SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM HOW TO HELP STUDENTS LEARN GRAMMAR EFFECTIVELY

HOW TO HELP STUDENTS LEARN GRAMMAR EFFECTIVELYI. REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE TOPICNowadays, English has been considered as one of the most popular languages. It is now the key factor of globalization of political views, international business as well as education (Johnson, 2009). Thanks to the development of economic with oversea investment and tourism more and more people spend time and money taking English classes at schools or private centers with the hope that they can better their communication in English so that they are able to study abroad, and look for good jobs with high income. Realizing how important English is in education, the Ministry of Education and Training in Vietnam has a number of policies to develop both teachers and students’ English proficiency. For instance, the project of improving teachers’ English proficiency following The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) standard by the end of the year 2020 has been carried out recently to provide further training for those who are not qualified enough. Furthermore, students in Dong Nai province have opportunities to study with foreign teachers, especially Filipino teachers.Despite the fact that teaching English has some improvement recently in the light of learnercentered approach which is adaptable to help students better their English, teaching and learning English in Vietnam has not developed students grammatical competence, motivation, and activeness. The students are expected to be proficient at English after graduating from high school, although there is a considerable studying time, many Vietnamese students are still not able to use English grammar correctly and confidently. As a matter of fact, grammar is very helpful for students. Pradeep (2013) states that grammar is a very important part that cannot be neglected in teaching and studying English. It can be taught through different methods either explicit or implicit. However, Denham (1992) highlights the fact that teachers instruct most of their lessons through Grammar Translation Method approach (GTM) which is known as teachercentered and makes students bored. This suggests that it’s high time for teachers to teach grammar in a variety of ways to allow students to better their grammar competence as well as enhance four main skills including reading, listening, speaking and writing. Thus, in my opinion, it is necessary to carry out this study to make practical benefits for students by applying workable methods. II. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES AND REALITY1. Theoretical perspectivesThe role of grammar in teaching and learning EnglishAccording to Harmer’s viewpoint (1987, pp.12) “Without some understanding of Grammar, students would not be able to do anything more than utter separate items of language for separate functions. The expression of functional language is only possible through the use of the Grammar of the language” Firstly, teaching grammar helps students understand how the language works. Apart from vocabulary, students need to know grammar to understand how it is written or how words are combined together to understand the proper meaning. Without grammar or with a poor knowledge of grammar, they may get confused with complicated expressions. Appropriate grammar techniques are embedded in meaningful, communicative contexts then contribute positively to communicative goals and they also promote accuracy within fluent communicative language use.Secondly, Smith (2001: 15) claimed that if teachers neither pay attention to grammar nor create opportunities for learners to improve grammar, learners are likely to stand the risk of fossilization or reach a point where they can cope with level of communication that is demanded of them by making use of their existing grammatical resources and communication strategies and probably with sufficient fluency. Surely, they do not see the need to develop their linguistic abilities any further.In favor of the importance of grammar, Larsen – Freeman (1986:13) affirms that grammar is regarded as a skill rather than an area of knowledge. Learners do not simply store knowledge about the language and its usage; they need also to develop an ability to do something. They must have a chance of learning situations to overcome the knowledge problem. It is true to say that grammar is the fifth skill besides four skills reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Skill development as well as learning grammar takes practice. Grammar might not be taught only when the students already possessed the knowledge and the ability to use the grammar item in speech, writing and listening comprehension. In fact, grammar is the basis for mastering four language skills. When we have concrete foundation of grammar, we feel much easier to advance.In general, grammar is acknowledged to be of importance in language study and in language teaching and learning in particular. Grammar is acquired naturally from meaningful input and opportunities to interact in the classroom. More especially, learners can improve their grammar competence in a suitable environment without conscious focus on language forms. However, this partly depends on the learning circumstances. As a result, grammar teaching gains its significant role in English Language Teaching because highly developed language skills are difficult to achieve without some knowledge of grammar. Teacher should help students to acquire grammar knowledge through meaningful contexts which improve students’ motivation. The important of students’ motivationSince motivation is not only a vital but also a highly complex factor determining more or less successful language learning, it is necessary to examine approaches to motivate in learning in order to bring about better insights into it.Over the years there have been in numberable studies on motivation in foreign and second language learning. In these studies, researchers have attempted to explain what is meant by motivation. However, most studies on motivation in foreign and second language learning have been influenced by the work of Gardner (1985) (quoted in Spolsky, 1998), who defines motivation as consisting of effort, plus desire to achieve the goal of learning, plus favorable attitude towards learning the languageAnother theory on motivation can be seen from Littlewood’s perspective (1998:53) that “in second language learning as in every other field of human learning, motivation is the crucial force which determines whether a learner embarks on a task at all, how much energy he devotes to it, and how long he perseveres. It is a complex phenomenon and includes many components: the individual’s drive, need for achievement and success, curiosity, desire for stimulation and new experience, and so on”.

