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

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ****** LẠI THỊ HIỀN AN INVESTIGATION INTO USING SITUATIONAL CONT

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

******

LẠI THỊ HIỀN

AN INVESTIGATION INTO USING SITUATIONAL

CONTEXTS IN TEACHING GRAMMAR FOR

NON-ENGLISH MAJOR FRESHMEN IN A UNIVERSITY

IN NAM 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 POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

******

LẠI THỊ HIỀN

AN INVESTIGATION INTO USING SITUATIONAL

CONTEXTS IN TEACHING GRAMMAR FOR

NON-ENGLISH MAJOR FRESHMEN IN A UNIVERSITY

IN NAM 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

DECLARATION

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 of Languages and International Studies, Hanoi National University, and that this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other upper secondary schools

Hanoi, August 20th, 2008

Lại Thị Hiền

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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 Cam Tam for her enthusiastic help and guidance

I am also very grateful to all of my students of the class CDDI22A2 at University of Economics and Technical Industry (UNETI), who participated in my action research This contribution 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 for their sincere comments and criticism

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

ABSTRACT

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

do this research, the researcher first makes plans for the study by preparing situational contexts and deciding how they are applied in the classroom Then, the action stage takes place All the situational contexts are put into practice The teacher gives them to students and they have to make presentation about those situational contexts During this stage, all things happened in the class are observed and taken notes At the same time, after each try-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, the researcher gives comments and conclusions about the study

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

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 important worldwide Many people hold a belief that English can help them to be easily accessed to job opportunities and connect people from all over the world together This contributes to

a significant change in school education system in Vietnam From kindergarten to university, English has become a compulsory subject in teaching and learning‟s curriculum Although the four skills including writing, listening, speaking and reading still plays a very important role in teaching and learning English, it is undeniable that English grammar also hold an inevitable position Without grammar competence, people cannot generate ideas into grammatical sentences to write an essay or paragraph as well as understand and be understood in communicating with others However, in University of Economic and Technical Industry (UNETI), grammar teaching encounters lots of difficulties More specifically, lecturers there still prefer the traditional method of teaching grammar Therefore, some of them often explains new words and grammar structures, ask students to learn by heart and make sentences, which makes them passive and bored One more problem lies in students‟ participation in grammar lesson The boring atmosphere and lots of written exercises makes students lose their interest in learning grammar at all Equally important, it is clear that teachers in UNETI do not emphasize the role of communication in teaching grammar, so very few communicative activities explored in grammar teaching result in students‟ little chances to approach, be exposed to and practice grammatical items in real-life situations The reason is that they are afraid of the noise students make, and it is difficult for them to control the class Last but not least, in the course book used for first-year non-major students (New Headway Pre-intermediate by Liz and John Soars), lots of situational contexts are provided, but teachers do not take the most advantages of them

As Harmer (2007:57) stated, “students need to get an idea of how the new language is used 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 the factors mentioned above urge me to conduct a study on situational context in teaching grammar with an aim to find out students‟ and teachers‟ difficulties when applying this method in their teaching and learning It is entitled “An investigation into using situational 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 situational context?

4 The scope of the study

As could be seen from the title of the study, this paper strongly focuses on finding out the effectiveness of using situational contexts in increasing students‟ interest in practicing grammar and the ability whether students can complete grammar exercises better after

practicing with situational contexts At the same time, the study also only concentrates on non-English major freshmen in UNETI Therefore, its results are not reliable for other kinds 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 as follows:

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

 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 brief notes to record students‟ interest into the activity, and students‟ level of remembering At the 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 and discussion of the statistics from tests‟ results At the same time, the qualitative data comes from the author‟s observation in some grammar lessons

7 Organization of the study

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 a review of grammar, grammar teaching and context in grammar teaching

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

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

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Grammar

1.1.1 Theoretical background about grammar

1.1.1.1 Definitions of grammar

As far as we know, grammar is a linguistic term that becomes very popular among those working in the second language teaching field However, different linguists still have different definitions related to grammar

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 combined into sentences” Sharing the same idea, Ur (1988:4) states that “grammar may be roughly defined 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 (word formation) and syntax (sentence formation) of a language Clearly, grammar is the element which make up all words and structures in a sentence It is a set of rules which construct 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 other definitions above, not only does this one refer to form and meaning but it also mentions the context in which they are used In other words, grammar is the pattern formation which must be applied in appropriate contexts

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 the definition which connects grammar with context by Larsen-Freeman is the most comprehensive

