(LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ) An action research on teaching grammar in the light of the eclectic approach with first-year non-English major students at Electric Power University

Vietnam national university, hanoi College of foreign languages Department of post-Graduate studies VŨ THỊ HỒNG THƯ AN ACTION RESEARCH ON TEACHING GRAMMAR IN THE LIGHT OF THE ECLECTIC APPROACH WITH FIRST-YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT ELECTRIC POWER UNIVERSITY (NGHIÊN CỨU VIỆC DẠY NGỮ PHÁP THEO ĐƯỜNG HƯỚNG CHIẾT TRUNG CHO SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH NĂM THỨ NHẤT TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC ĐIỆN LỰC) M.A MINOR THESIS Field : English Methodology Code : 601410 Hanoi - 2009 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Vietnam national university, hanoi College of foreign languages Department of post-Graduate studies VŨ THỊ HỒNG THƯ AN ACTION RESEARCH ON TEACHING GRAMMAR IN THE LIGHT OF THE ECLECTIC APPROACH WITH FIRST-YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT ELECTRIC POWER UNIVERSITY (NGHIÊN CỨU VIỆC DẠY NGỮ PHÁP THEO ĐƯỜNG HƯỚNG CHIẾT TRUNG CHO SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH NĂM THỨ NHẤT TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC ĐIỆN LỰC) M.A MINOR THESIS Field : English Methodology Code : 601410 Supervisor : Hoàng Tất Trường, M.A Hanoi - 2009 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com iv Table of contentS Contents Page s DECLARATION…………………………………………………………………… i Acknowledgements………………………………………………………… ii Abstract………………………………………………………………………… iii Part I: Introduction I.1 Rationale…………………………………………………………………… I.2.Aims of the study…………………………………………………………… I.3 Scope of the study……………………………………………………… I.4 The research questions…………………………………………………… I.5 Methods of the study……………………………………………………… I.6 Design of the study………………………………………………………… Part II: Development Chapter1: Literature review………………………………………………… 1.1 Grammar and its status in language teaching………………………… 1.1.1 Definition of grammar…………………………………………… TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com v 1.1.2 The status of grammar in English language teaching (ELT)…… 1.1.3 What needs to be taught? 1.1.4 Stages in teaching grammar……………………………………… 1.2 Different views on grammar teaching………………………………… 1.2.1 The Traditional Method: Grammar- Translation………………… 1.2.1.1 Characteristics……………………………………………… 1.2.1.2 The Grammar-Translation Method and English Grammar Teaching at EPU…………………………………………………… 1.2.2 The Audio-Lingual Method (ALM)……………………………… 1.2.2.1 Characteristics……………………………………………… 8 1.2.2.2 The Audio-Lingual Method and English Grammar Teaching at EPU…………………………………………………… 1.2.3 The Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)………………… 1.2.3.1 Characteristics …………………………………………… 1.2.3.2 The role of the teacher and students in a Communicative class………………………………………………………………… 10 1.2.3.3 The CLT and Teaching Grammar………………………… 11 1.2.3.4 The CLT and Teaching English Grammar Teaching at EPU 11 1.2.4 Eclectic Approach……………………………………………… 12 1.2.5 Summary ………………………………………………………… 13 Chapter 2: The study………………………………………………………… 14 2.1 Design and methodology……………………………………………… 14 2.1.1 Subjects of the study…………………………………………… 14 2.1.2 The instruments……………………………………………… 14 2.2 Data analysis…………………………………………………………… 15 2.2.1 The attitudes of teachers and students at EPU towards the position of grammar in ELT…………………………………………… TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 15 vi 2.2.2 The current situation of teaching and learning grammar at first- year classes at EPU…………………………………………………… 16 20 2.2.3 Students’ wants about learning grammar………………………… Chapter 3: Teaching grammar in the light of Eclectic Approach: Techniques and Procedure…………………………………………………… 3.1 Some considerations………………………………………………… 24 24 3.2 Six-step procedure of a grammar lesson in the light of Eclectic Approach ………………………………………………………………… 26 3.2.1 Step 1: Setting the context……………………………………… 26 3.2.2 Step 2: Identification of the Grammar Point…………………… 27 3.2.3 Step 3: Grammar Explanation…………………………………… 27 3.2.4 Step 4: Exercises………………………………………………… 27 3.2.4.1 Controlled exercises……………………………………… 27 3.2.4.2 Pre-communicative exercises……………………………… 28 3.2.4.3 Types of drills…………………………………………… 28 a Mechanical drills…………………………………………… 28 b Meaningful drills…………………………………………… 29 3.2.5 Step 5: Application of learned grammar points in communication………………………………………………………… 29 3.2.5.1 Communicative drills……………………………………… 30 3.2.5.2 Communicative activities………………………………… 30 a Using songs and verses……………………………………… 31 b Using games and problem-solving activities……………… 33 c Story-telling………………………………………………… 34 d Picture description………………………………………… 35 3.2.6 Step 6: Consolidation…………………………………………… 37 3.3 Analysis of the results of the tested sample class…………………… 37 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com vii Part III: Conclusion References Appendices TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 39 Part I: Introduction I.1 Rationale It is a fact that English has become more and more popular and vital in Vietnam in recent decades There have been more and more people rushing to study English in language centers in the last few years because they hold a belief that English helps them be more exposed to better job opportunities In addition, in correspondence