ENGLISH

DẠY TỐT HỌC TỐT

EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEPARTMENT OF DONG NAI PROVINCE

VINH CUU HIGH SCHOOL

CURRICULUM VITAE

I PERSONAL INFORMATION

1 Full name: Bui Thi Xuan Huong

2 Date of birth: April 7 th 1986

3 Male/female: female

4 Address: Tan Trieu village, Vinh Cuu district, Dong Nai province

5 Phone number: 0918.539253

6 Email: bt.xuanhuong1@gmail.com

7 Career: English Teacher

8 Work at: Vinh Cuu High School

II EDUCATION

1 University: B.A in English

 Year graduated: 2010

 Trained specialty: English

2 Post graduated: MBA

 Year graduated: 2013

III EXPERIENCE

Experienced professional field: Teaching

 Year of teaching: 6

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC 5

II THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES AND REALITY 5

1 Theoretical perspectives 5

2 Reality 8

III SOLUTIONS 9

1 Teaching grammar in a non-stressed and exciting environment 9

1.1 What to teach 9

1.2 How to teach 9

1.2.1 Using games 9

1.2.2 Eliciting 12

1.2.3 Showing the forms 14

1.2.4 Give students practice in using the grammatical patterns 14

2 Helping students to consolidate the grammar patterns regularly 17

2.1 Using games 18

2.1.1 Shoot for Points 18

2.1.2 Board Game 18

2.1.3 Tic Tac Toe 18

2.1.4 Snakes and Ladders 18

2.1.5 Football 19

2.2 Jumbled sentences 19

2.3 Matching 19

2.4 Chinese whisper game 20

2.5 Find someone who 21

2.6 Picture description 21

2.7 Sentence chains 22

3 Guiding students how to learn grammar effectively 22

3.1 Raise your motivation 23

3.2 Be aware of grammar 23

3.3 Learn grammar with association and fun 23

3.4 Study regularly 24

3.5 Read a lot of English books 24

3.6 Make sure to practice 24

3.7 Learn with your friends 25

3.8 Use the Internet 25

IV FINDINGS 25

V RECOMMENDATION 27

VI REFERENCES 28

VII APPENDIX 30

HOW TO HELP STUDENTS LEARN GRAMMAR EFFECTIVELY

Nowadays, English has been considered as one of the most popularlanguages It is now the key factor of globalization- of political views, internationalbusiness as well as education (Johnson, 2009) Thanks to the development ofeconomic with oversea investment and tourism more and more people spend timeand money taking English classes at schools or private centers with the hope thatthey can better their communication in English so that they are able to studyabroad, and look for good jobs with high income Realizing how important English

is in education, the Ministry of Education and Training in Vietnam has a number

of policies to develop both teachers and students’ English proficiency Forinstance, the project of improving teachers’ English proficiency following TheCommon European Framework of Reference (CEFR) standard by the end of theyear 2020 has been carried out recently to provide further training for those whoare not qualified enough Furthermore, students in Dong Nai province haveopportunities to study with foreign teachers, especially Filipino teachers

Despite the fact that teaching English has some improvement recently in thelight of learner-centered approach which is adaptable to help students better theirEnglish, teaching and learning English in Vietnam has not developed studentsgrammatical competence, motivation, and activeness The students are expected to

be proficient at English after graduating from high school, although there is aconsiderable studying time, many Vietnamese students are still not able to useEnglish grammar correctly and confidently

