school ?

2 How appropriate is focus on form instruction to students at To Hien Thanh high school ?

3 What should teachers do to bring about better results in CLT English language

teaching and learning?

4 Research method

In order to explore the appropriateness of focus on form instruction to high school students

at To Hien Thanh high school the main methods utilized in this study are Survey

questionnaires for teachers and students, Class observation, Post-observation interviews

with two teachers To carry out the study, many references were selected, read and filtered

for information

With the aim of increasing validity and reliability of the data collected the author used the

following instruments:

Questionnaires: to find out the ways of teaching and learning grammar at To Hien Thanh

high school, then to find out the contextual appropriateness of teaching methods

+ Questionnaire for students: to investigate students’ real situation of learning English

and to explore their expectation in learning English

+ Questionnaire for teachers: to get teachers’ opinions about the ways they teach

grammar lessons

Classroom observation: to clarify and test the validity of information about teaching

grammar in the light of communication The author did not observe lessons of all 5

teachers but only two of them who are on behalf of two teaching styles

Post-observation interviews with two teachers: the author conducted two interviews

with two teachers whose lessons had been observed to get better insights into teachers’

perceptions and attitudes toward teaching grammar in the light of CLT

The first group: 5 teachers of English at To Hien Thanh high school They are at the ages

of from 33 to 41 with from 8 to 18 years working as teachers of English

The second group: 100 students of grade 11 at To Hien Thanh high school They are

from17 to18 years old

5.3 The textbook

In this study, the author intends to survey only students of grade 11, so the textbook the

author considered in this study is Tieng Anh 11 in order to find out whether the tasks in this

textbook are appropriate to students of grade 11 at To Hien Thanh high school

5.4 The Socio-cultural environment

In this part the author mentions to the Socio-cultural environment in Vietnam in general and at To Hien Thanh high school in particular

6 Data collection method

All the data collected from questionnaire for teachers, questionnaire for students, classroom observation, post-observation interviews with two teachers were consolidated and categorized The results were analyzed and presented in forms of tables and figures The observational notes were jotted down to provide the findings in form of reflections

7 Scope of the studyThe study only focuses on teaching and learning grammar in the light

of communicative language teaching at To Hien Thanh high school The subjects of the

study are students of grades 11 and teachers of English at this school

8.Purpose and Significance of studyThis study is carried out to find out the

appropriateness of focus on form instruction to high school students at To Hien Thanh School Successful application of communicative language teaching in teaching grammar not only helps teachers and students in teaching and learning grammar more actively and more effectively but also helps change the students’ learning style from passive to much

more active

This project can be significant in a number of ways It helps to identify the appropriateness

of teaching grammar in the light of communication to students at To Hien Thanh high

school and suggests ways of improving students’ communicative competence

9 Design of the study

The study consists of three parts and three chapters:

Part I: Introduction, provides a general overview of the study with specific references to

the rationale, the aims and objectives of study, research questions, research method, context of study, data collection method, scope of study, purpose and significance of study, design of the thesis

Part II: Development, includes three chapters:

Chapter one: Literature review This chapter provides definitions and concepts of the

terms: Focus on Forms vs Focus on Form, Contextual Appropriateness of teaching methods

Chapter two: Research methodology, introduces the context of study, methodology, the

survey instruments and data analysis

Chapter three: Findings and discussion It is devoted to a detailed description of findings

and the discussion In this chapter, explanation and interpretation of the findings are explored

Part III: Conclusion, gives conclusion, recommendations, limitations of the study and

then gives some suggestions for further study

PART II : DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides definitions and concepts of the terms: Focus on form vs Focus on forms, Contextual appropriateness of teaching methods

I.1 Focus- on- forms vs Focus- on- form

The two extremes have been encapsulated by Long’s (1988,1991) proposal that grammar instruction may be of two types: Focus on form and Focus on forms They are two different approaches of teaching grammar, but according to Long (1991) and Long and Robinson (1998), both focus on form and focus on forms are valuable and should

complement rather than exclude each other

I.1.1 Focus on forms

I.1.1.1 Definitions of focus on formsAccording to Ron Sheen “Focus on forms is equated

with the traditional teaching of discrete points of grammar in separate lessons.”

