Students attitudes towards english grammar learning the case of do son continuing education centre, hai phong city

KHUC HAI YENSTUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS ENGLISH GRAMMAR LEARNING: THE CASE OF DO SON CONTINUING EDUCATION CENTRE, HAI PHONG CITY NGHIÊN CỨU THÁI ĐỘ HỌC MÔN NGỮ PHÁP TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SIN

KHUC HAI YEN

STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS ENGLISH GRAMMAR LEARNING: THE CASE OF DO SON CONTINUING EDUCATION CENTRE, HAI PHONG CITY

NGHIÊN CỨU THÁI ĐỘ HỌC MÔN NGỮ PHÁP TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH TRUNG TÂM GIÁO DỤC THƯỜNG XUYÊN

QUẬN ĐỒ SƠN, THÀNH PHỐ HẢI PHÒNG

Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60 14 10

Supervisor: Khoa Anh Viet, M.A

Hanoi, September, 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF FIGURES

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

2 Aims of study

3 Research questions

4 Scope of study

5 The setting and background

6 Organization of the study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Attitudes

1.1.1 Definition of attitude

1.1.2 The role of attitudes in language learning

1.2 Grammar

1.2.1 Definition of grammar

1.2.2 The role of grammar in language learning

CHAPTERTWO: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2.1 Methodology

2.2 Research questions

2.3 Participants

2.4 Data collection instruments

CHAPTER THREE: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION………20

3.1 Data analysis and discussion

3.1.1 Data analysis of students‟ questionnaires

3.1.2 Data analysis of students‟ interviews

3.2 Discussion

3.3 Conclusion

PART C: RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION

1 Summary of the findings

2 Suggestions

2.1For students

2.2For teachers

3 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies

3.1Limitations of the study

3.2Suggestions for further studies

4 Conclusion

REFERENCES

APPENDIX 1

APPENDIX 2

PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA NGHIÊN CỨU

APPENDIX 3

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Students‟ interest in learning English 19

Figure 2 Good grammar for purpose of being proficient in English 21

Figure 3 Necessary of English grammar in language learning 22

Figure 4 The reasons why English grammar is important in language learning 23

Figure 5 The frequency of expressing idea in correct grammar structure in communication 24 Figure 6 Students‟ favourite lesson of English in the class 25

Figure 7 Students‟ feeling about lessons of English grammar in the class 26

Figure 8 Students‟ attention to English grammar learning lesson 27

Figure 9 Students‟ level of understanding of teacher‟s grammatical explanation 27

Figure 10 Students‟ opinion about the difficulty of English grammar 28

Figure 11 Teaching techniques to explain new English grammar structures 29

Figure 12 Students‟ opinion about teaching techniques to explain new English grammar structures 30

Figure 13 Students‟ opinion about factors may influence their attitudes towards grammar learning 31

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale

It is said that nowadays foreign languages and informatics are wings to fly in to thenew century Learning foreign language do not only focus on four skills of language –reading, writing, speaking, and listening but grammar as language rules are alsoconcentrated During the time I studied in secondary school and studied teaching ofEnglish in university, English as school subject that I have had to across different theoriesabout grammar Some of the theoreticians suggest that grammar teaching and learning can

be put aside in favour of lexical approach (Lewis 1993: 148), others, however, point outthat grammar needs to be taught and concentrate on various ways of approaching grammarteaching I remember that an Australian Philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein 1889-1952stated “Like everything metaphysical the harmony between thought and reality is to befound in grammar of language” The nature of grammar determines that grammar teaching

is necessary Without a firm knowledge of grammar in the target language, learners cannotproduce meaningful sentences They risk being misunderstood and making crucialmistakes in communication both oral and written This is especially true when the mothertongue and the target language are significantly different in grammar and structures Since

it is, in effect, the glue that holds the language together With the use of incorrect grammarstructures, sentences can become meaningless and their message is unclear This meansthat you are not able to communicate effectively and the person who is reading your workmay well be quite confused as to your meaning In effect, grammar is the way in whichsentences are structured and the language is formatted, so whilst it may be considered a bitboring to study correct grammar, it really is worth the time and effort If you do not knowthe rules of grammar, then you will never be able to communicate clearly and effectively in

a language Many researches show that with students, grammar has always been playing arole: it is very important in that not only does it help improve learners writing, but also ithelps learners do better in reading comprehension and listening alike Students, with goodgrammar mastery, not only produce sentences grammatically but also

acquire the ability to apply grammatical knowledge in certain contexts to express theirthoughts and feelings as well as to receive feedback.

