A survey on students’ attitudes to deductive and inductive approaches to teaching english grammar for grade 11th at bac kan gifted high school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES TRỊNH THANH HUYỀN A SURVEY ON STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TO DEDUCTIVE AN

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

TRỊNH THANH HUYỀN

A SURVEY ON STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TO DEDUCTIVE AND INDUCTIVE APPROACHES TO TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR

GRADE 11 AT BAC KAN GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL

Nghiên cứu điều tra thái độ của học sinh đối với phương pháp diễn dịch và quy nạp trong giảng dạy ngữ pháp tiếng Anh tại lớp 11 trường trung học phổ thông

chuyên Bắc Kạn

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Major: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

TRỊNH THANH HUYỀN

A SURVEY ON STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TO DEDUCTIVE AND INDUCTIVE APPROACHES TO TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR

GRADE 11 AT BAC KAN GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL

Nghiên cứu điều tra thái độ của học sinh đối với phương pháp diễn dịch và quy nạp trong giảng dạy ngữ pháp tiếng Anh tại lớp 11 trường trung học phổ thông

chuyên Bắc Kạn

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Major: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Dr Đỗ Tuấn Minh

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled A SURVEY ON STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TO DEDUCTIVE AND INDUCTIVE APPROACHES TO TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR GRADE 11 AT BAC KAN GIFTED HIGH SCHOOL submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language Teaching Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis

Hanoi, 2016

Trinh Thanh Huyen

Approved by SUPERVISOR (Signature and full name)

Date:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from a number of people I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all most sincerely

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr Do Tuan Minh, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported me through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher

A special word of thanks goes to teachers and students in class 11A at Bac Kan Gifted High School and many others, without whose support and encouragement it would never have been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished

Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family and friends for the sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work Their love will always

be my sunshine in my road to success

ABSTRACT

The present survey study seeks to investigate students’ attitudes to English grammar teaching approaches Specifically, it has explored the attitudes towards deductive and inductive approaches to English grammar teaching held by thirty eleven – form students in English – specialized class coded as A at Bac Kan Gifted High School The instruments for data collection to serve the aim of the research are survey questionnaire, semi – structured interview and classroom observation After a careful long time of collecting and analyzing valuable data, it is revealed in the study that students showed favorable attitudes to inductive approach rather than deductive approach The reasons for their favor were uncovered that the rule – driven path or the deductive approach is monotonous, uninteresting and demotivating for them, while the inductive path is considered more helpful as it makes students become more active rather than passive as recipient only When they were asked to show their opinions on the most appropriate way of teaching to enhance students’ grammar learning quality, they preferred their teacher to appropriately combine both approaches for the sake of effective grammar teaching and learning The researcher has offered some pedagogical suggestions emerged from the research findings to the context under investigation with the hope to bring about some changes and progresses in English grammar teaching for the sake of effective grammar learning on the part of students

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

I Rationale for the Research 1

II Aim and Objectives of the Research 3

III Research Questions 3

IV Scope of the Research 4

V Methods of the Study 4

VI Significance of the Research 5

VII Structural Organization of the Thesis 5

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 6

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

1.1 Overview of English Grammar 6

1.1.1 The Concept of Grammar 6

1.1.2 The Role of Grammar in Teaching English as a Foreign Language 7

1.2 Approaches to Grammar Instruction 9

1.2.1 Experiential Teaching Approach 9

1.2.2 Analytic Teaching Approach 10

1.2.3 Implicit and Explicit Approach 11

1.2.4 Intralingual and Crosslingual Dimension 13

1.2.5 Deductive and Inductive Approach 14

1.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Inductive and Deductive Approaches to

