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

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 S

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

TABLE OF FIGURES vi

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of study 2

3 Research questions 3

4 Scope of study 3

5 The setting and background 3

6 Organization of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 Attitudes 5

1.1.1 Definition of attitude 5

1.1.2 The role of attitudes in language learning 6

1.2 Grammar 6

1.2.1 Definition of grammar 6

1.2.2 The role of grammar in language learning 12

CHAPTERTWO: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 16

2.1 Methodology 16

2.2 Research questions 16

2.3 Participants 16

2.4 Data collection instruments 16

CHAPTER THREE: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION………20

3.1 Data analysis and discussion 19

3.1.1 Data analysis of students‟ questionnaires 19

3.1.2 Data analysis of students‟ interviews 32

3.2 Discussion 34

3.3 Conclusion 35

PART C: RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION 36

1 Summary of the findings 36

2 Suggestions 37

2.1 For students 37

2.2 For teachers 37

3 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies 39

3.1 Limitations of the study 39

3.2 Suggestions for further studies 39

4 Conclusion 40

REFERENCES 42 APPENDIX 1 I APPENDIX 2 VI

PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA NGHIÊN CỨU VI

APPENDIX 3 XI

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS XI

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 the new century Learning foreign language do not only focus on four skills of language – reading, writing, speaking, and listening but grammar as language rules are also concentrated During the time I studied in secondary school and studied teaching of English in university, English as school subject that I have had to across different theories about 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 out that grammar needs to be taught and concentrate on various ways of approaching grammar teaching I remember that an Australian Philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein 1889-1952 stated “Like everything metaphysical the harmony between thought and reality is to be found 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 cannot produce meaningful sentences They risk being misunderstood and making crucial mistakes in communication both oral and written This is especially true when the mother tongue 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 grammar structures, sentences can become meaningless and their message is unclear This means that you are not able to communicate effectively and the person who is reading your work may well be quite confused as to your meaning In effect, grammar is the way in which sentences are structured and the language is formatted, so whilst it may be considered a bit boring to study correct grammar, it really is worth the time and effort If you do not know the 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 a role: it is very important in that not only does it help improve learners writing, but also it helps learners do better in reading comprehension and listening alike Students, with good grammar mastery, not only produce sentences grammatically but also

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

Grammar is very important in language learning and teaching In Vietnam, foreign languages 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 of speaking 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 for buying things, speak to them, take them to somewhere, etc to get money They speak in slang, word-by-word, incomplete sentences, even use body language And, surprisingly, foreigners understand almost what they mean Students in Do Son Continuing Education Centre are the same They live near Do Son beach, they have to earn money out of school time to help their family everyday, and they have many chances to communicate with foreigners

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

That is the reason why I decide to investigate students‟ attitudes towards English grammar 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 English grammar teaching and learning, particularly in Do Son Continuing Education Centre

1.3 Research questions

1 What are attitudes of students in Do Son Continuing Education Centre towards

English grammar learning?

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

1.4 Scope of study

As it has been stated above, the study is designed to explore students‟ attitudes towards English grammar learning Due to the time limit, it is restricted to the students in

Do Son Continuing Education Centre

1.5 The setting and background

Do Son Continuing Education Centre is located in Do Son district of Hai Phong City, a major sea port of Vietnam It is near Do Son beach, a famous resort of Hai Phong City and Vietnam Do Son Continuing Education Centre is not a big one, far from the city centre, 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, they came here to study English now is taught as an option subject in every Continuing Education Centers because they do not have to pass this subject in the national examination administered by the end of grade 12th to be qualified for the secondary school diploma as students in secondary schools Both textbook and the syllabus for English are prescribed 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 Continuing Education Centre come from poor-labour families, many of them have to both go to school and go to work at the beach to help their families Every year, Do Son beach attracts a lot of foreign tourists, so students here want to learn English to communicate with 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 conclusion

Chapter one provides all information about the rationale, the aims, the research questions, the scope of study, the setting and background, and the organization of the minor thesis

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

Chapter three presents the methodology with the research questions, the participants, the data collection instruments, the detailed description of data analysis and discussion on the findings of the study