Long (2000) described Focus on forms as a traditional teaching approach in which teachers present the learners with reselected and sequenced linguistic items

I.1.1.2 Advantages and disadvantages of focus on forms

* Advantages

Focus on forms provides understanding of the grammar by a variety of means, including explanation in the L1, pointing out differences between the L1 and the L2, and aural comprehension activities intended to focus students’ attention on the forms being used; it

provides written and oral exercises that entail using the grammar in both

non-communicative and non-communicative activities; frequent opportunities for non-communicative use of the grammar to promote automatic and accurate use Though it assumes that this is the most effective mean of teaching grammar, it does not preclude any of the techniques

used in a focus on form, as it adopts an eclectic approach to classroom activities

* Disadvantages

Focus on forms gives the great difficulty of learning the grammar and vocabulary of a foreign language It makes students not pay attention to develop their spoken language, not have self-confidence in communicating in English with other people especially with foreigners

In this method, teacher introduces knowledge, presents grammatical structures; students listen to the teacher and write down what the teacher introduces There is no communicative environment for students to practise and students do not have chance to be

engaged in real-life communication This approach is teacher-centered.

According to Long (1997), focus on forms does not identify students’ communicative needs, does not ascertain their learning styles and preferences It is an one-size-fit-all approach Linguistic grading, both lexical and grammatical, tends to result in pedagogic materials of the basal reader variety and textbook dialogs and classroom language use which are artificial and stilted Focus on forms ignores language learning processes altogether or else tacitly assumes a long discredited behaviorist model; ignores the major role students will play in language development

I.1.2 Focus on form:

I.1.2.1 Definitions of focus on form:

According to Fotos (1998) focus on form is a context based presentation of grammatical forms, rather than overt teacher-led instruction

Doughty & Williams (1998) mentioned that focus on form integrates attention to form, meaning and use

According to Long (1991) Focus on form refers to drawing students’ attention to linguistic elements as they arise incidentally in lessons whose overriding focus is on meaning or communication Focus on form holds up the importance of communicative language teaching principles such as authentic communication and student-centeredness It maintains the value of the occasional and overt study of problematic L2 grammatical forms

In short, Focus on form instruction is teaching grammar in the light of communication It refers to activities capturing learners’ attention to form while maintaining meaningful communication The aim of Focus on form approach is that all classroom activity need to

be based on communicative tasks and any treatment of grammar should arise from difficulties in communicating and desired meaning Further that treatment preferably takes the form of quick correct feedback allowing for minimal interruption in communicative activity and the treatment grammar depends on unplanned problems in communication arising during communicative activities, there is no grammar syllabus

I.1.2.2 Advantages and disadvantages of Focus on form

* Advantages:

“ Focus on form derives from an assumed degree of similarity between first and second language acquisition positing that the two process are both based on exposure to comprehensible input arising from natural interaction.”

Focus on form helps learners “to recognize the properties of target structures in context

and develop their accuracy in their use” (Fotos 1998:32)

Focus on form instruction is paramount to spending little or no time on the discrete parts

of language; instead, the interest is on the use of language in real-life situations

Focus on form instruction helps students learn how to use language in a way that emulates realistic communicative scenarios More to the point, teacher-student/student-student classroom interaction, via both oral and written modes, should consume the majority of class time Likewise, evaluation centers on students’ abilities to actively engage in authentic communication, using the forms they have learned during interaction

As Poole (2003b) has pointed out, in many settings, the students and the teacher often share a common first (or second, or third) language and culture, and thus can easily code-switch in order to overcome communicative difficulties or fill communicative gaps

Focus on form instruction encourages students to use language not only in order to practise and automate structures, but also so that the teacher, as well as other learners, may be able

to identify learners’ errors and form-based difficulties in order to help learners overcome them It also encourages students to take responsibility for their own language skill development and helps them gain confidence in their ability to learn and use the language

* Disadvantages:

Focus on form approach refers to activities that capture learners’ attention to form while maintaining meaningful communication Thus, meaningful communication, crystallized through pedagogical tasks, was the basis of the Focus on form treatment