English Grammar Teaching 15

1.3.1 Advantages and Disadvantages of Inductive Approach 16

1.3.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Deductive Approach 16

1.4 Students’ Attitudes towards English Grammar Instruction 17

1.4.1 Defining Students’ Attitudes 17

1.4.2 Components of Attitude 19

1.4.3 Some Studies on Students’ Attitudes to Grammar Instruction 20

1.5 Summary 21

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY 22

2.1 Restatement of Research Questions 22

2.2 Research Setting 22

2.3 Participants 23

2.4 The Appropriateness of the Research Approach 23

2.5 Research Instruments 25

2.5.1 Survey questionnaire 25

2.5.2 Semi – structured interview 27

2.5.3 Observation 28

2.6 Data Collection Procedure 29

2.7 Methods of Data Analysis 31

2.8 Summary 33

CHAPTER III: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 34

3.1 Findings 34

3.1.1 Quantitative Data Findings 34

3.1.1.1 Overview of the Current Grammar Teaching Aids at Bac Kan Gifted High School 34

3.1.1.2 Attitudes to Grammar Teaching Approaches 35

3.1.1.2.1 Importance of Grammar 35

3.1.1.2.2 Importance of Attitude in Grammar Study 36

3.1.1.2.3 Attitudes to Deductive Approach 37

3.1.1.2.4 Attitudes to Inductive Approach 38

3.1.1.2.5 Attitudes to the Combination of both Inductive and Deductive Approaches 40

3.1.2 Qualitative Data Findings 41

3.1.2.1 Attitudes to Deductive Approach 41

3.1.2.2 Attitudes to Inductive Approach 42

3.1.2.3 Attitudes to the Combination of both Inductive and Deductive Approaches 43

3.2 Discussion of the Findings 44

PART C: CONCLUSION 46

I Summary of Key Findings 46

II Pedagogical Implications 46

III Limitations of the Study 47

IV Suggestions for Further Studies 47

REFERENCES 48 APPENDIX A I APPENDIX B VII

PART A: INTRODUCTION

This part including the rationale for the research, the aim and objectives, the scope and methods of the study, the research questions, the significance and structural organization of the thesis will hopefully provide readers with an overview of the whole paper

I Rationale for the Research

The role of foreign language grammar has always been a controversial subject of research for decades Krashen (1982) considers grammar useful for “language appreciation”, i.e appropriate language use, but it should not be the main subject of instruction In other words, learners acquiring a foreign language through a process

of communication and grammar is just a tool to polish their production when they have already acquired grammar knowledge In this case, we can assume that grammar is necessary, but not an essential background in language learning, and thus, it should not be the object of instruction in language teaching With another point of view, Batstone (1994) affirms the importance of grammar to understand language because it provides a framework for learners to structure their foreign language learning In addition, Dr Pradeep (2013) admits the importance of grammar by confirming that when learning a foreign dialect, learners should learn its grammar since it is extremely important that it cannot be ignored

From the researcher’s point of view, the role of grammar is a never-ending question and it is not so important as the matter of how grammar should be taught in foreign language teaching In recent times, grammar instruction has been regarded as essential and indispensable in the context of language teaching Sharing a similar idea with the writer, Purpura (2004) points out that grammar plays a central role in language teaching as it influences the success of foreign language learning In this view, grammar plays an extremely important and unavoidable role in developing the language outcomes of learners Recently, a number of merited research have

been conducted to discover the approaches concerning grammar teaching There are two approaches that come into question, i.e deductive and inductive instructions Seeing that there is no approach outweighing another; in other words, both deductive and inductive approaches possess the same merit, so teachers should take advantages of and be flexible in applying the aforementioned approaches in order to produce effective grammar teaching

In this paper, the writer puts the main focus on English as a foreign language taught

in Vietnam Being considered as a developing country with many potentials, Vietnam is a rich land in the context of globalization That tendency has brought about a change in Vietnamese people’s attitudes about foreign language learning, especially English With its position as a global language, English is regarded as a vital language that can bring people great opportunities to make their lives better, i.e good jobs, good living standards, good studying conditions, etc Therefore, English teaching has become a burning concern for many Vietnamese educators

In the writer’s viewpoint, although English grammar is extremely essential in the view of most Vietnamese teachers in general and high school teachers in particular, most of them do not possess suitable methods to teach grammar Thus, many students know English without being able to use it properly, even in expressing their own intentions Additionally, there is a fact that students’ attitudes to teachers’ grammar teaching approach can influence their learning outcomes However, there has been little investigation of the attitudes of high school students concerning English grammar instruction, and there is no research conducted to discover the issue in Bac Kan province Because of the aforementioned reasons, the researcher has decided to conduct a research titled “A survey on students’ attitudes to deductive and inductive approaches to teaching English grammar for grade 11 at

Bac Kan Gifted High School” This research will make contributions to develop a

sharp understanding of students’ attitudes to deductive and inductive approaches to

English grammar teaching by their teachers, and to point out a more appropriate path in order to enhance English grammar learning quality in this context

II Aim and Tasks of the Research

The overall aim of the study is to shed light on the attitudes to deductive and inductive approaches to English grammar teaching held by students in class 11A at Bac Kan Gifted High School With that aim achieved, the researcher will suggest appropriate approach that meets students’ needs with the hope to enhance English grammar learning quality

To achieve the above aim, the following objectives are set for exploration:

- Investigating key features of deductive and inductive approaches for deeper understanding

- Designing students survey questionnaires and questions for semi – structured interviews

- Observing teachers teaching the two different approaches

- Asking students to do the survey questionnaires

- Inviting some students to take part in semi – structured interviews

- Collecting and analyzing the data collected

III Research Questions

The research is conducted to answer two following questions:

1 What are the attitudes of students in class 11A at Bac Kan Gifted High School to deductive and inductive approaches to English grammar teaching?

2 Which approach suits students in class 11A at Bac Kan Gifted High School most and enhances their English grammar learning quality?

