VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES MAI ANH A STUDY ON TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR TO SIXTH GRADE STUDENTS AT NGO QUYEN SECONDARY SCHOOL NGHIÊN CỨU VIỆC DẠY NGỮ PHÁP TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH LỚP SÁU TẠI TRƯỜNG PHỔ THÔNG TRUNG HỌC NGÔ QUYỀN M.A MINOR THESIS Major: English language teaching methodology Code: 60.10 HANOI – 2012 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES MAI ANH A STUDY ON TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR TO SIXTH GRADE STUDENTS AT NGO QUYEN SECONDARY SCHOOL NGHIÊN CỨU VIỆC DẠY NGỮ PHÁP TIẾNG ANH CHO HỌC SINH LỚP SÁU TẠI TRƯỜNG PHỔ THÔNG TRUNG HỌC NGÔ QUYỀN M.A MINOR THESIS Major: English language teaching methodology Code: 60.10 Supervisor: LÂM THỊ PHÚC HÂN, M.A HANOI – 2012 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION………………………………………………………………………i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………………….iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………………….iv LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS ……………………….viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS………………………………………………….,,,,ix PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study ………………………………………………………. Aims of the study …………………………………………………………. Scope of the study ………………………………………………………….
Significance of the study ……………………………………………………. Method of the study …………………………………………………………. Design of he study ………………………………………………………….3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Definitions of grammar ………………………………………………….
Role of grammar in foreign language teaching and learning ……………. Explicit and implicit knowledge …………………………………………. Three approaches in grammar presentation …………………………….12 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG downloadiv: add luanvanchat@agmail. Factors affecting language acquisition ……………………………….17 CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 2.
An overview of Ngo Quyen Secondary School ………………. The teachers‘ background and their teaching conditions …………. The students of English ………………. Subjects of the study ……………………………….
Data collection instruments …………………………. The classroom observation ………………. Data collection procedures ……………………………………….23 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 3. Results from the questionnaire for students ….
The students‘ awareness of the importance of grammar in learning English……………………………………………………………………………24 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG downloadv : add luanvanchat@agmail. Students‘ evaluation on difficulties in learning English grammar …. The students‘ frequency in learning English grammar after the lessons at school …………………………………………………………… …. Time for learning English compared with other subjects …………….
Students‘ evaluations of the grammar teaching in the Language Focus Lessons ………………………………. The students‘ learning styles ………………………………………. The students‘ assessment of the grammar exercises in the textbook. The students‘ difficulties and the causes for those difficulties in learning English gramma……………………………….
Students‘ preference for the teachers‘ grammar presentation approaches………………………………………………………………………. Students‘ favourite practice activities …………………. Student‘s expectation for a better and more effective grammar lesson………………………………………………………………………………. Results from the questionnaire for teachers ……….
The teachers‘ awareness of the performance of grammar in teaching English ………………………………. The teachers‘ methods of teaching grammar ……………………. Teachers‘ methods of presenting grammar ……………. Teachers‘ ways of giving grammar instructions …………………….
Teachers‘ grammar practice activities ……………. Teachers‘ techniques of dealing with the students‘ errors …. Factors affecting the way teachers teach grammar ……. Difficulties in teaching grammar as perceived by the teachers.
Results from class observation ……………….40 CHAPTER 4: MAJOR FINDINGS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG downloadvi: add luanvanchat@agmail. Teacher‘s and students‘ attitude towards the teaching of grammar…. Teacher‘s performance in Language Focus lessons …………. Difficulties the teacher face when teaching grammar ……………….
Adapting and improving grammar materials ……………. Improving teachers‘ methods ………………………. Helping students to be confident …………………………. Guiding students‘ home revision ………………………….
Building a rapport with the class …………………………. Being aware of grammar ……. Cooperating with teacher and students ………. Practising and revising…….
Learning from mistakes ……………. Summary of the study ………………………………………. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study ……….I Appendix 1: Survey questionnaire for the teachers .I Appendix 2: Survey questionnaire for the students ……………….VI Appendix 3: Class observation checklist 1-4 ………………….…X LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG downloadvii: add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Table 1: Students‘ awareness of the importance of grammar in learning English Table 2: Students‘ evaluation on difficulties in learning the 6th grade English grammar Table 3: the students‘ evaluation of the grammar lessons at school Table 4: Ways of learning English grammar Table 5: Students‘ level of difficulties in learning English grammar Table 6: Reasons for difficulties in learning English grammar Table 7: Students‘ preference for the teachers‘ grammar presentation approaches Table 8: Students‘ favourite grammar practice activities Table 9: Suggestions for learning grammar better and more effective Table 10: The teachers‘ awareness of the importance of grammar in teaching English Table 11: Teachers‘ methods of presenting grammar Table 12: Teachers‘ ways of giving grammar instructions Table 13: Teachers‘ grammar practice activities – Frequency of use Table 14: Teachers‘ techniques of dealing with students‘ errors Table 15: Factors influencing the way the teachers teach grammar Table 16: Teachers‘ difficulties in teaching grammar Chart 1: The students‘ frequency in learning grammar after the lessons at school Chart 2: Time for learning English compared with other Chart 3: Students‘ level of understanding of grammar structures presented in the L.F lessons Chart 4: The students‘ assessment of the grammar exercises in the textbook LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG downloadviii: add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS MOET: Ministry of Education and Training L.F: Language Focus LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG downloadix: add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study It cannot be denied that English has nowadays become a common means of communication of human being all over the world.
