Những khó khăn của giáo viên trong dạy ngữ pháp theo đường hướng giao tiếp cho học sinh dân tộc thiểu số tại trường trung học y tế tỉnh hà giang

The question of how to equip students with grammatical competence so that theycan use the language to communicate in any situation has become a matter of teachers ofEnglish in general an

Part A: Introduction

I Rationale

The economic open- door policy pursued by the government of Vietnam hasincreased a demand for studying English Many people are expected to be competent tocommunicate verbally with the outside world and to access technology In correspondence

to this trend, in almost all of schools, colleges, universities, English is a compulsorysubject HGMSS, where I have been working for 7 years, is not an exception

Besides the aim of passing their exams and getting some further studies for theirfuture life, all students have a desire to be integrated into the culture, the civilization, andthe people of English speaking countries They expect to have a good knowledge ofEnglish to read books and magazines, to see films or to sing English songs, etc As a result,learning English now is not only an interest but also a practical need for many people

Together with the growing demand for learning English, there has been aninnovation in English teaching and learning methods everywhere in Vietnam For a longtime, language teaching in Vietnam was strongly influenced by the structuralist tradition.Emphasis was placed on mastery of language structures Students have been taught how toform correct utterances and to understand the structures of the language without anyconsideration of language use Students have been asked to learn every single word byheart, and translate or analyze grammatically every sentence in the text The teacher hasoften taken up almost all the time in class explaining the form of language to students whowere passive recipients As a result, this kind teaching and learning, of course, has been the

“production” of students who were structurally competent but communicatively

incompetent

However, as the result of psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic research, languageteaching has moved from the traditional to a more communicative approach In this currentapproach, language is considered as a form of social behavior The objective of languageteaching is teaching learners to communicate fluently, appropriately and spontaneously inthe cultural context of the target language Communicative competence, according toCanale and Swain (1980), is made up of grammatical competence, sociolinguisticcompetence, discourse competence, and strategic competence

With 7 years of experience in teaching English at HGMSS, I find that students have

to learn English in two semesters in the curriculum and English is often taught in the first

school - year At the end of each semester, the students have to take a written test, not anoral one Therefore, most of the time is spent on grammar points because many of thestudents have never learnt English before and the teachers have to try to keep to thesyllabus, that is, to finish the course- book entitled “Headway Elementary” In addition,many students are too shy to speak in class whereas most of the grammar lessons arecarried out in traditional methods That is, the teacher presents new grammar verbally, andthen students do, turn by turn, exercises in workbooks As a consequence, the students find

it hard to speak out as well as to communicate in the real life naturally

The question of how to equip students with grammatical competence so that theycan use the language to communicate in any situation has become a matter of teachers ofEnglish in general and teachers of English at HGMSS in particular

For the above reasons, in this minor thesis, the author intend to figure out what

difficulties are experienced by teachers in teaching grammar communicatively and then

to give some suggestions to reduce the difficulties.

II Scope, objectives, significance, method and design of the study.

II.1 The scope of the study

The study is concerned with finding the teachers’ difficulties in teaching grammarcommunicatively for ethnic minority students at HGMSS The study of others would bebeyond the scope

II.2 Objectives of the study

The objectives of the study are as follows:

 To investigate the difficulties of teaching and learning grammarcommunicatively faced by the teachers and students

 To make some suggestions on reducing the teachers’ difficulties in theapplication of CLT in teaching grammar and make their grammar lessons more successful

II.3 Significance of the study

This study plays an important role in improving grammar teaching method to ethnicminority students at HGMSS Its implemented suggestions will make the application ofCLT at my school successful and effective

II.4 Methods of the study

In order to do the research, a lot of references have been selected, read and filteredfor information Furthermore, a survey has been done by providing a questionnaire for 5

teachers of English and another for 215 ethnic minority students at HGMSS.Questionnaires are delivered to the teachers to investigate difficulties in teaching grammarcommunicatively that they face and solutions that should be implemented Questionnairesare delivered to the students to find out the students’ attitudes to learning English grammar,their difficulties confronted and solutions suggested by them

All the collected information and data have been analyzed and discussed Inaddition to these, the research paper will not be completed without the supervisor’s help

II.5 Design of the study

This thesis consists of three parts:

Part A: is the Introduction, which presents the rationale, the scope, the objectives,

the significance, the methods and the design of the study

Part B: consists of three chapters.

