An investigation into using situational contexts in teaching grammar for non english major freshmen in a university in nam dinh city

I hereby certify that the thesis entitled AN INVESTIGATION INTO USING SITUATIONAL CONTEXTS IN TEACHING GRAMMAR FOR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR FRESHMEN IN A UNIVERSITY IN NAM DINH CITY Is the resu

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF

DINH CITY

(Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng ngữ cảnh tình huống vào giảng dạy ngữ pháp cho sinh viên không chuyên Tiếng Anh năm thứ nhất

tại một trường đại học ở thành phố Nam Định)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.140.111

HANOI - 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF

DINH CITY

(Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng ngữ cảnh tình huống vào giảng dạy ngữ pháp cho sinh viên không chuyên Tiếng Anh năm thứ nhất

tại một trường đại học ở thành phố Nam Định)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.140.111

Supervisor: Dr Hà Cẩm Tâm

HANOI - 2014

I hereby certify that the thesis entitled

AN INVESTIGATION INTO USING SITUATIONAL CONTEXTS IN

TEACHING GRAMMAR FOR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR FRESHMEN IN A

UNIVERSITY IN NAM DINH CITY

Is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master at University ofLanguages and International Studies, Hanoi National University, and that this thesis hasnot been submitted for any degree at any other upper secondary schools

Hanoi, August 20th, 2008

Lại Thị Hiền

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This thesis could not have been completed without the help, encouragement and support

of a number of people who all deserve my sincere gratitude and appreciation

First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Ha CamTam for her enthusiastic help and guidance

I am also very grateful to all of my students of the class CDDI22A2 at University ofEconomics and Technical Industry (UNETI), who participated in my action research Thiscontribution played a very important role in my research‟s result

I would like to send my special thanks to my lecturers, my friends and my classmates fortheir sincere comments and criticism

Finally, a special word of thanks goes to my readers for their interest and comments onthis study

In order to be fluency in English, grammar is considered to be the basis to develop otherfour skills However, when teaching grammar to first-year students at University ofEconomics and Technical Industry, the author of this research found out that studentswere not interested in learning grammar Hence, they did not focus on the lesson andignored doing exercises resulting in bad marks in the tests and exams Thanks to thereasons above, the researcher decided to use situational contexts to teach grammar forstudents The aims of carrying out this research were to find out students‟ interest ingrammar lessons which apply situational contexts and measure whether students cancomplete grammar exercises better after practicing with situational contexts In order to

do this research, the researcher first makes plans for the study by preparing situationalcontexts and deciding how they are applied in the classroom Then, the action stage takesplace All the situational contexts are put into practice The teacher gives them to studentsand they have to make presentation about those situational contexts During this stage, allthings happened in the class are observed and taken notes At the same time, after eachtry-out lesson, there is a test given at the end of the lesson in order to measure students‟progress Last but not least, the action is evaluated by analyzing and comparing the results

of the test and summarizing and discussing the observation notes In the end, theresearcher gives comments and conclusions about the study

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Objectives of the study 2

3 The research questions 2

4 The scope of the study 2

5 The significance of the study 3

6 Methods of the study 3

7 Organization of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 Grammar 5

1.1.1 Theoretical background about grammar 5

1.1.1.1 Definitions of grammar 5

1.1.1.2 The importance of grammar in second language teaching 6

1.1.2 Approaches in grammar teaching 7

1.1.2.1 The deductive approach – rule-driven learning 7

1.1.2.2 The inductive approach – the rule-discovery path 8

1.1.2.3 Functional-Notional Approach 9

1.1.3 Techniques in grammar teaching 10

1.1.3.1 Teaching grammar in situational contexts 10

1.1.3.2 Teaching grammar through texts 10

1.1.3.3 Teaching grammar through stories 11

1.1.3.4 Teaching grammar through songs and rhymes 11

1.1.4 Context and situational context in grammar teaching 12

1.1.4.1 Context 12

1.1.4.2 Situational context in teaching grammar 13

1.1.4.2.1 What is a situational context? 13

1.1.4.2.2 The advantages and disadvantages of teaching grammar in

situational contexts 13

1.1.4.2.3 Application of situational contexts in teaching grammar 14

1.1.5 Review of previous studies 16

1.2 Action research 16

1.2.1 Definitions of action research 17

1.2.2 Steps to conduct an action research 17

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 19

2.1 The setting of the study 19

2.1.1 The research context 19

2.1.2 The course book 19

2.2 Participants 20

2.3 Instruments 20

2.4 Data collection and analysis 21

2.4.1 Planning 21

2.4.2 Action 26

2.4.3 Observation 28

2.4.4 Reflection 38

PART C: CONCLUSION 41

1 Major findings 41

2 Implications for more effective grammar lessons 42

3 Limitations and suggestions for further research 42

REFERENCES 44 APPENDICES I

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LIST OF GRAPHS

Graph 1: Test 1‟s results………29

Graph 2: Test 2‟s results………31

Graph 3: Test 3‟s results………32

Graph 4: Test 4‟s results………35

Graph 5: Test 5‟s results………36

Graph 6: Test 6‟s results………38

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

In times of globalization, English language is becoming more and more importantworldwide Many people hold a belief that English can help them to be easily accessed tojob opportunities and connect people from all over the world together This contributes to