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

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

This focuses on some theoretical grounds of attitude and grammar teaching and learning It is concerned with major issues regarding attitudes, the roles of attitudes in language 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 an item Attitudes are positive, negative or neutral views of an “attitude object” i.e a teaching style, person, situation or event People can also be “ambivalent” towards a target, meaning that they simultaneously possess a positive and a negative bias towards the attitude in question

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

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

The above definition show people‟s attitude towards certain referent object, a behavioral intentions component and a cognitive component involving belief about the object In language learning, we can see students‟ attitudes in their feelings and belief about 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 as heart rate whereas the behavioral aspects of attitude are generally measured by interviews, survey and other reporting methods This study concentrates on affective and cognitive components 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 capacity and language aptitude, but on one‟s attitudes towards representatives of that language as well” In fact, attitudes play an important role student „learning If they maintain a positive attitude, 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 learning results

Lightbrown and Spada (1999) state that attitude is fundamental to the success or failure that we experience in learning Depending on the learners‟ attitudes, learning language 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 while negative attitudes may lead to unsuccessful attainment of proficiency Moreover, Garder (1985:41) emphasized that favorable attitudes would be expected to result in better performance 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 the learning, 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 will see themselves achieving greater and greater result in language learning in general and in grammar 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 accomplish communicative purpose in specific contexts

Defining grammar, then, is not a straightforward matter and it is important to clarify how the term is being used in any particular context For my purpose in this study, I will look at five 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 are combined 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 of meaning such as words and the rules to combine them to them to from new sentences constitute the grammar of a language These rules are internalized and subconsciously learned by native speakers.”

From this definition, grammar is the name given to the knowledge of how words are arranged to from sentences The definition also clarifies that grammatical riles is learned in a natural way by native speakers, but how non-native speakers learn the grammar of their language other than their mother tongue? In addition, if grammar constitutes 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 component parts or rules that make up the language, and process: the ways in which grammar is deployed from moment in communication Bastone (ibdi) purports that while of no doubt the rules are important to the leaner, simply knowing them is by no means a guarantee of being able to formulate or interpret complicated utterances in the rush real-time communication 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 “There are 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 prescriptive and it implies both meanings and functions Their view of grammar reflects, firstly, the dynamics 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 the way people are prescribed to use the language

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

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

Hughes and McCarthy (1998) view grammar as discourse not as sentence and coined the term discourse grammar They argued that “grammatical statements that do not take account of such contextual features are inadequate and unable to support grammar teaching 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 and the second a descriptive rule For many people, grammar teaching is traditionally associated with the teaching of the first type of rules – that is, prescriptions as to what should be said or written On the other hand, there are language teachers who are primarily concerned with descriptive rules that are with generalizations about what speakers of the language actually do say rather than with what they should do

Thornbury (1999:11) observes that “Until recently most so-called descriptive rules were based on hunches and intuitions There is much greater authority in descriptions of language 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: pedagogic rules – rules that make sense to learners while at the same time providing them with the means and confidence to generate language with a reasonable chance os success Within pedagogic 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 are heavily dependent on contextual factors, and therefore are seldom captured in terms that are black and white

Thus, from the teaching point of view, Thornbury (ibid:13) advised that we should look at “ways that grammar rules can be formulated, according to whether they are prescriptive, 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 the real world It expresses our attitudes towards the person we are speaking to, how we feel about the reliability of our message, how we situate ourselves in the events we report, and many other things that make our messages not merely a recital of facts but a complex of facts 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 third person Also, intonation, when combined with grammar, will play a role of expressing the speaker‟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 is lacking” (Thornbury, 1999:4) Learners, therefore, need to learn not only what forms are possible, but what particular forms will express their particular meanings Seen from this perspective, grammar is a tool for making meaning (Thornburry, ibid.)