Grammar is very important in language learning and teaching In Vietnam, foreignlanguages teaching in general and English teaching in particular is said grammar-focused,and for many teachers of English, teaching English means teaching grammar Or grammar

is central to the teaching and learning of language

However, the fact that makes me and many others surprised is the ability ofspeaking English of children to foreigners around these famous resorts where attract a lot

of foreign tourist as Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi capital, Do Son beach, Sam Son beach,etc They speak English very fast but without any grammar rules They call foreigners forbuying things, speak to them, take them to somewhere, etc to get money They speak inslang, word-by-word, incomplete sentences, even use body language And, surprisingly,foreigners understand almost what they mean Students in Do Son Continuing EducationCentre are the same They live near Do Son beach, they have to earn money out of schooltime to help their family everyday, and they have many chances to communicate withforeigners

This fact lets me think that if they study English grammar in the school well, theywill surely speak English both smoothly and sensitively with full sentences If so, theymight not be only sellers around these tourist areas, they will get more success in their joband in their future

That is the reason why I decide to investigate students‟ attitudes towards Englishgrammar learning, the case of Do Son Continuing Education Centre, Hai Phong City

1.2 Aims of study

With the above-presented rationale, the study aims at:

Investigating into students‟ attitudes towards English grammar learning in Do Son Continuing Education Centre

Finding out some suggestions that good for both teachers and students in Englishgrammar teaching and learning, particularly in Do Son Continuing EducationCentre

Do Son Continuing Education Centre.

1.5 The setting and background

Do Son Continuing Education Centre is located in Do Son district of Hai PhongCity, a major sea port of Vietnam It is near Do Son beach, a famous resort of Hai PhongCity and Vietnam Do Son Continuing Education Centre is not a big one, far from the citycentre, so, there are three grades with only three classes: 10A, 11B, 12C It has low-income- quality Students failed the examination into upper secondary schools, then, theycame here to study English now is taught as an option subject in every ContinuingEducation Centers because they do not have to pass this subject in the nationalexamination administered by the end of grade 12th to be qualified for the secondary schooldiploma as students in secondary schools Both textbook and the syllabus for English areprescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training, and students have three forty-five-minute lesson of English a week However, most students in Do Son ContinuingEducation Centre come from poor-labour families, many of them have to both go toschool and go to work at the beach to help their families Every year, Do Son beachattracts a lot of foreign tourists, so students here want to learn English to communicatewith them to earn money

1.6 Organization of the study

The thesis contains four chapters:

Chapter one: Introduction

Chapter two: Literature review

Chapter three: The study

Chapter four: Recommendation and conclusionChapter one provides all information about the rationale, the aims, the researchquestions, the scope of study, the setting and background, and the organization of theminor thesis

Chapter two is aimed at exploring the theoretical background for the thesis It willfocus on two main points: attitudes and grammar

Chapter three presents the methodology with the research questions, theparticipants, the data collection instruments, the detailed description of data analysis anddiscussion on the findings of the study

The last chapter, chapter four, presents a summary of the findings and draws outsome pedagogical suggestions that good for both teachers and students in teaching andlearning English grammar The limitations of the study and some recommendations for thefurther researches are also discussed in this chapter

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

This focuses on some theoretical grounds of attitude and grammar teaching andlearning It is concerned with major issues regarding attitudes, the roles of attitudes inlanguage learning and grammar, the role of grammar in language learning

2.1 Attitudes

2.1.1 Definition of attitude

According to Hallorah (1967), attitude represents an individual‟s like or dislike for anitem Attitudes are positive, negative or neutral views of an “attitude object” i.e a teachingstyle, person, situation or event People can also be “ambivalent” towards a target, meaningthat they simultaneously possess a positive and a negative bias towards the attitude inquestion

In Gibb‟s opinion (1988) attitude is generally defined as a state of mind, which isinfluenced by feelings, experiences of the world and belief

Fazio (1986) states that attitude comprises of three components: “an affectivecomponent involving feelings about and evaluation of the object, a cognitive componentinvolving belief about the object and a behavioral intentions component”