IV Scope of the Research

Concerning academic scope, the researcher will focus on students’ attitudes In other words, the only thing that will be done by the researcher is students’ attitudes

to deductive and inductive English grammar teaching

With regard to social scope, the researcher employs a portion of the population to represent the entire population Specifically, the sample will consist of thirty students within class 11A at Bac Kan Gifted High School

V Methods of the Study

The study is carried out with quantitative and qualitative methods as follows:

First, the survey questionnaire for students is employed to find out their attitudes towards deductive and inductive approaches to English grammar teaching, affecting factors on such attitudes and their expectations during grammar lessons

Second, class observation is implemented to study teacher’s teaching approaches and students’ performance in grammar lessons

After that, personal interviews with three students are conducted in order to:

+ Survey their perception on the magnitude of grammar in learning English

+ Study their attitudes towards inductive and deductive approaches to grammar teaching

+ Find out the most appropriate way of teaching grammar for students to enhance their learning outcomes

Then, the data are collected, sorted and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively to obtain realistic results

To end with, pedagogical implications for enhancing students’ positive attitudes in learning grammar and the most appropriate grammar teaching approach will be proposed based on the results found from all data collection instruments

VI Significance of the Research

The findings of the present paper will help get deeper insights into students’ attitudes towards the aforementioned approaches, which in turn stimulate the adjustment on the part of teachers to accord with students’ needs and wants The suggestion of an appropriate approach made by the writer of this paper will significantly contribute to English grammar teaching and learning outcomes In short, valuable information from the practical classroom will help shorten the gap between theory and practice at least in this context

VII Structural Organization of the Thesis

The present graduation thesis is designed with three parts, starting with Introduction and ending with Conclusion With the purpose of providing readers with background for the present research, part A (Introduction) presents the rationale, the aim and objectives, the scope, the research questions, significance and the structural organization of the thesis Part B (Development) includes three chapters Specifically, chapter I, named Literature Review, gives a critical review of the previous studies relating to the research problem under investigation and presents the theoretical background employed as tools for conducting the whole research The Methodology chapter (chapter II) describes the methods and materials used in doing the research, including data collection instruments and data analysis techniques The third chapter (Findings and Discussion) is the part describing what can be learned during the research and interpreting the results The last part of the thesis is part C (Conclusion) which offers some pedagogical implications for better teaching and learning outcomes, restates the aim and suggests some paths for

further studies related to the field under investigation

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

This part is designed for the development of the whole thesis Specifically, it includes three chapters named I (Literature Review), II (Methodology), III (Findings and Discussion) Each chapter serves different purposes which importantly contribute to the success of the present thesis

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter is written to provide an overview of sources related to the present topic

of the thesis and to reveal the gap in the literature Moreover, it establishes a framework for the thesis by providing a standard for comparison to other studies and it places the researcher’s work within the existing body of literature

1.1 Overview of English Grammar

1.1.1 The Concept of Grammar

For many years, grammar has been placed in a central position in the context of language teaching and the concept of grammar has been variously defined from the traditional views to recent perspectives

Generally, concerning the traditional understanding of grammar, according to Samuel Kirkham (1829), is “the science of language” Samuel points out two aspects of grammar called universal grammar and particular grammar While the former refers to common principles, structures, rules being in all languages, the latter emphasizes some modifications applied to suit particular features and practices of people using particular languages Concerning English grammar, he defines it as “the art of speaking and writing the English language with propriety”

In this view, traditional English grammar is seen as the art with the goal of producing pleasing English by way of using proper rules

In the 20th century, the understanding of grammar is more specific and complex Bade (2008) believes that grammar is about the structure of a language and that a

set of rules is used to change word forms and connect them together to make new units Rivers (1968) seems to have the same points as Bade, and he adds more details that grammar rules are expressed with a difficult terminology and have many exceptions Ur (1988) defines grammar “as the way a language manipulates and combines words (or bits of words) in order to form longer units of meaning” (p.4) Recently, grammar has been more communicatively viewed; to put it another way,

it is considered as a means to communicate and to “mediate words and context’ (Duso, 2007) In the pedagogical field, sharing the same viewpoint, Batstone (1994) agrees that the knowledge of grammar (structures, rules) does not guarantee learners’ successful communication and that grammar as process including many ways to develop in communication may allow learners to communicate According

to Giunchi (1990), the important aim of grammar is to enrich learners’ ability to use the foreign language In this view, we can understand that grammar should be closely related with context Only when grammar is learned in accordance with context can language learners thoroughly understand and master that language Therefore, grammar is seen as a tool to correct language use and polish learners’ language products

As can be understood, different grammar definitions possess different scope and strength For the research purpose and the researcher’s intention, grammar defined

by Ur (1988, p.4), which is “the way a language manipulates and combines words (or bits of words) in order to form longer units of meaning”, will be taken as basis 1.1.2 The Role of Grammar in Teaching English as a Foreign Language