a significant change in school education system in Vietnam From kindergarten touniversity, English has become a compulsory subject in teaching and learning‟scurriculum Although the four skills including writing, listening, speaking and readingstill plays a very important role in teaching and learning English, it is undeniable thatEnglish grammar also hold an inevitable position Without grammar competence, peoplecannot generate ideas into grammatical sentences to write an essay or paragraph as well asunderstand and be understood in communicating with others However, in University ofEconomic and Technical Industry (UNETI), grammar teaching encounters lots ofdifficulties More specifically, lecturers there still prefer the traditional method ofteaching grammar Therefore, some of them often explains new words and grammarstructures, ask students to learn by heart and make sentences, which makes them passiveand bored One more problem lies in students‟ participation in grammar lesson Theboring atmosphere and lots of written exercises makes students lose their interest inlearning grammar at all Equally important, it is clear that teachers in UNETI do notemphasize the role of communication in teaching grammar, so very few communicativeactivities explored in grammar teaching result in students‟ little chances to approach, beexposed to and practice grammatical items in real-life situations The reason is that theyare afraid of the noise students make, and it is difficult for them to control the class Lastbut not least, in the course book used for first-year non-major students (New HeadwayPre-intermediate by Liz and John Soars), lots of situational contexts are provided, butteachers do not take the most advantages of them

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As Harmer (2007:57) stated, “students need to get an idea of how the new language isused by native speakers and the best way of doing this is to present language in context”.Therefore, the role of situational context in English teaching and learning in general and

in English grammar teaching in particular are proved to be very essential All of thefactors mentioned above urge me to conduct a study on situational context in teachinggrammar with an aim to find out students‟ and teachers‟ difficulties when applying thismethod in their teaching and learning It is entitled “An investigation into usingsituational contexts in teaching grammar for non-English major freshmen in a university

in Nam Dinh city”

2 Objectives of the study

The objectives of the study are as follows:

 To find out if students are more interested in practicing grammar through

situational contexts

 To measure whether students can complete grammar exercises better after

practicing with situational contexts

3 The research questions

This study is intended to address the following two research questions:

Q1: Are students more interested in practicing grammar through situational contexts?Q2: Can students do grammar exercises better after their practices with situationalcontext?

4 The scope of the study

As could be seen from the title of the study, this paper strongly focuses on finding out theeffectiveness of using situational contexts in increasing students‟ interest in practicing

practicing with situational contexts At the same time, the study also only concentrates onnon-English major freshmen in UNETI Therefore, its results are not reliable for otherkinds of context, other students in UNETI as well as other universities.

5 The significance of the study

This study is hoped to bring some benefits to both teachers and students at UNETI asfollows:

 It may change teachers‟ views on ways of teaching grammar into a communicativeapproach

 It may stimulate teachers to employ situational contexts in their grammar teaching

to make it more appropriate and effective

 It may stimulate students, help them to be more involved and interested in

grammar lessons

6 Methods of the study

In order to answer the research question raised above, the researcher intends to use briefnotes to record students‟ interest into the activity, and students‟ level of remembering Atthe same time, tests given after the presentation of the situational contexts are also applied

in this study Its purpose is to find out in-depth data about students‟ progress, proficiency,and ability to apply theory into practice

In this study, both quantitative and qualitative method are used All comments,recommendations and conclusions provided in this study based on the analysis anddiscussion of the statistics from tests‟ results At the same time, the qualitative data comesfrom the author‟s observation in some grammar lessons

7 Organization of the study

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The study is divided into three part which are described as follows:

Part A, Introduction, is an overview of the study in which the rationale, the aims, the scope, the significance, the research questions, the methods of the study are presented Part B, Development, consists of three chapters:

Chapter 1 (Literature Review) is the theoretical background of the thesis including areview of grammar, grammar teaching and context in grammar teaching

Chapter 2 (Methodology) presents the data collection instruments and the description ofparticipants The next section covers the process of the action research The results anddiscussion of the study are also presented in this chapter

Part C, Conclusion, presents the major findings of the study followed by the conclusion ofthe study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

From the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2009), grammar is defined as

“the study and practice of the rules by which words change their forms and are combinedinto sentences” Sharing the same idea, Ur (1988:4) states that “grammar may be roughlydefined as the way a language manipulates and combines words (or bit of words) in order

to form longer units of meaning” Both definitions above refer to the morphology (wordformation) and syntax (sentence formation) of a language Clearly, grammar is theelement which make up all words and structures in a sentence It is a set of rules whichconstruct meaning and form of a sentence

