MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOG Y --------------- LE THI THU YEN GRAMMAR LEARNING STRATEGIES OF NON- ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Major: English Language Course code: 80220201 HO CHI MINH CITY, SEPTEMBER 2020 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOG Y --------------- LE THI THU YEN GRAMMAR LEARNING STRATEGIES OF NON- ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Submitted to the Faculty of English Language in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in English Language Course code: 80220201 By LE THI THU YEN Supervised by LE VAN TUYEN, Ph. HO CHI MINH CITY, SEPTEMBER 2020 The thesis entitled GRAMMAR LEARNING STRATEGIES OF NON- ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY was successfully defended and approved on ………. at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH). Academic supervisor: Dr.
LE VAN TUYEN Examination Committee 1. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Secretary Member On behalf of the Examination Committee Chair (full name, title, signature) HCMC UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOG Y POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE HCMC, September 2020 MASTER’S THESIS REPORT Student name: Le Thi Thu Yen Sex: Female Date of birth: 06/07/1987 Place of birth: Vung Tau Province Major: English Language Student code: 1941900023 I- Thesis title: GRAMMAR LEARNING STRATEGIES OF NON-ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY II-Objectives and contents Due to the importance of learning grammar strategies and the influence of those strategies on students’ grammar learning, this study aims to investigate the use of strategies in learning English grammar by non-English majored students at HUTECH. More specifically, it will attempt to (a) discover which strategies are most frequently used; (b) find out if there are any differences in the use of grammar learning strategies between students of low and high English proficiency levels and between male and female students. III- Starting date: (as stated in the Decision issued by the University ) IV- Completing date:.
V- Academic supervisor: (full name, title) LE VAN TUYEN, Ph. ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR FACULTY DEAN (full name, signature) (full name, signature) i CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled: GRAMMAR LEARNING STRATEGIES OF NON- ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOG Y In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee of Faculty of English Language, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology. Ho Chi Minh City, September 2020 LE THI THU YEN ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, LE THI THU YEN, being a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts (English Language) accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library. In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and reproduction for theses.
Ho Chi Minh City, September 2020 Signature ……………………………. LE THI THU YEN iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Le Van Tuyen, my supervisor, of his patience, guidance, insightful advice, and constant encouragement throughout the whole research process. Under any circumstances, he always gives me his warm support and dedication.
He has been a wonderful mentor and I feel grateful for having such a wonderful teacher. Without his support and guidance, this thesis would never have been completed. Second, I would also like to show my profound gratitude to all the lecturers of the Institute for Postgraduate and the Department of English Language in HUTECH for their tirelessly devoting time and efforts to enrich, broaden and deepen my knowledge over the past two years. Finally, yet importantly, my deepest and sincerest gratitude goes to my family, including my mother, my husband, my daughter, my son and my parents-in- law with their unconditional love, understanding and help.
I would like to dedicate this dissertation to my beloved mother who has provided me strong spiritual and material support. iv ABSTRACT Grammar learning strategies (GLSs) play an important role in the acquisition of a foreign language. Investigating these strategies certainly has brought many benefits to both instructors and students in the EFL contexts around the world. Thus, this study attempted to explore the extent to which GLSs are used by first- year non-English majored students and to discover whether there are differences in the use of GLSs between students with low and high English proficiency levels and between male and female students.
The study was conducted at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH) with the participation of 130 first-year non- English majored students. To collect data for the study, two instruments were employed including the questionnaire and interview. Both qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed through the employment of content analysis, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The results revealed that all the GLSs were used at the medium level.
Affective strategies were the most frequently selected while metacognitive strategies were the least employed by the students. The study also revealed that there was no difference in the use of most GLSs in terms of the students’ English proficiency levels and gender. The study also made several recommendations for teachers, students, and administrators. It is expected that the results of the study will partly contribute to the existing knowledge of the field of the study.
Key words: grammar, learning strategies, non-English majors, English proficiency level, gender v TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIG INALITY. i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS. v LIST OF ABREVIATIONS.
viii LIST OF TABLES. ix LIST OF FIGURES. Background to the study. Statement of the problem.
Aims of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study. Definitions of key terms.
Organization of the thesis .5 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW. Teaching and Learning English Grammar. Teaching English grammar. Learning English grammar.
The role of grammar in language acquisition. Language learning strategies (LLS). Definitions of learning strategies. Categories of language learning strategies.
Importance of language learning strategies. Grammar learning strategies (GLSs). Categories of grammar learning strategies. Previous studies on language learning strategies.
Conceptual framework of the study. Sample and Sampling. Data collection procedure. Data analysis procedure.