The role of grammar in foreign language teaching in general and in English language teaching in particular has been the continual subject for long-standing debates during many years These debates have led to different theories about language acquisition because of some appropriate arguments in these extremes Put another way, there is no completely false or true argument, thus such issue centered

in never-ending debates will result in various theories about language learning

From Krashen (1982)’s standpoint, he views that grammar is not essential in foreign language teaching Specifically, grammar is seen as a tool to polish learner’s language production and it is useful only when the learner has acquired the knowledge of the rules or structures in the production In other words, grammar allows high level learners to achieve what he calls “language appreciation” Therefore, grammar should not be taught as a subject itself (theoretical study of grammar), but as the input provided leading to language acquisition

On the other hand, the idea that grammar ought to be put in the foreground in foreign language teaching is affirmed by Batstone (1994) He proves his point by stating that grammar helps learners to make a framework or structure their learning during the process of acquisition and that it helps them to organize the information and shorten the distance between learners and the target language

Sharing the same viewpoint with Batstone (1994) about the importance of grammar, Ellis (1997) admits the vital role of grammar teaching for it enhances the development of accuracy and accelerates learners’ progress in the process of language acquisition for a long period of time

Other advocate of the importance of grammar is Purpura (2004), who asserts that the success of foreign language learners is strongly affected by grammar teaching as grammar plays a central role in foreign language teaching In addition, Duso (2007) believes that the metalinguistic analysis is essential in the process of language acquisition and that grammar teaching should be paid much attention to in that process to acquire a foreign language as it helps to analyze metalinguistic knowledge

From a practitioner’s perspective, Azar (2007) points out the relationship between linguistic competence and linguistic performance That is to say, grammar teaching helps learners understand language patterns or structures and then they can use those patterns in speaking, reading, listening and writing In other words, when learners achieve a good knowledge of grammar, they can be able to express their

intention in a more polished way or to read between the lines In this case, we can infer that a good knowledge of grammar is like a gold key to unlock the door of foreign language success Agreeing with Azar’s views as well as basing on the research results conducted in Japan, Takahashi (2005) states that:

… without a sound knowledge of the grammatical basis of a second or a foreign language, the learner is in possession of nothing more than a selection of everyday phrases which are adequate for basic greetings and making orders at a restaurant, but which will be deficient when the learner is required to perform any kind of sophisticated linguistic task (p 231)

He then concludes that: “… it is of vital importance for EFL students to learn its grammar of the target language, and that there is a positive correlation between grammar learning and language competence.” (p 232)

In the researcher’s mind, grammar is an indispensable factor contributing to foreign language development Although there are long-standing debates in the issue, the researcher affirms that grammar ought to be put in the foreground in foreign language teaching as well as English language teaching Put another way, grammar teaching is essential in the language learning process as grammatical competence is one of communicative competence

1.2 Approaches to Grammar Instruction

1.2.1 Experiential Teaching Approach

In essence, experiential teaching approach focuses on meaning and gives learners exposure to authentic language use According to Stern (1990, 1992), experiential teaching strategies include authentic themes and topics as content, aim to engage students in “purposeful activity”, and emphasize the conveyance of meaning, fluency over accuracy, and language use as “real talk” Experiential teaching includes phases or stages of reflection designed which foster learners’ relation between past and future experience compared with current experience Through

initiative – taking and active involvement, students themselves contribute to their own language learning and take responsibility of their learning in order to enhance their autonomy According to Woolfe (1992), experiential approach consists of four components:

1 The student is aware of the processes which are taking place, and which are enabling learning to occur

2 The student is involved in a reflective experience which enables him/ her

to relate current learning to past, present and future, even if these relationships are felt rather than thought

3 The experience and content are personally significant: what is being learned and how it is being learned have a special importance for the person

4 There is an involvement of the whole self: body, thoughts, feelings and actions, not just of the mind; in other words, the student is engaged as a whole person (p.1)

Being considered as a type of task – oriented approach, experiential teaching is extremely effective in promoting the incidental learning which is characterized by variability and uncertainty The researcher believes that experiential approach to grammar instruction helps learners gain grammar knowledge in an exciting way, promotes understanding the nature of language accordingly

1.2.2 Analytic Teaching Approach

By investing time and efforts to research on analytic approach, the researcher strongly proves that this approach is useful and essential in developing knowledge and skills, especially for students who possess procedural learning styles

Generally, analytical approach refers to the use of appropriate process to make a problem easier to be solved by breaking the problem down into smaller pieces By analyzing those smaller pieces, a solution is then made to deal with such problem