Another definition given by Larsen-Freeman (2003:142) is that “Grammmar(ing) is one

of the dynamic linguistic processes of pattern formation in language, which can be used

by humans for making meaning in context-appropriate ways” Different from otherdefinitions above, not only does this one refer to form and meaning but it also mentionsthe context in which they are used In other words, grammar is the pattern formationwhich must be applied in appropriate contexts

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In conclusion, grammar can be defined in different ways Most of them consider grammar

as a set of rules to form sentences Generally speaking, the researcher thinks that thedefinition which connects grammar with context by Larsen-Freeman is the mostcomprehensive

1.1.1.2 The importance of grammar in second language teaching

The issue of the role of grammar in second language teaching has been remaining as one

of the most concerns over the last decades Although some linguists are against the place

of grammar teaching because it is unnecessary and not related to use a language in life situations, it is still acknowledged by many researchers in this field According toBatstone (1994:35), he asserts that “language without grammar would be chaotic;countless words without the indispensable guidelines for how they can be ordered andmodified” This shows that grammar is a contributor to language‟s modification Inaddition, Zhang (1999:106) also states that people should “have a criterion which is used

real-to measure true and false and guide what real-to do and what not real-to do and this criterion is justgrammar” Thus, it is clear that grammar is considered as an element to measure the truevalue of a language

Furthermore, as Wang (2010) mentioned, after the appearance of communicativeapproach, teachers often put much emphasis on “communicative competence” and neglect

“linguistic competence” This leads in the fact that students make lots of errors in oral aswell as written performance because of their lack of basic knowledge of language Withthis tendency Hymes (1972, quoted in Wang (2010)) indicates that “communicativecompetence” should include “linguistic competence” and “linguistic performance”.Hence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence, strategic competence andgrammatical competence are four basic aspects of this approach From all of the reasonmentioned above, it can be concluded that although grammar has experienced ups anddowns in the history of second language teaching, the necessity of grammar teaching in

1.1.2 Approaches in grammar teaching

In fact, there are different approaches in teaching grammar for different levels of students

at different periods In the article “How to teach grammar” by Prof Franz LudescherMAS, he proposes seven ways to teach grammar including the deductive approach, theinductive approach, functional-notional approach, teaching grammar in situationalcontexts, teaching grammar through texts, teaching grammar through stories and teachinggrammar through songs and rhymes

1.1.2.1 The deductive approach – rule-driven learning

According to Rivers and Temperley (110), the deductive approach “is a more traditionalstyle of teaching where the grammatical structures or rules are dictated to the studentsfirst” Then, after the rules are outlined, exercises are given to students in order for them

to practice using the structure in a number of ways (Goner, Phillips and Walters,1995:135) Therefore, in this approach, teacher is the center of the class, not students

Everything has two sides, and the deductive approach is not an exception There are someadvantages and disadvantages of this approach given by Widodo (2006) as follows:

1 The deductive approach goes straightforwardly to the point andcan, therefore, be time-saving

2 A number of rule aspects (for example, form) can be more simplyand clearly explained than elicited from examples

3 A number of direct practice/application examples are immediatelygiven

Advantages 4 The deductive approach respects the intelligence and maturity of

many adult learners in particular and acknowledge the role of

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cognitive processes in language acquisition.

5 It confirms many learners‟ expectations about classroom learning particularly for those who have an analytical style

1 Beginning the lesson with a grammar presentation may be off-puttingfor some learners, especially younger ones

2 Younger learners may not able to understand the concepts or

encounter grammar terminology given

Disadvantages 3 Grammar explanation encourages a teacher-fronted,

transmission-style classroom, so it will hinder learner involvement and interactionimmediately

4 The explanation is seldom as memorable as other forms of

presentation (for example, demonstration)

5 The deductive approach encourages the belief that learning a

language is simply a case of knowing the rule

1.1.2.2 The inductive approach – the rule-discovery path

Whereas the deductive approach begins with the rule first, the inductive approach startswith specific examples from which a rule is referred As Goner, Phillips and Walters(1995:135) said, “the inductive approach represents a more modern style of teachingwhere the new grammatical structures or rules are presented to the students in a reallanguage context” Hence, the teacher‟s role is also different from that of the deductiveapproach Rivers and Temperley (1978:110) indicates that “with this approach, theteacher‟s role is to provide meaningful contexts to encourage demonstration of the rule,while the students evolve the rules from the examples of its use and continued practice”.The following table clearly shows the advantages and disadvantages of the inductiveapproach

1 Learners are trained to be familiar with the rule discovery, this could enhance learning autonomy and self-reliance

2 Learners‟ greater degree of cognitive depth is “exploited”.

3 The learners are more active in the learning process, rather thanbeing simply passive recipients In this activity, they will be

4 The approach involves learners‟ pattern-recognition and problemsolving abilities in which particular learners are interested in this challenge

5 If the problem-solving activity is done collaboratively, learners get anopportunity for extra language practice

1 The approach is time and energy-consuming as it leads learners to have the appropriate concept of the rule

2 The concepts given implicitly may lead the learners to have the wrong concepts of the rule taught

Disadvantages 3 The approach can place emphasis on teachers in planning a lesson

4 It encourages the teacher to design data or materials taught carefully and systematically

5 The approach may frustrate the learners with their personal learningstyle, or their past learning experience (or both) would prefer simply to be told the rules

