High school teachers perceptions and attitudes towards applying communicative language teaching in teaching grammar

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ HUYỀN High school teachers’ perceptions and attitudes

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

TRẦN THỊ HUYỀN

High school teachers’ perceptions and attitudes towards applying Communicative Language Teaching in teaching

grammar

NHẬN THỨC VÀ THÁI ĐỘ CỦA GIÁO VIÊN CẤP BA ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC

ÁP DỤNG ĐƯỜNG HƯỚNG GIAO TIẾP TRONG DẠY HỌC NGỮ PHÁP

M.a MINOR thesis

Field : English Methodology

Code: 60.14.10

Ha Noi - 2010

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

TRẦN THỊ HUYỀN

High school teachers’ perceptions and attitudes towards applying Communicative Language Teaching in teaching

grammar

NHẬN THỨC VÀ THÁI ĐỘ CỦA GIÁO VIÊN CẤP BA ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC

ÁP DỤNG ĐƯỜNG HƯỚNG GIAO TIẾP TRONG DẠY HỌC NGỮ PHÁP

M.a MINOR thesis

Field : English Methodology

Code: 60.14.10

Ha Noi - 2010

1.3 The role of grammar in foreign language teaching and learning 13

iv

1.5 Teachers’ perceptions and attitudes to grammar teaching in the light of CLT

3.1.1 Teachers’ perception of the role of grammar in English Language Teaching

22

3.1.2 Teachers’ attitudes to teaching grammar 22

3.1.3 Teachers’ perception of students’ attitudes towards learning grammar

27

3.1.7 Teachers’ perception of the teacher’s role in CLT 28 3.1.8 Teachers’ perception of the students’ responsibilities in CLT 29 3.1.9 The care for CLT through discussions and comments at high schools

30

3.1.10 The frequency teachers teach grammar in the light of CLT 30

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List of abbreviations

Table 2: Teachers’ evaluation of the benefits of CLT in teaching grammar 26

Table 3: Teachers’ evaluation of the constraints of applying CLT in

teaching grammar

27

Figure 4: Teachers’ perception of the teachers’ role in CLT 28

Table 4: Teachers’ perception of the students’ responsibilities in CLT 29

Figure 5: Teachers’ care for CLT at high schools 30

Figure 6: The frequency teachers teach grammar in the light of CLT 30 Figure 7: Teachers’ perception of the benefits that CLT brings to grammar

teaching

31

Figure 8: Teachers’ evaluation of teaching grammar in the light of CLT 32

Figure 9: Should all grammar lessons be taught in the light of CLT? 32 Table 5: Do you think CLT is suitable and applicable in teaching grammar

at your school?

33

Figure 10: Teachers’ attitudes towards applying CLT in teaching grammar 33

Figure 11: Teachers’ recommendations for effective application of CLT in

teaching grammar

34

of the entrance exams to a number of universities Therefore, it is urgent that students be equipped with a suitable and good method as well as teachers with effective teaching method to help their students get the best results

It has been claimed that English language teaching in Vietnam is grammar-based, that indicates the importance of grammar in ELT However the question of how to teach grammar effectively is a big concern of every English teacher Choosing the suitable method(s) to teach grammar is really an important step to achieve the teaching and learning purposes

Recently, some methods have attempted to supplement or replace the traditional ones with models of correct usage and exercises, which provide a greater degree of contextualization Therefore, to meet the new demands for different competencies and increased quality for Vietnam’s development, higher educational curricula and methods are required to be further reformed in a practical and updated way to produce skilled manpower well-prepared for immediate employment in the future, to boost the training of post-graduates within the country and overseas, to strengthen scientific research, and to facilitate the application of advanced education experience (Pham, 1998)

During this period, in the field of Vietnamese ELT, more and more teachers are offered chances to upgrade their degrees abroad; more seminars by Western organizations on teaching methods are held for Vietnamese teachers, and more Western teachers are employed in Vietnamese universities In this context, Communicative Language Teaching Approach (CLT) has been introduced and considered by a large number of Vietnamese teachers and educators as the more appropriate approach for ELT at Vietnamese upper secondary schools compared to the traditional teacher-centered education The question is whether a Western approach can and should be applied in an Asian context like Vietnam, and whether there are challenges in this application, what teachers perceive of it, what their attitudes towards it are

2 Though a number of research studies have been conducted focusing on CLT and teachers’ attitudes towards CLT, little research has been done on teachers’ perceptions and attitudes towards teaching grammar in the light of CLT, especially in Hai Phong, a city in the North of Viet Nam With the view to investigating high school teachers’ perceptions and attitudes towards applying CLT in teaching grammar, the researcher

decided to choose the topic: High school teachers’ perceptions and attitudes towards

applying Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in teaching grammar” for her

M.A minor thesis The thesis mainly focuses on what teachers perceive of CLT and teaching grammar in the light of CLT, then their attitudes towards it, from which the researcher gives suggestions for an effective application of CLT in grammar teaching

It is hoped that this study will have a little contribution to improving the application of CLT in ELT in general, English grammar teaching in particular

2 Aims of the study

The study aims to:

- Explore high school teachers’ perceptions of CLT

- Investigate what they perceive of applying CLT in teaching grammar

- Explore their attitudes towards teaching grammar in the light of CLT

3 Research questions:

The study is an attempt to answer the three following research questions:

1 What do high school teachers perceive of CLT?

2 What do they perceive of applying CLT in teaching grammar?

3 What are their attitudes towards teaching grammar in the light of CLT?

4 Method of the study

In order to explore high school teachers’ perceptions and attitudes to applying CLT in teaching grammar, the survey research is employed Data will be analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively With the aim of increasing the validity and reliability of the data collected, the author uses two main instruments:

* a questionnaire for teachers with two types of questions: closed and open-ended The

questionnaire aims to get teachers’ opinions about teaching grammar in the light of CLT

* a semi-structured interview with teachers to get better insights into teachers’

perceptions and attitudes towards teaching grammar in the light of CLT, the way CLT is applied in their lessons, and whether CLT is the best method in teaching grammar currently

3 Besides, reviewing the related documents is also a method to establish the theoretical background for the study

5 Scope of the study

For each research, it is necessary to limit its boundary to the manageable areas This study attempts to investigate high school teachers’ perceptions and attitudes towards applying CLT in teaching grammar It is exploratory by nature It is focused on high school teachers in different schools in Hai Phong, a city in the North of Vietnam These schools are both in the city and the country

6 Definition of terminology

6.1 Communicative Language Teaching

Up to now, there have been a number of definitions about CLT According to Lightbown

& Spada (1999:172, in Fernando Ruby, 2001), “CLT is based on the premise that

successful language learning involves not only a knowledge of the structures and forms

of the language, but also the functions and purposes that a language serves in different communicative settings This approach to teaching emphasizes the communication of meaning over the practice and manipulation of grammatical forms (emphasis added).”

I really like this definition as it can reflect the nature as well as the target of CLT CLT focuses not only on forms but also on meaning When CLT is successfully applied, students feel very confident in different communicative contexts

As viewed by Nunan (1989:194) “Communicative language teaching views language as

the system for the expression of meaning Activities involve oral communication, carrying out meaning tasks and using language which is meaningful to learners Objectives reflect the need of learners; they include functional skills as well as linguistic objectives The learner’s role is as a negotiator and integrator The teacher’s role is as a facilitator of the communication process Materials promote communicative language use; they are task-based and authentic”

Nunan’s definition takes into consideration the most distinctive feature of CLT that is the system for the expression of meaning In this approach, students can obtain both functional and objective skills The teachers do not force their students to learn but only act as the guider thus students can feel free to study This definition is so adequate and meaningful that it is widely cited by many scholars

It might be confirmed that grammar is clearly central to the working of language Widdowson (1990:81) emphasizes: “Grammar is not just a collection of sentence patterns signifying nonsense, something for the learner’s brain to puzzle over.”

Linguists define grammar as a set of components: phonetics (the production and perception of sounds), phonology (how sounds are combined), morphology (the study of forms, or how elements are combined to create words), syntax (how words are strung together into sentences), and semantics or meaning Because all languages are characterized by these components, by definition, language does not exist without grammar

Obviously, the definition of grammar makes us clear that grammar consists of certain rules that govern the system of language units and structures by which we communicate with each other

6.3 Perceptions

Lindsay & Norman (1999) state that perception is the process by which organisms interpret and organize sensation to produce a meaningful experience of the world Sensation usually refers to the immediate, relatively unprocessed result of stimulation of sensory receptors in the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, or skin Perception, on the other hand, better describes one's ultimate experience of the world and typically involves further processing of sensory input In practice, sensation and perception are virtually impossible

to separate, because they are part of one continuous process

Thus, perception in humans describes the process whereby sensory stimulation is

translated into organized experience

6.4 Attitudes

Teachers’ attitudes received much attention in the literature during the early1950’s and early 1970’s and, more recently, they have resurfaced as key to understanding what

5 motivates teachers’ actions (Borg, 2006) That is why there are so many definitions of attitude I take three of them which I think are rather easy to understand

Bem (1970) simply defines that “attitudes are likes and dislikes” Bogardus (1931) defines in detail “An attitude is a tendency to act toward or against something in the environment, which becomes thereby a positive or negative value” According to Eagly

& Chaiken (1993) “Attitude is a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor.”

These three above definitions are quoted because they are simple but comprehensive

6.5 Exploratory survey

This study aims at exploring teachers’ perceptions and attitudes so it is an exploratory survey by nature Therefore, it is necessary to give the definition of exploratory survey I take the following definition as it is rather sufficient about the nature and function of an exploratory survey

An exploratory study is undertaken when not much is known about the situation

at hand or no information is available on how similar problem or research issues have been solved in the past In such cases, extensive preliminary work needs to

be done to gain familiarity with the phenomenon in the situation and understand what is occurring before we develop a model and set up a rigorous design for comprehensive investigation (Wikipedia encyclopedia)

Therefore, exploratory research provides insights into and comprehension of an issue or situation It should draw definitive conclusions only with extreme caution Exploratory research is a type of research conducted because a problem has not been clearly defined Exploratory research helps determine the best research design, data collection method and selection of subjects