In the pedagogical context, analytical approach or analytic teaching approach is related to consciousness process in language learning Seeing that every language possesses various features, Schmidt (1990) emphasizes a first priority which is a consciousness or awareness of language features before learning a language In other words, to learn any feature in a second or foreign language, it is necessary first for learners to notice or to be aware of it (both incidentally and intentionally) Schmidt (1990, 1994) claims that learning a language is largely a conscious process and noticing is important in learning process Therefore, analytic teaching has a function of making language features clearer for learners to notice and understand (Sharwood Smith, 1981) Similarly, Stern (1990, 1992) highly recommends this approach in foreign language teaching Stern posits that analytic teaching strategies emphasize accuracy and language aspects or features including phonology, grammar, functions, discourse, and sociolinguistics and that those strategies require much study and practice of language items on the part of learners to rehearse language skills

As far as the researcher is concerned, combined with many other theories in second

or foreign language acquisition, Noticing Hypothesis (as hypothesized by Schmidt) can be used in all aspects of language for better understanding such as lexicon, phonology, grammatical form and pragmatics Additionally, the researcher believes that input is important in learning any language, but the question of how to make that input be intake (knowledge that is deeply grasped by learners) is a burning concern Fortunately, Noticing Hypothesis has given the answer for the matter That

is to say, when learners consciously notice what they learn, input becomes intake and that will enhance learners’ learning quality

1.2.3 Implicit and Explicit Approach

As far as the researcher is concerned, implicit – explicit approach is related to focus

on forms approach in which the aim is to teach specific grammar structures and make students acquire grammar knowledge Put another way, focus on forms is

teacher-centered for structures are presented by the teacher and the way in which they are presented depends on the choice of an explicit or implicit approach

Although explicit and implicit approach require different ways to present grammar structures, it is hard to draw the line between them, as Hulstijn (2005) affirms that the definition of explicit and implicit causes more controversy on implicit and explicit learning Ellis (1997) posits that explicit teaching or instruction emphasizes the study of grammar rules and aims at teaching the rules for learners to foster consciousness of grammar knowledge In other words, explicit instruction raises learners’ conscious awareness of what they know However, there exists one weak point for grammar structures are taught explicitly in a de-contextualized manner In contrast, implicit teaching refers to meaningful contexts in which grammar rules are presented in order for learners to use and acquire grammar structures naturally From the researcher’s perspective, there is no good or bad approach to grammar teaching, and what matters most is the question of how to employ the approach flexibly for the sake of learners’ mastery The researcher agrees with many researchers who affirm that there is a complex relationship between implicit and explicit grammar instruction Although many scholars and researchers object to the use of explicit approach in grammar teaching, Scheffler and Cinciata (2011) recommend that teachers of foreign or second language “should invest some classroom time in explicit grammar instruction” as “at least some grammatical phenomena can be successfully taught as simple rules” (p.22) In essence, both explicit and implicit instructions exist in one unity, and the use of explicitness can

be a premise to the successful use of implicitness or vice versa Specifically, simple rules make learners improve their comprehension as they have conscious awareness

of what they learn, and Schmidt (1990) posits that such awareness is necessary for implicit language development Therefore, teachers should bear in mind that a certain degree of grammar instruction is necessary to develop learners’ language

proficiency and that they should be flexible in applying both explicit and implicit instructions to seek the best teaching results

1.2.4 Intralingual and Crosslingual Dimension

Generally, the intralingual – crosslingual dimension concerns the use or non – use

of first language in second or foreign language learning Crosslingual approach refers to the use of first language in classroom instruction As far as the researcher

is concerned, the fact that human’s first language can affect their second or foreign language learning and that all languages have shared features could make it possible for first language to be the reference in second or foreign language learning In other words, first language and the features in common of all languages can provide positive transference in language learning Therefore, it should be noted that teachers should use first language sometimes, especially when particular foreign language problems occur for it develops accuracy and clarity in the learning and teaching context and that crosslingual approach can effectively help promote foreign language learning and teaching

On the other hand, intralingual approach concerns the non – use of first language in classroom instruction Put another way, first language is limited or prohibited in second or foreign language learning, and students are forced to use the target language to achieve language proficiency and communicative competence through various techniques applied by teachers Techniques used under the intralingual approach must help create a second or foreign language environment However, teachers should bear in mind the difference in learners level for intralingual strategy

is not suitable for low level learners or beginners

From the researcher’s perspective, language teachers’ qualifications include not only language knowledge and skills but also pedagogical skills which require teachers to use the suitable strategies or approach in their teaching The writer of this paper asserts that there is no good or bad approach, but suitable or not suitable approach in teaching students Only when teachers understand their learners and

apply suitable approach to push them forward in their study can real acquisition on the part of students occur In short, foreign language teachers should use both intralingual and crosslingual strategies, but sometimes intralingual strategy should

be dominant and crosslingual strategy should be supplemental and vice versa

1.2.5 Deductive and Inductive Approach

Deductive – Inductive Dimension refers to different ways of presenting grammar rules Put another way, grammar rules can be presented deductively or inductively Concerning deductive approach to grammar teaching, it is also known as “top down” approach which draws learners’ attention to linguistic form and structure Specifically, teachers explain grammar rules as well as examples to students and provide them with metalinguistic information, students then practice the rules by doing exercises and tasks in order to gain achievement Thornbury (1999) posits that “A deductive approach (rule-driven) starts with the presentation of a rule and is followed by examples in which the rule is applied” According to Terrell (1991), deductive approach can affect the language acquisition in three ways:

1 as an “advanced organizer” to aid in comprehending and segmenting the input;

2 as a form focuser that aids the learner in establishing a form relationship for morphologically complex forms; and

meaning-3 as a means for monitoring, which in turn, will be available for acquisition

regularities and then generalize the results, in order to induce grammar rules (Ellis, 1997; Krashen, 1982) Inductive approach seems to receive more supports from scholars as it encourages learners compared with an exclusive reliance on the presentation – practice – production approach of many traditional grammar books (Carter, Hughes and McCarthy, 2000)

To sum up, deductive approach is a movement from generalization to specification, and inductive instruction goes from specification to generalization It should be noted that great responsibility is left to teachers who have to decide which grammar structures to be taught in accordance with learners’ level and which approach: deductive or inductive approach to apply for the sake of learners’ success in the acquisition of a foreign language in general and English language in particular

1.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Inductive and Deductive Approaches to English Grammar Teaching

As previously mentioned, there are two ways employed by teacher in which a learner can understand a grammar rule: the rule – driven or deductive approach and the rule – discovery or inductive approach As the name suggests, the rule – driven path requires teachers to teach the grammar rules directly, and students are free from working out the rules; the rule – discovery path requires teacher to guide students to figure out the grammar rules Seeing that each approach has its own features; many teachers, researchers and scholars have different views on whether the inductive or deductive approach is most effective As far as the researcher is concerned, Hammerly (1975) posits that some rules or structures “are most amenable to a deductive approach while others can be learned very well by an inductive approach” (p 17) Brown (2007) states that “both inductively and deductively oriented teaching methods can be effective, depending on the goals and contexts of a particular language teaching situation” (p 105) In short, it is believed that both approaches possess both advantages and disadvantages and that there is no

single effective approach compared with another one The issue of advantages and disadvantages of such approaches will be presented in the following subsections 1.3.1 Advantages and Disadvantages of Inductive Approach

Concerning the advantages of induction, since the typical purpose of this rule – discovery path is for learners to figure out grammar rules for themselves, it is obvious that inductive approach helps learners be more likely to remember the rules, even for a long time This transparent advantage is understandable as students generally remember approximately 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they hear and see, 70% of what they say, and 90% of what they do by themselves (Brudnik et al., 2000) Thus, the researcher adheres to the view that rule – discovery path strongly increases learners’ motivation in their study of grammar and that students are more actively involved in the learning process which is beneficial for their future

However advantages such approach brings to pedagogical field, the induction has its own disadvantages which hamper the study progress if not implemented properly Since figuring out the rules cost students much time and energy, students may misunderstand that rules are the objective of language learning rather than meanings In addition, since students’ task is to work out the rules for themselves and a teacher is just like a facilitator who elicits learners, students may hypothesize the wrong rule or the rule which is too broad or too narrow in its application 1.3.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Deductive Approach

Deductive reasoning or rule – driven path is the approach to grammar presentation where the rule is directly given and then applied to examples That inherent feature

of deduction brings itself some major advantages which are acknowledged by many scholars and teachers Specifically, one transparent advantage of such approach is that it saves time for both teachers and learners as it gets straight to the grammar points Teacher does not have to spend much time guiding or eliciting learners until

they acquire the rules, and students are free from working out the rules Additionally, Scott Thornbury (1999) believes that deductive grammar presentation allows teachers to deal with grammar points as they come up rather than preparing for them in advance The rule – driven approach appreciates students’ intelligence and maturity and admits the cognitive processes in language acquisition

Besides the aforementioned advantages, there are some disadvantages that concern the writer Although it is time – saving, such approach seems rather monotonous and demotivating It is clear that learners become passive as recipient only rather than active in finding out the rules Gradually, the deduction may lead students to the belief that learning a language is simply a case of knowing the rules

From the researcher’s perspectives, the preference for an approach varies across individuals Therefore, there is no single approach that is better than another The wise choice lies in the ways that combine both approaches together properly to achieve the goals wanted, as Haight, Heron, & Cole (2007) states “Some agreement exists that the most effective grammar teaching includes some deductive and inductive characteristics”

1.4 Students’ Attitudes towards English Grammar Instruction

1.4.1 Defining Students’ Attitudes

Attitude or affective domain has received much attention from many second and foreign language researchers as well as social psychologists The writer of this paper posits that student’s attitude is an integral part of learning and that it strongly affects students’ foreign language achievement