The above definition show people‟s attitude towards certain referent object, abehavioral intentions component and a cognitive component involving belief about theobject In language learning, we can see students‟ attitudes in their feelings and beliefabout the way of acting towards the lessons, learning style, teachers and the course books

Briefly, attitudes have three main components: affective, behavioral and cognitive.The affective components are easily assessed by monitoring physiological signs such asheart rate whereas the behavioral aspects of attitude are generally measured by interviews,survey and other reporting methods This study concentrates on affective and cognitivecomponents It relates to students‟ feeling and belief about communicative teaching as well

as evaluation of grammar learning

2.1.2 The role of attitudes in language learning

Attitudes and learning go hand in hand Garder and Lamber (1972) all agree that

“success in mastering a foreign language would depend not only on intellectual capacityand language aptitude, but on one‟s attitudes towards representatives of that language aswell” In fact, attitudes play an important role student „learning If they maintain a positiveattitude, they will carry out their learning to the best of their ability and vice versa.Students‟ attitudes have an effect on their classroom behavior, learning style and learningresults

Lightbrown and Spada (1999) state that attitude is fundamental to the success orfailure that we experience in learning Depending on the learners‟ attitudes, learninglanguage can be a source of enrichment or a source of resentment Agreeing with the role

of attitudes, Brown (1994) say that language learners‟ benefit from positive attitudes whilenegative attitudes may lead to unsuccessful attainment of proficiency Moreover, Garder(1985:41) emphasized that favorable attitudes would be expected to result in betterperformance than negative attitudes If the students hold positive attitudes to learning,Marzano et all (1994) mentioned the importance of positive attitudes in learning that

“without positive attitudes and perceptions or holding negative attitudes towards thelearning, students have little chance of learning proficiently, if at all”

In brief , it is clear that attitudes play an important role in learning so students willsee themselves achieving greater and greater result in language learning in general and ingrammar learning in particular whereas negative attitudes will hinder their learning

 A structural linguist might see grammar as the sum total of sentence patterns

in which the words of a particular language are arranged

 Philosophical/cognitive linguist might see grammar as our innate

knowledge of the structure of language

A functional linguist might see grammar as a resource use to accomplishcommunicative purpose in specific contexts

Defining grammar, then, is not a straightforward matter and it is important to clarify howthe term is being used in any particular context For my purpose in this study, I will look atfive definitions that I think might be more relevant to this study

The Long dictionary of contemporary English (as cited in Harmer, 1987:1) defines

grammar as “the study and practice of the rules by which words change their forms and arecombined into sentences”

It is obvious that there are two basic elements to which attention should be paid to:the rules of grammar; and the study and practice of the rule

According to Fromkin (1990:12): “The sounds and sound patterns, the basic units ofmeaning such as words and the rules to combine them to them to from new sentencesconstitute the grammar of a language These rules are internalized and subconsciouslylearned by native speakers.”

From this definition, grammar is the name given to the knowledge of how wordsare arranged to from sentences The definition also clarifies that grammatical riles islearned in a natural way by native speakers, but how non-native speakers learn thegrammar of their language other than their mother tongue? In addition, if grammarconstitutes rules to combine words to make sentences, what are the sentences used for?These questions need to be elaborated

Another scholar, Bastone (1994) divides grammar into product: the componentparts or rules that make up the language, and process: the ways in which grammar isdeployed from moment in communication Bastone (ibdi) purports that while of no doubtthe rules are important to the leaner, simply knowing them is by no means a guarantee ofbeing able to formulate or interpret complicated utterances in the rush real-timecommunication Obviously, Batone takes a more sociolinguistic view of grammar, which

views grammar is not just rules, but more importantly, rules of use This means that “Thereare rules of use without which the rules of grammar would be useless.” (Hymes, 1972:45)

Richards, Platt and Platt (1992:161) in their Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics, define grammar as:

“a description of the structure of language and the way in which linguistic units such as words and phrases are combined to produce sentences in the language It usually takes into account the meanings and functions these sentences have in the sounds of language”.