7 Significance of the study

This study hopes to bring about the picture of high school teachers’ perceptions and attitudes towards CLT and the application CLT in teaching grammar It was conducted within six months in Hai Phong city with much effort of the author From the study, the researcher also gives recommendations for better application of CLT to grammar teaching Hopefully, this research is a little contribution to the application of CLT in grammar in particular, in ELT in general The results of the study will probably make an interesting point for many other studies relating to ELT at high schools

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8 Design of the study

The study consists of three main parts:

Part One: Introduction - provides the overview of the study with the rationale, the aims,

the research questions, the method, the scope, the significance and the design of the study Definitions of terminology are also included in the introduction part

Part Two: Development – consists of three chapters:

Chapter One: Literature Review - aims at exploring the theoretical background for the

thesis This chapter focuses on five main points: Communicative Language Teaching, Grammar, The role of grammar in foreign language teaching and learning, Grammar teaching in the light of CLT, Teachers’ perceptions and attitudes to grammar teaching in the light of CLT

Chapter Two: Methodology - introduces the Research questions, Method orientation, The participants, The instruments and Data analysis

Chapter Three: Findings and discussion - is devoted to a detailed description of the

findings and the discussion In this chapter, explanations and interpretations of the findings are explored

Part Three: Conclusion - presents the summary of the findings and some pedagogical

suggestions for better applications of CLT in teaching grammar

The Appendixes are also included in the last part, following the References

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Part two: development

Chapter one: Literature review

This study is an attempt to explore high school teachers’ perceptions and attitudes towards applying CLT in teaching grammar Therefore CLT is the umbrella term that affects the whole research The researcher starts the literature review with the review of CLT - Communicative Language Teaching

1.1 Communicative Language Teaching

Since the mid-sixties, the focus in linguistic theory has shifted from the study of language in isolation to the study of language in a social context (Savignon, 1991) Richards and Rogers (1986) define that CLT encompasses a theory of language and a theory of language learning and see it as an approach rather than a method Briefly, they define an approach as a set of theories about the nature of language and of language learning It takes a number of assumptions about views, beliefs and ideas about the language A method, on the other hand, is the level at which theory is put into practice and at which choices are made about the particular skills to be taught, the content to be taught, and the order in which the content will be presented

1.1.1 The origins of CLT

Educators such as Galloway (1993), Savigon (1987, 1991) and Richards and Rogers (1986) state that the origins of CLT are many, in so far as one teaching methodology tends to influence the next Galloway says that the communicative approach could be said to be the product of educators and linguists who had grown dissatisfied with the audio-lingual and grammar-translation methods of foreign language instruction Richards and Rogers, on the other hand, claim that the origins of communicative language teaching are to be found in the changes of situational language teaching approaches, which influenced the British language teaching tradition till the late 1960s

Educators and linguists (e.g., Candlin,1981 and Widdowson, 1978) saw the need to focus

on language teaching on communicative proficiency rather than on mere mastery of structures They felt that students were not learning enough realistic, whole language in those methods Students did not know how to communicate using appropriate social languages, gestures, or expressions; in brief, they were at loss to communicate in the cultures of the language studied

8 There was a positive response from linguists, methodologists and classroom teachers offering the best hope for the elaboration and diffusion of language teaching methods and materials that work, encourage and support learners in the development of their communicative competence (Savigon, 1991)

Although the movement began in largely British innovations focusing on alternative conceptions of a syllabus since the mid 1970s, the scope of communicative language teaching has expanded Interest in and the development of communicative style teaching mushroomed in those years; authentic language use and classroom exchanges where students engaged in real communication with one another became quite popular Also, numerous textbooks for teachers and teacher trainers expound on the nature of communicative approaches and offer techniques for varying ages and purposes (Brown, 1994) In the intervening years, the communicative approach has been adapted to the elementary, junior and senior high schools as well as tertiary levels In other words, CLT

is developing fast and among the most effective approaches in English Language Teaching

1.1.2 Characteristics of CLT

As collected by Mulat (2003), although there are different versions and various ways in which CLT is interoperated and applied, educators in this area, Littlewood (1981); Finocchiano and Brumfit (1983); Widdowson (1978, 1979), Richards and Rogers (1986), Larsen-Freeman (1986) put some major characteristics of CLT as follows:

1 CLT gives its primary importance to the use or function of the language and secondary importance to its structure or form (Larsen-Freeman, 1986) This does not mean that knowledge of grammar is not essential for effective communication Added to this, Littlewood says “one of the most characteristic features of communicative language teaching is that it pays attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language”(1981:1)

2 “Fluency and accuracy are seen as complementary principles underlying communicative techniques (Brown, 1994:245) However, at times, fluency may have to take on more importance than accuracy because “fluency and acceptable language is the primary goal” (Finocchiano and Brumfit, 1983:93) Fluency is emphasized over accuracy in order to keep learners meaningfully engaged in language use

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3 Language learning techniques are designed to engage learners in the pragmatic, authentic, functional use of language for meaningful purposes Classrooms should provide opportunities for rehearsal of real-life situations and for real communication In order to achieve these aims, plays, simulations, dramas, games, projects, etc… are the major activities which can help the learner provide spontaneity and improvisation, not just repetition and dills Authentic materials are also required in the classroom process; they give students the opportunity to develop the strategies for understanding language as it is actually used by native speakers In the classroom, everything is done with a communicative intent Information gap, choice and feedback are thought to be truly communicative activities (Johnson and Morrow, 1881, in Nguyen Thi Minh Hoa, 2006)