As far as the writer of this thesis is concerned, there has been a myriad of definitions of the term “attitude” and each of them differs in scope Triandis (1971) believes that attitude is a manner of consistency toward an object Sharing the same idea with Triandis, Eveyik (1999) agrees that attitude is an inclination to behave consistently toward an object That is to say, attitude is a firm tendency to respond

(positively or negatively) towards a certain thing such as an idea, object, person, or situation With different view, Brown (2001) affirms the involvement of emotion in one’s attitude within a community Gardner (1985) claims that a person’s attitude is

an evaluate reaction to a certain thing and that a person’s beliefs or ideas can affect his/her attitude Focusing on social orientation of attitude, Myers (1980) defines attitude as “a favourable or unfavourable evaluative reaction towards something or someone, exhibited in one’s beliefs, feelings, or intended behavior” (p 36) Put another way, attitude is closely related to one’s beliefs, feelings or intended behavior which are socially constructed From different perspectives, Montano and Kasprzyk (2008) bases on the theory of planned behavior to define “attitude”:

Attitude is determined by the individual’s beliefs about outcomes or attributes of performing the behavior (behavioral beliefs), weighted by evaluations of those outcomes or attributes Thus, a person who holds strong beliefs that positively valued outcomes will result from performing the behavior will have a positive attitude toward the behavior Conversely, a person who holds strong beliefs that negatively valued outcomes will result from the behavior will have a negative attitude (p 71)

Considering attitude as one of many aspects in the cognitive development, Brown (1994) states that:

Attitudes, like all aspects of the development of cognition and affect in human beings, develop early in childhood and are the result of parents’ and peers’ attitudes, contact with people who are different in any number of ways, and interacting affective factors in the human experience (p 168) The researcher agrees with Brown’s point which emphasizes on social interaction and human experience during the development of attitude However, as can be understood, each of the definition is different in terms of scope Therefore, we should perceive the concept of attitude thoroughly by seeing from many sides or perspectives In the writer’s opinion, the ways which Wenden (1991) applies to

investigate the term attitude is excellent as Wenden explores the concept through three components These three components together contribute fully to the definition of attitude and they will receive more discussions in the subsequent section

1.4.2 Components of Attitude

From the writer of this paper’s perspectives, it is extremely important to understand the components of attitude The researcher will explore the three dimensions in the concept of “attitude” Specifically, Wenden (1991) suggests that the term attitude contains three components: cognitive, affective and behavioral These three aspects are based on the three theoretical approaches: cognitivism, humanism and behaviorism respectively

Concerning the cognitive aspect of attitude, this component contains the beliefs, ideas and opinions about the object In the process of language learning, cognitive aspect involves the beliefs that learners hold about the knowledge received As far

as the researcher is concerned, there are four stages of the cognitive attitude in the learning process and they are briefly named as: connecting, creating, checking, and applying In more details, connecting refers to the connection of the previous knowledge with the new knowledge In fact, most students have this kind of connection when they learn new knowledge as it helps for their understanding In other words, new knowledge will be well perceived only when students possess enough background or previous knowledge Creating refers to the creation of new knowledge Put another way, the creation of new knowledge is formed basing on previous knowledge through interactions between explicit and implicit knowledge

in students’ minds Checking is about the confirmation of new knowledge Applying is about the application of new knowledge in many contexts or circumstances

With regard to the affective component, it is related to individual human emotion or the “likes” and “dislikes” that one has towards an object In pedagogical contexts,

Feng and Chen (2009) affirm the effect of emotional factors in the learning process and the importance of various emotional activities which the teacher and students engage in as the inner feelings and emotions can influence students’ perspectives and attitudes

Regarding the behavioral component, it deals with the way a person behaves, reacts

or responds in a certain circumstance In other words, behavioral component of attitude refers to individual’s actions or behavioral intentions towards an object This component plays an eminent role in pushing students forwards in their language learning process for it enhances learners to identify themselves with the native speakers and acquire many states of behaviors characterizing the members of the target language community

1.4.3 Some Studies on Students’ Attitudes to Grammar Instruction

Several studies have been conducted on inductive and deductive grammar teaching approaches, and teachers’ and students’ attitudes to such grammar instruction Given the purpose of the present study, which concerns students’ attitudes to inductive and deductive grammar teaching approaches, teachers’ attitudes will not

be the focus of the current research

A research into student and teacher attitudes towards grammar instruction conducted in Taiwan by Wang (1999) revealed that students preferred the explicit method of instruction Put another way, rule – driven path or deductive approach was their preference in the learning of grammar

Al-Kalbani (2004), in a study of the perceptions of preparatory and secondary school EFL teachers and students from three different geographical regions in Oman, found that students favored deductive grammar instruction

Another research named “Students’ View on Grammar Teaching” carried out by Hendrikus Male (2011) revealed that the students English Teaching Study Program

of FKIP-UKI preferred explicit than implicit teaching In other words, students

English Teaching Study Program of FKIP-UKI favored the application of deductive path rather than inductive approach to grammar teaching