to this trend, in almost all of schools, colleges and universities, English has become a compulsory subject Electric Power University (EPU), where I have been working for years, is not an exception With years of experience in teaching English for the first-year students at this university, I find that grammar teaching and learning plays an important role at EPU as it supplies students with basic knowledge to prepare for the final exams and ESP course in the second year Therefore, it is understandable that most of the students at my university think grammar, of course, is very important However, many of the students, especially from mountainous and remote areas, have never learnt English before or they learn other foreign languages at secondary school Meanwhile, some students‟ English are at proficient level As a matter of fact, multilevel classes are currently popular in many universities in general and at EPU in particular, which causes many difficulties to teachers and students in language teaching Another problem can be mentioned here is the large number of students in each class: about 80-90 students The textbook for the first-year students at EPU is New Headway Elementary and continues to Unit of New Headway Pre-Intermediate Although the book provides thorough grammar and vocabulary and all four language skills, most of the teachers spend quite a lot of time on grammar points Most of the grammar lessons are carried out in traditional methods, that is, the teacher presents new grammar verbally, and then students do, turn by turn, exercises in the workbooks However, I myself realize that it does not reveal sufficient through the termend examinations More than 50% of the students get the English marks below average and they have to retake the examination or retake the English course This matter of fact has urged me to find the answers to a lot of questions: “How can teachers help students to learn effectively grammar, which is not only regarded important in learning English, but also considered difficult and boring by students?” “What should we to encourage students to study in such conditions?” “What are the purposes of students when studying grammar?” TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com “Which methods of teaching can satisfy students‟ needs?” “Is the use of Vietnamese necessary in teaching English grammar?” “Can grammar be taught communicatively?” It is these problems that have served as the starting point for our study to find out a suitable method to teach grammar to the first-year students at EPU I.2 Aims of the study My study is an attempt to - Identify the attitudes of teachers and students in teaching and learning grammar - Identify the current situation of teaching and learning English Grammar to first-year students at EPU - Identify the wants of students about the methods of teaching, doing grammar exercises, and correcting mistakes - Suggest an applicable and effective method of teaching grammar to the first-year students at EPU I.3 Scope of the study The scope of this study is limited to an applicable method of teaching grammar to the first-year students at EPU, based on the findings of my thesis and with the assumption that the questionnaires were answered sincerely by the teachers and students chosen for our thesis It is expected that this method of teaching grammar is applicable not only to the first-year students at EPU but also to students of other universities and colleges in Vietnam, sharing the same situations and conditions of learning I.4 the research questions My study is aimed to answer the following research questions: - What are the attitudes of teachers and students in teaching and learning grammar? - What is the current situation of teaching and learning English Grammar to first-year students at EPU? - What are the wants of students about the methods of teaching, doing grammar exercises, and correcting mistakes? - What is an applicable and effective method of teaching grammar to the first-year students at EPU? TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com I.5 Methods of the study To realize the aims of the study, in order to get the answer to the above research questions, I design a mini-action research That is, I design four grammar lessons in the light of eclectic approach and I myself will act as an observer in each class Also, after each lesson, I hand out a student evaluation sheet to the students to have their selfevaluation of their interest, involvement and their grasp of grammar knowledge after lessons The responses were then analyzed by means of descriptive statistics Survey questionnaires are also used to collect information and evidence for the study The data collected for the study will come from sources: 80 first-year students at EPU and 15 teachers who are teaching English to first-year students at EPU All comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusion provided in the study will be based on the data analysis I.6 Design of the study This study is going to be divided into parts as follows: Part I, Introduction, deals with the reason for the research and the aims, scope and methodology of the study The research questions are also raised in this part Part II, development, consists of following chapters: - Chapter I is intended to give some theoretical background related to: definitions of