4 Grammar can still be taught, but less systematically, in traditional ways along side innovative approaches Grammar is important; and learners seem to focus best on grammar when it relates to their communicative needs and experiences In CLT, involvement in communicative event is seen as central to language development, and this involvement necessarily requires attention to form (structure)

Nowadays, it seems that educators accept that an appropriate amount of class time should be devoted to grammar, but this does not mean a simple return to a traditional treatment of rules Rather “the focus has now moved away from the teacher covering to the learners discovering grammar” (Thompson, 1996:11)

5 Communicative approach is not limited to oral tasks Reading and writing skills need to be developed to promote students’ confidence in all four skills areas Of course, oral communication is seen to take place through negotiation between speaker and listener (most likely among students), so too is interaction between the reader and write, but no immediate feedback from the reader In the classroom, students do not listen to the teacher all the time, but have personal contact themselves, practice themselves and with their partners Some misconceived CLT

as it were devoted to teaching only speaking But “CLT is not exclusively concerned with face to face oral communication” (Savignon, 2002:7) The principles of CLT apply equally to reading and writing activities that engage readers and writers in the interpretation, expression, and negotiation of meaning

6 In the classroom, students regularly work in groups or pairs to transfer meaning in situations where one person has information that others lack However it is not true

10 that pair/group work is applicable and successful in all contexts Pair/group work should not be considered an essential feature used all the time, and may be inappropriate in some contexts Thompson (1996) and Savignon (2002) claim that group/ pair work are flexible and useful techniques as they are active modes of learning which can help the learners to negotiate meaning and engage in problem-solving activities

7 Errors are seen as natural outcome of the development of the communication skills and are therefore tolerated Learners trying their best to use the language creatively and spontaneously are bound to make errors Constant correction is unnecessary and even counter-productive Students should be allowed to talk and express themselves and the form of the language becomes secondary If errors of form are tolerated and are seen as natural outcome of the development of communication skills, students can have limited linguistic knowledge and still be successful communicators (Larsen-Freeman, 1986)

8 Evaluation is carried out in terms of fluency and accuracy A teacher may use both formal evaluation and informal evaluation of his students’ performances in his role

as an advisor or co-communicator (Larsen-Freeman, 1986)

9 The students’ native language has no role to play (Larsen-Freeman, 1986) The target language is used both during communicative activities and for the purpose of classroom management The students learn from these classroom management exchanges, too, and realize that the target language is a vehicle for communication Therefore “the teachers should be able to use the target language fluently and accurately” (Celce-Mucia, 1991:8) However, for others, judicious use of native language is accepted where feasible

10 The teacher is the facilitator of students’ learning, manager of classroom activities, advisor during activities and a “co-communicator” engaged in the communicative activity along with the students (Littlewood, 1981) Other roles assumed for the teacher are needs analyst, counselor, researcher and learner Students, on the other hand, are more responsible managers of their own learning They are expected to interact with other people in face-to-face situations, through pair work and group work, or in the writings They are communicators and actively engaged in negotiating meaning in trying to make themselves understood They learn to

11 communicate by communicating (Larsen-Freeman, 1986) Above all, since teacher’s role is less dominant, the teaching/learning process is student-centered rather than teacher-centered In other words, it is the learner who plays a great role

in a large proportion of the process of learning

These ten characteristics of CLT which are pointed out and collected by many famous scholars are the framework for the questionnaire, which mainly bases on these features to seek for teachers’ perceptions and attitudes

as to what is considered “correct” and “incorrect” usage

* A structural linguist might see grammar as the sum total of sentence patterns in which the words of a particular language are arranged

* A philological/ cognitive linguist might see grammar as our innate knowledge

of the structure of language

* A functional linguist might see grammar as a resource used to accomplish communicative purposes in specific contexts

Therefore, there are many definitions of grammar but for the purpose of this study; the researcher will look at three definitions which might be more relevant

The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (quoted in Hammer, 1987:1) defines grammar as “they study and practice of the rules by which words change their forms and are combined into sentences” This definition indicates that there are two basic elements should be paid attention to: the rules of grammar; and the study and practice of the rule However, Widdowson (1990:81) claims that “Grammar is not just a collection of sentence patterns signifying nonsense, something for the learners’ 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

In Thornbury (1999), grammar is a process for making a speaker’s or writer’s meaning clear when there is a lack of textual information Moreover, grammar means the

12 relationship between three things: grammar, words and contexts It means it is necessary for students to learn basic and fixed form of particular forms so that they can express particular meanings

How grammar is defined is very important since it will influence the way grammar is to

be taught

1.2.2 Approaches to grammar teaching

In general, there are two major approaches to grammar teaching, explicitly and implicitly Which approach is better to teach grammar structures? There are both pros and cons for both explicit and implicit grammar teaching

When we talk about explicit approach to grammar, we are talking about stating directly, usually right at the beginning of a particular activity, what the grammar is Meanwhile, implicit approach is the one where students are “led” to the grammar through a series of steps- this is what is meant by the “discovery technique”, which aims to lead students towards a generalized grammar rule of patterns