Chapter I: deals with a theoretical background It starts with grammar and its status

in language teaching, then an overview of some language teaching methods- theiradvantages and disadvantages in applying in the classroom The next is about the CLTwhich includes the definition, characteristics, and stages in the teaching grammarcommutatively The final is some factors to be considered of CLT application

Chapter II: presents the survey Firstly, there is a description about the present

situation of English teaching and learning at HGMSS Secondly, the methodology isperformed in the study It provides participants, instruments and data analysis

Chapter III: presents the findings and suggestion Firstly, the findings of the study

are analyzed and discussed Secondly, some suggestions for overcoming the difficulties inteaching grammar commutatively to ethnic minority students at HGMSS are proposed.Some communicative activities for a grammar lesson are also recommended

Part C: is about the conclusion and suggestions for a further study.

Part B: Development Chapter I: Theoretical background I.1 Grammar and its status in language teaching

I.1.1 Definition of grammar

There have been various ways of defining grammar- a very common and familiarterm in language teaching and learning

Grammar can be seen as “the study and practice of the rules by which words change

their forms and are combined into sentences" from The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

(quoted in Harmer: 1987: 1) There are two concentrated basic elements: the rules of grammarand the study and practice of the rules Similarly, Jeremy Harmer (1988:1) defines grammar as

“the way in which words change themselves and group together to make sentences The grammar of a

language what happens to words when they become plural or negative, or what word order is used when we make questions or join two clauses to make one sentence.” Jeremy Harmer shares the same

point of view with the authors of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary As for Celce - Murcia, M

(1988: 16), grammar is “a subset of those rules which govern the configurations that the morphology

and syntax of a language assume.”

I.1.2 The status of grammar in language teaching

The position of grammar teaching in ELT is still controversial Some people refutethe place of grammar teaching for the reason that the study of grammar is neither necessarynor sufficient for learning to use a language

Meanwhile, the others affirm the importance of grammar for effective language

learning “the evidence seems to show beyond doubt that though it is by communicative use

in real “speech acts” that the new language “sticks” in the learner’s mind, insight into pattern is an equal partner with communicative use in what language teachers now see as dual process of acquisition/ learning Grammar, approached as a voyage of discovery into the patterns of language rather than the learning of prescriptive rules, is no longer a bogey word.” (Eric Hawkins, 1984: 150-1).

In fact, grammar is one of the key elements of a language Therefore, one personcan not master a language without the knowledge of its grammar Thanks to grammar,language partly can function as a means of communication, especially in written language.One can not write well if he/ she lacks the knowledge of grammar In speaking, thoughgrammatical mistakes are sometimes acceptable, grammar makes one’s speech better and

more attractive, especially in formal situations Learners can not use words if they do notknow how to put these words together Grammar exists to enable us to “mean” and withoutgrammar, it is impossible to communicate beyond a very rudimentary level because

“speech is no more than sounds, writing is no more than hieroglyphics” (Peck, 1988: 127)

For this reason, the teaching of grammar is very important in ELT

I.2 An overview on language teaching methods in teaching grammar

There are many influential methods widely used by language teachers in the world

in general and in Vietnam in particular The methods are now discussed in this paper asfollows: GTM; DM and AM

I.2.1 The Grammar- Translation method (GTM)

Traditional method or GTM was rooted in the formal teaching of Latin and Greekand become popular in the late 19th century According to Larsen- Freeman (1986:4), theGTM was used for the purpose of helping students read and appreciate foreign languageliterature Through studying the grammar of the target language, students would becomemore familiar with the grammar of their native language and this helps them use theirlanguage more grammatically

I.2.1.1 Advantages of the Grammar- Translation method

The strength of GTM is that it requires few resources so it is easy to apply andcheap to administer Thus, the method is still used in many places where the class is large(more than 30 students), and there is a great shortage of teaching - learning facilities andequipment, the teachers with inadequate speaking skill are accustomed to setting teachingprocedures

I.2.1.2 Disadvantages of the Grammar- Translation method

This method, however, has certain disadvantages According to Richards andRogers (1986:3), GTM obviously focuses on the form rather than the use of the targetlanguage Students who are in this way did not have a chance to practice their speaking andlistening Students learn rules of grammar and vocabulary without much feeling ofprogress in the mastery of the target language can lead to the lack of motivation in learning

a language for their having little opportunity to express themselves through it They justlearn what they have to without any creativeness The method creates frustration forstudents, for whom foreign language learning is a tedious experience of memorization of

new words and grammatical rules, while it makes few demands on teachers (Richards andRogers, 1986:4)

