VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HANOI COLLEGE OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES 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 Hanoi, September, 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv TABLE OF FIGURES. vi PART A: INTRODUCTION.
Aims of study. Scope of study. The setting and background. Organization of the study.
3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW .1 Definition of attitude .2 The role of attitudes in language learning .1 Definition of grammar .2 The role of grammar in language learning. 12 CHAPTERTWO: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .4 Data collection instruments. 16 CHAPTER THREE: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION…………………………20 3.1 Data analysis and discussion.1 Data analysis of students‟ questionnaires .2 Data analysis of students‟ interviews. 32 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
35 PART C: RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION. Summary of the findings. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies .1 Limitations of the study .2 Suggestions for further studies. VI PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA NGHIÊN CỨU.
XI INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS. XI LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Students‟ interest in learning English. Good grammar for purpose of being proficient in English.
Necessary of English grammar in language learning. The reasons why English grammar is important in language learning. The frequency of expressing idea in correct grammar structure in communication. Students‟ favourite lesson of English in the class.
Students‟ feeling about lessons of English grammar in the class. Students‟ attention to English grammar learning lesson. Students‟ level of understanding of teacher‟s grammatical explanation. Students‟ opinion about the difficulty of English grammar.
Teaching techniques to explain new English grammar structures. Students‟ opinion about teaching techniques to explain new English grammar structures. Students‟ opinion about factors may influence their attitudes towards grammar learning. 31 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 1 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 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 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. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. 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.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.6 Organization of the study The thesis contains four chapters: Chapter one: Introduction Chapter two: Literature review LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 4 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. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 5 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.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. 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.
LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.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.