1.2.2.1 Explicit grammar teaching

Larsen-Freeman (1986:150) points out that “Explicit teaching can speed up the learning

of these features/patterns by making them more salient, encouraging students to allocate attention to them by narrowing learners’ hypothesis space concerning their behavior” Explicit knowledge helps students be able to be more accurate in expressing their ideas

or thoughts through the teachers’ monitoring what they speak or write If they understand how a grammatical feature functions, they will be more likely to notice it when they are listening or reading The advantage of explicit grammar teaching is that students are in control during their practice and they are sure to grasp the target structures

On the contrary, Larsen-Freeman (cited in Stephen Krashen (1981, 1982) says that

“explicit grammar instruction has very little impact on the natural acquisition process because studying grammar rules can never lead to their unconscious deployment in fluent communication.” As for him, the only way for students to acquire grammar is to get exposure to comprehensive input in the target language However, several studies show a clear advantage for students to receive explicit grammar instructions It seems to help students develop their interlanguages at a more rapid pace; it helps them achieve higher ultimate levels of grammatical ability

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1.2.2.2 Implicit grammar teaching

Regarding to implicit grammar teaching, students are highly motivated and more involved in learning With the help of the teacher, learners are encouraged to discover a particular grammar rule, to learn about a grammar point for themselves and through grammar conscious-raising activities; learners can construct their own explicit grammar Motivated students can easily and quickly discover the rules for themselves, and remember much better than the ones who are overwhelmed by grammatical explanations Mac Whinney (1997:278, cited in Larsen-Freeman (1986:97) points out that “Students who receive explicit instruction as well as implicit exposure to forms, would seem to have the best of both worlds”

In brief, as both approaches have strengths and weaknesses, it is better to base on the features of grammar points to choose the appropriate one If the rules are relatively straightforward, it is better to give students explicit instructions If the rules are complex, students may be better off being exposed to example rather than to explicit instructions,

or to a rule, or to a combination of an explicit rules and carefully considered examples

1.3 The role of grammar in foreign language teaching and learning

Grammarians give strong support to grammar teaching They think grammar gives us a means to understand a language Besides, it reflects the order of the human thoughts and helps us to understand the diversity of human culture For them, the acquisition of the grammatical system of a language remains the most important element in language teaching

It is quite reasonable to see the importance of grammar according to Hammer’s viewpoint (1987):

Without some understanding of grammar, students would not be able to do anything more than utter separate items of language for separate functions The expression of functional language is only possible through the use of the grammar

of the language

Firstly, teaching grammar helps students understand how the language works Apart from vocabulary, students need to know grammar to understand how it is written or how words are combined together to understand the proper meaning Without grammar or with a poor knowledge of grammar, they may get confused with complicated expressions

In other words, the teaching of grammar means providing students with opportunities to

14 use language in a variety of realistic situations to learn to communicate effectively Appropriate grammar techniques are embedded in meaningful, communicative content then contribute positively to communicative goals and they also promote accuracy within fluency communicative language use

Secondly, according to Smith (2001:15), if teachers neither pay attention to grammar nor create opportunities for learners to improve grammar, learners are likely to stand the risk

of fossilization or reach a point where they can cope with level of communication that is demanded of them by making use of their existing grammatical resources and communication strategies and probably with sufficient fluency Surely, they do not see the need to develop their linguistic abilities any further

In favor of the importance of grammar, Lashen-Freeman (1986:13) affirms that grammar

is regarded as a skill rather than an area of knowledge It is true to say that grammar is the fifth skill besides four skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing Skill development as well as learning grammar takes practice Grammar may not be taught only when the students already possessed the knowledge and the ability to use the grammar item in speech, writing and listening comprehension In fact, grammar is the basis for mastering four language skills

In conclusion, grammar is acknowledged to be of importance in language study and in language teaching and learning in particular Grammar is acquired naturally from meaningful input and opportunities to interact in the classroom More especially, learners can improve their grammar competence in a suitable environment without conscious focus on language forms Therefore, grammar teaching gains its significant role in ELT because highly developed language skills are difficult to achieve without some knowledge of grammar

1.4 Grammar teaching in the light of CLT

The goal of English Language Teaching is learners’ ability to communicate effectively in the target language situations, in which students are created chances to negotiate meaning

in class One important feature of CLT is student-centered, not teacher-centered; the role

of a teacher has shifted from “a controller” to “a facilitator”

It is impossible to replace the traditional ways of teaching grammar The good way to make grammar more communicative is to create more communicative activities in the classroom, or in other words, students’ communicative competence is developed

15 Although there are different concepts of communicative competence, it has been developed and applied to language teaching and considered to be the goal of language teaching The ultimate goal of language teaching is that the students will be able to communicate in the foreign language, not that the students will master the grammar of that language For this reason, CLT seems to be an effective method to teach grammar for communicative purpose In CLT, students are given opportunities to examine and draw the new grammar rules It is important for them to understand and use grammatical structures naturally in a real-world context The emphasis of CLT is on the development

of students’ communicative competence through the “negotiation of meaning”