grammar, different views on grammar teaching, teaching grammar in the light of eclectic approach - Chapter II aims to describe background information about the current teaching and learning of grammar at EPU and present the methodology underlying the research including data collection instruments, procedures A detailed data analysis and discussions are also given - Chapter III focuses on techniques and procedures of a grammar lesson which is taught in the light of eclectic approach Part III, conclusion addresses the key issues in the study, summarizing some shortcomings revealed during the process of completing this research paper TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Part II: Development Chapter1: Literature review 1.1 Grammar and its status in language teaching 1.1.1 Definition of grammar There have existed various ways of defining grammar - a very common and familiar term in language teaching and learning According to Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary (1995:517), grammar is “the rules in a language for changing the form of words and combining them into sentences” The rules of grammar, as the dictionary suggests, are about how words change and put together into sentences For example, the word “win” changes to “won” in the past tense that is the way in which a word changes in form The adjective “successful” is put into the sentence “She is a woman”, making up “She is a successful woman” – that is the way in which words are combined into sentences 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 is 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.” It is seen that Jeremy Harmer shares the same point of view with the authors of the Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary As for Celce, M … (1988:16), grammar is “a subset of those rules which governs the configurations that the morphology and syntax of a language assume.” From Penny Ur‟s view (1988:4), “Grammar may be roughly defined as the way a language manipulates and combines words (or bits of words) in order to form longer units of meaning.” In 1996, he makes it clearer “Grammar is a set of rules that define how words (or parts of words) are combined or changed to form acceptable units of meaning within a language” (1996:87) 1.1.2 The status of grammar in English language teaching (ELT) The position of grammar teaching in ELT is still on controversy Some people refute the place of grammar teaching for the reason that the study of grammar is neither necessary nor sufficient for learning to use a language Meanwhile, some affirm the importance of grammar for effective language learning “The evidence seems to show beyond doubt that though it is by communicative TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 27 3.2.4.2 Pre-communicative exercises The purpose of this kind of exercise is to help students get used to structural patterns of English grammar they have learned and then use them for communication Since English structure is quite different form Vietnamese structure, the students find it very difficult to use the structural patterns they have learned for communication directly There must be time for them to practice before they use them naturally Precommunicative exercises are thus very necessary Here we use a technique of the AudioLingual Method: Drilling 3.2.4.3 Types of drills For this step, two main types of drill are focused: mechanical drill and meaningful drill a Mechanical drills The students repeat automatically the model pattern and substitute some word in it, using the cues given The purpose of mechanical drill is to help students learn the form of the new pattern Mechanical drills should be done at a rapid pace If the students have difficulty with the pattern, the teacher may let the model sentence on the board for some first drills then erase it later However, mechanical drills are inherently boring, so they should not be over-drilled Sample 1: Unit 11 – p.82-89 – New Headway Elementary by Liz and John Soars The learning of the Present Continuous is focused in Unit 11 In this unit, mechanical drills can be apply as following: Teacher: We are learning English now Teacher‟s cue Students‟ sentences Lan Lan is learning English now They They are learning English now I I am learning English now Teacher: The boy is talking in class at the moment Teacher‟s cue Students‟ sentences sing The boy is singing in class at the moment eat The boy is eating in class at the moment TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 28 laugh The boy is laughing in class at the moment b Meaningful drills A meaningful drill is one in which there is still control over the response, but understanding is required in order for the student to produce a correct response The students are now concentrating on meaning rather than on form They can not perform this drill well without understanding the meaning and the structure It is best to mechanical drills before you begin meaningful drills, which are more difficult because students have to provide information in addition to the correct language form Meaningful drills still involve repetition or substitution of structures in response to prompts, but they are more relevant and motivating This is because students have to think about and understand what they are saying and express meaning through their responses Because meaningful drills are somewhat unpredictable, they are more like real language so there is more reason for students to listen attentively than doing practice with mechanical drills Sample 2: Unit – p.66-67 – New Headway Elementary by Liz and John Soars The grammar point of this unit is the use of “Would you like….” for invitation and meaningful drills can be applied by giving students choices in their replies Teacher reads a sentence Student choose a response I'm bored Would you like something to eat? I'm hot Would you like to go out with me? I'm hungry Would you like a drink? I'm thirsty Would you like to go swimming? 