A study on teaching grammar with the use of “flip teaching” to childten at popodoo english center

ABSTRACT This action research is aimed to investigate the effects of flipped teaching method on the students‘ grammatical competence and motivation for learning English grammar.. The ini

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

-

LÊ THỊ THU PHƯƠNG

A STUDY ON TEACHING GRAMMAR WITH THE USE

OF “FLIP TEACHING” TO CHILDTEN AT

POPODOO ENGLISH CENTER (Nghiên cứu dạy ngữ pháp áp dụng phương pháp

Flip Teaching cho trẻ em tại Trung tâm Anh ngữ PoPoDoo)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

-

LÊ THỊ THU PHƯƠNG

A STUDY ON TEACHING GRAMMAR WITH THE USE

OF “FLIP TEACHING” TO CHILDTEN AT

POPODOO ENGLISH CENTER (Nghiên cứu dạy ngữ pháp áp dụng phương pháp

Flip Teaching cho trẻ em tại Trung tâm Anh ngữ PoPoDoo)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Dr Tô Thi ̣ Thu Hương

HANOI - 2017

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled:

“A study on teaching grammar with the use of “Flipped teaching” to

children at PoPoDoo English Center”

submitted in partially fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MA in English Language Teaching Methodology

Except where the reference is indicated, no other person‘s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis

Hanoi, 2017

Lê Thi ̣ Thu Phương

I wish to acknowledge the support of all students in Dolphin and Penguin classes at PoPoDoo English Center for their continuous cooperation With their enthusiastic participation, I was able to carry out my study

Lastly, I am greatful to all of my friends who continuously support me in searching for ideas and necessary materials for the research

ABSTRACT

This action research is aimed to investigate the effects of flipped teaching method

on the students‘ grammatical competence and motivation for learning English grammar

Twenty four students aged from 8 to 10 at PoPoDoo English Center were chosen to take part in the research The initial observation before the research period showed that the students‘ poor grammatical competence and low motivation in learning grammar may be attributed to their exposure of uninteresting traditional way of presenting grammar in the class A plan of action using flipped teaching was implemented to motivate and improve students‘ English grammar learning By the analysis of data from observation, a pretest and a post test, an interview, the researcher could confirm the situation from the finding of the pre-data and collect the results of the treatment by comparing it with the data collected by means of post-data collection instruments The analysis revealed that the use of flipped teaching in English grammar teaching did improve not only their grammatical competence (measured by the pre- and post tests) but also their attitudes towards learning English grammar

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY……… i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi

LIST OF TABLES vii

LISTS OF FIGURES viii

PART A INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims and research questions of the study 2

3 Significance of the study 2

4 Scope of the study 2

5 Overview of the thesis 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1.1 Theoretical background 4

1.1.1 Grammar and grammatical competence 4

1.1.2 Blended instruction 5

1.1.2.1 Notions of blended instruction 5

1.1.2.2 Models of blended learning 6

1.1.3 Motivation 7

1.1.3.1 Definition of motivation 7

1.1.3.2 Types of motivation 8

1.1.3.3 Roles of motivation in teaching and learning a language 8

1.1.4 Flipped teaching 9

1.1.4.1 Definition of flipped teaching 9

1.1.4.2 Model of flipped teaching 10

1.1.4.3 Traditional and flipped teaching 11

1.2 Previous studies 12

1.3 Summary 15

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 16

2.1 Rationale for choosing action research 16

2 2 Procedure 17

2 3 Subjects of the study 18

2.4 Data collection instruments 19

2.5 A Summary of data collection procedure 20

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 22

3 1 Data from observation 22

3 2 Data from tests 23

3.2.1 Data from pre-test 23

Table 1: Results on spoken test (pre-test) 26

3.2.2 Data from post-test 26

3.3 Summary of findings 29

3.5 Implications for teaching 29

PART C: CONCLUSION 32

1 A summary 32

2 Limitations 33

3 Suggestions for further study 33 APPENDIX I

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

ELT: English Language Teaching

SLA:Second Language Acquisition

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Results on spoken test (pre-test)

Table 2: Results on the spoken test (post-test)

Table 3: Students‘ responses to the flipped teaching

LISTS OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Blended learning/ Flipped teaching

Figure 2: Models of blended learning

Figure 3: Key elements of a flipped classroom

Figure 4: Differences between traditional and flipped teaching Figure 5: Action research cycle