(By Widodo, 2006)

1.1.2.3 Functional-Notional Approach

According to Demirbuken (2013), “functional-notional approach focuses on the purposesfor which language is used It emphasized communicative purposes of a speech act” Interms of advantages, functional-notional approach provides learners withcommunicatively useful expressions, a structured syllabus and a clear sense ofprogression Moreover, it places much emphasis on communication, which enableslearners to use grammatical knowledge in real-life situations One more benefit of

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functional-notional approach is that it is very suitable and appropriate to beginners Thus,due to the reasons above, this approach is also very popular in second language teaching.

1.1.3 Techniques in grammar teaching

1.1.3.1 Teaching grammar in situational contexts

Teaching grammar in situational contexts is a very popular way for students to practicegrammatical items in real-life situations Because this is the main issue discussed in thisthesis, it will be presented more detail in the following part

1.1.3.2 Teaching grammar through texts

If learners want to achieve a functional command of a second language, it is necessary tounderstand a whole text, not just isolated sentences Text is completely different fromcontext Whereas text is any of the various forms in which a writing exists and would bethe words in a page, context is the meaning that is conveyed through setting, characters,theme, etc For example, the statement "Put the bulb in" It is considered as a text because

it means nothing Readers do not know what bulb is referred tom where it is However,when we use the following context "The flower bed is ready for planting I‟ve dug thehole for the tulips Put the bulb in", it makes sense

There is a number of benefits of using texts in teaching grammar in the following table

Advantages 3 As well as grammar input, texts provide vocabulary input, skills

practice, and exposure to features of text organization

4 Their use in the classroom is good preparation for independent study

5 If the texts come from the students themselves, they may be more engaging and their language features therefore more memorable

On the other hand, the drawbacks of this method still exist to some extent based on the level of texts‟ difficulties, the content of texts, or the students themselves

1 The difficulty of the text, especially an authentic one, may mean that some of the above advantages are lost

2 The alternative - to use simplified texts - may give a misleadingimpression as to how the language item is naturally used, again

3 Not all texts will be of equal interest to students

4 Students who want quick answers to simple questions may considerthe use of texts to be the 'scenic route' to language awareness, and would prefer a quicker,more direct route instead

1.1.3.3 Teaching grammar through stories

As we know, stories are a very interesting sources in teaching and learning English Theycan be used for both eliciting and illustrating grammar points Not only can students learngrammatical items but they also can learn about tradition or cultures of different countriesthrough stories because they are a spiritual gift of almost every cultures At the same time,

a story also provides a realistic context for students to role-play or impersonate characters

in them Especially, storytelling is a very good way to attract students‟ attention,stimulate classroom‟s atmosphere and help them to memorize the grammar issues longer

1.1.3.4 Teaching grammar through songs and rhymes

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Song is a very important part in everyday life It is also a way to change classroomactivities It is also considered as a precious resource to develop students‟ abilities notonly in listening, reading, speaking and writing but in grammar as well Sentence patterns,pronunciation, adjectives, adverbs…can be taught through songs because it helps to create

a comfortable atmosphere for students with no tension or stress There are numerouspositive effects of using songs in the classroom according to Ludescher (2004) Firstly,teacher can meet the challenges of student needs in the classroom with contemporarypopular songs Secondly, as songs are highly memorable and motivating, they mayconstitute a powerful subculture with their own knowledge Lastly, student can broadentheir cultural knowledge through using traditional folk songs

Another way to teach grammar effectively is using poems Because poems are oftenspoken, repeated and acted, grammatical structures become more deeply remembered byrepeating and considering them Similar to songs, poems have an enormous linguisticvalue as they provide authenticity and cultural views “A poem's capacity to comfort thereader or the listener also increases its effectiveness as a teaching resource Once a poem

or song has been learned, they stay in the minds of the students for the rest of their lives,with all the rhythms, grammatical features and vocabulary” (Ludescher, 2004)

Although poems is conducive to students‟ creativity and bring the rhythm into thelanguage classroom, they also bring some difficulties Poems are not constructed in asimple way and syntactically they are at a higher level than prose, thus it might be verydifficult for a foreign language learner to comprehend them completely, especially those

at beginning level

1.1.4 Context and situational context in grammar teaching

1.1.4.1 Context

Numerous definitions of context has been given by different researchers In Longman Dictionary of language teaching and Applied Linguistics (the 4th edition), context is defined as “that which occurs before and/or after a word, a phrase or even a longer

utterance or a text; the context helps in understanding the particular meaning of the word, phrase, etc” Similarly, in Oxford advance Learner‟s Dictionary, context is “the words that come just before and after a word, phrase or statement and help you to understand its meaning” Both definitions help readers to understand more about the functions of contextand how it is identified