The studies of Herron and Tomasello (1992) presented more favorable results for inductive teaching In other words, learners preferred the use of inductive or rule – discovery approach in teaching grammar

Fortune (1992) conducted a study comparing different types of self-study grammar practice exercises, some inductive and others more deductive He concludes that:

The experience of doing the exercises caused a significant number of learners to change their opinions about inductive and deductive practice Many informants ended up preferring discovery activities to more traditional types of grammar exercise

A study by Ranalli (2001) resulted in contradictory findings In this case, the subjects, who were from a Korean background, were given a questionnaire to determine their preferred approach before then working through two different treatments of the same grammar point, one a deductive treatment from a grammar practice book and the other an inductive treatment using instances selected from the Bank of English corpus Afterwards, the subjects completed a second questionnaire which asked them to rate the approaches according to their difficulty and usefulness and reassess their own preferences Findings revealed that though a majority initially favored an inductive approach, many subsequently said that they would prefer a more deductive approach

1.5 Summary

This chapter has presented an overview of literature related to the issue under investigation To be more specific, the literature review surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources relevant to students’ attitudes to grammar instruction and provides a description, summary and critical evaluation of these works The researcher designs such literature with the hope to demonstrate to readers how the present research fits into the larger field of study, i.e English Language Teaching

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research questions, the setting and approach, the participants and instruments, the data collection procedure and the data analysis methods Details about the present research methodology will be described in the subsequent subsections

2.1 Restatement of Research Questions

The researcher employs two descriptive research questions which give the clear idea

of the particular research aim, they are:

1 What are the attitudes of the students in class 11A at Bac Kan Gifted High School

to deductive and inductive approaches to English grammar teaching?

2 Which approach suits students in class 11A at Bac Kan Gifted High School most and enhances their English grammar learning quality?

2.2 Research Setting

Generally, the setting of the research is at Bac Kan Gifted High School which is situated in the center area of Bac Kan City located in the North of Vietnam The school always ranks among the best high schools since it was established in 2003 Many of the teachers there have earned their Master’s Degree and they are extremely enthusiastic about their meaningful work of teaching students from generations to generations The gifted pupils are competitively selected through entry examinations and they are placed into various specialized subjects classes according to their choice such as mathematics – specialized, chemistry – specialized, English – specialized, etc Therefore, they possess stronger will and motivation for better academic achievements

Particularly, the researcher conducted this research at English – specialized class of grade 11 at Bac Kan Gifted High School For the easiness of identifying the name,

the researcher has decided to code such class as 11A (11 of English – specialized class) In more details, such class includes 30 pupils coming from many districts and towns in Bac Kan Province Those students are good at subjects related to social sciences and English is their main specialized focus of learning

With regard to the time, the researcher has decided to carry out the research in the second semester (from August 15th) due to the fact that the students have a three – month summer holiday after the finish of the first term

2.4 The Appropriateness of the Research Approach

The present research approaches are qualitative and quantitative research As far as the researcher is concerned, the major purpose of the qualitative research is to explore things in a real context and to interpret social phenomena Snape and Spencer (2003) posits that:

Although definitions vary, the aims of qualitative research are generally directed at providing an in-depth and interpreted understanding of the social world, by learning about people’s social and material circumstances, their experiences, perspectives and histories (p 22)

On the other hand, the main purpose of quantitative research is to focus in counting and classifying features and constructing statistical models and figures to explain

what is observed The present research focusing on students’ attitudes to inductive and deductive grammar teaching approaches is suitable for qualitative and quantitative research as the researcher employed survey questionnaire, interview and observation for data collection instruments and the researcher is interested in finding out “things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or to interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them” (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000, p 3) Put another way, the major research approaches applied by the researcher are both qualitative and quantitative research; thus, the data would be analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively

The research method used for the sake of effective results is survey method The researcher employed this descriptive method to reach the research aim and answer the research questions By properly constructing questions for interviews and questionnaires, the results gained were both reliable and valid

The present study set out to uncover a specific group of students’ attitudes from English – specialized class (11A) towards deductive and inductive approaches to English grammar teaching The reason for the writer’s choice of grade 11 was about the time Specifically, grade 10 involves students who have just moved from secondary to high school, the researcher can observe that most of such students are immature and strange to the new study environment and that they need time to get accustomed to it Grade 12, on the other hand, students are mature enough However, since grade 12 is the final grade at high school level, students need time

to learn and revise the knowledge in preparation for the General Education Diploma and University Entrance Examinations Taking all those points into consideration, the researcher has decided to conduct the research in class 11A (English – specialized class) for they have enough time to go together with the researcher

To sum up, the choice of qualitative and quantitative survey research method was better for the present study as it uncovered the issue (students’ attitudes) in the real pedagogical context (English – specialized class of 11A) and it helped the