For Richards and his colleagues, grammar is descriptive, rather than prescriptiveand it implies both meanings and functions Their view of grammar reflects, firstly, thedynamics of language, and secondly, the social and personal nature of language Grammar

is the way people of a particular language community use to get meanings across, not theway people are prescribed to use the language

All the three definitions view grammar as meaning, but they share a commondrawback, which confine grammar to just sentences Widdowson (1990:81) claimed that

“Grammar is not just a collection of sentence patterns signifying nonsense, something forthe learner‟s brain to puzzle over.” For Widdowson, Grammar means the relationshipbetween three things: grammar, words and context In other words grammar should beviewed as linguistic rules functioning in alliance with words and context for theachievement of meaning

Hughes and McCarthy (1998) view grammar as discourse not as sentence andcoined the term discourse grammar They argued that “grammatical statements that do nottake account of such contextual features are inadequate and unable to support grammarteaching effectively” (p.265)

How grammar is defined is very important sine it will influence the way grammar is

to be taught For the purpose of the study, I use the definition of grammar proposed above

by Richards, Platt and Platt (1992:161) in their Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching

& Applied Linguistics.

2.2.1.1 Grammar as rules

According to Longman Active study’s Dictionary, “rule” is defined as:

- a principle or order which guides behaviour, says how things are to be done, etc, or

- the usual way that something happens.

With regard to grammar, the first type of rule is often called a prescriptive rule andthe second a descriptive rule For many people, grammar teaching is traditionallyassociated with the teaching of the first type of rules – that is, prescriptions as to whatshould be said or written On the other hand, there are language teachers who are primarilyconcerned with descriptive rules that are with generalizations about what speakers of thelanguage actually do say rather than with what they should do

Thornbury (1999:11) observes that “Until recently most so-called descriptive ruleswere based on hunches and intuitions There is much greater authority in descriptions oflanguage since the advent of large computer databases of naturally occurring language,known as corpora” (Original emphasis)

With regard to rules, Thornbury (ibid.) coins the third category of rule: pedagogicrules – rules that make sense to learners while at the same time providing them with themeans and confidence to generate language with a reasonable chance os success Withinpedagogic rules, Thornbury makes a distinction between rules os form and rules os use.The former are generally easier to formulate and are less controversial while the latter areheavily dependent on contextual factors, and therefore are seldom captured in terms thatare black and white

Thus, from the teaching point of view, Thornbury (ibid:13) advised that we shouldlook at “ways that grammar rules can be formulated, according to whether they areprescriptive, descriptive or pedagogic, and whether they focus on form or on use”

2.2.1.2 Grammar as meaning

Bolinger (as cited in Hedge 2000:153) claims that:

Linguistic meaning covers a great deal more than reports of events in thereal world It expresses our attitudes towards the person we are speaking to, how we feelabout the reliability of our message, how we situate ourselves in the events we report, andmany other things that make our messages not merely a recital of facts but a complex offacts and comments

Examples of grammar as meaning are:

1 I must get in touch with my mother this week.

2 I have to complete this report by tomorrow

3 I ought to phone John today

4 I‟d better complete this report by Friday

(Hedge 2000:153)These examples illustrate how speakers situate themselves in the events they report.The meanings of these sentences will be changed if the first person is replaced by the thirdperson Also, intonation, when combined with grammar, will play a role of expressing thespeaker‟s attitudes or intentions According to the grammar-as-meaning view, grammar is a

“process for making a speaker‟s or writer‟s meaning clear when contextual information islacking” (Thornbury, 1999:4) Learners, therefore, need to learn not only what forms arepossible, but what particular forms will express their particular meanings Seen from thisperspective, grammar is a tool for making meaning (Thornburry, ibid.)

A view of grammar as meaning will influence the ways in which grammaticalforms are presented as expressing concepts such as obligation in the examples above.Teaching grammar means drawing the learners‟ attention not only on the forms of thelanguage, but on the meanings these forms convey as well

2.2.1.3 Grammar as social function

In the mid-seventies the relation between grammar and function became animportant issue for teachers Writers of language teaching materials attempted to move theemphasis away from the learning of grammatical structures independent of their use, and

on to learning how to function in a language, how to communicate An example ofgrammar used in the service of socially appropriate messages, according to Celce-Murcia(1991:67) “is the use of certain modal auxiliaries to express politeness when one isrequesting a favour” For example would is more polite than will and could is more politethan can in the following examples:

Will/Would you open the door?

Can/ Could I talk to you for a minute?