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 to Batstone (1994:35), he asserts that “language without grammar would be chaotic; countless words without the indispensable guidelines for how they can be ordered and modified” This shows that grammar is a contributor to language‟s modification In addition, 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 just grammar” Thus, it is clear that grammar is considered as an element to measure the true value of a language

Furthermore, as Wang (2010) mentioned, after the appearance of communicative approach, 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 as well as written performance because of their lack of basic knowledge of language With this tendency Hymes (1972, quoted in Wang (2010)) indicates that “communicative competence” should include “linguistic competence” and “linguistic performance” Hence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence, strategic competence and grammatical competence are four basic aspects of this approach From all of the reason mentioned above, it can be concluded that although grammar has experienced ups and downs in the history of second language teaching, the necessity of grammar teaching in second language acquisition is irrefutable

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 Ludescher MAS, he proposes seven ways to teach grammar including the deductive approach, the inductive approach, functional-notional approach, teaching grammar in situational contexts, teaching grammar through texts, teaching grammar through stories and teaching grammar 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 traditional style of teaching where the grammatical structures or rules are dictated to the students first” 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 some advantages and disadvantages of this approach given by Widodo (2006) as follows:

cognitive processes in language acquisition

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

Disadvantages

1 Beginning the lesson with a grammar presentation may be putting for some learners, especially younger ones

off-2 Younger learners may not able to understand the concepts

or encounter grammar terminology given

3 Grammar explanation encourages a teacher-fronted, style classroom, so it will hinder learner involvement and interaction immediately

transmission-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 starts with 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 teaching where the new grammatical structures or rules are presented to the students in a real language context” Hence, the teacher‟s role is also different from that of the deductive approach Rivers and Temperley (1978:110) indicates that “with this approach, the teacher‟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 inductive approach

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

Advantages

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

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

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

5 If the problem-solving activity is done collaboratively, learners get

an opportunity for extra language practice

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 learning style, 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 purposes for which language is used It emphasized communicative purposes of a speech act” In terms of advantages, functional-notional approach provides learners with communicatively useful expressions, a structured syllabus and a clear sense of progression Moreover, it places much emphasis on communication, which enables learners to use grammatical knowledge in real-life situations One more benefit of

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 practice grammatical items in real-life situations Because this is the main issue discussed in this thesis, 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 to understand a whole text, not just isolated sentences Text is completely different from context Whereas text is any of the various forms in which a writing exists and would be the 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 the hole 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

3 Not all texts will be of equal interest to students

4 Students who want quick answers to simple questions may consider the 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 They can be used for both eliciting and illustrating grammar points Not only can students learn grammatical items but they also can learn about tradition or cultures of different countries through 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

Song is a very important part in everyday life It is also a way to change classroom activities It is also considered as a precious resource to develop students‟ abilities not only 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 numerous positive effects of using songs in the classroom according to Ludescher (2004) Firstly, teacher can meet the challenges of student needs in the classroom with contemporary popular songs Secondly, as songs are highly memorable and motivating, they may constitute a powerful subculture with their own knowledge Lastly, student can broaden their cultural knowledge through using traditional folk songs

Another way to teach grammar effectively is using poems Because poems are often spoken, repeated and acted, grammatical structures become more deeply remembered by repeating and considering them Similar to songs, poems have an enormous linguistic value as they provide authenticity and cultural views “A poem's capacity to comfort the reader 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 the language classroom, they also bring some difficulties Poems are not constructed in a simple way and syntactically they are at a higher level than prose, thus it might be very difficult 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 context and 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 immediate context 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 generative situation to generate several examples sentences of a structure (Ludescher: 2004) More specifically, when introducing a situational context, the teacher must give full information about the context such as the place, time, and number of people… For example, “Lan and Mai 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 their lives” This is a situational context because it contains some features Mai and Lan are the two characters in the situation Sunday afternoon is the time they meet each other Their talk happens in a café, the place of the situation The aims of their talk is about their studying and their lives In short, a situational context includes all the factors which influences communication between people in a specific setting

1.1.4.2.2 The advantages and disadvantages of teaching grammar in situational contexts

The first advantage of this method is that a situational context can present a wide range of language 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 given examples 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 to solve the grammar problem By contrast, teachers should pay attention to some negative sides of this approach when applying it in their classroom First, what students need is not only the demonstration of rules but also the opportunities to practice them However, the example 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 structurally identical 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

boxed cake mix to bake a cake

Imperative verb form Present continuous tense Give directions to another person to get to

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

map

Present tense Non-referential it Discuss plans for a class field trip to the

zoo

Future tense If-clauses

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

Question formation Forms of verb to do Word order in negation Role play a shopping trip to buy a gift for

a family member or friend

May, might Collective nouns and quantifiers (any, some, several, etc.)