I.2.2 The Direct method (DM)

In the late 19th century, increased opportunities among European create a demand fororal proficiency in foreign language The GTM was not very effective in preparing students touse the target language communicatively and a new method, namely DM was born DM ischaracterized by the use of the target language as a means of instruction and communication inthe classroom, and by the avoidance of the use of the first language and translation as atechnique

I.2.2.1 Advantages of the Direct method

It brings the process of learning the target language close to that of first languageacquisition Students are exposed to the target language situations Therefore, their ability

to think in the target language is developed River (1981) claims that “at its best, DM

provides an exciting and interesting way of learning a language through activity It has proved to be successful in releasing students from the inhibitions all too often associated with speaking another tongue, particularly at the early stage".

I.2.2.2 Disadvantages of the Direct method

Though there is a development in students’ thoughts in the target language, it hastwo- sided effect Students may develop inaccuracies if they are not properly guided This

is the result if their trying to express themselves in the target language with insufficientknowledge about the language Because all statements they learn relate to the classroom.The teacher did not generally think of the students using of the language beyond theclassroom Any connection with real life was expected to come later and was not thebusiness of the school The graduation and sequences of materials is not based on realisticspoken speech but artificial connected sentences The weakness of the method is also states

in River (1983:34): “In the pure form of the DM, insufficiency is made for systematic

practice and requesting- practice of structures in a coherent sequence As a result, students often lack a clear idea of what they are trying to do, and they make haphazard progress”.

I.2.3 The Audio-Lingual method (AM)

The AM derived from America during the World War II where there was a need forpeople to learn foreign languages quickly for military purposes It led to the development

of the AM which then has had a considerable influence on English language teaching allover the world This English teaching method puts listening and speaking in the first place.

It uses sentence pattern as the base of teaching and try to avoid mother tongue in class.Attention is paid to the need for practice rather than explanation about the languagebecause the ability to use the language as a means of communication is the ultimate aim

I.2.3.1 Advantages of the Audio-Lingual method

The first and most successful point of this method is to develop students' listeningcomprehension and fluency in speaking in the target language Students are encouraged bythe sense of being able to use what they have learned in the very early days of their study

In addition, the study is reinforced by repetition, so the students have good repetition andthis is suitable for learners of different abilities Another point is that, this method provides

a good systematic progression of the materials

I.2.3.2 Disadvantages of the Audio-Lingual method

However, there still remain some problems The success or failure of this methoddepends largely on the qualities of the teachers and the availability of resources That is

why Brumfit (1983:8) comments “the objective is generally the mastery of sentence

patterns rather than creative or communicative use of language”

I.3 CLT on teaching grammar

I.3.1 Communicative competence

Communicative competence is now recognized as the primary goal of languageteaching Canale and Swain (1980) consider that communicative competence is made up offour factors namely grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse

competence, and strategic competence Grammatical competence includes a

comprehension of linguistic code, the ability to recognize the lexical, morphological,syntactic and phonological features of a language and to manipulate these features to form

words and sentences Sociolinguistic competence is the best described through

appropriateness, the degree to which one person understands the social context in whichlanguage is used: the roles of participants, the information they share, the functions of

interaction Discourse competence indicates the ability to interpret series of sentences or

utterances to form a meaningful whole and to achieve a coherent text that is relevant to a

given context Strategic competence includes the strategies a person uses to compensate for

imperfect knowledge of rules or limiting factors in their application such as fatigue,

distraction, inattention, etc These strategies include paraphrasing, circumlocution,repletion, hesitation, avoidance, guessing and shifts in register and style.