A view of grammar as meaning will influence the ways in which grammatical forms 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 the language, 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 an important issue for teachers Writers of language teaching materials attempted to move the emphasis 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 of grammar 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 is requesting a favour” For example would is more polite than will and could is more polite than 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 partocular purpose, the different grammatical structures available are often not equivalent, since they belong to different „styles‟ or „varieties‟ We believe that the appropriate choice is as important as it is difficult”

They gave the following examples to demonstrate that the same message can be conveyed 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 language system can help teachers, according to Hedge (2000:158) “is in providing insights for contextualizing 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 be put together in spoken or written discourse:

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

Rules, therefore, might be seen to operate across the boundaries of sentences as well as within them Learners should learn how sentences can be combined in written texts and 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 involves the principled use of (a) referential forms (e.g pronouns, demonstratives, the definite article); (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) present six ways of organizing connections: (1) linking signals; (2) linking constructions; (3) general purpose links; (4) substitution and omission; (5) presenting and focusing information; 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 no disagreement It was a common place that a major portion of curriculum was devoted to learning 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 stem mainly from different views about language and language learning process Below, I will examine several arguments for and against grammar

What is more, Rutherford and Smith (1988) report that grammar teaching can be beneficial 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 help students as they explore the “topography” of the new language

The list of supporters of grammar is still ongoing Hannan (1989) argues that grammar is highly valuable as an important part of the study of language, of ideas and of writing Also, he points out that grammar reflects the power and order of the human mind and, 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 that grammar gives us a means to analyze and describe our language To sum up, the rationale for teaching grammar is multifaceted and grammar is acknowledged to be of importance in language study in general and in language teaching and learning in particular

2.2.2.2 Anti-grammar perspectives

One of the biggest challenges to the necessity of grammar teaching comes primarily from Krashen, whose insistence on the primacy of acquisition has tended to downplay the

value of deliberate grammar teaching In Krashen and Tarrel‟s influential Natural

Approach it is claimed that learners need to be exposed to lot of comprehensive and

meaningful input at a level just above their own for acquisition to take place The study of grammar has only a secondary role in the language programmer with goal to produce optimal monitor-user, programmers who can use grammar as a supplement to acquisition when they have time, when the focus is on from, and when they know the rules (the Monitor Hypothesis) (Krashen and Tarrel:1983)

Fanatics of the Natural Approach argue that reliance on grammatical syllabus, no matter how contextualized it is, cannot be sufficient, that a grammatical focus may interfere with any attempt to communicate It thus appears to be the case that “we not only don‟t have to use a grammatical syllabus in encouraging acquisition, it is better not to even try” (ibid: 72) Put another way, grammar can be acquired naturally, from meaningful input and 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 without being taught Immigrants to the United States (especially young ones) who attain proficiency 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 the same immigrant group are learners who may achieve a degree of proficiency, but whose English is far from accurate

On the other hand, Krashen‟s acquisition hypothesis seems to be merely his own personal observation without supporting evidence Gregg (1984:79-100) criticizes that:”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…” Thus Gregg sees himself as a typical example of the process which consists of knowing the rules, being aware of them and ending up with an ability to talk about them This is a perfect process of acquiring though learning, opposed to Krashen‟s claim that learning need 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 to make 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 achieve accuracy 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 second question concerns Pienemann (1984) demonstrates that subjects who received grammar instruction progressed to the next stage after two-week period while it took untutored students several months to do that This provides evidence of the efficacy of teaching over leaving acquisition to run its natural course

In order to decide whether the focus on grammatical forms becomes more or less important, various learner factors such as age, learning styles, proficiency level, purpose of learning, 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 secondary schools are already literate and, therefore, have established expectations concerning language instruction And, we need to remind ourselves why students come to school The answer 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-to facilitate their learning Why should we refuse teaching them grammar?

Next, it is worth mention that Krashen‟s view that the effect of grammar learning is peripheral and fragile and that conscious knowledge of grammar is available only as a monitor, or editor may be true to ESL context where immigrant learners are extensively exposed to the target language but it is not applicable to the EFL context In a poor-input setting like in Vietnamese secondary schools, where students learn English as a foreign language outside the natural linguistic environment, grammar teaching must still have an important place in the classroom We cannot expect our students who learn English for probably not more than three lessons a week to acquire the target grammar naturally although 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 and sufficiently rich and varied native speakers input, can in the absence of formal grammar instruction 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 grammar learning: The case of Do Son Continuing Education Centre, Hai Phong City”, this study was carried out with three classes 10A, 11B, 12C consisting of 150 people, who are all of students 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 from comparatively poor families, so their learning condition is not good enough Their tools are textbooks only Most of them go to Do Son beach – a famous tourism area to get money in the daytime to help their families and go to Centre to study in the nighttime The reason for the choice of all students in the Centre is that the number of students here is not big, and, I would like to have the general view about attitudes of all of students here towards English grammar learning

