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

This action research is aimed to investigate the effects of flipped teaching method on the students‘ grammatical competence and motivation for learning Englishgrammar.. The initial obser

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

HANOI – 2017

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 Thụ 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 Thụ Phương

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

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

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

on the students‘ grammatical competence and motivation for learning Englishgrammar

Twenty four students aged from 8 to 10 at PoPoDoo English Center were chosen totake part in the research The initial observation before the research period showedthat the students‘ poor grammatical competence and low motivation in learninggrammar may be attributed to their exposure of uninteresting traditional way ofpresenting grammar in the class A plan of action using flipped teaching wasimplemented to motivate and improve students‘ English grammar learning By theanalysis of data from observation, a pretest and a post test, an interview, theresearcher could confirm the situation from the finding of the pre-data and collectthe results of the treatment by comparing it with the data collected by means ofpost-data collection instruments The analysis revealed that the use of flippedteaching in English grammar teaching did improve not only their grammaticalcompetence (measured by the pre- and post tests) but also their attitudes towardslearning 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 teachingFigure 5: Action research cycle

Figure 6: Number of students did not watch videos at homeFigure 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 theintegration of technology should be included into teaching A great number ofteachers are gradually taking this innovative achievement to improve their teachingmethods and language teachers are no exception This leads to the rise of a teachingstrategy named ―flipped teaching‖ where the students obtained their lessons online

in the form of a video or power point for prior preparation, then apply theirknowledge in classroom activities In a flipped classroom, the time spent in class isseen to take more significance than the videos recorded Now, it gives room forengaging 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 thetraditional lecture-based class Bergmann and Sams (2012) described activities in aflipped class as ―which is traditionally done in class is now done at home, and thatwhich is traditionally done as homework is now completed in class‖

This method appears to be working for the author‘s situation where the learners aretoo young to learn English grammar in traditional lecture-based context.Psychologically, they need something really interesting and attractive To younglearners, 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 inthe only-90-minute class, there is not much time for engaging students in practicingthe language Furthermore, as aforementioned, because of the much exposure togrammar, those students are more likely to be bored Those will limit the success ofthe lessons Be fully aware of the existing problem, the author of this thesis, in hercapacity 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 - Flippedteaching - in her own environment Thus, the study was conducted to address thetwo 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 thestudents to more student-centered English lessons, and secondly to help enhancestudents‘ 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 desiredEnglish 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 thestudent 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 teachinggrammar, 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 furtherstudy

REFERENCES

APPENDICES

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the author lays the foundation for the research by presenting somemajor 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 toform correct sentences in a particular language The term can also be applied tosmaller 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 correctgrammatical structure must convey meaning within the rules and structure of thetarget language

On this basis, the notion of grammatical competence is raised It is one of the fourareas of the communicative competence theory claimed by Canale and Swain (ascited in Gao, 2001) The teaching and learning of grammar in a language aims todevelop learners‘ grammatical competence in that language According to Orwig(1999), those who have grammatical competence are able to recognize and producethe distinctive grammatical structures of a language and to use it effectively incommunication Hence, the learners should master their usage in real situations tocommunicate 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 ofclassroom face-to-face learning experiences with online learning experiences(Garrison & Kanuka, 2004) George-Palilonis and Filak (2009) defined blendedlearning as a combination of traditional and digital content delivery They supportedthe idea that traditional models usually fail to address all students‘ learning styles Ifproperly-used technology work well in a blended classroom, it can reach morestudents through various methods of instruction Woodall (2012) claimed minglingtraditional methods with new method leads to a tool that provides modern trainingand learning programs with two very powerful methods Researchers have foundthat blended learning significantly improved student attitudes Many studies showedblended learning instruction reduced students‘ negative emotions towards thesubjects Another important finding is that blended learning increased students‘beliefs of competency in the subject Cascaval et al (2008) came to a conclusionthat the blended classroom structure added significant value to education withnotable improvements in perceived performance and overall experience.Additionally, Hwang (2011) agreed that pre-class reading or videos and electronicdiscussions 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 learningincluding Rotation, Flex, A La Carte, and Enriched Virtual The Rotation modelcomprises 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 theteacher‘s selection among learning modalities, at least one of which is onlinelearning Some other alternative modalities may include small-group or full-classinstruction, 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 theonline-learning station