Leech and Svartvik (1975:11) maintain that

“Where English gives us a choice of grammatical structures for a partocularpurpose, the different grammatical structures available are often not equivalent, since theybelong to different „styles‟ or „varieties‟ We believe that the appropriate choice is asimportant as it is difficult”

They gave the following examples to demonstrate that the same message can beconveyed in different manners:

I suppose he‟s quite a nice little boy, isn‟t he? (tentative, polite)

Nice kid (informal, spoken)

In all, he was a pleasant child (formal, written)

A cheerful child of pleasant disposition (literary)

One of the ways in which an understanding of the structure and use of the languagesystem can help teachers, according to Hedge (2000:158) “is in providing insights forcontextualizing grammar when it is offered to students in spoken or written texts” Thus,teaching grammar out of context is likely to lead to misunderstandings For example,

whether Do you drink? Means Would you like a drink? Or something else can be

understood only in the context

2.2.1.4 Grammar as discourse

In their book A Communicative Grammar of English, Leech and Svartvik (1975)devote one section to „Meanings in connected discourse‟ and look at how meanings can beput together in spoken or written discourse:

“…the consideration of use requires us to go beyond the sentence and tolook at larger stretches of language Normal linguistic behaviour does not consist in theproduction of separate sentences but in the use of sentences for the creation ofdiscourse.”(original emphasis) (Widdowson 1978:22)

Rules, therefore, might be seen to operate across the boundaries of sentences aswell as within them Learners should learn how sentences can be combined in written textsand how utterances link in speech Halliday and Hasan (as cited in Celce- Murcia, 1991)

refer to these features of text structure as cohesion According to them, cohesion involvesthe principled use of (a) referential forms (e.g pronouns, demonstratives, the definitearticle); (b) substitute expressions such as one(s), do, and so; (c) ellipsis; (d) conjunction;and (e) lexical chaining to create texture in discourse Leech and Svartvik (1975) presentsix ways of organizing connections: (1) linking signals; (2) linking constructions; (3)general purpose links; (4) substitution and omission; (5) presenting and focusinginformation; and (6) order and emphasis.

2.2.2 The role of grammar in language learning

In the 1970s, the necessity of formal grammar learning met almost nodisagreement It was a common place that a major portion of curriculum was devoted tolearning grammatical terminology, memorizing rules doing exercises, practicing drills or so

on However, many different and even contradictory views emerged during the latter half

of the twentieth century These different attitudes toward the role of grammar in ELT stemmainly from different views about language and language learning process Below, I willexamine several arguments for and against grammar

What is more, Rutherford and Smith (1988) report that grammar teaching can bebeneficial to learners consciousness concerning the difference and similarities of L1 and

L2 Therefore, grammar teaching can be used as a “linguistic map” with road signs to helpstudents as they explore the “topography” of the new language.

The list of supporters of grammar is still ongoing Hannan (1989) argues thatgrammar is highly valuable as an important part of the study of language, of ideas and ofwriting Also, he points out that grammar reflects the power and order of the human mindand, besides, it helps us to understand the diversity of human culture Like Hanman, Lewis(1986), Garner (1989) gives strong support to grammar teaching Garner believes thatgrammar gives us a means to analyze and describe our language To sum up, the rationalefor teaching grammar is multifaceted and grammar is acknowledged to be of importance inlanguage study in general and in language teaching and learning in particular

Fanatics of the Natural Approach argue that reliance on grammatical syllabus, nomatter how contextualized it is, cannot be sufficient, that a grammatical focus mayinterfere with any attempt to communicate It thus appears to be the case that “we not onlydon‟t have to use a grammatical syllabus in encouraging acquisition, it is better not to eventry” (ibid: 72) Put another way, grammar can be acquired naturally, from meaningful inputand opportunities to interact in the classroom and grammatical competence can develop in

a fluency-oriented environment without conscious focus on language forms

Admittedly, some learners acquire second language grammar naturally withoutbeing taught Immigrants to the United States (especially young ones) who attainproficiency in English on their own can be a good example of naturalistic acquisition

(Lightbown and Spada, 1999:60) However, this is not true for all learners Among thesame immigrant group are learners who may achieve a degree of proficiency, but whoseEnglish is far from accurate.