Answer information questions: Name,

address, phone number, etc

Present tense of verb to be Possessive adjectives Tell someone how to find an object in

your kitchen

Locative prepositions Modal verbs (can, may, should) Fill out a medical history form Then role

play a medical interview on a visit with a

new doctor

Present perfect tense Present perfect progressive Make a daily weather report Forms of verb to be

Idiomatic expressions Report daily schedules of people (in the

class, buses in the city, airline schedules,

trains, etc.)

Habitual present Personal pronouns Demonstrative adjectives Extend an invitation over the telephone to

someone to come to a party

Would like…Object-Verb word order Interrogative pronouns

Explain rules and regulations to someone,

i.e rules for the school cafeteria; doctor‟s

instructions to a sick patient

Modal verbs: Can, must, should, ought to Adverbs of time & frequency

Report a historical or actual past event and

discuss conditions under which a different

outcome might have resulted

Past conditional and past perfect tenses

If clauses 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 a collection of what is related to situational contexts which someone has studies previously

There have been numerous MA degrees in Hanoi University of Languages and International 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 her students whereas Huong (2010) use communicative activities to support grammar teaching 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 by different researchers Typically, the effectiveness of teaching grammar in context to reduce grammatical errors in students‟ writing is carried out by Nur Amin (2009) Another research by Ms Hong (2012) from Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies also relates to teaching grammar in context

To sum up, all the studies above agree that teaching grammar in context has positive effects 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 and carried out That is the reason why the researcher decides to choose situational context as the topic of this study

1.2 Action research

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, “A descriptive case study of a particualr classrooom, group of learners, or even a single learner counts as action research if it is initiated by a question, is suppoorted by data and interpretation, and is carried out by a practitioner investigating aspects of his or her own context 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 her plan to solve the problem

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

Tsui (1993) stated that “Action research is a very effective way of helping teachers to

reflect on their teaching and to come up with their own alternatives to improve their practices ” This is a very simple but detailed definition about action research Through all the 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 both teachers 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 including initiation, preliminary investigation, hypothesis, intervention, evaluation,

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 or educators and it needs the supports from both students and education administrators Its results should be popularized and shared with anybody who is interested in

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 has officially been become a university for only seven years It now has two branches: one in Hanoi and another in Nam Dinh city There are many different departments in UNETI such as mechanics, engineering, accountancy and so on Although there are many challenges the university has to face up with in the new era, English has also been put much emphasis on because of its popularity and necessary Thus, it is a compulsory subject in the teaching and learning curriculum Its aims are to help students acquire general English knowledge and the four English skills Students have four periods a week and each period lasts forty-five minutes

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

2.1.2 The course book

New Headway Pre-intermediate by Liz and John Soars is chosen as the textbook for first year non-major students at UNETI It is a well-known course book and widely used in many different universities as well as over the world The book is divided into 12 modules/ each contains seven language input including grammar, vocabulary, everyday English, listening, reading, writing and speaking Not only does it present basic grammatical items but it also aims at developing students‟ vocabulary and

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, each unit is covered in seven lessons Among them, three periods are spent on grammar, the rest 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 urban areas and they have learnt English for ten years They share many common things such as leaning in the same department in the same university, similar age and similar English learning 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 context every week for them to practice grammar items The situational contexts are set up with the aim to develop students‟ interest in practicing grammar Secondly, teacher uses the observation form to observe what happens in the classroom and take notes all the necessary information for data collection and analysis

Thirdly, 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 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 carried out in six weeks, there are six thirty-minute tests in total The test is given at the end of the lesson every week The format of the tests is described as follows

 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 perfect continuous and choosing the correct answer to test students about the form and usage of present 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 action research Acording to Kemmis and Mc Taggart (1988), the action reseach consists 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