As a matter of fact, grammar is very helpful for students Pradeep (2013)states that grammar is a very important part that cannot be neglected in teachingand studying English It can be taught through different methods either explicit orimplicit However, Denham (1992) highlights the fact that teachers instruct most oftheir lessons through Grammar Translation Method approach (GTM) which isknown as teacher-centered and makes students bored This suggests that it’s hightime for teachers to teach grammar in a variety of ways to allow students to bettertheir grammar competence as well as enhance four main skills including reading,listening, speaking and writing Thus, in my opinion, it is necessary to carry outthis study to make practical benefits for students by applying workable methods

1 Theoretical perspectives

The role of grammar in teaching and learning English

According to Harmer’s viewpoint (1987, pp.12) “Without someunderstanding of Grammar, students would not be able to do anything more thanutter separate items of language for separate functions The expression of

functional language is only possible through the use of the Grammar of thelanguage”

Firstly, teaching grammar helps students understand how the languageworks Apart from vocabulary, students need to know grammar to understand how

it is written or how words are combined together to understand the propermeaning Without grammar or with a poor knowledge of grammar, they may getconfused with complicated expressions Appropriate grammar techniques areembedded in meaningful, communicative contexts then contribute positively tocommunicative goals and they also promote accuracy within fluent communicativelanguage use

Secondly, Smith (2001: 15) claimed that if teachers neither pay attention togrammar nor create opportunities for learners to improve grammar, learners arelikely to stand the risk of fossilization or reach a point where they can cope withlevel of communication that is demanded of them by making use of their existinggrammatical resources and communication strategies and probably with sufficientfluency Surely, they do not see the need to develop their linguistic abilities anyfurther

In favor of the importance of grammar, Larsen – Freeman (1986:13) affirmsthat grammar is regarded as a skill rather than an area of knowledge Learners donot simply store knowledge about the language and its usage; they need also todevelop an ability to do something They must have a chance of learning situations

to overcome the knowledge problem It is true to say that grammar is the fifth skillbesides four skills reading, writing, speaking, and listening Skill development aswell as learning grammar takes practice Grammar might not be taught only whenthe students already possessed the knowledge and the ability to use the grammaritem in speech, writing and listening comprehension In fact, grammar is the basisfor mastering four language skills When we have concrete foundation of grammar,

we feel much easier to advance

In general, grammar is acknowledged to be of importance in language studyand in language teaching and learning in particular Grammar is acquired naturallyfrom meaningful input and opportunities to interact in the classroom Moreespecially, learners can improve their grammar competence in a suitableenvironment without conscious focus on language forms However, this partlydepends on the learning circumstances As a result, grammar teaching gains itssignificant role in English Language Teaching because highly developed languageskills are difficult to achieve without some knowledge of grammar Teacher shouldhelp students to acquire grammar knowledge through meaningful contexts whichimprove students’ motivation

The important of students’ motivation

Since motivation is not only a vital but also a highly complex factordetermining more or less successful language learning, it is necessary to examineapproaches to motivate in learning in order to bring about better insights into it

Over the years there have been in numberable studies on motivation in foreign andsecond language learning In these studies, researchers have attempted to explainwhat is meant by motivation

However, most studies on motivation in foreign and second languagelearning have been influenced by the work of Gardner (1985) (quoted in Spolsky,1998), who defines motivation as consisting of effort, plus desire to achieve thegoal of learning, plus favorable attitude towards learning the language

Another theory on motivation can be seen from Littlewood’s perspective(1998:53) that “in second language learning as in every other field of humanlearning, motivation is the crucial force which determines whether a learnerembarks on a task at all, how much energy he devotes to it, and how long heperseveres It is a complex phenomenon and includes many components: theindividual’s drive, need for achievement and success, curiosity, desire forstimulation and new experience, and so on”

Apparently, Littlewood, not only highlighting the important role ofmotivation in second language learning but also emphasizing the ‘highly complexconstruct’ of motivation claimed that if a learner is motivated she will probablydecide to undertake a particular task with certain amount of energy and timeneeded for it

Furthermore, McKay and Tom (1992:2) point out that the need and drive tocommunicate with others in a new language provide strong motivation for mostlearners

This is more or less similar to Lightbown and Spada’s (1999: 56) definition ofmotivation in second language learning that “motivation in second languagelearning is a complex phenomenon which can be defined in terms of two factors:learner’s communicative needs and their attitudes towards the second community”

They also add that '' if learners need to speak the second language in a widerange of social situations or to fulfill professional ambitions, they will perceive thecommunicative value of the second language and will therefore be motivated toacquire proficiency in it Likewise, if learners have favorable attitudes towards thespeakers of the language, they will desire more contact with them.”