On the other hand, Krashen‟s acquisition hypothesis seems to be merely his ownpersonal observation without supporting evidence Gregg (1984:79-100) criticizesthat:”Krashen himself seems to be aware of this: The idea that we first learn a new rule,and eventually, through practice, acquire it, is widespread and many seem to some people

to be intuitively…It was, thought, exactly the way I learned languages myself…” ThusGregg sees himself as a typical example of the process which consists of knowing therules, being aware of them and ending up with an ability to talk about them This is aperfect process of acquiring though learning, opposed to Krashen‟s claim that learningneed not precede acquisition Furthermore, studies of learns in immersion classroom (e.g.Swain, 1985) show even after ample exposure to the target language learners continue tomake a lot of grammatical errors

With regard to the value of form-focus, teaching two important questions may arise.The first is whether it is possible with teaching to assist learners who cannot achieveaccuracy in English by themselves and the second is it possible to speed up students‟natural learning of grammar though instruction A number of research findings (Schwabe,

1989, Larsen-Freeman, 1995 and) prove that teaching assists to improve learners‟accuracy, which is normally absent when there is no focus on form As far as secondquestion concerns Pienemann (1984) demonstrates that subjects who received grammarinstruction progressed to the next stage after two-week period while it took untutoredstudents several months to do that This provides evidence of the efficacy of teaching overleaving acquisition to run its natural course

In order to decide whether the focus on grammatical forms becomes more or lessimportant, various learner factors such as age, learning styles, proficiency level, purpose oflearning, exposure to the target language, etc… should be taken into consideration Celce-Murcia (as cited in Shrum and Glisan:1994) points out that students in upper secondaryschools are already literate and, therefore, have established expectations concerninglanguage instruction And, we need to remind ourselves why students come to school Theanswer lies in getting “right knowledge” Instead of letting, they swim in the ocean of

knowledge we should provide them with a “swimming jacket”-formal instruction-tofacilitate their learning Why should we refuse teaching them grammar?

Next, it is worth mention that Krashen‟s view that the effect of grammar learning isperipheral and fragile and that conscious knowledge of grammar is available only as amonitor, or editor may be true to ESL context where immigrant learners are extensivelyexposed to the target language but it is not applicable to the EFL context In a poor-inputsetting like in Vietnamese secondary schools, where students learn English as a foreignlanguage outside the natural linguistic environment, grammar teaching must still have animportant place in the classroom We cannot expect our students who learn English forprobably not more than three lessons a week to acquire the target grammar naturallyalthough some students might have access to various sources of authentic English at home

I stand for Celce-Murcia‟s (1992:406-407) point of view that: “Generally, only young,

prepubescent learners, and then only those with good access to native-speaking peers andsufficiently rich and varied native speakers input, can in the absence of formal grammarinstruction learn a foreign or second language with native like proficiency and accuracy”

CHAPTER THREE: THE STUDY

3.1 Methodology

3.1.1 Research questions

3.1.1.1 What are attitudes of students in Do Son Continuing Education

Centre towards English grammar learning?

3.1.1.2 Why do they have those attitudes towards English grammar learning?

On the base of research questions and the purpose of the study as presented in the Chapter one, both qualitative and quantitative methods are employed in order to gain more in depth data for analysis

3.1.2 Participants

To cover the title of the study: “Students‟ attitudes towards English grammarlearning: The case of Do Son Continuing Education Centre, Hai Phong City”, this studywas carried out with three classes 10A, 11B, 12C consisting of 150 people, who are all ofstudents of three grades in this Centre Each class has 50 students, both male and female.They are all taught by Vietnamese teachers of English Many of them come fromcomparatively poor families, so their learning condition is not good enough Their tools aretextbooks only Most of them go to Do Son beach – a famous tourism area to get money inthe daytime to help their families and go to Centre to study in the nighttime The reason forthe choice of all students in the Centre is that the number of students here is not big, and, Iwould like to have the general view about attitudes of all of students here towards Englishgrammar learning

3.1.3 Data collection instruments

To obtain data for the study, two different instruments were employed: surveyquestionnaire and follow-up interview

3.1.3.1 Questionnaires

One of the most common methods of data collection in second language research is

to use questionnaires of various kinds The popularity of questionnaires is due to the factthat they are easy to construct and uniquely capable of gathering a large amount ofinformation quickly in a form that is readily process able (Dornyei, 2003:1) Aquestionnaire can be composed of both closed questions and open questions Where theanswer is a factual one and fairly predictable, a closed question is preferred, but where theanswers are in terms of opinions, beliefs or judgments, an open question is better simplybecause a small range of predetermined answers is less likely to be representative(Gillham, 2000:5) Open questions allow the respondents to feel that they can contributemore individual points of view and more detailed information that is elicited in closedquestions