So far, there have been a number of studies relating to grammar teaching in the light of CLT all over the world Chung (2000) concludes that the examination of the selected textbooks has revealed that the implementation of CLT in both Malaysian and Taiwanese settings has little influence on the teaching of grammar In his study, he also suggested a number of communicative tasks to supplement the structural activities in the textbooks And he emphasizes that the methods discussed will only be effective when teachers are ready to incorporate CLT principles into their lessons

teaching grammar through communicative approach and audio-lingual method by observing two different classrooms consisted of two different linguistic levels At the end of the study,

he comes to the conclusion that teaching grammar through communicative approach and audio-lingual method can be efficient on the proficiency levels of the students at different levels While communicative approach was efficient on the intermediate level students, audio-lingual method had positive impacts on the elementary level students The latter group had difficulty in understanding the context and functions of language within a context Such

an outcome may be due to the fact that they are not accustomed to using the foreign language efficiently in contextual situations

In order to apply CLT in grammar teaching effectively, Girne (2008) suggests that during grammar instruction, teachers should provide meaningful input through context and provide an opportunity to put grammar to use, and relate grammar instruction to real life situations This is best achieved if grammar instruction is treated in the same way as the teaching of the four skills which involves smooth and organized transitions of pre-, while and post grammar stages

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As viewed by Lan & Hoan, in a CLT classroom, the teacher pays more attention to enabling students to work with the target language during the lesson and communicate in

it by the end of it The following is the typical procedure of a grammar lesson according

to a CLT author- Adrian Doff (1981)

1 The teacher uses visual aids to present the grammar structure to be taught

2 Students deduce the meaning, the form and the use of it

3 The teacher checks students understanding by asking yes/ no questions focusing

on form, meaning and use

4 The teacher gets students to practice the structure through Repetition and Substitution Drills, Word Prompts, and Picture Prompts The teacher tries to provide maximum practice within controlled, but realistic and contextualized frameworks and to build students’ confidence in using the new language

5 The teacher provides students with opportunities to use new language in a freer, more creative way The teacher creates activities in which students can integrate new language with the previously learnt language and apply what they have learnt

to talk about their real life activities

What makes this kind of lesson different from the traditional is that the teacher tries to make the language used in the lesson real and true The teacher creates real or like-real situations in which the language can be used This will better enable students to communicate in English outside the classroom During the CLT lesson, the teacher often plays the important role of facilitator who facilitates activities to work with the target language

1.5 Teachers’ perceptions and attitudes to grammar teaching in the light of CLT

It is very important to understand teachers’ perceptions and attitudes as they directly affect the way the teacher teaches, the method he chooses and the techniques he applies

In other words, perceptions and attitudes are the magnetic needle that controls the whole teaching process Therefore, teachers’ perceptions and attitudes received much attention

in the literature during the early1950’s and early 1970’s and, more recently; they have resurfaced as key to understanding what motivates teachers’ actions (Borg, 2006)

Williams and Burden (1997) propose that teachers’ actions are highly influenced by their beliefs and assert that “one of the many facets that teachers bring to the teaching-learning process is a view of what education is all about, and this belief, whether implicit or explicit, will influence their actions in the classroom” (pp 48-49)

17 Carless (1998) suggests that if teachers are to implement an innovation successfully, it is essential that they understand both the theoretical principles and classroom applications

of the proposed change Kennedy (1988) points out that the change in teachers' beliefs and understandings is an essential part of any educational innovation

As viewed by Mulat (2003), in curriculum innovation, teachers’ attitudes are seen to play

a crucial role in determining the implementation of an approach And teachers’ educational attitudes and theories have an effect on their classroom behavior, influence what students actually learn, and are potent determinant of teachers’ teaching style (Karavas, 1996) Kennedy (1987) shares the same idea that attitude change is an essential and inevitable part of any pedagogical innovation since a change in materials or methods does not simply operate at surface level, but represents an increase in understanding and knowledge

To sum up, investigating teachers’ perceptions and attitudes is really necessary as it helps

to identify what teachers are aware of an approach, what their attitudes are, and the difficult they face when implementing curriculum innovations in the classroom and it can help to give the support or recommendations for better application

The reality of applying CLT gets much attention and some ideas are really exact According to Greta Gorsuch (2001), there are various ways to increase teacher’s approval

on CLT Teachers mildly approve of communicative activities However, they meet difficulties in conducting these activities Or “the majority of the respondents has mildly favorable attitudes towards communicative language teaching, but faced a number of constraints that hamper them from effective implementation of communicative method in the classrooms” Mulat (2003:68) These conclusions are understandable as a lot of teachers believe in the effect of CLT but this approach is so demanding and requires a lot from the teachers So it is not easy to apply CLT successfully

However many people think that a number of teachers apply CLT without or lack of consciousness As according to Bax (2003:200, cited in Pham Hoa Hiep, 2007) “Many teachers use CLT not because of realizing its importance, but to please the educational

self-policy markers”

I completely agree with that judgment as it occurs the same at many schools in Vietnam CLT is a trendy approach that many teachers apply to prove that they are not backward That perception deters teachers from making full use of CLT About this problem, Canh

18 (2004:88) confirms that in spite of the further emphasis and interest in CLT, young and

experienced teachers often stick closely on the textbooks

This is quite true in Vietnamese setting where many teachers say that they are applying CLT but they always follow the prescribed program They are not creative and enthusiastic enough to be independent from the textbook But in Canh’s idea, the author only refers to novice and experienced teachers What about the rest? What are their perceptions and attitudes?