Learners’ motivation can change overtime and effect on their languagelearning Various studies have found that motivation is strongly related to success

However, many research findings shows that successful learning canenhance motivation, and the relationship between learning achievement and

motivation is an interactive one As Gardner and Smythe (1981) (quoted in Hedge,2000) claim that the high correlation between motivation and successful learningconfirms the crucial importance of motivation in the classroom whether learnersarrive with it or whether they acquire it through classroom experience.

2 Reality

Most of the students in my school are not good at English as well as theydon’t enjoy learning English grammar Most students consider that grammarstructures in their textbooks are boring with too much grammar rules and tiringexercises My students often have the same comments about the challenges anddifficulties of English grammar such as “There are so many rules”, “It is sodifficult to remember the patterns”, “I made mistakes when I did grammarexercises although I learnt carefully”, “I don’t know how use all the English tensescorrectly” and so on What can we do to solve these problems? As a Vietnamesehigh school English teacher, I realize that it is time to change the ways we teachEnglish grammar

One of the most common ways of teaching English grammar in my school is

to instruct students by Grammar Translation Method (GTM) which focuses onforms First of all, teachers provide students the form of the new grammar pointand givin examples so that students can understand After that teachers explain theusage ot the grammar point if necessary and ask students to apply the newgrammar structure to complete exercises At the end of the lesson, they ask thestudents to learn the grammar point by heart and finish all the exercises inworkbook at home

The way of teaching grammar mentioned above are very common in mostpublic as well as private school in Vietnam In my point of view, it clearly showssome problems Firstly, students feel bored and frustrated with the tiring rules andexecises They have no interest in learning English grammar and they learn thegrammar rules just because they are forced to do so As a result, students lose theirmotivation Secondly, students don’t know how to use the new grammar structures.Trying to remember the forms and rules is not enough More importantly, studentsshould know how to apply the grammar points appropriately and correctly inwhatever cases Finally, students lack of revision It's easy to forget previousgrammar points if they just learn by heart So, teachers should provide studentsexciting repetition activities

Many works have been carried out to find out the effective ways to improvestudents’ grammar acquisition as well as other basic skills From my ownexperience and many reference books, I have used some solutions to deal with thearising question

“How can teachers help students to learn grammar effectively?

I wish these solutions can allow me and other English teachers tosuccessfully resolve the problems in teaching grammar features and help thestudents better their grammar acquisition

I have applied the following solutions at Vinh Cuu high School inclasses 10A1, 10A2, 11A1 and 11A2 from the beginning of the schoolyear 2014-2015

1 Teaching grammar in a non-stressed and exciting environment

1.1 What to teach

Teachers frequently need to present new grammar to learners and grammarpresentations are often at the heart of language lessons However, Englishgrammar is very complex, so teachers often want to strengthen or supplement thegrammatical explanations in order to meet the particular learning events in theirown classrooms As a matter of fact teachers can use variety ways to instructgrammar lessons and they can use not only the course book with ‘ready-made’presentation but also other materials like a reading texts or online activities.Normally, teachers convey lessons about the following points:

1) the new structure and its possible forms

2) the meanings imparted by the structures in context

3) the core of what the student needs to learn

Therefore, teachers should find the ways to present the structure and tocheck that whether the students are interested in the grammar lessons or not andthe core concepts are understood within a certain context

1.2 How to teach

1.2.1 Using games

The understanding of a lesson is more easily achieved when students areengaged, interested and having fun during the lesson In fact, many games havebeen conducted in order to teach grammar effectively in an exciting and relaxinglearning environment

1.2.1.1 Word puzzles

It is a useful and interactive method whereby students can learn all sorts ofimportant parts of English grammar They can be used to encourage students toidentify and understand various parts of a sentence; grammatical concepts likesynonyms, tenses and conjugations; or incorrectly used grammar Word puzzles

such as crosswords are easily modified to suit all age and skill levels andintroduce an element of fun competition into the learning process, so they can beinvaluable in forging a full and lasting understanding of English grammar.