Figure 6: Number of students did not watch videos at home Figure 7: Students‘ written pre-test results

Figure 8: The student‘s results in the post-test

Figure 9: Comparison of students‘ results in the pre and post-test

PART A INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

In the 21st century with technical booming, it has been widely encouraged that the integration of technology should be included into teaching A great number of teachers are gradually taking this innovative achievement to improve their teaching methods and language teachers are no exception This leads to the rise of a teaching strategy named ―flipped teaching‖ where the students obtained their lessons online

in the form of a video or power point for prior preparation, then apply their knowledge in classroom activities In a flipped classroom, the time spent in class is seen to take more significance than the videos recorded Now, it gives room for engaging activities, discussing, and working on the hard-to-understand information, which converts the classroom an environment in which active learning takes place The classroom now becomes more student-centered It is the opposite of the traditional lecture-based class Bergmann and Sams (2012) described activities in a flipped class as ―which is traditionally done in class is now done at home, and that which is traditionally done as homework is now completed in class‖

This method appears to be working for the author‘s situation where the learners are too young to learn English grammar in traditional lecture-based context Psychologically, they need something really interesting and attractive To young learners, grammar presentation should be neither too focused nor ignored It should

be a minor part of a lesson If grammar presentation takes a large amount of time in the only-90-minute class, there is not much time for engaging students in practicing the language Furthermore, as aforementioned, because of the much exposure to grammar, those students are more likely to be bored Those will limit the success of the lessons Be fully aware of the existing problem, the author of this thesis, in her capacity as an English teacher trying to solve the students‘ boredom in learning

English grammar, conducted a research entitled “A study on teaching grammar with

the use of flipped teaching to children at PoPoDoo English Center” to improve the

situation

2 Aims and research questions of the study

The researcher would like to investigate the impacts of flipped teaching on students‘ English grammar learning and their attitudes towards the new method - Flipped teaching - in her own environment Thus, the study was conducted to address the

two following research questions:

1 To what extent does flipped teaching effect the students‘ English grammar learning?

3 Significance of the study

Theoretically, this thesis is a small contribution to the theory of ELT on the impacts

of flipped teaching in grammar teaching in EFL classrooms

Practically, this study is firstly expected to be an alternative way to expose the students to more student-centered English lessons, and secondly to help enhance students‘ grammar learning as well as their motivation in those classes

4 Scope of the study

Firstly, in terms of English grammar learning, the scope of this research is confined

to the teaching-learning of the following grammatical items due to time constraint:

- Singular and plural nouns

- Present simple of Be: affirmative and negative

- Prepositions of Location

- How many? There is/ There are…

- This/ That/ These/ Those

- Possessive adjectives

- Present simple with I, you, we, they

- Present simple with he, she, it

In this study, English grammar learning is considered to be leading to the desired English grammatical competence as measured by the pre- and post – tests

Secondly, the study only focused on students aged from 8 to 10 (the majority of the student population) at PoPoDoo English Centre in Hanoi

5 Overview of the thesis

The thesis comprises of the following main parts:

PART A: INTRODUCTION - states an overview of rationale, aims of the study,

research questions, the scope, the significance and the overview of the study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 1: Literature review - illustrates some related studies conducted by other

researchers as well as gaps in the field which inspire the writer to conduct her study This chapter also provides background knowledge of grammar and teaching grammar, flip-teaching and motivation

Chapter 2: Methodology - describes in detail the participants and all instruments

employed by the researcher as well as procedure to collect and analyze data

Chapter 3: Findings and discussions - presents results of data analysis and

discussion of the findings

PART C: CONCLUSION - Presents the conclusion of the study, some further

implications for teaching, along with the limitations and suggestions for further study

REFERENCES

APPENDICES

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the author lays the foundation for the research by presenting some

major terms in the theoretical background as well as related previous studies

1.1 Theoretical background

1.1.1 Grammar and grammatical competence

According to Penny Ur (1991), at its simplest, grammar is generally defined as a set

of rules which describes the way words and groups of words can be arranged to form correct sentences in a particular language The term can also be applied to smaller units such as phrases (a beautiful girl, for example, not a girl beautiful), single words, and minimal components, namely affixes Particularly, grammar can

be understood not only through structure but also meaning In other words, a correct grammatical structure must convey meaning within the rules and structure of the target language