Focus on form “is also assumed that there are significant differences in the two processes: that exposure is insufficient to enable learners to acquire much of the second-language grammar, and that this lack needs to be compensated for by focusing learners’ attention on grammar features” Focus on form instruction, in Long (1991) and Long and Robinson’s (1998) conception, seems optimally suited to classrooms that are small enough to enable instructors to verbally address their students’ problematic forms, presumably via classroom discussion, Q/A sessions, and impromptu and planned public speaking events Likewise,

small classes would be needed for students to have significant amounts of peer interaction both orally and in written form

Focus on form instruction ignores the role of negative evidence in second language teaching, and depends too much on positive evidence

Learners who learn a second language through communicative classes do not gain high levels of language proficiency (Higgs and Clifford 1982)

I 2 Contextual Appropriateness of teaching methods

In the process of teaching and learning, the interaction between teacher, tasks and learners happens in a context which includes the physical environment, the emotional environment, the whole school ethos, the wider social environment, the political environment and the cultural setting

CHAPTER II: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This study, as indicated in chapter one, was intended to find out the appropriateness of focus on form instruction to high school students at To Hien Thanh high school The objectives are to investigate the ways of teaching and learning English grammar through communicative activities, to evaluate contextual appropriateness of teaching methods and then to give some suggestions, some solutions of teaching method so that applying CLT in teaching and learning English at To Hien Thanh high school has good results and

effectiveness

How to achieve those aim and objectives? In this part the author presents the research methodology chosen and the data collection procedures

II.1 Context of study

II.1.1 The syllabus

II.1.1.1 Course description

This syllabus is proposed for students of grade 11 It is organized in topics, which are spirally accompanied by a number of communication tasks, language functions, forms, structures, skills and vocabulary accordingly There are sixteen units in the textbook Each unit consists of four skills and language focus with the objectives, language functions and structures, communication skills, suggested materials and activities to practise

II.1.1.2 Goals and Objectives

Textbook Tieng Anh 11 is written for basic English program It provides students

opportunities to expose to and practise communicative skills It contains 16 units with different topics Each unit has five lessons: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing and Language Focus There are tasks in the light of communication for students to do and

practice

The objective of this book is that after each unit students can do exercises in workbook, further exercises and communicate in English fluently, have some knowledge of countries, people, cultures of some English speaking countries

II.1.2 The participants

The participants in this study were 5 teachers of English (all of them are females)and 100 students of grade 11 who have studied English for 6 years

II.1.2.1 Teachers

Teachers are the most important factors in the process of teaching The study investigates the perceptions and attitudes towards applying CLT in teaching grammar of five teachers

of English at To Hien Thanh high school Five teachers involve in the survey aged from 35

to 41 All of them are female Their experience in teaching English varies from 8 to 18 years Of these teachers, one is taking master course at Vietnam National University, Hanoi – University of Foreign Languages and International Studies; three graduated from Vietnam National University, Hanoi-University of Foreign Languages and International Studies; the rests graduated from Vinh Universities All of these teachers have experiences

of teaching large multilevel classes However, none of these teachers have attended a training course in English speaking countries Therefore, to some extent, their qualifications show the limitations of the teachers in terms of communicative competence

in language teaching Most of them have a great desire to acquire knowledge of communicative competence and claim to apply it in language teaching The varieties of age and teaching experience are hoped to increase the reliability and the value of the study

II.1.2.2 Students

Students are important elements in the process of teaching and learning It is essential to collect as much information as possible before the syllabus is designed, lessons are planned and method of teaching is chosen The study investigates the appropriateness of focus on form instruction to 100 students of grade 11 and what they want in learning English grammar The age of students of grade 11 is from 17 to 18 Their English level is low and

of mix-ability All of these students have 6 years of learning English (4 years at secondary schools and 2 years at high school) When learning at secondary schools, they did not pay attention to learning English because English is not a main subject At high school, English

is considered as one of six compulsory subjects in General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Because of lack of English knowledge at secondary school, they have many difficulties in learning English at high school, so English becomes difficult for them

to learn They are not interested in learning English lessons, especially grammar lessons Many students can hardly communicate in English because of lack of vocabulary,

grammatical knowledge They often feel shy and afraid of making mistakes

II.1.3 Textbook

In this study, the author intends to consider only the textbook Tieng Anh 11 The purpose is

to find out whether knowledge and tasks in this book are appreciate to the level of students

of grade 11 at To Hien Thanh high school

II.1.3.1 The concept of textbooks

According to Richards (1995), textbooks are key components in most language programs They serve as basis, they may provide the basis for the content of the lessons, the balance

of skills taught and the kinds of language the students take part in which occur in the classroom Further more, textbooks may serve primarily to supplements the teacher’s instruction They may provide the major source of contact they have with the language apart from input provided the teacher