1.2.1.2 Bingo

The game of Bingo is based on people marking off spaces on their carduntil they fill in a row or column fully In normal Bingo these are numbers,drawn at random from a pool In grammar lesson Bingo, they could be pronouns,verbs, nouns, sentence structure, antonyms, and so on – students could use thedaily newspaper and attempt to find correct examples of these grammaticalconcepts faster than each other, thereby “winning” the game – and learning in theprocess! Short and fun grammar exercises like this can be included on a regularbasis during your lessons to keep correct grammar usage fresh your students’minds and improve their recall of the topics at hand

1.2.1.3 Jumbled Sentences

Choose a number of sentences from the last few chapters (pages) that youhave been working on in class Make sure to choose a nice mixture includingadverbs of frequency, time signifiers, adjectives and adverbs, as well as multipleclauses for more advanced classes Type (or write on the board) jumbled versions

of the sentences and ask the students to reassemble them If you are focusing onspecific grammar points, have the students explain why certain words are placed in

certain places in a sentence For example, If you are working on adverbs of

frequency, ask students why 'often' is placed as it is in the following negative sentence: 'He doesn't often go to the cinema.'

1.2.1.4 Whisper Circles

With the aim to teach the grammar structure (it takes to do ) I used a gamenamed whisper circles

+ Divide the students into groups of 7 to 10

+ Choose one leader from each group Give the leaders the card which hasthe sentence "It takes about six seconds for something you drink to reachyour stomach." Ask him to memorize the sentence, go back to his groupand whisper what he has read on the card to the person on his right Eachperson will whisper the sentence to the next person and the sentence can

be said only once The last person will say the sentence out loud If thesentence is the same with the one written on the card, that group wins

1.2.1.5 Match and catch the riddle

When instructing simple present tense, I can take advantage of this activity to help

my student involve more in the lessons

+ Divide the class into two groups: The QUESTION group and the ANSWER group

+ Give the questions to the first group and the answers to the other group Each student in the first group is supposed to read the question he has aloud and whoever has the answer in the other group reads the answer aloud

If the question and the answer match, put the students in pairs If they don’t, continue till the right answer is found Each student can read his part only twice When all questions and answers are matched ask the pairs

to read the riddle they have just for fun

1.2.1.6 Crazy story

To present simple past tense or reported speech I will ask my student make their own story

+ Prepare sheets of paper with six columns which bear the following titles

at the top

WHO? (a man's name)

WHOM? (a woman's name)

WHERE?

WHAT DID HE SAY?

WHAT DID SHE SAY?

WHAT DID THEY DO?

+ Divide the class into groups of 6 Give each group one sheet of paper Ask the first student to write under the first part and fold the paper so as to cover what he has written Tell the student to pass the paper onto the next person As each person writes, he should only look at his fold When all students finish, one student from each group will be asked to read their story in the following format You can write the format on the blackboard

met in/at

He said

She said

And so they

1.2.1.7 Find the differences

It is helpful for teachers when teaching the following structures there is/are , s/he has , s/he is ing, s/he is + adjective)

+ Find or draw two pictures which are the same except for seven features.Photocopy them on separate sheets of paper.

+ Ask students to work in pairs Give one copy of each picture to the pairs.The pairs are not supposed to show their copies to each other Partner Awill describe their copy and Partner B will listen carefully and examinetheir own copy to find the differences They can ask questions if theyrequire more detailed information or need any clarification The pair thatfinishes first wins the game

1.2.2 Eliciting

Instead of simply giving the grammatical structures, teachers ought toengage students more by drawing those patterns from the students We shouldinvite student to give their ideas as well as make suggestions Students are alsoencouraged to contribute what they know already and make guesses at the newstructures This is called eliciting