On this basis, the notion of grammatical competence is raised It is one of the four areas of the communicative competence theory claimed by Canale and Swain (as cited in Gao, 2001) The teaching and learning of grammar in a language aims to develop learners‘ grammatical competence in that language According to Orwig (1999), those who have grammatical competence are able to recognize and produce the distinctive grammatical structures of a language and to use it effectively in communication Hence, the learners should master their usage in real situations to communicate messages They should aims to acquire knowledge of, ability to use, and forms of expression in the language which are grammatically correct (Díaz-Rico & Weed, 2010)

1.1.2 Blended instruction

1.1.2.1 Notions of blended instruction

At its simplest, blended learning, also called hybrid learning, is the integration of classroom face-to-face learning experiences with online learning experiences (Garrison & Kanuka, 2004) George-Palilonis and Filak (2009) defined blended learning as a combination of traditional and digital content delivery They supported the idea that traditional models usually fail to address all students‘ learning styles If properly-used technology work well in a blended classroom, it can reach more students through various methods of instruction Woodall (2012) claimed mingling traditional methods with new method leads to a tool that provides modern training and learning programs with two very powerful methods Researchers have found that blended learning significantly improved student attitudes Many studies showed blended learning instruction reduced students‘ negative emotions towards the subjects Another important finding is that blended learning increased students‘ beliefs of competency in the subject Cascaval et al (2008) came to a conclusion that the blended classroom structure added significant value to education with notable improvements in perceived performance and overall experience Additionally, Hwang (2011) agreed that pre-class reading or videos and electronic discussions had a significantly positive impact on achievement

Figure 1: Blended learning

(Retrieved from http://www.greeleyschools.org/Page/13456)

1.1.2.2 Models of blended learning

According to an article in the website learning-definitions-and-models/, there are four models of blended learning including Rotation, Flex, A La Carte, and Enriched Virtual The Rotation model comprises of four sub-models: Station Rotation, Lab Rotation, Flipped Classroom, and Individual Rotation

http://www.christenseninstitute.org/blended-1.Rotation model — a course that students rotate on a fixed schedule or at the teacher‘s selection among learning modalities, at least one of which is online learning Some other alternative modalities may include small-group or full-class instruction, group projects, individual tutoring, and pencil-and-paper assignments

a Station Rotation — a course where students experience the Rotation model

in a contained classroom or group of classrooms

b Lab Rotation – a course where learners rotate to a computer lab for the online-learning station

c Flipped Classroom – a course where students participate in online learning off-site in place of traditional homework and attend the class for face-to-face, teacher-guided practice The main delivery of content and instruction is online

d Individual Rotation – a course where the teachers deliver individual student schedules

2 Flex model — Most of the curriculum is delivered via a digital platform and teachers are available for face-to-face consultation and support

3 A La Carte model — a course that learners take entirely online to accompany what they are having at a brick-and-mortar school or learning center The teachers for the A La Carte course are the online ones

4 Enriched Virtual model — a course in which students have required face-to-face learning sessions with their teachers and then are free to complete their remaining

coursework remote from the face-to-face teacher The Enriched Virtual model differs from the Flipped Classroom because in Enriched Virtual programs, students seldom meet face-to-face with their teachers every weekday It differs from a fully online course because face-to-face learning sessions are required

Figure 2: Models of blended learning

1.1.3.2 Types of motivation

Motivation can be categorized into intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2000)

Intrinsic motivation can be understood as the inner eagerness to do and participate

in a certain activity since they find that activity enjoyable With intrinsic motivation, the student studies subject materials for the sake of learning On the

other hand, extrinsic motivation comes from outside elements Extrinsically

motivated students study for the sake of outside influences such as getting teacher and peer praise, acquiring a good grade or some other types of reinforcement that a teacher or peer might offer

Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations have been well-researched, and the distinction between them has important influence on developing both mental and educational practices Most researchers and methodologists show that intrinsic motivation is especially significant for encouraging success It is advisable that the educators should focus on enhancing learners‘ intrinsic motivation to learn

(Cameron & Pierce, 1994)

1.1.3.3 Roles of motivation in teaching and learning a language

There are three main factors which influence the teaching-learning a language They are age, personality, and motivation Cook (2000) emphasizes that among the three, motivation is the most significant in second language acquisition (SLA) and naturally, in language leaning

In conclusion, the learning motivation is personal and comes from inside an individual, but can be impacted by external factors When teachers know how to encourage students‘ motivation in their teaching, the students will become more excited and more successful in their learning experience