I.3.2 Definition of CLT

The latest influence on teaching methodology in Vietnam, at least in Englishclasses, is CLT CLT appears in the 1960s and 1970s and was thought as a resolutionagainst the AM It is pointed out by Bridley (1986: 11) that "the 1970's and 1980's could beregarded as the era of communicative language teaching" A considerable number of books

have been published bearing on the label "communicative" in response to social pressures

and evidence from socio-linguistic and psycholinguistic research In spite of the popularity

of CLT, it is difficult to define it in a satisfactory way There is a variety if definitionsabout CLT, Nunan (1989: 194) overviews the methods, which are adapted below, containaspects that are common to many definitions of CLT

CLT views language as a system for the expression of meaning Activities involveoral communication, carrying out meaning task and using language, which is meaningful tothe learners Objectives reflect the needs of the learners; they include functional skills aswell as linguistic objectives The learners’ role is as a negotiator and integrator Theteacher’s role is as facilitator of the communication process Materials promotecommunicative language use; they are task- based and authentic

According to Brinley (1986: 12), “Language is not a static system It is created

through interaction; language learning does not consist merely of internalizing a list of structural items It is a process of learning how to negotiate meaning in a particular socio- cultural context Consideration of meaning rather than form will therefore determine program content; language learning will be more effective if they are centered around the needs and interests of the learners; language learning materials should, similarly, be related to learners’ needs and interests and present learners with the opportunity for genuine communication; effective communication is more than structures accuracy, particularly at the beginning stages of language learning Errors are a manifestation of the fact that learning is taking place.”

I.3.3 Characteristics of CLT

In CLT, meaning is paramount Wilkins (1972) classifies meaning into notional andfunctional categories and views learning a second language as acquiring the linguisticmeans to perform different kinds of functions According to Larsen- Freeman (1986:132),

the most obvious characteristic of CLT is that “Almost everything that is done with

communicative intent” Students use the language through communicative activities (e.g.

games, role- plays and problem-solving tasks)

From Morrow’s point of view (in Johnson and Morrow, 1981), activities that aretruly communicative have three features: information gap, choice, and feedback Aninformation gap occurs when one person exchanges the information he has with the onewho does not

Another characteristic of CLT is the introduction of authentic material In CLT, it isconsidered desirable to give learners the opportunity to genuine communicative needs inrealistic second language situations so that they develop strategies for understandinglanguage as actually used by native speakers (Canale and Swain, 1980)

In addition, “activities in the Communicative Approach are often carried out by

students in small group” (Larsen- Freeman, 1986: 132) Students are expected to interact

with one another, either through pair and group work or in their writing (Finicchiaro andBrumfit, 1983) CLT favors interaction among small numbers of students in order tomaximize the time each student has to learn to negotiate meaning Teachers thereforeselect learning activities according to how well they engage the students in meaningful andauthentic language use rather than in the merely mechanical practice of language patterns

Another dimension of CLT is “its learner- centered and experience- based view of

second language teaching” (Richards & Rogers, 1986: 69) According to CLT theory,

individual learners possess unique interests, styles, needs, and goals that should bereflected in the design of instructional methods (Savignon, 1983) Teachers are to developmaterials based on the demonstrated needs of a particular class Students must be made tofeel secure, unthreatened and non- defensive in a CLT classroom, so teachers using CLTshould avoid adopting a teacher- centered authoritarian posture (Taylor, 1983)

Thus, Li (1998: 679) reviews CLT characteristics based on the work of otherresearchers such as Larsen- Freeman (1986), Richards and Rogers (1986) and Thomson(1986) as follows:

1 A focus on communicative functions

2 A focus on meaningful tasks rather than on language form

3 Efforts to make tasks and language relevant to a target group of learners through ananalysis of genuine, realistic situations

4 The use of authentic, from life materials.

5 The use of group activities

6 The attempt to create a secure, non- threatening atmosphere

I.3.4 Stages in teaching grammar communicatively

In a CLT classroom, the teacher pays more attention to enable students to workwith the target language during the lesson and communicate in it by the end of it Thefollowing is the typical procedure of a grammar lesson according to a CLT author- AdrianDoff (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 gets students understanding by asking yes/ no questions focusing onform, meaning and use

4 The teacher gets students to practice the structure through Repetition andSubstitution Drills, Word Prompts, and Picture Prompts The teacher tries to providemaximum practice within controlled, but realistic and contextualized frameworks and tobuild 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 newlanguage with the previous learnt language and apply what they have learnt to talk abouttheir real life activities

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

I.4 Factors to be considered of CLT application

I.4.1 Teachers’ beliefs and attitudes

Freeman (1998) claims that “teachers’ beliefs are the strongest guiding influence

on teachers’ instruction” Teachers’ beliefs are founded on the goals, values teachers hold

in relation to the content, process of teaching and their understanding of the systems inwhich they work and their roles within it Richards and Lockhart (1996) consider thatteachers may believe in the effectiveness of a particular approach or method of teaching

and consistently try to implement it in the classroom It is also commonly known that ifteachers do not believe that the approach can be implemented in their teaching context or ifthey do not have positive attitudes towards the approach, this approach will not be carriedout to its full potential.