As many Vietnamese teachers either have a strong attachment to the traditional methods

or do not get enough upgrading training, they hold some misconceptions of CLT concerning with grammatical correctness, error correction, using group and pair work and the teacher and learner roles in the classroom, using the native language While many others agree that CLT is a good foreign language teaching approach but the application

of it to teaching grammar may be very difficult at their school

In the study of Anh (2007), in the context of Tran Phu Gifted School in Hai Phong, the author states that the teachers find their application of communicative grammar teaching much more interesting and effective That means they are in favor of applying CLT in grammar However, her research focuses only on finding the effective way to teach grammar communicatively, not on teachers’ perceptions and attitudes

Since a number of research studies have been conducted focusing on CLT and teachers’ attitudes towards CLT, little research has been done on teachers’ perceptions and attitudes towards teaching grammar in the light of CLT, especially in Hai Phong, moreover, I am much interested in this issue and how to apply CLT effectively has been

my preoccupation for a long time, I am motivated in conducting this research Hopefully,

it will contribute to the study and application of CLT in Viet Nam

19

Chapter Two: Research methodology

This study, as indicated in chapter one, was intended to find out the perceptions and attitudes of high school teachers towards applying CLT to teaching grammar For this purpose, therefore, a survey research method was chosen as according to Johnson (1992),

a survey research is a study of a large group through direct study of a subset of that group Here, in this research, the author would like to investigate the perceptions and attitude s

of high school teachers in Hai Phong through direct study of fifty teachers Questionnaires and interviews seemed to be the most appropriate for this kind of research

2.1 Methodology

2.1.1 Research questions

As stated earlier, this study is an attempt to find the answers to the three following questions:

1 What do high school teachers perceive of CLT?

2 What do they perceive of applying CLT in teaching grammar?

3 What are their attitudes towards teaching grammar in the light of CLT?

2.1.2 Method orientation

Given the purpose of the study, which was stated in chapter one, the author employed both qualitative and quantitative methods in data analysis According to Larsen-Freeman and Long, both qualitative and quantitative paradigms are not competing, but complementary, and the choice between the two is unnecessary They also assert that much can be gained from a combination of the two Within the scope of this study, such a combination of both research paradigms is believed to gain more in-depth data for analysis

2.1.3 The participants

The study investigates the perceptions and attitudes towards applying CLT in teaching grammar of 50 high school teachers in Hai Phong They come from eight high schools in Hai Phong They are both male and female and all of them major in English teaching The youngest is twenty three years old while the oldest is fifty Their teaching experience varies in term of teaching years Among those surveyed, twenty teachers have from one

to five years of teaching experience, eighteen have from six to ten years, three have from eleven to fifteen years, three have been teaching English from sixteen to twenty years, five of them have from twenty one to twenty five years of experience, three teachers have

20 been teaching from twenty six to thirty years The varieties of age and teaching experience are hoped to increase the reliability and the value of the study

Fifty questionnaires were distributed and all of them were filled and returned And then, six teachers out of fifty, who were very enthusiastic, were chosen for the semi-structured interviews They were all willing so the researcher could have the reliable and useful data

Among a number of sampling methods - the process of choosing the units, the Convenience Sampling was chosen It is a non-probability sampling technique where subjects are selected because of their convenient accessibility and proximity to the researcher

The questionnaire primarily consists of two sections:

_ The first part is the personal information section to provide an accurate description of the respondents’ age, sex, teaching experience

_ The second comprises the perception and attitude scale to find out teachers’ perceptions and attitudes to teaching grammar in the light of CLT This main section consisting of sixteenquestions was given to the sample subjects The questions cover the main aspects

of teaching grammar in the light of CLT All items of the questionnaire were drawn out from these aspects

2.1.4.2 The interview

Selinger and Shohamy (1989) point out that the use of interview as data collection instrument permits a level of in-depth information, free response and flexibility that can not be obtained by other procedures In this study, semi-structured interview which consists of four specific and defined questions was used There were specific core

21 questions determined before hand, but at the same time it allows some elaboration in the questions and answers

Interviews with six voluntarily selected teachers, who filled in the questionnaire, were held to get in-depth information There were few main questions from which I generated many other follow-up questions The interviews took place in a face-to-face situation with the subjects

2.2 Data analysis

The data are then analyzed both descriptively and interpretively The quantitative data are presented in the form of figures and tables while qualitative data from interview are presented by quoting or reporting relevant responses from respondents

2.3 Conclusion

This chapter presented the research questions, the research methodology, and instruments

of data collection In order to achieve the aims of the study, the researcher used two different instruments: survey questionnaire and semi-structure interview By employing these instruments, the researcher hopes to achieve more reliable and valid data The next chapter, chapter Four will present the findings and discussion

22

Chapter three: Findings and discussion

In this chapter, the collected data are presented and interpreted Once, the research data have been collected using different types of data collection procedures as described in the previous chapter, the next step is to analyze those data It generally consists of presentation of the statistical results obtained, illustrated tables, detailed descriptions of the interviews’ result quotation from the actual data, and the possible implications of the results to the research topic