1.1.4 Flipped teaching

1.1.4.1 Definition of flipped teaching

Flipped teaching, also called ‗flipped classroom‘ or ‗inverted classroom‘ (Strayer, 2009), is described as a reversal of traditional teaching, in which students first get access to the new material outside their class, usually in the form of lecture videos

or power point slides The class hour is just spent for a number of follow-up activities (Brame, 2013)

Figure 3: Key elements of a flipped classroom

(from http://www.uq.edu.au/tediteach/flipped-classroom/what-is-fc.html) According to Lage, Platt, and Treglia (2000: 32), ―inverting the classroom means that events which have traditionally taken place inside the classroom now take place outside the classroom and vice versa The use of learning technologies, particularly multimedia, provide new opportunities for students to learn, opportunities that are not possible with other media.‖

Baker, (2011:2) suggested a similar concept and he called the flipped classroom

―The basic concept I applied in that class was to move the rote transmission of information that had been the content of my lectures out of the classroom (delivered instead through network-delivered presentations) and to use the opened-up class time for the students to work on application of the principles from that content

while I was there to see what they were doing, answer questions and make suggestions‖

To recap, flipped classrooms are a form of of blended learning, which refers to any forms of education combining face-to-face instruction with online activities Flipped classroom seems ―pedagogically sound‖ because it ―serves the principles of personalized-differentiated learning, student-centered instruction‖ in which learners take more responsibility for their learning It is personalized as learners can learn at their own pace; student-centered because the class time can be used as an environment where they join many engaging follow-up activities and teachers takes the role as a facilitator However, it is noted that flipped teaching is not limited to watching videos at home and doing homework in the classroom (Nicolosi, 2012)

1.1.4.2 Model of flipped teaching

Başal (2012) suggested that flipped teaching can be divided into two learning environments: outside and inside Both sides should be integrated into each other in order to be effective

The first step for teachers is Planning Teachers should plan in detail what to do inside and outside the class The second step is selecting appropriate activities The activities should be various to address the needs of all learners These may provide rich learning opportunities for all students with different learning styles The third step, the teacher should think how to integrate outside and inside smoothly This is particularly essential as flipped teaching is to support blended learning The last step is to use a Learning Management System (LMS), a software platform that allows to present all the learning and teaching activities and materials delivered over the Internet, to the students in an organized way

1.1.4.3 Traditional and flipped teaching

Bergmann and Sams (2012) suggested several major differences between traditional and flipped model

In the traditional model, students usually come to the class with some confusion about homework problems from the previous lesson The teachers are typically the central focus of a lesson and present new content for 30 to 45 minutes and spend the rest of the class hours with independent practice

In the flipped model, the time is totally restructured Students need to ask questions about the content that was delivered before the class, so these questions would be addressed during the first few minutes of lessons This allows students to clear up misunderstanding before they come to practice session and more extensive follow-up activities

Figure 4: Differences between traditional and flipped teaching

As a result, a teacher's interaction with students in a flipped classroom can be more personalized and students are actively engaged in acquiring knowledge as they directly take part in and evaluate their learning

to deliver the lecture content outside the classroom In the lecture/homework classroom, students attended lectures on course content that included PowerPoint slides, and then they practiced with the course concepts by completing homework from their books outside of class Students were given the College and University Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI) to measure both their learning environment preferences and their learning environment experiences In addition, data were collected via field notes, classroom transcripts, student interviews, student focus groups, researcher journal entries, and student reflections The quantitative data were analyzed using t-tests and MANOVA, and the qualitative data were analyzed using grounded theory methods The findings of this research showed that classroom - flipped students were less satisfied with how the structure of the classroom oriented them to the learning tasks during the course The variety of learning activities in the flipped classroom contributed to unsettledness among students that traditional classroom students did not experience

George-Palilonis and Likak (2009) found a gap between students who understood the materials better in a flipped classroom as opposed to those who did not, as well

as a split between students who felt confident going into the test after learning in a

flipped classroom and those who did not Some students mentioned that the increased group work helped to enhance their motivation, understanding, and interest in the topics They also liked the class activities because it allowed them to directly receive their teacher‘s assistance during practice time, a benefit of the flipped style over traditional one This study found out that the flipped classroom instruction had a generally positive effect on students‘ attitudes and perceptions, specifically relating to the classwork