I.4.2 Teachers’ qualities and personalities

Teachers are considered as a significant source of intrinsic motivation Wilkins(1974:53) stated that teachers’ skills, knowledge, personality and proficiency in the targetlanguage play important role in the class A teacher’s personality matters a lot because if itmatches learners’, it helps build the learning environment with good relationship betweenteachers and learners, one which may increase learning motivation

One generalization about a good teacher is teaching method and ability If learnersfind teachers’ method boring, they will probably become de-motivated, whereas if theyhave confidence in the method, they will find it motivating (Harmers, 1991: 15)

I.4.3 Learners’ motivation

Motivation is popularly considered to play a very important role on learning In

Jeremy Harmer’s view (1991), “Motivation is some kind of internal drive that encourages

somebody to pursue a course of action”

Language learners’ motivation is basically originated from goals of various kindsand needs Goals include long-term ones which might be related to a learners’ wish tobecome a member of the target language community or to obtain a better job and short-term ones which might come from a learner’s urge to pass an end-of- semester exam orcomplete a lesson with success Ausubel (1968) pointed out six types of needs includingthe need for exploration; for manipulation; for activity; for stimulation; for knowledge andfor ego enhancement

I.4.4 Learners’ belief and attitudes

Learners bring to learning their own beliefs, attitudes which might influence howthey approach their learning Learners’ beliefs are affected by the social context of learningand can influence both their attitude towards the language itself as well as toward languagelearners in general (Tumposky, 1991) Learners’ beliefs cover beliefs about the nature ofEnglish, about the four language skills, about teaching, about language learning and aboutself Therefore, investigating learners’ beliefs is one of the important duties of teachers

I.4.5 Learners’ learning style

Learning style indicates the particular approach by which a student tries to learn.According to Keefe (1979:4), learning style can be seen as cognitive, affective andphysiological features that are relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interactwith and respond to the learning environment Major factors conditioning the wayslearners think and study are the educational system, the socio- cultural background andpersonality variables

I.4.6 Learners’ anxiety and confidence

Many studies have suggested that language anxiety has a negative relationship withlearning success and vice versa, self- confidence has a positive relationship One of thefactors that may cause anxiety or bring back inconfidence is learners’ learning experience.Experience of failure may cause them to become anxious quickly in classroom situations

On the contrary, experience of success may facilitate their desire to learn, to participate inclass activities as well as to take risks communicating with other classmates Harmer

(1991) claims that “success … plays a vital part in the motivational drive of a learner”.

The source of anxiety and lack of confidence may have a relationship with learners’background

I.4.7 Classroom conditions

Classroom conditions can affect motivation Harmer (1991) states that physicalconditions have a great effect on learning and can alter a learners’ motivation eitherpositively or negatively In the light of large classes or over-crowded classes, Woodward(2001: 218) conveys the implication that whether a class is large or not depends on theways teachers feel and on the locality values However, teachers should bear in mindproblems associated with “large” classes They include noise, too many people and fixedobjects in a restricted space, not enough materials for everyone, not being able to respond

to different needs the difficulty of maintaining the class, etc

I.4.8 Language environment

In EFL environment, English is rarely heard outside school, thus practicing Englishoutside is very rare Without the reinforcement of an English- speaking environment,motivation becomes a product of the teachers’ initiative on the one hand and the learners’will to succeed or fear of failure- on the other (Ellis, 1996) EFL is often a part of theschool training program and therefore subject to not only contextual factors such as

support from local community, government policies, etc but also to teachers’ languageproficiency, resources, materials, and the ability to evaluate learners as well

I.4.9 Syllabuses and textbooks

In the designing of a language of a language course or syllabus, one of the factorsthat should be taken into account is time In a communicative class, learners need to haveenough time to update knowledge and to practice what they heave learnt Thus time plays

an important role in teaching and learning a language

Textbooks are of great importance in any language program because in most cases,textbooks include goals and objectives Administrators and teachers then shouldcollaborate to answer the question of whether the textbook being used is appropriate tolearners’ needs, to the social and institutional setting