II.1.3.2 The role of textbooks

McElroy stated that “the textbook is decidedly not the sole condition of an effective class; quality of teaching is more important” (1934: 5) 75 years later, an enormous body of research on the role of the textbook in EFL classrooms has accumulated around the globe, indicating that ‘successful’ learning and teaching in primary and secondary EFL school environments is dependent on a wider spectrum of factors, not only on the quality (or quantity) of English language learning materials The importance of the teacher is, of course, undisputed

II.1.3.3 Summary of Adapting the textbook Tieng Anh 11

Tieng Anh 11 is one of a new textbook series for upper secondary school students

institutionalized recently in the school nation-wide The textbooks Tieng Anh 10, 11, 12 in general, the textbook Tieng Anh 11 in particular have helped teachers to change their teaching toward a greater emphasis on communication and student-centeredness

The new textbook is more communicative, more interesting, and more motivating to their students than the old one Each unit has five lessons to practice different skills, such as, Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing and Language Focus Language focus consists of Pronunciation and Grammar They are very clear and active The reforming of the task-based curriculum in English language teaching for secondary schools is intended to enable the students to communicate in English more effectively with requirements: “Discuss the question”; “Work in pairs Look at the people below and describe their physical characteristics”; “ Work in pairs Ask and answer the following questions”; “ Work in

groups Discuss the following questions …”;“ Work in groups Talk about your school

problems and offer solutions”; etc

Despite of the good textbooks, the goal of teaching grammar in the light of communication

at To Hien Thanh high school is remained unachievable There are three major reasons : Firstly, teachers’ perception of their students’ low level of English proficiency is a reason for the teaching remaining largely teacher-fronted and the language of instruction and classroom management was mainly Vietnamese Secondly, teachers’ perception of their students’ motivation and attitude towards learning English is also an explanation for their grammar-traditional approach Thirdly, the amount of knowledge of each lesson is too large for students at To Hien Thanh high school to learn in 45 minutes, because their knowledge

of English at Secondary Schools is almost empty Entering the high school they restarted

learning English from the basis and the simplest knowledge of English

II.1.4 The Socio-cultural environment

To Hien Thanh high school, like many other high schools in many parts of Vietnam, is located in an area where the opportunity for using English is rare This makes the students and the parents unaware of the importance of English Furthermore, the students’ learning habits are rote-learning memorizing facts and learning for examinations Because of this, both teachers and students focus too much on memorizing rules instead of trying to use English for communication

II.2 Methodology

Criteria to evaluate the appropriateness

To evaluate the appropriateness of focus on form instruction in the light of CLT to high

school students at To Hien Thanh high school, the author based on the following

criteria First, the ways teachers use to teach grammar and teachers’ experiences Second, students’ ability in learning English grammar or students’ level Third, equipments for teaching English Fourth, appropriateness of class size in teaching and learning English grammar in the light of communication Last, the appropriateness of tasks in the textbook

to students

II.3 The survey instruments

This study employed the quantitative method which helped to provide background data for finding out appropriateness of focus on form instruction to students at To Hien Thanh high school In order to obtain in-depth and rich data, the study used a variety of research

instruments and sources of data: questionnaire for teachers, questionnaire for students, classroom observation and post-observation interviews with two teachers

II.3.1 The questionnaires

According to Selinger and Shohamy(1989) a questionnaire is widely used in second language acquisition research to solicit information about certain conditions and practices,

in particular to collect data on phenomena which are not easily observed, such as perceptions and attitudes It is also used to obtain background information about the research subjects(Koul 1984) A number of techniques are used to collect data through questionnaires The kinds of questions are various, consisting of Yes/No question, Multiple choice, Ranked question, question in Liker scale In this study the author used questionnaires for two groups: Teachers and Students