1.1.4.2 Situational context in teaching grammar

1.1.4.2.1 What is a situational context?

Olswang (2010) states that Situational context or Context of situation is the immediatecontext which influences communication such as setting (home, school, theatre…),activity (party, lecture, discussion ), and environment (temperature, number of people ).Therefore, teaching grammar in situational contexts means that teacher use a generativesituation to generate several examples sentences of a structure (Ludescher: 2004) Morespecifically, when introducing a situational context, the teacher must give full informationabout the context such as the place, time, and number of people… For example, “Lan andMai haven‟t seen each other for a long time On Sunday afternoon, they meet each other

in a shop by chance Then, they sit for a café and talk about their studying and theirlives” This is a situational context because it contains some features Mai and Lan are thetwo characters in the situation Sunday afternoon is the time they meet each other Theirtalk happens in a café, the place of the situation The aims of their talk is about theirstudying and their lives In short, a situational context includes all the factors whichinfluences communication between people in a specific setting

1.1.4.2.2 The advantages and disadvantages of teaching grammar in situational contexts

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The first advantage of this method is that a situational context can present a wide range oflanguage items in which the situation play the role of clarifying the meaning Secondly, it

is more memorable than other kinds of explanation Equally important, the givenexamples provide learners with data for induction of the rules of form With this method,student can take part in the development of the presentation and contribute their efforts tosolve the grammar problem By contrast, teachers should pay attention to some negativesides of this approach when applying it in their classroom First, what students need is notonly the demonstration of rules but also the opportunities to practice them However, theexample presentation take more time than an explanation, so it may waste a lot of time.One more important thing is that in order to teach grammar in situational contexts,teachers need the ability to come up with new situations that generate several structurallyidentical sentences and have time to prepare necessary visual aids

1.1.4.2.3 Application of situational contexts in teaching grammar

There are many aspects in English grammar Each items of grammar is suitable to a specific teaching method Some grammatical issues get the most effective by using

deductive approach whereas some are appropriate with situational contexts The table below is a list of situational context which should be employed with certain points of grammar given by Ludescher (2004)

Follow a recipe or instructions from a Imperative verb form

boxed cake mix to bake a cake Present continuous tense

Give directions to another person to get to

Present tense

a store, the post office, or a bank using a

Non-referential itmap

Discuss plans for a class field trip to the Future tense

Conditional tenseDescribe a past vacation, weekend, etc Simple past tense

Question formationForms of verb to doWord order in negationRole play a shopping trip to buy a gift for May, might

a family member or friend Collective nouns and quantifiers (any,

some, several, etc.)Answer information questions: Name, Present tense of verb to be

address, phone number, etc Possessive adjectives

Tell someone how to find an object in Locative prepositions

your kitchen Modal verbs (can, may, should)

Fill out a medical history form Then role

Present perfect tenseplay a medical interview on a visit with a

Present perfect progressivenew doctor

Make a daily weather report Forms of verb to be

Idiomatic expressionsReport daily schedules of people (in the Habitual present

class, buses in the city, airline schedules, Personal pronouns

trains, etc.) Demonstrative adjectives

Extend an invitation over the telephone to Would like…Object-Verb word ordersomeone to come to a party Interrogative pronouns

Explain rules and regulations to someone,

Modal verbs: Can, must, should, ought toi.e rules for the school cafeteria; doctor‟s

Adverbs of time & frequencyinstructions to a sick patient

Report a historical or actual past event and

Past conditional and past perfect tensesdiscuss conditions under which a different

If clausesoutcome might have resulted

React to the burglary of your house or Present perfect tense

apartment in the presence of another

person upon discovery (active voice) and

in making a police report (passive voice)

Contrast between active and passive voice Direct and indirect object

1.1.5 Review of previous studies

In fact, situational contexts are not applied widely and popularly So, the data are just acollection of what is related to situational contexts which someone has studiespreviously

There have been numerous MA degrees in Hanoi University of Languages andInternational studies which are relating to applying new methods in teaching grammar

In Thuy‟s thesis (2008), she applies games as a new method to teach grammar for herstudents whereas Huong (2010) use communicative activities to support grammarteaching She suggests some activities such as songs, games, problem-solving,discussion, storytelling, information gap, picture description…

Besides, related to teaching grammar in context, some studies have been carried out bydifferent researchers Typically, the effectiveness of teaching grammar in context toreduce grammatical errors in students‟ writing is carried out by Nur Amin (2009).Another research by Ms Hong (2012) from Hanoi University of Languages andInternational Studies also relates to teaching grammar in context

To sum up, all the studies above agree that teaching grammar in context has positiveeffects on students‟ learning in some ways However, they mentioned only using context

to teach grammar while the application of situational contexts has not been explored andcarried out That is the reason why the researcher decides to choose situational context as

1.2 Action research

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1.2.1 Definitions of action research