I.4.10 Tests and evaluation

Teaching and testing are interwoven and interdependent; therefore it is difficult toseparate them Tests can serve positive or negative even give them a lot of anxiety For thereason, it is certain that teachers need make tests positive experiences for learners bycreating tests with care and effort Tests should relate with high degree to course contentand program objectives Moreover, the evaluation of learners should be both based on testresults and derived from classroom observation and teachers/ learner feedback In brief,testing is a vital component of curriculum development and evaluation and can not beseparated from teaching and learning

I.5 Summary

In this chapter, some brief information about grammar and its position in languageteaching are reviewed Different grammar teaching methods such as GTM, DM, AM havealso been revised to find out advantages and disadvantages of each method Furthermore,the writer has a brief overview on CLT, its characteristics, and stages of a CLT grammarlesson Finally, factors affected CLT applications are mentioned In the next chapter, thesituation of English learning and teaching at HGMSS will be analyzed, and the survey with

a questionnaire for 5 teachers and another one for 215 students will be done After that, thefindings of the survey will be analyzed and discussed

Chapter II: The survey questionnaire design and analysis

II 1 The English teaching and learning situations at HGMSS

II.1.1 Institutional factors

HGMSS was re-founded in 1998 As its name suggests, the aim of the school is totrain future nurses, midwives and nursing staffs for the needs on health care for people inHagiang province, in which they are equipped with specialized knowledge English isconsidered as an important and compulsory subject in the training program because itenables to the students to communicate in English in daily life, especially to read medicaldocuments in English

In HGMSS, instructions, learning and teaching activities are mostly carried out inthe classroom Most of the lessons are developed in such a fixed condition that the teachersfind it difficult to make a change in applying new ideas in language teaching

- The class size: There are more than 50 students in each class Thus, it is difficult

to carry out a communicative task in a mixed- ability and large class The focus on creating

a communicative environment also means that there is a lot of unavoidable noise in theclassroom; it influences the learning of next- door class

- The school has no cassette- player, but one LCD projector, one overheadprojector, one laptop for 5 teachers, but teachers hardly use them as teaching aids because

of two reasons: firstly, these teaching aids are not enough if many classes are in need;secondly, they teach English for non- English students so they ignore listening skill sincethere are not listening- tests at the end of the semester

- Materials: Materials for reference and self- study are not available There is also alibrary in HGMSS but there are few English references Most of books here are specializedfor medicine

- All of the classrooms are designed for lecture lessons It means that the seating isarranged orderly in front of the teacher and classroom equipment is just a chalkboard

II.1.2 Teachers’ factors

Teachers are the most important factors in the process of teaching In order to carryout this process properly, teachers need to have good experience of teaching andunderstanding of the syllabus

At HGMSS, there are 5 teachers of English They are energetic and are willing todevote their time and energy to teaching Two of them have acquired a B.A or following an

M.A course, the rest have been trained from the in- service training course However, none

of the teachers have attended a training course in English speaking countries Therefore, tosome extent, their qualifications show the limitations of the teachers in terms ofcommunicative competence in language teaching

In aspect of language teaching method, the teachers at HGMSS get used toapplying traditional methods such as GTM and AM in teaching grammar Fortunately,most of them have a great desire to acquire knowledge of communicative competence andclaim to apply it in teaching English

II.1.3 Learners’ factors

Students are important elements in the process of teaching and learning It isessential to collect as much information as possible before the syllabus is designed, lessonsare planned and method of teaching is chosen

On average, the age of students at HGMSS is from 18 to 25 Their English level islow and of mixed- ability Almost all of them are ethnic minority people who come fromremote and mountainous areas of Hagiang province Before entering HGMSS, some ofstudents have learned English for 7 years; some has 3 years of learning English at highschool where only written English is taught and some did not have a chance to learnEnglish at high school Therefore, they can hardly communicate in English They often feelshy and afraid of making mistakes because of lack of social knowledge as well as theirpoor English knowledge

The traditional methods of teaching have much affect to the students’ awareness oftheir needs in term of communication in real life situation