II.3.1.1.Questionnaire for teachers

The first questionnaire was designed for 5 teachers of English at To Hien Thanh high school (see Appendix I) It contains five multiple-choice questions The questionnaire was delivered to teachers and collected within 4 weeks It consists of two parts:

+ Part one: is the personal information of the respondents’ teaching experience + Part two: comprises the perception and attitude scale to find out the teachers’ perceptions and attitudes to teaching grammar in the light of communication This main section consists of seven questions

The questionnaire for teachers emphasizes on: the teachers’ teaching experiences

(Question 1); the teachers’ perceptions and attitudes to the role of grammar in teaching English(Questions2); the teacher’s opinions about the purpose of teaching grammar in teaching language (Question 3); the teachers’ ways of teaching grammar (Question 4 ); and the teachers’ opinions about grammatical mistake correction (Question 5)

II.3.1.2 Questionnaire for students

The second questionnaire was designed for 100 students of grade 11 at To Hien Thanh high school (see Appendix II) It contains four multiple-choice questions Students had four weeks to complete the questionnaire To ensure the students’ accurate misunderstandings before answering the questions All of the questions were written in Vietnamese Their answers were also written in Vietnamese, which enabled them to express their ideas fully and with ease

The aim of the questionnaire is to investigate students’ ways of learning English and their attitudes to learning English grammar lessons It consists of four questions

The questions for students focus on the following categories: the students’ evaluation of

their English grammar lessons (Question 1); students’ opinions about the levels of effectiveness of the ways of learning grammar (Question 2) ; the activities students like in learning grammar(Question 3) and the students’ opinions about grammatical mistake correction (Question 4)

II 3.2 Classroom observation

Apart from the survey questionnaires for non-English majors and teachers, classroom observation was employed to clarify and test the validity of information about teaching grammar in the light of communication The two lessons the author took observation were carried out in two classes 11 by two teachers being on half of two teaching styles Teacher

A always tries to apply CLT in teaching grammar; teacher B always applies two

approaches: focus on form and focus on forms in teaching grammar The purpose of the

classroom observation is to evaluate whether the teachers would give the lessons carefully; the ways teachers motivated as many students as possible into the learning activities; the ways those teachers monitored their classes; the ways they used to evolve compulsory knowledge in 45 minutes

II 3.3 The post-observation interviews with two teachers

Selinger and Shohamy (1989) point out that the use of interview as data collection instrument permits a level of in-depth information, free response and flexibility that can not be obtained by other procedures In this study, post-observation interviews consisting

of four specific and defined questions were used The post-observation interviews were conducted with two teachers who teach grammar in two styles The interviews took place

in a face-to-face situations with the subjects The purpose of the interviews is to discuss for further information to have in-depth understanding of their evaluation on the appropriateness of focus on form instruction to students at To Hien Thanh high school

II 4 Data analysis

The findings of the study with reference to the intended research questions are presented in this part There are three types of data which were analyzed and presented separately, i.e questionnaires for teachers and students data; classroom observation data and post-

observation interview data All the collected information from the questionnaires, interviews was consolidated and categorized The results were analyzed and presented in

forms of tables and figures

There were five survey questionnaires delivered to 5 teachers of English and four survey questionnaires delivered to 100 students of two classes 11 In addition, the classroom observation notes were jotted down to provide the findings in form reflections Besides delivering questionnaires, there were also two post-observation interviews with teachers Information gained through interviews was added to support the interpretation, making the collected information more reliable and valid

Firstly, all the collected information from the questionnaires was consolidated and categorized The results were analyzed and presented in forms of tables and figures The observational notes were jotted down to provide the findings in form of reflections

Secondly, the analysis of the classroom observation data was presented to provide empirical information of how the intended innovation embedded in the new textbook was actually implemented in the classroom

Thirdly, the data collected from the post-observation interviews with two teachers after observed lessons were analyzed and presented Collecting data from classroom observation and post-observation interviews with two teachers, the author decided to categorize into two main issues: 1) Teachers’ classroom practice and 2) Factors affecting teachers’ teaching The outcome of this part was used to answer the second research question about how appropriate focus on form instruction was to students at To Hien Thanh high school

chapter three, findings and discussions will be presented

CHAPTER III : FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter is divided into three parts The first part analyzes the data collected from survey questionnaires for teachers and students The second part analyzes the data collected from the classroom observation The third part analyzes the data collected from the interviews with two teachers whose lessons had been observed In this chapter the author analyzes the context of teaching and learning grammar at To Hien Thanh high school Based on the analysis and the findings from three parts above, three research questions at the part 1.3 will be answered