Başal (2012) carried out a research entitled ―The Use of Flipped Classroom in Foreign Language Teaching‖ in Foreign Languages Education Department of Yıldız Technical University in ―Advanced Reading and Writing I‖ course He utilized Wallwisher, a web 2.0 tool to study students‘ opinions on the use of flipped learning model The findings showed that the attitudes of a majority of the students towards the use of a flipped learning model were positive He emphasized that flipped learning is not merely using the lecture videos outside the classroom Choosing the appropriate engaging activities in the classroom time is also important To be concluded, some suggestions to flip classrooms are demonstrated:

- Pay attention to students‘ learning styles and then elect suitable activities based on the learning styles of the students

- Learn to use basic technological tools and integrate the appropriate web 2.0 tools

- Prepare carefully what to the inside and outside the classroom and use an LMS (Learning management system) to integrate the two sides

- Use a wide range of activities to engage all of the students

Nicolosi (2012) investigated the use of flipped classroom method in grammar lessons as an alternate way of lecturing grammar in a language class He claimed that the flipped classroom method helped students to switch from passive to active lecturing mode He step by step worked out the benefits as well as the drawbacks of this method Finally, he drew a conclusion that deciding to flip parts of the lesson

will not automatically make it a better lesson It is important to be intentional about when to flip and clear about what the benefits will be for students

Dill (2012) conducted a two-week action research on the effects of flipped teaching

on student achievement and engagement in a 7th Grade French I classroom including homework completion, behavioral interventions, grammar proficiency and writing proficiency There are two groups of students including control group and experimental group, named ―Group B‖ and ―Group F‖ The study compared and contrasted the impacts of flipped teaching in one group before and after intervention of flipped teaching as well as results between two groups Forty-three students were involved in this study Results of student surveys demonstrated that students were able to receive instruction outside of the school via Internet in order

to participate in lessons Students‘ engagement and homework completion would be improved, while behavioral interventions would decrease in the classroom The increase in students‘ proficiency would also be strongly supported by significant increases in average class grades in grammar and writing Regardless of shortcomings, the students performed better on assessments, and did all the homework and maintained good behavior while the lessons were flipped The findings strongly encourage the author‘s belief that flipped teaching is worth trying

by all 21st century teachers

Mousel (2013) investigated the effectiveness of flipping in a High School Mathematics Classroom Twenty two high school juniors enrolled in an International Baccalaureate Standard Level math class took part in the project Students received instruction under the Flipped Classroom model for lessons in a unit on trigonometry After the lessons, students completed a ten-item survey questionnaire consisting of both Likert-scale and open-ended questions regarding student perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs of competency The research gained positive results, which can be shown in the students‘ motivation in Maths and their

awareness of the helps of flipped teaching in learning Maths

Most students did not notice any big challenges Some mentioned difficulties with the hands-on approach due to learning styles, distractions from group work, boring videos, and general difficulty in adjusting to a new style of learning On the contrary, 13 students mentioned group work, hands-on activities, and/or classroom projects as the most enjoyable aspect They explained that the flipped teaching time allowed more freedom, experience, and fun

1.3 Summary

In summary, this chapter has provided a review that spans English-language sources covering research from around the world to be relevant to flipped teaching in the language classroom As presented, most research above illustrate the effects of flipped teaching in teaching grammar, which is really needed for the researcher‘s situation However, as far as the research of this paper is concerned, all of the mentioned research addressed students at higher education levels, not young learners Moreover, in different environments, this method may work differently in the contribution to the effectiveness of teaching grammar That‘s why the researcher desires to conduct this research to examine its effects in her own environment and improve the existing the situation

For the success of the research, a number of factors should be put into consideration First, the educators should bear in mind that flipped teaching is more than delivering videos and materials before the class They should be well-prepared prior to delivery and be interesting enough to attract students‘ attention Second, the teachers ought to pay attention to various activities in the class to enhance students‘ grammatical competence

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

This chapter provides a detailed discussion of the methodology It is structured with the following sections: Action research, subjects of the study, data collection instruments and a summary of methodology

2.1 Rationale for choosing action research

Action research has been carried out for ages by a great many scholars and researchers It is typically conducted in a school setting and it is a kind of process in which educators examine their pedagogical practice, using the techniques of action research (Watts, 1985:118)

Nunan (1992) defined action research as a method which is problem-focused and concerned with a particular situation in which seeking for the solutions to the problem is at the top of the research This will foster the teachers to adapt the existing ideas in their teaching environment In other words, action research is a