Eliciting helps focus students’ attention and help students brainstorm theideas This involves the class even if students do not know the grammar pointbeing elicited Furthermore, students are encouraged to contribute what theyalready know or partly know So this technique is useful for teaching mixed abilityclasses In addition, teachers can see what students know and what they do notknow by eliciting Therefore, we can adapt the presentation to the level of theclass Of course, it takes teachers more time to elicit new structures However, itwill catch students’ attention and they will remember the lesson more The more astudent engages with a new grammar point, the more likely he is to learn it

Teachers can elicit new grammar points using the following ways:

1.2.2.1 Eliciting from visual aids

There are probably as many reasons for using visual aids as there areinstructional aims but in my opinion there are two main reasons a teacher shouldconsider using pictures, flashcards, realia, and so forth First visual aids increasethe effectiveness of any lesson because they clarify meaning instantly Second,using visual aids increase motivation and stimulate students’ interest However, inany situation teachers are still the most effective visual aids

For instructing tenses and time words, I can use time lines so that mystudents can realize the forms of the tenses easily such as past simpe, pastprogressive and past perfect in Unit 3 English 10 page 32 (Figure 1)

Figure 1Many grammar points can be illustrated by boxes or circles labeledappropriately such as relative clause in Unit 15 English 10 page 156 (Figure 2).

1.2.2.2 Eliciting from guessing

Students can guess the rules which they have never actually been taughtbecause language often follows rules Moreover, eliciting is one way of

encouraging students to guess and to work out rules for themselves Learningthrough this way will fill students with enthusiasm.

EX: To elicit how to add –ing after Verbs, I write on the board:

love à livingdrive à ?

In addition, a teacher can also have students guess a new structure based ontheir background knowledge

EX: To elicit the usages of simple present tense, I will write down asentence on the board “ The Earth goes around the Sun” Students know that this is

a truth, a fact So that they can draw out one of the usages of this tense is to talkabout the truth

1.2.3 Showing the forms

Teachers are recommended to show the forms of a new structure in casestudents don’t know it In fact, we can write a formation on the board It is atraditional method using PPP Technique (Present- Practice- Produce) However,some students get bored when they are taught by this way and some are easy toforget the given structure as they are forced to learn by heart To make themremember longer, it is necessary to link the structure with a certain context forfurther practicing In fact, we can all grammar point through this way The motimportant thing is helping students become engaged more into the lessons

EX: in order to instruct the grammar point reported speech in unit 5 English

11, I will some examples for my student to draw out he forms

 Direct speech: “I like ice cream”

 Reported speech: She says she likes ice cream.

1.2.4 Give students practice in using the grammatical patterns

This step often takes place after we have presented the structure of thelesson We can do this by asking student to role play using the new structure,asking students to fill in the blanks, asking multiple-choice questions, askingstudents to make sentences with the new structures and so on

1.2.4.1 Asking students to role play

After presenting a new structure, teachers can ask students to role play usingthe grammar point to be sure that students really understand the forms and usage ofthe structure in context Role play is a very useful way to practice what studentshave learnt It can help students better their communicational skills, interpersonalskills, conflict resolution, as well as improve group decision making, and developinsights

For example, after presenting how to make suggestions using the followingstructure

EX: You and your friend are going to have a picnic this weekend butyou don’t know where to go One of your friends want to visit Tran Bien Temple.But other members don’t like this idea Another one suggest to go to Suoi TienPark But it’s too far So you suggest to go to Bien Hung Park that is in the center

of Bien Hoa City Let’s make your own conversation using the given information

1.2.4.2 Asking students to fill in the blanks

After teaching a certain grammar point, I ask my students to do the following task

Fill in the blanks with the correct forms of the verbs:

1 She (go) to Nha Trang two weeks ago.

2 What _you (do) yesterday?

3 My father (not/ watch) TV last night.

4 When I (be) a little girl, my father (take) me to the park.

5 _you (eat) breakfast this morning?

We can make the above task become more interesting by designing it as agame For example, the teacher shows the questions in turn The class is dividedinto two groups The students raise their hands to get the right to answer Eachcorrect answer will be awarded one point The winner will be the group with morepoints at the end

1.2.4.3 Asking multiple-choice questions

I ask students to do the following task

Choose the best answer A, B, C, or D:

1 I need _ some new clothes

2 I can _very well

3 My sister often school by bike

A go to B gos to C goes to D goinging to

4 I sometimes _ yoga at home with my mom

5 They _ from Bien Hoa city

This kind of exercise is very common in examination but it is so boring.Therefore, teachers can make it more interesting by designing it as a competitiongame in which the questions are shown in turn

1.2.4.4 Asking students to make sentences with the new structures

This task will be easier and more interesting if students work in groups andcompete with each other This activity will encourage the student to use thestructures in real communication Therefore they can enhance their speakingability

 When I finish the first semester (the school year 2015), I conveyed a survey on my students towards the following question.