To sum up, according to Gillham (2000), questionnaire is considered the mostappropriate research instrument for gathering information concerning the attitudes of therespondents There are three reasons Firstly, as the respondents want to remainanonymous, information from questionnaire can be confidential It is hope that people willundoubtedly fell freer in an anonymous style of responding Secondly, a questionnaire iseasy to administer enabling the researcher to survey a large number of respondents.Thirdly, the respondents can complete the questionnaire whenever it suits them Moreover,this is a confirmatory research study

In this research, the questionnaire consists of 15 questions, both closed and ended questions which were given to 150 students of class 10A, 11B, 12C of Do SoContinuing Education Centre and respondents were asked to explain their reason(s) foranswering Yes or No or the degree of interest to the question (Appendix 1) All questionswere written in both English and Vietnamese to ensure that students can fully understandthe questions and in order for them to response explicitly, without having difficulties inexpressing their idea

open-The questions focus on the following categories:

 General attitudes towards learning English (Q1)

 Awareness of the importance of grammar (Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5)

 Students‟ attitudes towards English grammar learning (Q6, Q7, Q8, Q9).

 Students‟ impression on English grammar teaching at the Centre (Q10, Q11,Q12)

3.1.3.2 Interviews

An interview is a conversation between two or more people (the interviewer and theinterviewee) where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from theinterviewee

Interviews may be used as the primary research tool or in an ancillary role as achecking mechanism to triangulate data gathered from other sources Hopkins (cited inMcDonough & McDonough (1997:181) lists three applications of interviews in classroomresearch:

 To focus on a specific aspect of classroom life in detail

 Teacher-pupil discussion -> diagnostic information

 To improve the classroom climate

Nunan (1992) adds the following uses to interviews:

 needs analysis

 program evaluation

 individual case studies

 mini-surveys (within institution)

In this study, fifteen students among the questionnaire respondents were chosenrandomly for a follow-up interview for more in-depth data The interview was a structureone in which the “agenda is totally predermined order (Nunan, 1992:149) According toNunan (ibid.) “the type of interview one chooses will be determined by the nature of theresearch and the degree on control the interviewer wishes to exert” This study was aimed

at finding out the students‟ attitudes towards grammar and the reason why they have thoseattitudes It is not of naturalistic inquiry by nature, therefore I choose the structuredinterview in order to achieve consistence Each of the interviewees was asked fivequestions (Appendix 3) Since the purpose of the interview was to have more in-depth

information, I decided to interview a group selected randomly from the questionnairerespondents (each group consists of five students of grade 10th, five students of grade 11th,and five students of grade 12th)

3.2 Data analysis and discussion

3.2.1 Data analysis of students’ questionnaires

3.2.1.1 General attitudes towards learning English (Q1)

Figure 1 Students’ interest in learning English Source: Question 1

In the questionnaire, followed by the first question asking students about theirattitudes towards learning this subject (See appendix 1) As can be seen in the figure 1,remarkably, more than half of the participants (51.90 %) expressed that they like learning

English grammar; 15.1% of students say that: “English is so great” so, they like it very much.

With regard to respondents‟ positive attitudes towards learning English, some students shared truthfully the reasons, including:

- “I want to communicate with foreigners It is my tool to get money every day atthe Do Son beach by selling cake, chewing gum, hat, etc to help family So, I likeit”

- “Thanks to it, I can read foreign books, newspaper and information through internet in order to discover the life of people all over the world”

- “We want to watch and understand the famous foreign films in which have ouridols They are so handsome”, a female students said truthfully with a bitembarrassed

-“I want to go abroad to change my life”

- “I love it It is an international or common language in the world and knowing this language is necessary for my future”

Whereas, only 9.35% of students have opposite ideas with that point of view Theyfelt that they spent too much time on learning boring unpleasant and difficult things Andsome students mention the overload of learning at school as a reason when they state:

- “I will be interested in learning English only when there are not any other subjects

to study at school”

- “English lessons are boring, I always feel asleep during the lessons” or “I did not

comprehend the teachers saying and explanations” or even

- “Teacher‟s performance and explanation is awful”

Some students thought that English is such a complicated subject that they believedtheir IQ is not high enough to learn English so they hate this subject

However, 24.65% of students express their neutral attitudes that they neither likenor hate English because they find nothing interesting in learning this subject Some

and how to use them appropriately.” or “Sometimes learning English is a great favourite ofmine and I am aware that knowing English is an advantage for my future, but I don‟t knowhow to learn it effectively”.