Moreover, the students’ attitudes towards learning have much influence on theeffect of teaching Some of students think that English is not a major subject and not usefulfor their future job So the students have born in their mind that the final goal is to pass theexams In addition, the majority of the students does not have appropriate learningstrategies or have the habit to learn independently or creatively As a result, they neverprepare the lesson at home or review the lesson regularly

However, the students at HGMSS are rather highly motivated by some practicalreasons If they do not learn English carefully, they will fail the exams and can notgraduate from the school As a result, they may miss the chance to get a job

II.1.4 Material factors

The teaching material is currently used for the non- English major learners is theElementary Headway (1993) by John and Liz Soars This textbook treats the four skills oflistening, speaking, reading and writing thoroughly and combines traditional methods oflanguage teaching and more recent communicative ones The 15-unit textbook isprogrammed to be taught in 2 semesters and in 120 periods as presented below in Table 1.

Headway-Elementary

Table 1: Distribution of time and units in 2 semesters

After 15 lesson periods or 1 credit, students are to participate in a test thatconcentrates on grammar, vocabulary, reading and writing During a period of onesemester, students are required to do 5 tests in order to be given marks to be qualified toparticipate in the end- of- semester exam that does not test students’ skills of listening andspeaking

II.2 Research methodology

II.2.1 The subjects of the study

II.2.1.1 The teacher subjects

The five teacher subjects of this research were all trained in Universities inVietnam (College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University- Hanoi andTraining Teacher University of Thai Nguyen) They are teaching to non- English majorstudents at the school They are from 25 to 36 years of age with at least 2 years of teachingexperience

Besides, it seems that in the area of teaching foreign languages, the number offemale teachers is bigger than that of male ones (4 out of 5) Two of them have acquired aB.A or following an M.A course, the rest have been trained from the in- service trainingcourse Each teacher is to teach 2-3 first- year classes, each of class has more than 50students They are required to follow the textbook Headway Elementary by Liz and JohnSoars in 120 periods in the training program

II.2.1.2 The student subjects

215 students were selected at random from 4 classes at HGMSS to participate in theresearch 108 of them are learning to become future nurses, 53 of them from the class ofnursing staffs and 54 of them from the class of midwives All of the four classes were in

the first year Their age varied from 18 to 25 Among them, the ration of school- boys togirls is 89/126 (41.4% compared to 58.6%)

II.2.2 Objectives

A questionnaire was designed for 215 non English major students of HGMSS Thesurvey is on the students’ experience of learning English before entering the school, theirmotivation in learning English in general and grammar in particular, their preference in theteacher’s way of teaching and their own way of learning grammar Furthermore, thequestionnaire found out the problems the students faced during the process of learninggrammar and their recommendations for better grammar learning and teaching

Another questionnaire was prepared for 5 teachers of English to collect informationabout their age, teaching English experience and their understandings of English mastery.The questionnaire exploited the teachers’ difficulties in applying CLT in teaching grammarfor ethnic minority students at HGMSS and their opinions about how to improve teachingEnglish in general and teaching English grammar in particular

II.2.3 The survey instruments

In order to get information for the research, survey questionnaires for both teachersand students were carried out

II.2.3.1 Questionnaire for the students

The questionnaire consists of two types of questions including 10 closed and open

ended ones (see Appendix A) To ensure the students’ accurate misunderstandings before

answering the questions, all of them were written in Vietnamese Their answers were alsowritten in Vietnamese, which enabled them to express their ideas fully and with ease Ittook 4 weeks to deliver the questionnaire and collect 215 copies of the questionnaire

The questions focus on the following categories:

- The students’ background of foreign languages before entering HGMSS (Question 1)

- The students’ attitudes and motivations towards learning English in general and learning

grammar in particular (Question 2-5)

- The students’ evaluation of their English grammar lessons (Question 6)

- The students’ preference in the way of teaching grammar structures (Question 7)

- The students’ way of learning grammar structures (Question 8)

- The students’ difficulties in learning grammar (Question 9)

- The students’ recommendations for improving English learning in general and grammar

learning in particular (Question 10)

II.2.3.2 Questionnaire for the teachers

The second questionnaire was designed for 5 teachers of English at HGMSS (see

Appendix B) It contains 11 closed and open ended questions in English The questionnaire

was delivered to the teachers and collected within 4 weeks

The questionnaire emphasizes on:

- The teachers’ age and their teaching experience (Question 1)

- The teachers’ understandings of mastering grammar (Question 4)