2014-Did my ways of teaching grammar make you feel like learning English grammar and memorize them longer?

quantity

motivation in learning English grammar in specific and other aspects of English ingeneral When I apply the traditional Grammar Translation methods in teachinggrammar, my students also get good results in written tests which focus onchecking grammatical competence However, they cannot using the grammarpoints they’ve learnt before in their speaking In comparison with the newmethods I realize that my students not only get better results in the exam but alsothey can improve their speaking skill

 All of my lessons are conducted using communicative activities with the

purpose to improve students’ communicative ability Hence, I also made a survey

in which I can identify how often the students communicate with their classmates through the activities in class by examining the following question.

Did you have more opportunities to interact with your classmates by when I applied communicative activities?

quantity

It seems that 8 to 10 minutes is not enough for playing the games When time is

up, some students even do not want to stop I see that my students cooperate welland communicate with others frequently in order to contribute ideas, discuss theanswers, and make possible sentences Hence, students’ speaking time is increasednearly 60%

2 Helping students to consolidate the grammar patterns regularly

If students don’t have a lot of chances to review the grammar points theyhave learnt, it is easy for them to forget Revision is really important andnecessary Thus, teachers need to help students consolidate the structures as often

as possible In fact, there are a lot of activities to help students review what they’velearnt In this part, I’ll suggest some reviewing activities that are designed asgames so that students have more interest in studying Teachers can organize theseactivities whenever necessary

2.1 Using games

2.1.1 Shoot for Points

We often need to review things that are not fun, things like the pastsimple or pmjast participle of irregular verbs Instead of the classic Q & Aactivity, we can use a large container or trash can as your “basket”, give yourstudents a ball and have them shoot for points But here’s the catch: you’ll askthem a question in past simple, and they’ll have to remember the past correctly inorder to earn the chance to shoot They can get 10 points for scoring or five if theymiss (because at least they answered the question correctly) You can try anyvariety of this type of game, whether you use large balls or small ones, or even awadded up piece of paper

2.1.2 Board Game

Everyone loves a board game, and students will particularly appreciate one

if it’s not only loads of fun, but also a helpful way to review essentialgrammar You can design your own to include the tenses and structures yourstudents have learned

2.1.3 Tic Tac Toe

Tic Tac Toe is another versatile game, one that can be adapted to suit awide variety of needs What you need to decide first is which grammar yourstudents need to review for the test Then, write the topics on nine index cards orlarge enough pieces of paper Arrange the cards face down on a table or stick them

on the board, in the classic Tic Tac Toe 3 x 3 grid

Next, teams take turns choosing a square (you can add letters across andnumbers down to make it easier to call out the squares) You turn over the cardand reveal to your students the tense/structure/grammar point written on it.Students must then either provide an example or ask a question that another teammember must answer correctly to get their X or O on that square Of course, thefirst team that gets three Xs or Os across, down or diagonally wins

2.1.4 Snakes and Ladders

To play this classic game in your grammar review lesson, you’ll first need

to prepare some cards: they may have verb tenses written on them, questions yourstudents must answer or prompts from which to say a complete sentence

The rules are simple, but the game is so much fun! Students must firstchoose a token to move around the board (a different colored button for each will

do nicely!) Then they take turns rolling the dice to move across the board Theymust take a card and answer correctly to remain on that spot, or move back twoplaces if they are incorrect If they land at the bottom of a ladder, and they answercorrectly, they get to move up the ladder, but if they land on a snake’s head theyautomatically move down to where its tail is

2.2 Jumbled sentences

To help students review the new structure, I divide the class into smallgroups and ask students to re-order the given words to make meaningful sentences Ex: Her/ often/ reads/ in/ she/ free/ book/time

 She often reads book in her free time