Action research is a very popular research method in the current fevelopment of society.However, different researchers have different ideas abotu what an action research is.Accoring to Nunam, D (1992:18), a very famous researcher in the field of education, “Adescriptive case study of a particualr classrooom, group of learners, or even a singlelearner counts as action research if it is initiated by a question, is suppoorted by data andinterpretation, and is carried out by a practitioner investigating aspects of his or her owncontext and situation” This defintion shows that in order to carry out an action research,the teacher must be a practitioner She must identify the problem, and then carry out herplan to solve the problem

Another definition given in Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and AppliedLingusitics (2002:8) is that “Action research is teacher-initiated classroom research thatseeks to increase the teacher‟s udnerstanding of classroom teaching and learning and tobring about improvements in classroom practices” In other words, action research aims tohelp teachers to improve their teaching and students„ learning in any aspects that theyrealize in their work

Tsui (1993) stated that “Action research is a very effective way of helping teachers toreflect on their teaching and to come up with their own alternatives to improve theirpractices ” This is a very simple but detailed definition about action research Through allthe defintions abiove, it can be concluded that action research is carried out with the aim

of solving practical problems in a classroom It mainly focuses on the actions of bothteachers and students

1.2.2 Steps to conduct an action research

According to Nunan (1992:19), there are seven steps to conduct and action research

dissemination and follow-up However, in this research, the researcher follows the action research model of Kemmis and Mc Taggart (1988), which is composed of four phases:

1 Planning: a problem or issue is identified and a plan of action is developed in order

to bring about improvements in specific areas of the research context

2 Action: the plan is to put into action over an agree period of time

3 Observation: the effects of the action are observed and data are collected

4 Reflection: the effects of the action are evaluated become the basis for further cycles of research

In short, action research can be carried out in collaboration with other teachers oreducators and it needs the supports from both students and education administrators Itsresults should be popularized and shared with anybody who is interested in

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CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

2.1 The setting of the study

2.1.1 The research context

University of Economics and Technical Industry is founded over fifty years ago It hasofficially been become a university for only seven years It now has two branches: one inHanoi and another in Nam Dinh city There are many different departments in UNETIsuch as mechanics, engineering, accountancy and so on Although there are manychallenges the university has to face up with in the new era, English has also been putmuch emphasis on because of its popularity and necessary Thus, it is a compulsorysubject in the teaching and learning curriculum Its aims are to help students acquiregeneral English knowledge and the four English skills Students have four periods a weekand each period lasts forty-five minutes

In terms of physical setting, English teaching and learning at UNETI are carried outinside the classroom with basic equipment such as blackboard, tables and desks In somerooms, they also have cassette players, projectors and speakers As for class size, thenumber of students in each class is often about 50 This leads in lots of difficulties inteaching and learning

2.1.2 The course book

New Headway Pre-intermediate by Liz and John Soars is chosen as the textbook for firstyear non-major students at UNETI It is a well-known course book and widely used inmany different universities as well as over the world The book is divided into 12modules/ each contains seven language input including grammar, vocabulary, everydayEnglish, listening, reading, writing and speaking Not only does it present basic

communication Therefore, it is considered as the most appropriate textbook to English major freshmen at UNETI Because of the structure of the book like this, eachunit is covered in seven lessons Among them, three periods are spent on grammar, therest is for reading, speaking, listening and writing respectively.

non-2.2 Participants

In total, the participants of the study were 50 first-year students from one class at UNETI.They are all non-English major freshmen aged from 18 to 20 They all come from urbanareas and they have learnt English for ten years They share many common things such asleaning in the same department in the same university, similar age and similar Englishlearning experiences

2.3 Instruments

The main data collection instruments of this study include situational contexts,observation form and tests Firstly, teacher gives students a different situational contextevery week for them to practice grammar items The situational contexts are set up withthe aim to develop students‟ interest in practicing grammar Secondly, teacher uses theobservation form to observe what happens in the classroom and take notes all thenecessary information for data collection and analysis

Thirdly, tests given after the presentation of the situational contexts are also applied inthis study Its purpose is to find out in-depth data about students‟ progress, proficiency,and ability to apply theory into practice Therefore, in order to be easy for analyzing data,the marks of the test is grouped into four categories including good (mark 9, 10), fair(mark 7, 8), average (mark 5, 6) and bad (below mark 5) Because the research is carriedout in six weeks, there are six thirty-minute tests in total The test is given at the end ofthe lesson every week The format of the tests is described as follows

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 Test 1 includes two parts to test students about the usage of must, should and have

to by filling in the blanks exercise

 Test 2 has only one part Fill in the blanks with going to or will to test students‟ recognition to the usage of going to and will

 Test 3 includes two parts: using given words to fill in the blanks and multiple choice question to test students about ways to ask and give road directions

 Test 4 includes multiple choice questions and mistakes recognition in sentences to test students about ways to make suggestions

 Test 5 includes putting the verbs into the correct form of present perfectcontinuous and choosing the correct answer to test students about the form and usage ofpresent perfect continuous

 Test 6 aims to tests students about the usage of quantity expression such as a, an,some, any, much, many, and a lot of by filling the quantity expressions into the sentences

2.4 Data collection and analysis

The data collection and data analysis below follows the steps to conduct an actionresearch Acording to Kemmis and Mc Taggart (1988), the action reseach consists of fourphases:

1 Planning: a problem or issue is identified and a plan of action is developed in order

to bring about improvements in specific areas of the research context

2 Action: the plan is to put into action over an agree period of time

3 Observation: the effects of the action are observed and data are collected

4 Reflection: the effects of the action are evaluated become the basis for further

cycles of research

Based on those four phases, the process of the action research is presented in the

following part phase by phase

2.4.1 Planning

The action research is carried out within six weeks in total Each week has three grammarperiods Therefore, in each week, a situation is given in order for students to make role-play using a particualr grammatical item All the situation used in this step are describedclearly as follows.