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 grammar periods 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 described clearly 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 and have to In this lesson, they are used to express an obligation This point of grammar is chosen because it is very popular to students in their everyday lives At the same time, it

is also 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 give advices to friends In order to practice this, the author of the research gives a situational context 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 job applicants More exactly, the boss is interviewing three new job applicants for the position of waiter in his/her restaurant Job applicants have to ask the boss questions to get information about responsibilities, working hours, breaks, meals, and day-offs The boss is responsible for responding to their questions One more important thing is that the teacher remembers to remind students to use modal verbs of obligation and permission with “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 for situational context practice because it is simple and familiar to students Hence, when the situational context is build up, students feel easy to practice with it The objective of this

lesson is to practice using “going to” and “will” to express future plan, decisions and intentions The situation “Party preparation” is formed as follows There are two characters in this situation including mother and daughter They are sitting in the living room to talk about plans to prepare for a meal for about 20 people next week, so they have a discussion to assign tasks to make it successful At the same time, in order to have more ideas about what to do, teacher also gives students some suggestions which they can add into their conversation prepare the vegetables, lay the table, make the salad, stir the sauce, check the meat, buy ingredients, etc… Equally important, the teacher must remind students 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 help students understand and know how to use language to give directions to other people when necessary This topic is chosen because it is very useful for students In fact, in real life, people encounter many situations in which people ask each other how to get to somewhere 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 Tran Temple Two students play the role of volunteers whereas two students are tourists who come from remote areas Two tourists in this situation is a couple They are at Tran Temple 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 are standing here to give directions to tourists in their summer vacation Ask the volunteers for their instructions whereas the volunteers give the tourists a map and give directions to famous places they want to go Teacher may also shows students some key words or suggestions 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 including conditionals, time clauses and making suggestion with let‟s go, why don‟t you, what about… However, the researcher chooses making suggestions because it is used more popularly in everyday life At the same time, there are more situations for students to practice with this topic than the others Therefore, in this week, in order to be different from other lessons, teacher gives three different situations for students to choose They can 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 they both have the evening free, they want to go somewhere to relax Hence, they make suggestions and discuss with each other to find out the next place to go after they finish their 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 in school‟s dormitory While Lam is studying her/her homework, Minh thinks of her boyfriend‟s birthday party next week She/he doesn‟t know what to give her/his boyfriend/girlfriend as a present, so she asks Lam for suggestions Use different ways of making 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 alone every night while he‟s at work The dog barks all the time when nobody‟s home and the noise is keeping Minh awake Thus, Minh comes to Lam‟s house in the afternoon and talks about that matter and give suggestions for Lam with his dog Role play the situation

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 help students use present perfect continuous with the meaning of expressing a past activity that has 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 in doctor‟s office One student casts the role of a patient who is having problems with his health He goes to see a doctor to have some advices Answer the doctor‟s questions to find the causes and get suggestions By contrast, one student is the doctor A patient is coming to see you to ask about his symptoms Asks questions about his/her lifestyles to find the causes and gives suggestions for him/her Moreover, in order to help students to set up the conversation more quickly, the teacher can include some prompts for them to practice such as eating, drinking and sleeping styles, working regulations, and outdoor

activities

Week 6: Quantity expressions

This grammatical item is taken from unit 10 in the course book This is a very popular topic which everyone uses in their everyday lives We use this to talk about everything such 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 the waiter They are all in a restaurant The waiter asks the guests to look at the menu and choose their meal Four people in the family order their food and drinks in turn using quantity expressions such as much, many, a, an, some, little, etc The waiter responds to customers‟ order and gives them food In this situation, teacher may provide students some 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 to teach grammar in six weeks During those six weeks, order of steps in every lesson is nearly 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 around observing 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 which they have just practiced with situational contexts Then, the test is handed in at the end of the lesson in order for the teacher to mark However, in the way to divide the class group and acting groups, there are differences among different weeks Those differences are described as follows

Week 1:

There are thirteen groups in this week Among them, eleven groups have four members and the rest of six students are divided into two groups They have chance to choose their own groups After receiving the situational context from the teacher, students have time to assign 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 groups who 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 make role-play Therefore, there are twenty five groups in total in the class Steps in this week are carried out nearly the same with the first week Teacher is the person who divides the groups and gives the situation to them, so groups‟ members are different from week one

Then, students have time to cast the roles and prepare their role-play Because twenty five groups 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 into thirteen groups including eleven groups with four members and two groups with three members In this week, teacher divides the groups based on their seating position There are six pairs to make role-play in front of the class this week They act out their work in turn

Week 4:

A noticeable difference is seen in week four, which is completely different from the others 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 different situations Therefore, groups have chances to choose the situation or the topic they are interested in or have more knowledge about Among twenty five pairs, there are twelve pairs to choose topic one Another six pairs choose the third topic and the rest of seven pairs prefer the second topic Hence, when choosing pairs for acting, the teacher also chooses different pairs with different situations in order to be objective Among six pairs chosen to deliver their role-play, three of them present the first topic; one of them demonstrates 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 divided into 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 front of the class this week They act out their work in turn