3.2.1.2 Awareness of the importance of grammar (Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5)

No 33%

Yes

67%

Figure 2 Good grammar for purpose of being proficient in

English Source: Question 2

As can be seen in the Figure 2, a bigger number of students (67%) agree that goodEnglish grammar make us using English skillfully 37% of students disagree with this idea

Explain to this question, the reasons for the necessity of mastering English

grammar were varied but the following are common among the respondents:

- “Master of English grammar is a key to successful communication”

-“Knowing grammatical rules students can produce correct sentences If a studentdoesn‟t know the rules, how can he make up correct sentences?”

- “Master of English structures enables one to become understood when speaking and writing”

-“Grammar has an important role in English language”.

- “Good understanding of grammar helps a lot in translating books, magazines and other documents from English into Vietnamese”

From the students‟ responds, we can see that they all recognized the importance ofgrammatical knowledge not only to their learning English in the classroom but also to theiruse of the language for the communication outside the classroom A focus on grammar isobviously a necessary or a desirable part of classroom language learning ( Hedge, 2000)

No 13%

Yes 87%

Figure 3 Necessary of English grammar in language learning

Source: Question 3

Regarding to the necessary of English grammar in language learning, 87% ofstudents believe that idea is true A female student said: “Master of English grammar helpsstudents to do grammar exercises “Only by knowing grammar can a pupil do the grammarexercises given by the teacher and get good mark in the examinations.” Only 13% ofstudents say that grammar is not necessary for language learning

Agree Disagree

Figure 4 reasons why English grammar is important in language learning

Source: Question 4

Figure 4 illustrates that most of the students (97%) believe that English grammarhelps combine words into sentences to express ideas and feelings, 85% of the studentreport that English grammar assists the learners in memorizing and using the languageappropriately in communication, 86% of the students agree that English grammar isessential in developing various language skills to reach the aim of communication, 74% ofthem say English grammar helps develop the learner‟s self-confidence in using language

From the students‟ responds, we can see that they all recognized the importance ofgrammatical knowledge not only to their learning English in the classroom but also to theiruse of the language for the communication outside the classroom A focus on grammar isobviously a necessary or a desirable part of classroom language learning (Hedge, 2000)

Figure 5 shows that a large number of students doesn‟t pay much attention to usingcorrect English grammar structures in communication They have no awareness of trying toexpress their ideas basing on English grammar structures: 1% of students never do that, 4%

of them say “rarely”, 5% of them say “usually”, none of them say “always”, and 89.5% ofthem sometimes try to do that Some explanations were given:

- “When selling food at the beach, I do not speak in correct grammar structures, allforeigners still understand what I mean They bargain strictly!” A boy of class 11B

However, one in opposite adds more: “His idea is correct in one side If we speak infull right sentences, it‟s easy for them to understand” But, another argues: “It‟s notnecessary If they don‟t understand, I just point to the objects have the same meaning It‟sok”.

3.2.1.3 Students attitudes towards English grammar learning (Q6, Q7, Q8, Q9)

40.00% 35.00% 30.00%

25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00%

Figure 6 Students’ favourite lesson of English in the class Source: Question 6

When asked about their favourite lessons of English in the class, speaking lessonsattract the biggest number of students (38.25%), the second is listening (21.40%), the third

is reading (20.30%), the next is writing (14.9%), and the last is grammar with 5.15% ofstudents

It means that although they realize the importance of English grammar as theiranswering at Q2, 3, 4, they still have their own reasons for their choices in this question

Explaining for this, students say that:

- “I hate grammar I find nothing interesting in it”

- „Speaking and listening are useful and practical in the daily life because they are my tool help me earn money”.

- “Grammar and writing are just for examinations, but they are not too importantand necessary for us because we don‟t have to pass this subject in the national examinationadministered by the end of grade 12th to be qualified for the secondary school diploma as students in secondary schools”

Figure 7 Students’ feeling about lessons of English grammar in the class

Source: Question 7

According to the data in figure 7, students‟ feedbacks on learning English grammar

at school sound very dull, 91.5% of the students asked say that English grammar learning

at school is boring and 93.5% of the students consider learning English grammar at schoolstressful No student thinks English grammar is enjoyable, relaxing, only 1% of studentsfeel it is interesting, and no one has other ideas Basing on figure 8, we know that studentshere do not find learning English grammar interested