Week 1: modal verbs of obligation and permission: must, should and have to

The grammatical item of this week is found in unit 4 (Doing the right thing) in students‟course book It is modal verbs of obligation and permission including should, must andhave to In this lesson, they are used to express an obligation This point of grammar ischosen because it is very popular to students in their everyday lives At the same time, it isalso easier for the researcher to set up the situation for students to practice The objective

of this week is to help students practice using “should”, “must” and “have to” to giveadvices to friends In order to practice this, the author of the research gives a situationalcontext in which “should”, “must” and “have to” can be used to develop it

The situation is described as “A job interview” The roles include a boss and three jobapplicants More exactly, the boss is interviewing three new job applicants for theposition of waiter in his/her restaurant Job applicants have to ask the boss questions toget information about responsibilities, working hours, breaks, meals, and day-offs Theboss is responsible for responding to their questions One more important thing is that theteacher remembers to remind students to use modal verbs of obligation and permissionwith “should”, “must” and “have to” to make up their conversation

Week 2: Future forms (going to and will): Future plans

This is a grammatical point in unit 5 (On the move) in the course book It is chosen forsituational context practice because it is simple and familiar to students Hence, when thesituational context is build up, students feel easy to practice with it The objective of this

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lesson is to practice using “going to” and “will” to express future plan, decisions andintentions The situation “Party preparation” is formed as follows There are twocharacters in this situation including mother and daughter They are sitting in the livingroom to talk about plans to prepare for a meal for about 20 people next week, so theyhave a discussion to assign tasks to make it successful At the same time, in order to havemore ideas about what to do, teacher also gives students some suggestions which they canadd into their conversation prepare the vegetables, lay the table, make the salad, stir thesauce, check the meat, buy ingredients, etc… Equally important, the teacher must remindstudents to think of as many tasks as possible to assign between two characters.

Week 3: Asking and giving road directions

This topic is one of the centered grammatical items in unit 5 Its purpose is to helpstudents understand and know how to use language to give directions to other peoplewhen necessary This topic is chosen because it is very useful for students In fact, in reallife, people encounter many situations in which people ask each other how to get tosomewhere If they don‟t know how to express it, it is difficult to help other people.Therefore, the researcher chooses it to set up situations for students

The situation is called “Directions to famous places” The place of the situation is in TranTemple Two students play the role of volunteers whereas two students are tourists whocome from remote areas Two tourists in this situation is a couple They are at TranTemple in Nam Dinh However, after visiting Tran Temple, they do not know how to get

to other famous places in Nam Dinh By chance, they met two volunteers who arestanding here to give directions to tourists in their summer vacation Ask the volunteersfor their instructions whereas the volunteers give the tourists a map and give directions tofamous places they want to go Teacher may also shows students some key words orsuggestions for their conversation building such as turn right, turn left, go along…street/roundabout, etc…

Week 4: Making suggestions with let‟s go, why don‟t you, what about…

In unit 8 in students‟ course book, there are three areas of grammar includingconditionals, time clauses and making suggestion with let‟s go, why don‟t you, whatabout… However, the researcher chooses making suggestions because it is used morepopularly in everyday life At the same time, there are more situations for students topractice with this topic than the others Therefore, in this week, in order to be differentfrom other lessons, teacher gives three different situations for students to choose Theycan choose any situation which they are interested in or easier

Situation 1: The situation is called “At a restaurant” The roles are Tom and his wife Tom

and his wife are having dinner at a restaurant at 6 p.m Because it is quite early and theyboth have the evening free, they want to go somewhere to relax Hence, they makesuggestions and discuss with each other to find out the next place to go after they finishtheir dinner Role play the situation

Situation 2: The situation is called “At the dorminatory” There are two characters called

Minh and Lam They have been best friends for a long time They are living together inschool‟s dormitory While Lam is studying her/her homework, Minh thinks of herboyfriend‟s birthday party next week She/he doesn‟t know what to give her/hisboyfriend/girlfriend as a present, so she asks Lam for suggestions Use different ways ofmaking suggestions to make conversation for the situation

Situation 3: The situation is “In the neighbor‟s house” Lam and Minh are neighbor in the

same ward Because Lam works in a restaurant, he usually leaves his dog home aloneevery night while he‟s at work The dog barks all the time when nobody‟s home and thenoise is keeping Minh awake Thus, Minh comes to Lam‟s house in the afternoon andtalks about that matter and give suggestions for Lam with his dog Role play the situation