3.1 The findings from the questionnaire and discussion

3.1.1 Teachers’ perception of the role of grammar in English Language Teaching

Figure 1: Teachers’ perception of the role of grammar in English Language Teaching

Most of the surveyed teachers (54%) believed that grammar is very important to English Language Teaching The rest (46%) had an idea that grammar is important None of them thought that grammar is not very important or not important at all The fact that most teachers realize the importance of grammar in English Language Teaching is a convenient prerequisite that encourages teachers to devote in grammar teaching In fact, grammar is very important, as at high schools, students have to be equipped with grammatical knowledge not only for academic purposes but also for a number of grammar-based tests and exams

3.1.2 Teachers’ attitudes to teaching grammar

do not like at all neither like nor dislike

Figure 2: Teachers’ attitudes towards teaching grammar

23 The figure shows that the majority of high school teachers have positive attitudes towards teaching grammar They really like teaching grammar, whereas 36% of them do not like teaching grammar very much The rest (24%) of the respondents have neutral posture to grammar teaching They neither like nor dislike The data here are quite reasonable in comparison with the result in question 1

3.1.3 Teachers’ perception of students’ attitudes towards learning grammar

56%

10%

34%

Like Dislike Neither like nor dislike

Figure 3: Students’ attitudes towards learning grammar

In the teachers’ opinion, more than half students (56%) like learning grammar, 10% dislike and the rest have neutral attitude Many students like learning grammar as they realize the role of grammar and they are motivated in grammar lessons Whereas, others are not yet interested in learning grammar as the lessons are not interesting enough The attitude of students towards learning is a crucial factor to a successful lesson Basing on this, many more things need be done to make students motivated in grammar learning

3.1.4 Teachers’ perceptions of CLT

Question 4 in the questionnaire is aimed at exploring teachers’ understanding of CLT Respondents were given the statements about CLT towards which they express their ideas by stating “Agree” or “Disagree” And here are the results

34%

33 66%

3 CLT gives students opportunities to communicate with others 50

100%

0 0%

8%

46 92%

5 Accuracy and fluency are both given prominence in CLT 42

84%

8 16%

6 In CLT, learners do not only focus on grammar and structures

but also on functional and communicative meaning

42 84%

8 16%

42%

29 58%

8 CLT’s priority is the exact formation and use of grammar and

vocabulary

40 80%

10 20%

9 Errors are seen as natural outcome of the development of the

communication skills

16 32%

34 68%

10 The students’ native language is very important and therefore,

is encouraged to use

41 82%

9 18%

Table 1: Teachers’ perceptions of CLT

In comparison with the characteristics of CLT as pointed in 1.1.2, it is interesting to know that most of the surveyed teachers have judicious understanding of CLT As in idea

1 and 3, all of the respondents agreed that CLT is student-centered and CLT gives students opportunities to communicate with others These are the prominent features that make CLT surpass other traditional methods This knowledge may help teachers have positive attitude towards CLT- an approach that gives the students good chances to practice in real-life situations

In ideas 5 and 6, most teachers were of the same mind that accuracy and fluency are both given prominence in CLT and in CLT; learners do not only focus on grammar and structures but also on functional and communicative meaning Actually “Fluency and

25 accuracy are seen as complementary principles underlying communicative techniques (Brown, 1994:245) However, at times, fluency may have to take on more importance than accuracy because “fluency and acceptable language is the primary goal” (Finocchiano and Brumfit, 1983:93)

Besides, the majority of teachers shared the same idea about the area CLT can be applied Some people thought that, as CLT aims to develop students’ communicative competence,

it is only suitable for Speaking and Listening skills But it is not true CLT can be applied to Writing, Reading and Grammar In other words, this approach is suitable for all language skills, the aim of which is to help students communicate well in all forms of communication

well-Together with those thoughts, two-thirds of the teachers did not agree that grammar is not important in CLT In fact, grammar has a solid position as with good knowledge of grammar, students can make correct sentences, which is one of the key factors for successful communication Clearly, grammar is a tool for making meaning clear

However, there are also some misperceptions of CLT These misconceptions may stem from the lack of training or the long exposure to the traditional methods

In idea 7, nearly half of the respondents (up to 42%) thought that learners’ experience is not important in CLT That is not true In CLT, students are given opportunities to share ideas through negotiating meaning Obviously, the more experience a student has, the more he can share with his friends Therefore, experience is pretty important in CLT

In addition, in Idea 8, most of the respondents (80%) agreed that CLT’s priority is the exact formation and use of grammar and vocabulary In CLT, students should be allowed to talk and express themselves and the form of the language becomes secondary, not priority

Moreover, too many teachers (82%) dignified the role of native language In CLT, the target language is used both during communicative activities and for the purpose of classroom management and it is a vehicle for communication Therefore, teachers need

to be very good at using the target language Alarmingly, many teachers use much Vietnamese in their lessons, even in many cases, Vietnamese is dominant That is why, most of them think students’ native language is encouraged to use

Regretfully, two-thirds of the surveyed disagreed with the idea that errors are seen as natural outcome of the development of the communication skills Always, teachers expect much from their students and they think that a perfect lesson is the one without any mistakes from the students Many teachers are allergic to students’ mistakes That is

a fallacy Because in CLT, if errors of form are tolerated and are seen as natural outcome