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

d Individual Rotation – a course where the teachers deliver individualstudent 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 accompanywhat 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-facelearning sessions with their teachers and then are free to complete their remaining

coursework remote from the face-to-face teacher The Enriched Virtual modeldiffers from the Flipped Classroom because in Enriched Virtual programs, studentsseldom meet face-to-face with their teachers every weekday It differs from a fullyonline 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 peermight offer

Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations have been well-researched, and thedistinction between them has important influence on developing both mental andeducational practices Most researchers and methodologists show that intrinsicmotivation is especially significant for encouraging success It is advisable that theeducators 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 Theyare age, personality, and motivation Cook (2000) emphasizes that among the three,motivation is the most significant in second language acquisition (SLA) andnaturally, in language leaning

In conclusion, the learning motivation is personal and comes from inside anindividual, but can be impacted by external factors When teachers know how toencourage students‘ motivation in their teaching, the students will become moreexcited 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 getaccess 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-upactivities (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 meansthat events which have traditionally taken place inside the classroom now take placeoutside the classroom and vice versa The use of learning technologies, particularlymultimedia, provide new opportunities for students to learn, opportunities that arenot 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 ofinformation that had been the content of my lectures out of the classroom (deliveredinstead through network-delivered presentations) and to use the opened-up classtime 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 makesuggestions‖.

To recap, flipped classrooms are a form of of blended learning, which refers to anyforms of education combining face-to-face instruction with online activities Flippedclassroom seems ―pedagogically sound‖ because it ―serves the principles ofpersonalized-differentiated learning, student-centered instruction‖ in which learnerstake more responsibility for their learning It is personalized as learners can learn attheir own pace; student-centered because the class time can be used as anenvironment where they join many engaging follow-up activities and teachers takesthe role as a facilitator However, it is noted that flipped teaching is not limited towatching 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 learningenvironments: outside and inside Both sides should be integrated into each other inorder to be effective

The first step for teachers is Planning Teachers should plan in detail what to doinside and outside the class The second step is selecting appropriate activities Theactivities should be various to address the needs of all learners These may providerich learning opportunities for all students with different learning styles The thirdstep, the teacher should think how to integrate outside and inside smoothly This isparticularly 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 topresent all the learning and teaching activities and materials delivered over theInternet, to the students in an organized way

1.1.4.3 Traditional and flipped teaching

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

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

In the flipped model, the time is totally restructured Students need to ask questions aboutthe content that was delivered before the class, so these questions would be addressedduring the first few minutes of lessons This allows students to clear up misunderstandingbefore 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 morepersonalized and students are actively engaged in acquiring knowledge as theydirectly take part in and evaluate their learning.

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

George-Palilonis and Likak (2009) found a gap between students who understoodthe 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 theincreased group work helped to enhance their motivation, understanding, andinterest in the topics They also liked the class activities because it allowed them todirectly receive their teacher‘s assistance during practice time, a benefit of theflipped style over traditional one This study found out that the flipped classroominstruction 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 inForeign Language Teaching‖ in Foreign Languages Education Department of YıldızTechnical University in ―Advanced Reading and Writing I‖ course He utilizedWallwisher, a web 2.0 tool to study students‘ opinions on the use of flipped learningmodel The findings showed that the attitudes of a majority of the students towardsthe use of a flipped learning model were positive He emphasized that flippedlearning is not merely using the lecture videos outside the classroom Choosing theappropriate engaging activities in the classroom time is also important To beconcluded, some suggestions to flip classrooms are demonstrated:

- Pay attention to students‘ learning styles and then elect suitable activities based onthe 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 grammarlessons as an alternate way of lecturing grammar in a language class He claimedthat the flipped classroom method helped students to switch from passive to activelecturing mode He step by step worked out the benefits as well as the drawbacks ofthis 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 aboutwhen 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 classroomincluding homework completion, behavioral interventions, grammar proficiency andwriting proficiency There are two groups of students including control group andexperimental group, named ―Group B‖ and ―Group F‖ The study compared andcontrasted 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 wereinvolved in this study Results of student surveys demonstrated that students wereable to receive instruction outside of the school via Internet in order to participate inlessons Students‘ engagement and homework completion would be improved,while behavioral interventions would decrease in the classroom The increase instudents‘ proficiency would also be strongly supported by significant increases inaverage class grades in grammar and writing Regardless of shortcomings, thestudents performed better on assessments, and did all the homework and maintainedgood behavior while the lessons were flipped The findings strongly encourage theauthor‘s belief that flipped teaching is worth trying by all 21st century teachers.Mousel (2013) investigated the effectiveness of flipping in a High SchoolMathematics Classroom Twenty two high school juniors enrolled in anInternational Baccalaureate Standard Level math class took part in the project.Students received instruction under the Flipped Classroom model for lessons in aunit on trigonometry After the lessons, students completed a ten-item surveyquestionnaire consisting of both Likert-scale and open-ended questions regardingstudent perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs of competency The research gainedpositive results, which can be shown in the students‘ motivation in Maths and theirawareness of the helps of flipped teaching in learning Maths

Most students did not notice any big challenges Some mentioned difficulties withthe hands-on approach due to learning styles, distractions from group work, boringvideos, and general difficulty in adjusting to a new style of learning On thecontrary, 13 students mentioned group work, hands-on activities, and/or classroomprojects as the most enjoyable aspect They explained that the flipped teaching timeallowed more freedom, experience, and fun.

1.3 Summary

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

For the success of the research, a number of factors should be put intoconsideration First, the educators should bear in mind that flipped teaching is morethan delivering videos and materials before the class They should be well-preparedprior to delivery and be interesting enough to attract students‘ attention Second, theteachers 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 withthe following sections: Action research, subjects of the study, data collectioninstruments 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 andresearchers It is typically conducted in a school setting and it is a kind of process inwhich educators examine their pedagogical practice, using the techniques of actionresearch (Watts, 1985:118)

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

―solution-oriented investigation‖ (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1982), also acollaborative activity among educators and colleagues seeking solutions to their realproblems in their teaching, and then finding measurements to improve thesituations

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 achoice when a single teacher faces a particular problem which needs tackling in herown 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 thestudents were still weak in English grammatical competence and learning and teachinggrammar take up much time in class, which results in the shortage of time for languagepractice The teacher should take immediate action to improve the situation and actionresearch is needed The second reason for the application of action research is that it isbeneficial to both researchers

(specifically the researcher/ teacher conducting this research) and their students Forresearchers, it is an opportunity to critically look into the class situation and thensolve 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 problemamong her students In this step, a pre-test (writen and spoken) on English grammar wasadministered to confirm the problem The primary aim of the instrument was to identify thestudents‘ real problems in grammar learning and their level of grammatical competence

Figure 5: Action research cycle

(Adopted and adapted from McBride & Sckotak, 1989)(2) Analyzing data (week 1)

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

(3) Planning (week 2)

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

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

In this period, the detailed plans of action were carried out Because students hadtwo lesson a week, the author and the participants could meet each other twice aweek Therefore, the author delivered the prepared materials in this period, one ortwo 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 Theresearcher had a meeting with those participating students to complete her datacollection The session lasted only about 120 minutes, including 100 minutes for thepost 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 toseek answers to the research questions As a result of the action research project, sheidentified the additional questions, which became the basis for the further cycle ofresearch

2 3 Subjects of the study

Twenty four students aged from 8 to 10 at PoPoDoo English Center in Hanoi werechosen and agreed to take part in the research Those students have been learningEnglish 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 withEnglish 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 mustlearn English grammar, they expressed their boredom, and losed their focus Theclass atmosphere calmed down in grammar presentation time

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

2.4 Data collection instruments

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

a/ Class observation

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

b/ Pre-test and post-test

Two different English tests were developed to assess the students‘ grammaticalcompetence development before and after the treatment The pretest was given atthe 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‘