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Week 5: Present perfect Continuous (I have been Ving): a past activity that has caused a

present result

This topic is in unit 10 in the students‟ course book The objective of this one is to helpstudents use present perfect continuous with the meaning of expressing a past activity thathas caused a present result to practice giving advices The name of the situation is

“Appointment with doctor” The situation happens between a doctor and a patient indoctor‟s office One student casts the role of a patient who is having problems with hishealth He goes to see a doctor to have some advices Answer the doctor‟s questions tofind the causes and get suggestions By contrast, one student is the doctor A patient iscoming to see you to ask about his symptoms Asks questions about his/her lifestyles tofind the causes and gives suggestions for him/her Moreover, in order to help students toset up the conversation more quickly, the teacher can include some prompts for them topractice such as eating, drinking and sleeping styles, working regulations, and outdooractivities

Week 6: Quantity expressions

This grammatical item is taken from unit 10 in the course book This is a very populartopic which everyone uses in their everyday lives We use this to talk about everythingsuch as fruits, drinks, food, object, etc… Hence, this crucial topic is chosen in this part.The situation is called “Ordering food” There are five people to take part in this situation.Among them, one is father, one is mother, one is daughter, one is son and one is thewaiter They are all in a restaurant The waiter asks the guests to look at the menu andchoose their meal Four people in the family order their food and drinks in turn usingquantity expressions such as much, many, a, an, some, little, etc The waiter responds tocustomers‟ order and gives them food In this situation, teacher may provide studentssome vocabulary related to different kinds of food such as hamburgers, cheese, cocktail,sandwich, salad, etc…

2.4.2 Action

In this step, the planning is putting into practice The teacher uses situational contexts toteach grammar in six weeks During those six weeks, order of steps in every lesson isnearly the same Every week follows a specific order Teacher first divides the groups,gives the situations and lets students have time to prepare Then, students make role- play

in front of the class When student do their work and act out, teacher goes aroundobserving and taking notes necessary data such as students‟ participation, activeness,confidence and students‟ language competence At the same time, at the end of the lesson,the test is given in order to measure students‟ progress about grammatical points whichthey have just practiced with situational contexts Then, the test is handed in at the end ofthe lesson in order for the teacher to mark However, in the way to divide the class groupand acting groups, there are differences among different weeks Those differences aredescribed as follows

Week 1:

There are thirteen groups in this week Among them, eleven groups have four membersand the rest of six students are divided into two groups They have chance to choose theirown groups After receiving the situational context from the teacher, students have time toassign the roles in their groups and prepare for the role-play in ten minutes After that,teacher calls some groups to come to role play in front of the class There are six groupswho must perform their role play in class

Week 2:

The situational context in this week has only two roles, so students work in pairs to makerole-play Therefore, there are twenty five groups in total in the class Steps in this weekare carried out nearly the same with the first week Teacher is the person who divides thegroups and gives the situation to them, so groups‟ members are different from week one

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Then, students have time to cast the roles and prepare their role-play Because twenty fivegroups are formed, eight pairs have to act out their role –play in front of the class.

Week 3:

There are four students to take part in the situational role-play, so the class is divided intothirteen groups including eleven groups with four members and two groups with threemembers In this week, teacher divides the groups based on their seating position Thereare six pairs to make role-play in front of the class this week They act out their work inturn

Week 4:

A noticeable difference is seen in week four, which is completely different from theothers There are twenty five groups in total because the situation has only two roles.While teacher gives only one situation in other weeks, this week is given three differentsituations Therefore, groups have chances to choose the situation or the topic they areinterested in or have more knowledge about Among twenty five pairs, there are twelvepairs to choose topic one Another six pairs choose the third topic and the rest of sevenpairs prefer the second topic Hence, when choosing pairs for acting, the teacher alsochooses different pairs with different situations in order to be objective Among six pairschosen to deliver their role-play, three of them present the first topic; one of themdemonstrates the second topic and two of them talk about the third topic

Week 5

There are only two students to take part in the situational role-play, so the class is dividedinto twenty five groups Students assign the characters in their own groups In this week,students choose their groups themselves There are also eight pairs to make role-play in

should or have to For example, in group one, a job applicant say “What time must I start working?” (Applicant 1 – Group 2) instead of “What time do I have to start working?” Another character asks the boss the question like “How many hours must I have to work

in a week?” (Applicant 3: Group 4) The correct form must be “How many hours do I have to work in a week?” Both examples above expresses a general obligation based on

the authority of another person, so “must” is not appropriate Besides, in group three, a

student makes mistakes in using “should” and “must” by asking “When do I have to take

a break?” However, this should be changed into “When should I have to take a break?”

because in the boss‟s answer, the break time is not stable and it depends on the number ofcustomers they are serving One more mistake made by a job applicant in group two is the

question he gives to the boss “Do you have to prepare our lunch every day?” The

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