Data analysis of the questionnaires for teachers and students, of the classroom observation and of the post-observation interviews show how appropriate is focus on form instruction

to high school students at To Hien Thanh School The results are presented as follow

III.1 THE FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

III.1.1 The findings from survey questionnaires and discussion.As stated above,

survey questionnaire is to find out the ways of teaching and learning grammar at To Hien Thanh high school, then to find out the contextual appropriateness of teaching methods The fact of grammar teaching and learning involves two main factors: the teachers’ and the students’ attitudes toward grammar teaching and learning, the teachers’ common and the

students’ favorite methods and techniques used in grammar teaching and learning

III.1.1.1 Questionnaire for teachers

The aim of using Questionnaire for teachers is to get teachers’ opinions about the ways

they teach grammar lessons

Question1: How long have you been working as a teacher of English?

Teachers’ teaching experience Number of teachers Percentage ( % )

Table 1: Teachers’ teaching experience

It can be seen from the table 1 that the English teachers at To Hien Thanh high school are rather young with teaching experience from 8 years to 18 years Three teachers have from

8 to 10 year teaching experience It accounts 60 % of the English teachers of the school Two teacher have from 8 to 10 year teaching experience It accounts 40 %.It shows that the

English teacher group here are enthusiastic and willing to acquire new methods and

approaches to help their students gain essential knowledge

Question2: What do you think of the role of grammar in teaching English ?

Teacher’s opinions about the role

of grammar in teaching English

Number of teachers Percentage ( % )

Very important 3 60 %

Table 2: Teacher’s opinions about the role of grammar in teaching English

According to the results in the table 2, most of the surveyed teachers (60 %) believed that grammar is very important to English language teaching The rest (40 %) had an idea that grammar is important No one of them thought that grammar is not important The fact that most teachers realize the importance of grammar in English language teaching is a convenient prerequisite that encourage teachers to devote in grammar teaching In fact grammar is very important, as at high school, students have to be equipped with grammatical knowledge not only for academic purposes but also for a number of grammar-based tests and exams An awareness of the importance of grammar in teaching and learning English is partly reflected the way of teaching and learning grammar lessons

compared with other skills’ lessons

Question3: What is the purpose of teaching grammar ( in your opinion ) ?

Teacher’s opinions about the purpose of

grammar in teaching English

Number

of teachers

Percentage ( % )

To help students get good results in exams 3 60 %

To help students communicate in English better 1 20 %

To present grammar structures → practice / do the

Table 3: Teacher’s opinions about the purpose of grammar in teaching English

Based on the data in the table 3, it is not surprising that the biggest purpose of teaching and learning English at schools in general, at high school in particular is to prepare for the exams From the surveyed data, we can see that most of the surveyed teachers (60 %) said that the purpose of grammar in teaching English is to help students get good results in exams In fact, students do not have to take any oral tests, only written tests, so to pass the written tests and to get good results, they must do grammar exercises as much as possible Only one teacher (it accounts 20 %) thought that the purpose of grammar in teaching English is to help students communicate in English better and one teacher (it accounts 20

%) thought that the purpose of grammar in teaching English is to present grammar structures then practice / do the given tasks in the textbook In fact, students can not pass

the exams if they only do the given exercises in the textbook

Question4: In what way(s) do you often teach grammar ?