―solution-oriented investigation‖ (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1982), also a collaborative activity among educators and colleagues seeking solutions to their real problems in their teaching, and then finding measurements to improve the situations

Actually, a great number of researchers have been utilizing action research strategies (Wisker, G, 2001:158) because it is ―practical‖ and ―critical‖ (Wisker, 2001:159) Cohen and Manion (1980) also reached a consensus that action research should be of a choice when a single teacher faces a particular problem which needs tackling in her own class in order to bring changes in her situation Looking back to

my situation, after a short period of working with my students, the teacher - researcher found out that the students were still weak in English grammatical competence and learning and teaching grammar take up much time in class, which results in the shortage of time for language practice The teacher should take immediate action to improve the situation and action research is needed The second reason for the application of action research is that it is beneficial to both researchers

(specifically the researcher/ teacher conducting this research) and their students For researchers, it is an opportunity to critically look into the class situation and then solve the existing problem for ―pedagogical development‖ (Gibbs, 1995:125)

2 2 Procedure

The author of this paper conducted her action research for her thesis entitled “A

study on teaching grammar with the use of flipped teaching to students from 8 -

10 years old at PoPoDoo English Center” in a period of 8 weeks on 2 classes

The action research adapted 7 primary steps proposed by Mc Bride & Sckotak (1989) (1) Identifying problem and collecting initial data (Week 1)

This is the foremost step as the researcher needs to study carefully the existing problem among her students In this step, a pre-test (writen and spoken) on English grammar was administered to confirm the problem The primary aim of the instrument was to identify the students‘ real problems in grammar learning and their level of grammatical competence

Figure 5: Action research cycle

(2) Analyzing data (week 1)

(Adopted and adapted from McBride & Sckotak, 1989)

After collecting the initial data, the author analyzed the data to have a look into the identified problems

(3) Planning (week 2)

In order to flip the class, the teacher would make or prepare videos and use technology, which requires lots of efforts and preparation Besides, she needed to spend time searching for materials and making lesson plans as well as intervention plans

(4) Implementing the action plan (week 3 –week 6)

In this period, the detailed plans of action were carried out Because students had two lesson a week, the author and the participants could meet each other twice a week Therefore, the author delivered the prepared materials in this period, one or two days after each class lesson

(5) Collecting data to monitor changes (post-data) (week 7)

The effects of the action were investigated through the collected data The researcher had a meeting with those participating students to complete her data collection The session lasted only about 120 minutes, including 100 minutes for the post test (including written and spoken), and 20 minutes for interview

(6) Analysis and evaluation (week 8)

The researcher interpreted the post-data and compared with the pre-data‘s results to seek answers to the research questions As a result of the action research project, she identified the additional questions, which became the basis for the further cycle

of research

2 3 Subjects of the study

Twenty four students aged from 8 to 10 at PoPoDoo English Center in Hanoi were chosen and agreed to take part in the research Those students have been learning English at PoPoDoo Center for more than 6 months Before that, most of them

hadn‘t been much exposed to English The majority love English and play with English Especially, they enjoy speaking and singing English songs They are aware

of the need of doing homework before going to the class However, when they must learn English grammar, they expressed their boredom, and losed their focus The class atmosphere calmed down in grammar presentation time

Regarding their family‘s economic status, most students live at the center of Hanoi with good living standards Each has at least one laptop or a computer with Internet connection

2.4 Data collection instruments

The researcher employed the following instruments: Class observation, pre-test and post-test, and interview

a/ Class observation

Observations were implemented during the in-class teaching period providing the researcher with an overview of the selected participants‘ performance on grammar tasks as well as the whole classroom atmosphere in grammar lessons These initial data let the researcher know whether the activities were properly carried out or suitable to the students‘ level so as to give implications for further improvement There were five questions guiding the observation Questions one – four were in the form of Likert scale The observer gave marks for each sub-statement from the lowest mark (mark 1) to the highest mark (mark 4): 1 (strongly disagree), 2 (Disagree); 3 (Agree), and 4 (strongly agree) Question 5 collected information of on-going problems in the class (See Appendix 1)

b/ Pre-test and post-test

Two different English tests were developed to assess the students‘ grammatical competence development before and after the treatment The pretest was given at the beginning of the course and its result was used to compare with that of the post-test The post-test at the end of the course was designed to test learners‘