3.2.5 Step 5: Application of learned grammar points in communication This is the purpose of communicative grammar The students use what they have learned for everyday communication This step consists of two parts: communicative drills and communicative activities 3.2.5.1 Communicative drills Communicative drills require the student to take part in communication, that is, to be involved in a meaningful exchange of information The purpose of communicative drills TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 29 is teaching the use of language for communication, where the focus is on what is said rather than on how it is said The simplest way to construct communicative drills is simply to ask the students to answer truthfully The necessity for communicative drills is that the students contribute new information to the class They must feel that what they have to say is of significance to someone But all that is necessary is that the students respond conversationally and grammatically in an appropriate way On the part of the teacher, it is important that the teacher listens to and reacts to what the students say In a communicative drill, it is the students who play the main role However, the teacher should be there to set the atmosphere, to encourage the students to participate actively, and to support help when a student gets stuck or when the answers to communicative drills seem to create embarrassing situations In such a case, the best way is to give a response as one would make outside of the classroom Sample : Unit 11 – p.82-89 – New Headway Elementary by Liz and John Soars Type of activity: Pair work Aim: To practise the Present Simple Tense and Present Continuous Tense Activity: Imagine today is your birthday Talk (question – answer) to your friend about what you are doing, what you usually on your birthday every year, who you invite, how, where you organize your birthday party etc Remember to use the present simple and present continuous tense in your conversation 3.2.5.2 Communicative activities Although communicative drills help students use what they have learned for communication, they are still only drills, and students need to go beyond them to real interaction activities The goal of communicative activities is to help students use the target language for communication in real life, such as establishing social relations, seeking and giving information etc Luckily, New Headway Elementary by Liz and John Soars supplies a lot of communicative activities Teachers can take advantage of these activities or change them to suit with the real situations or suit with the students or even have to prepare their own activities Communicative activities are dispensable if we want our students to use the grammar points they have learned for communication They will make the classroom atmosphere more active, more lively, which is a very necessary element of effective TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 30 teaching and learning, especially for students with less motivation and special learning conditions as we have mentioned before Communicative activities are of different types for pair work or group work The selection of type of activities depends on the teaching point, the physical conditions of the classroom, and the students‟ level Due to the condition of students in my university, I would like to suggest some applicable ones thanks to the findings from the survey However, due to the limitation of the minor thesis framework, not all kinds of communicative activities but several mostly common and effective activities are representative a Using songs and verses In any case, the students found the class challenging and interesting as evident from the songs and verses And that is in itself, a major success to breaking the traditional view of grammar classes as dull and immensely boring Sample 4: Unit 7-p 52-59- New Headway-Elementary by Liz and John Soars The learning of the Past Simple is focused in Unit Many students find learning the Past Simple Tense and remembering verbs in past tense especially irregular verbs difficult Activities and exercises in Unit are a bit boring and repetitive Therefore, students feel that they have no motivation to learn grammar A little change in the way of learning the past simple will bring fresh air to the class To help students practise with verbs in past tense in a more communicative way, it would be better to add communicative activities beside activities in Unit (See the appendix 3) Type of activity: individual work, pair work, whole class Aim: To practise the Simple Past Tense Preparation: Make one copy of the worksheet for each student in the class Time: 40 minutes Procedure: Introduce the song „Don‟t cry Joni‟ and ask students whether