Integrating into that trend of the global integration, Vietnam has been more and more active to train active and dynamic Vietnamese, who can use English fluently for communicative purposes. That is the reason why in 2002, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has set out new aims for English language teaching for secondary education as well as introduced new series of English textbooks from grade 6 to grade 12. The new English textbooks for high school students are divided into two sets: the advanced and the standard. They are claimed to adopt the latest teaching and learning approaches: communicative approach and learner-centered approach and aim at developing both language skills and language knowledge for students.
Each unit in the new English textbooks consists of five parts: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing and Language Focus, among which the Language Focus sections are to consolidate students‘ pronunciation and grammar. Since their nation-wide implementation in the school year 2006-2007, a great deal of research has been carried out to evaluate these new textbooks as well as to find out how these textbooks are actually implemented or the difficulties that teachers and students at high schools have to face when teaching and learning by the new textbooks. However, most of these studies have dealt with the teaching and learning of the four language skills which are believed to be new for both teachers and students. There is still a lack of research on the teaching and learning of language elements in the Language Focus part.
More importantly, the question whether teachers actually teach grammar communicatively or in the traditional methods has not been answered yet. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out more research on how teachers and students teach and learn grammar in the actual classroom. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download1 : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Moreover, after ten years of teaching English by the new English textbooks at Ngo Quyen Secondary School, the researcher observed that the teachers and learners there faced a number of difficulties not only in teaching and learning the four language skills but also in teaching and learning grammar during the Language Focus lessons. Stimulated by the above reasons, the researcher has decided to conduct this study.
It is hoped that this study will discover the reality of teaching and learning grammar in Language Focus lessons at Ngo Quyen Secondary School in order to contribute some immediate solutions. Aims of the study The aim of this study is to examine the current teaching and learning of grammar in Language Focus lessons using the new standard textbook English 6 at Ngo Quyen Secondary School. In order to achieve the aim, the study seeks to find out: (1) The teachers‘ and students‘ perceptions on the importance of grammar teaching and learning (2) The teachers‘ performance in the Language Focus lessons (3) The teachers‘ difficulties in teaching grammar in the Language Focus lessons (4) Solution to overcome the difficulties in teaching grammar. Research questions: To achieve the aim and objectives of the study, the following research questions were proposed: 1.
How do the teachers and the students at Ngo Quyen Secondary School operate the process of English grammar teaching and learning? 2. What are the difficulties the teachers encounter in teaching English grammar in the language Focus lessons in ―Tieng Anh 6‖ as perceived by the teachers and students? 4. Scope of the study LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download2 : add luanvanchat@agmail.com As mentioned earlier, there are two sets of the new English textbooks for grade 6: the advanced and the standard sets. This study is only aimed at investigating the reality of teaching and learning grammar in Language Focus lessons in the standard set.
This study is limited to the teaching and learning reality with regard to teaching and learning grammar in Language Focus lessons. The investigation of teaching and learning language skills and pronunciation will be beyond the scope of this study. This study is a detailed survey at Ngo Quyen Secondary School in Hai Phong. Therefore, the findings of the study are not intended to be generalized to other school contexts.
Indeed the findings may not apply beyond the actual participants in this particular study. Significance of the study This study helps to identify the problems of teaching grammar in the Language Focus of the new English 6 and suggests ways of improving them; therefore, it is hoped that this study will be beneficial in many ways. First, participants in the study (the teachers and the learners at Ngo Quyen Secondary School) will benefit immediately from the experience of reflection. Secondly, the findings of the study will contribute information to textbook writers and educators to determine curricula and program direction.
Method of the study The study was designed to use both quantitative and qualitative methods. Then, various instruments were used to collect the data for the study, which are: - survey questionnaires to investigate the teachers‘ and students‘ attitudes towards grammar, teacher‘s teaching habits and their difficulties in teaching grammar in Language Focus lessons. - class observations to get information about both the teachers‘ methods of teaching grammar in the classroom and students‘ attitude and response to grammar teaching. Design of the study LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download3 : add luanvanchat@agmail.com The study is divided into three parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion.
The Introduction presents an overview of the study including the rationale, aims, scope, significance, methodology and design of the study. The major part of the study, the Development, is divided into three chapters. Chapter one provides theoretical background for the study. Chapter two presents the methodology of the study and the last chapter is devoted to analyzing and discussing the findings of the study.
The Conclusion part provides a brief summary of the findings in correspondence with the four proposed research questions as well as offering some recommendations for better grammar teaching and learning. The limitations of and suggestions for further study are also discussed in this chapter. Besides, the survey questionnaire for the teachers and students, the classroom observation transcripts and the survey transcripts are included in the Appendices. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download4 : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.
Definition of Grammar Although the term ―grammar‖ is very familiar to many people, it is defined differently by different people. The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (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‖. From this definition, readers can see that there are two basic elements to which attention should be paid: the rules of grammar, and the study and practice of the rules.