- The teachers’ aim in teaching grammar (Question 5)

- The teachers’ ways of teaching grammar (Question 6)

- The teachers’ opinions about grammar mistake correction (Question 7)

- The teachers’ opinions on CLT (Question 2,3,8)

- The teachers’ problems when applying CLT in teaching grammar to non- English major

students at the school (Question 9)

- The teachers’ recommendations for the difficult situations they met (Question 10)

- The teachers’ suggestions for grammar lessons (Question 11)

II.2.4 Data analysis

II.2.4.1 Questionnaire for the students

a The students’ background of foreign languages before entering HGMSS (Question 1)

Question 1 relates to the Students’ background of foreign languages before

entering HGMSS The results are presented as follows:

Students are ethnic minorities (Tay, Muong, Giay, H’mong,

Cao Lan, Dao, Hoa, Nung, Thai)

Students coming from the 2 nd - 3 rd area communes 123 57.2%

Students coming from the 1 st area communes 31 14.4%

Students having never learned before the school 47 21.9%

Table 2: Students’ background of foreign languages before entering HGMSS (N 0 : 215)

As can be seen in the above table, most of the students are ethnic minorities Theration of ethnic minority students to Kinh ethnic group students was 168/47 (78.1%

compared to 21.9%) The students’ background is quite different 57.2% come from the

2nd - 3rd area communes – especially difficult communes of Hagiang, 14.4% from the 1starea commune- difficult ones of Hagiang whereas the number of students from towns andtownlets are 28.4% Moreover, their mixed English level is certainly a problem for theteachers The students having learned English for 7 years account for 34.9%, 43.2% for 3years and 21.9% for the students who have never learned English before entering theschool

b The students’ attitudes and motivations towards learning English in general and learning grammar in particular (Question 2- 5)

Question 2, 3, 4, 5 deal with the students’ attitudes and motivations towards learning

English in general and learning grammar in particular

Presented diagrammatically, students’ responses to Question 2 can be illustrated as

Figure 1: Students’ attitudes towards learning English at the school

The findings shown in the table indicated the students’ attitudes towards learning

English at the school The result from Figure 1 showed that 61% of them showed their

positive attitudes in learning English 33% thought English is a must Only 6% of thoseresponded negatively did not find English interesting at all

Question 3 focuses on students’ reasons for learning English.

According to the statistics of Table 3, the ethnic minority students at HGMSS were

aware of the importance and benefits of learning English 58% of the students said thatthey learned English for their future jobs, 31.2% learned English for their interest, 20.9%learning English for communicating Especially, 29.3% said that it was a compulsorysubject This revealed that a great number of students in this school were not reallymotivated in learning English

Question 4 discovers students’ motivations to learning English in general and

grammar in particular

Students’ motivations to learning English in general and grammar in particular (N 0 ) (%)

Learning English enables them to communicate in their medical field 54 25% Learning English enables them to read books, newspapers … and listen to music in

English.

Learning English at least helps them to get good marks in the exams 157 73% Learning English enables them to communicate with foreigners 36 16.7% Learning English enable them to have more opportunities to get jobs after leaving

school.

Learning English enables them to broaden their knowledge about the world around

because English has become an international language.

Learning English creates chances to go abroad for further study 3 1.4% Learning English does not benefit them It is just a compulsory subject 63 29.3%

Table 4: Students’ motivations to learning English in general and grammar in particular

As can be seen in the above, the students are all motivated to learn English in oneway or another and their motivations are more extrinsic than intrinsic The highestmotivation is getting good marks in the exam, accounting for 73% Although English is anon- major subject, but a must in the curriculum at school, good marks may enable thestudents to gain the good over- all mark and scholarship at the end of the term Furthermore, the way their knowledge is tested in written form also have much influence on thestudents’ aim of learning 62.3% want to broaden their knowledge of the world aroundthrough English Although the students are strongly motivated in getting jobs aftergraduation (58%), they seem not to be highly motivated to use English to communicate intheir medical field (25%) and with foreigners (16.7%) They regard English as a conditionfor their future job, but not as a means of communication with foreigners 31.2% of thestudents wish that learning English helps them to read books, newspapers … and listen tomusic in English In addition, 29.3% of the students find English unprofitable and acompulsory subject at school only These students, of course, have negative motivationtowards learning English Only 1.4% of them are trying to learn English to have