Reliability and validity. 37 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. Results of the study. Students’ use of strategies in learning grammar.
Frequency of individual memory strategy use. Frequency of individual cognitive strategy use. Frequency of individual compensation strategy use. Frequency of individual metacognitive strategy use.
Frequency of individual affective strategy use. Frequency of individual social strategy use. GLSs used at a high level of frequency. The use of the six categories of GLSs.
Differences of Grammar Learning Strategy Use in Terms of Proficiency Levels and Gender. Low and high English proficiency groups’ use of grammar learning strategies 48 vii 4. Male and female groups’ use of grammar learning strategies. Frequency of students’ use of grammar learning strategy categories55 4.
Differences in the use of grammar learning strategies. Summary of the chapter. Summary of findings. Strategies students use in learning English grammar.
Differences in the use of strategies. Implications and recommendations. Recommendations for the English teachers. Recommendations for the students.
Recommendations for the administrators. Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further research. 68 viii LIST OF ABREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative Language Teaching EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESL: English as a Second Language GLS: Grammar Learning Strategies HUTECH: Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology LLS: Language Learning Strategies METU: Middle East Technical University SILL: Strategy Inventory for Language Learning min.
: Minute(s) Q(s) : Question(s) RQ : Research question S(s) : Student(s) ix LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Summary of the results of the studies investigating LLSs use .1 Demographic information of respondents. Frequency of strategy use and corresponding scores in SILL. Reliability and validity of questionnaire. Descriptive Statistics of the use of individual memory strategies.
Descriptive Statistics of the use of individual cogniti ve strategies. Descriptive Statistics of the use of individual compensation strategies. Descriptive Statistics of the use of individual metacognitive strategies. Descriptive Statistics of the use of individual affective strategies.
Descriptive Statistics of the use of individual social strategies. Most frequently-used strategies. Descriptive Statistics of the whole strategy use and the 6 strategy categories. T-test values were larger than the tabulated value.
Descriptive Statistics of use of GLS for male and female groups. T-test value of use of GLS for male and female groups. T-test values were larger than the tabulated value .12 x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Diagram of the Strategy System (Oxford, 1990, p. Conceptual Framework of the study (Oxford, 1990).
27 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter consists of eight sections. Firstly, the background to the study and the problems are presented. Next, the aims and objectives of the study and the research questions are provided. Subsequently, the scope and significance of the study are mentioned.
Finally, definitions of terms and the organization of the thesis are given. Background to the study Language learning strategies (LLSs) have been proven to be effective in learning process and valuable tools to facilitate language learners’ learning (Rubin, 1987; Chamot, 1987; Oxford, 1990). Language learning strategies (LLSs) can help language learners who are aware of and make effective use of learning strategies tended to better perform than those who could not (O’Malley, 1985; Griffiths, 2003). Besides, language learners can develop their autonomy when they adopt learning strategies (Oxford, 1990).
It is obvious that LLSs could be applied to the four language skills and the language areas (Oxford, 1990, p. From this perspective, LLSs are also applied to grammar teaching and learning, namely grammar learning strategies (GLSs). In a sense, grammar learning strategies (GLSs) are steps used by students to improve their own grammar learning. Besides, LLSs are tools that help learners to be self-directed and actively involved in their grammar learning, which is very important for gaining grammar mastery.
When learners had their own right GLSs, it is very likely that their grammar mastery would be improved and they would gain greater self-confidence in their grammar learning (Oxford, 1990, pp. Moreover, Oxford (1990) mentioned that one of the factors influencing strategy choice was gender (p. Supporting this perspective, Brown (2007, p. 136) considered gender to be a significant variable in strategy use, both in the case of teaching and learning grammar in English language teaching.
2 Specifically, the study was conducted at HUTECH with the aims of exploring how HUTECH students consciously strive to learn English grammar more effectively. The lecturers at the university are facing problems in finding suitable strategies in teaching grammar. They are also beginning to establish assessment system for the English grammar course. Therefore, there should be a niche to conduct this study.
Statement of the problem With the expectation of becoming fluent in using English grammar for English skills, however, it is a fact that students have different English levels. It is because they come from different rural parts of Vietnam and have different learning strategies( Ellis, Rod.Therefore, they have problems with learning English grammar if they do not have suitable grammar learning strategies. Furthermore, there are many reasons why non-major English students get difficulties in studying grammar in class. Firstly, they understand the importance of learning grammar strategies but they do not know how to apply strategies in their studying effectively.
Moreover, there are different types of learning strategies; however, not all students understand and know which ones are easily to use, which ones are more helpful.