Teacher’s ways of teaching grammar Number

of teachers

Percentage ( % )

Presenting new grammar structures → asking

0 % Explaining the sentences containing new grammar

found out in the lesson by students → eliciting the

rules → asking students to do exercises in the

textbook

1 20 %

Giving examples → illustrating grammar rules or

structures → asking students to do exercises in the

textbook

1 20 %

Giving examples → illustrating grammar rules or

structures → giving students situations to make

sentences using the explained grammar rules before

doing exercises in the textbook

3 60 %

Table 4: Teacher’s ways of teaching grammar

Looking at the table 4 we can see that none of the surveyed teachers use the way of presenting new grammar structures then asking students to make sentences They said that

it is difficult for students to remember and make sentences Only one teacher (it accounts

20 %) said that she usually uses the second way: explaining the sentences containing new grammar found out in the lesson by students → eliciting the rules → asking students to do exercises in the textbook when teaching grammar She wants her students to brainstorm by reading the lesson and finding out the sentences containing new grammar then she explains those sentences For her it is one of the best way that helps students remember new grammar structures easily The same number as the second way, there is one teacher (it accounts 20 %) said that she usually uses the third way: giving examples → illustrating grammar rules or structures → asking students to do exercises in the textbook She believes that students will remember easily and immediately if they are asked to apply the theory they have learned in doing exercises in the textbook On the other hand, most of the surveyed teachers (60 %) show that the last way in the table: giving examples → illustrating grammar rules or structures → giving students situations to make sentences using the explained grammar rules before doing exercises in the textbook is the best way to

teach grammar

Question5: What is your opinions about correcting students’ mistakes while teaching grammar ?

Teacher’s ways of correcting students’ mistakes

while teaching grammar

Number

of teachers

Percentage ( % )

Interrupt students to correct whenever they have

Listen carefully to all what students are saying, then

correct some common mistakes

2

40 % Correct concretely every mistake students have

Encourage students to use new structures they have

learned in speaking English as much as possible,

correct only common mistakes, never interrupt

students

3 60 %

Table 5: Teacher’s ways of correcting students’ mistakes while teaching grammar

The table 5 indicates the teachers’ ways of correcting students’ mistakes while teaching

grammar It can be seen that the highest rate of the surveyed teachers (60 % )said that

encouraging students to use new structures they have learned in speaking English as much

as possible and correcting only common mistakes, never interrupting students are

considered the best way to encourage students to take part in communicating in English

confidently Correcting only common mistakes makes students believe that they are good

at English 40 % of the surveyed teachers said that they usually listen carefully to all what

students are saying, then correct some common errors For them, this way makes students

think that they always attract their teacher’s attention while they are speaking English All

of the surveyed teachers thought that students will be not confident if they are interrupted

while speaking

III.1.1.2 Questionnaire for students:

The aim of using Questionnaire for students is to investigate students’ real situation of

learning English and to explore their expectation in learning English

Question1: What is your opinion about grammar lessons at school?

Students’ opinions

Number of students

percentages

Boring, difficult to understand and to remember 30 30 %

Understanding grammar structures but the

Interesting, effervescent , lively and easy to

Table 6: Students’ opinions about grammar lessons at school

As can be seen in the table 6, students have different attitudes to grammar lessons at

school Most students (50 %) said that they understand grammar structures but classroom

is deep A lower percentage of the students (30 %) said that the grammar lessons are

boring, difficult to understand and to remember Only 20 % of the students said that

grammar lessons are interesting, effervescent, lively and it is easy to understand

Question2: Please tick the level(s) of effectiveness of the following ways of learning

English ( in your opinions)

The ways of learning

The level of effectiveness

Very effective

( % )

Not very effective

( % )

Not effective

( % )

Learning grammar through conversations

and texts

28 % 48 % 24 %

Listening to the teacher’s explanation of

grammar forms and uses then doing exercises

in the textbook

54 % 33 % 13 %

Writing down and learning by heart examples

on the board then making sentences using

structures having been learned

42 % 46 % 12 %

Learning by heart sentences having new

structures in concrete situations then applying

them to communicate with classmates

56 % 34 % 10 %

Learning grammar through exercises in the

forms of games, quiz games, songs, working in

pairs / groups

60 % 31 % 9 %

Learning by heart grammar structures, rules

then doing exercises in the textbook 47 % 43 % 10 %

Learning grammar through listening, speaking,

The teacher spends much time training skills

The teacher only teaches grammar when you

make mistakes

27 % 59 % 14 %

Table 7: Students’ opinions about the effectiveness of the ways of learning grammar

Looking at the table 7 we can see that 28 % of students said that learning grammar through

conversations and texts is very effective, a larger proportion (48 %) said that this way is

not very effective and only 24 % said that it is not effective to learn grammar through