3.1.3 Data collection instruments

To obtain data for the study, two different instruments were employed: survey questionnaire 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 fact that they are easy to construct and uniquely capable of gathering a large amount of information quickly in a form that is readily process able (Dornyei, 2003:1) A questionnaire can be composed of both closed questions and open questions Where the answer is a factual one and fairly predictable, a closed question is preferred, but where the answers are in terms of opinions, beliefs or judgments, an open question is better simply because 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 contribute more individual points of view and more detailed information that is elicited in closed questions

To sum up, according to Gillham (2000), questionnaire is considered the most appropriate research instrument for gathering information concerning the attitudes of the respondents There are three reasons Firstly, as the respondents want to remain anonymous, information from questionnaire can be confidential It is hope that people will undoubtedly fell freer in an anonymous style of responding Secondly, a questionnaire is easy 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 So Continuing Education Centre and respondents were asked to explain their reason(s) for answering Yes or No or the degree of interest to the question (Appendix 1) All questions were written in both English and Vietnamese to ensure that students can fully understand the questions and in order for them to response explicitly, without having difficulties in

open-expressing their idea

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 the interviewee) where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee

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

 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 chosen randomly for a follow-up interview for more in-depth data The interview was a structure one in which the “agenda is totally predermined order (Nunan, 1992:149) According to Nunan (ibid.) “the type of interview one chooses will be determined by the nature of the research 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 those attitudes It is not of naturalistic inquiry by nature, therefore I choose the structured interview in order to achieve consistence Each of the interviewees was asked five questions (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 questionnaire respondents (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)

interested neither

like nor dislike

not interested

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

In the questionnaire, followed by the first question asking students about their attitudes 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 at the

Do Son beach by selling cake, chewing gum, hat, etc to help family So, I like it”

- “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 our idols They are so handsome”, a female students said truthfully with a bit embarrassed

- “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 They felt that they spent too much time on learning boring unpleasant and difficult things And some 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 believed their 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 like nor hate English because they find nothing interesting in learning this subject Some students say that they are aware of the benefit of learning English but it is hard to acquire because: “There are too many new words in a lesson and I don‟t know how to pronounce

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

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

Yes 67%

No 33%

Figure 2 Good grammar for purpose of being proficient in English

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

- “Knowing grammatical rules students can produce correct sentences If a student doesn‟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 of grammatical knowledge not only to their learning English in the classroom but also to their use of the language for the communication outside the classroom A focus on grammar is obviously a necessary or a desirable part of classroom language learning ( Hedge, 2000)

Yes 87%

No 13%

Figure 3 Necessary of English grammar in language learning

Source: Question 3

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

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

Figure 5 The frequency of expressing idea in correct grammar structure in

communication Source: Question 5

Figure 5 shows that a large number of students doesn‟t pay much attention to using correct English grammar structures in communication They have no awareness of trying

to express 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%

of them sometimes try to do that Some explanations were given:

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

- “It is too difficult to express ideas in the correct grammar structures because there are too many structures; I cannot remember all of them”

- “It is waste of time to manage to speak in correct grammar structures I have to remember all of them to produce full sentences meanwhile short sentences are just enough for us”

However, one in opposite adds more: “His idea is correct in one side If we speak in full right sentences, it‟s easy for them to understand” But, another argues: “It‟s not necessary If they don‟t understand, I just point to the objects have the same meaning It‟s ok”

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

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 lessons attract 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% of students

It means that although they realize the importance of English grammar as their answering 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 important and necessary for us because we don‟t have to pass this subject in the national examination administered by the end of grade 12th to be qualified for the secondary school diploma as students in secondary schools”

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 school stressful No student thinks English grammar is enjoyable, relaxing, only 1% of students feel it is interesting, and no one has other ideas Basing on figure 8, we know that students here do not find learning English grammar interested