they have listened to it Divide the class into groups of eight Ensure that each group has a group leader who is a bright student This type of group includes both good students and weak students Give one copy of the worksheet to each student in the group TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 31 Ask students to work individually to change the verbs in Part into past simple tense Because they are sitting in groups so they can ask other learners for assistance Tell the students to work in pairs, exchange their ideas about the verbs which are suitable for the blanks Students who work in pairs should include a bright student and a weak one Now tell the students to listen to the song individually Emphasize that they must not ask their partner yet When the students have finished checking their answers with their partner and then with the teacher Ask students to work in groups of eight to discuss about their childhood friend Encourage weak students to tell and if necessary write down their memory Good students in the group help them with fluency and accuracy A good student will report the story to the whole class Find out which group has the most interesting story Suggested questions for students to discuss:  Have you got a childhood friend next door?  Is he/she still your best friend?  What was his/her nickname when he/she was a child?  What was he/she like?  What did you two together?  What is your earliest memory of him/her? (little fights, small mischief, adventure together …) Note: The top four questions are for weak students Good students can use these suggested questions and add more details as much as possible (Based on the song „Don‟t cry Joni‟ by Conway Twitty & Joni Lee) Sample 5: Unit 6-p.44-51- New Headway-Elementary by Liz and John Soars In Unit 6, the use of can/can‟t to talk about ability is mentioned The presentation of can/can‟t is quite simple The aim of the pictures is to illustrate the meaning of can/can‟t However, these activities in the textbook not generate some freer speaking in English in the class Jazz chants were made popular as an English teaching technique by Carolyn Graham from the USA Jazz chants are simple poems that can be read or spoken You can use jazz chants to keep the pace of the class quick and lively Because each jazz chant focuses on different grammar, you can also use them to review important structures Here are some ideas to use the jazz chants in the class with mix-abilities In this case, I TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 32 would like to present the jazz chant “I can play football” to help students practise structures with „can/can‟t‟ (See the appendix 4) Type of activity: pair work, whole class, split class Aim: To practise „can/can‟t‟ Preparation: Make one copy of the Recording script for every two students in your class Time: 30 minutes Procedure: Write the grammar focus on the board and put students into pairs to make few example sentences using the grammar Play the recording and have students note how many times they hear the target grammar Give each student a copy of the Recording script, and play the recording again as they listen and read at the same time Tell them to underline each example of the target grammar Finally, play the recording one more time, divide the class into two groups including both good and weak students and have each group sing along a paragraph Group 1: Yoga, yoga, I can yoga Can you yoga, too? Group 2: I can‟t yoga, but I can karate Can you karate, too? Note: Extra ideas Good students may make similar song using different verbs with can/can‟t Teachers help them correct the grammar and give some suggestions Example: I can everything We can everything thing, too (Based on the Jazz chant „I can play basketball‟ by Carolyn Graham) b Using games and problem-solving activities Sample 6: Unit 11-p.82-83- New Headway-Elementary by Liz and John Soars This is an extra activity for Unit 11 to practise Present Continuous Tense Mining is very useful for whole class speaking (See the appendix 5) Type of activity: whole class TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 33 Aim: To practise Present Continuous Tense by performing an activity for the rest of the class to guess Preparation: Make one copy of the worksheet for the whole class and cut it up into mine cards as indicated and a small present for the winners Time: 30 minutes Procedure: Ask students to watch you and get what you are doing Perform something simple like eating a pizza While you are performing, encourage students to call out the guesses as they have an idea Make sure that they are using the Present Continuous If necessary, perform another activity, for example combing your hair The class is divided into two groups Each group chooses one student to stand in front of the class to perform an activity from a card given by the teacher for the other students in his/ her group to guess They will get one point for each correct answer Decide which team is going to play first and ask them to choose a student to the first time (It is necessary for a bright student to this for the first time) Give the first player a card and explain to the class that while he/she is performing the activity, only the members of his/her team are allowed to call out guesses If his/ her team not guess the activity correctly, the other team are allowed to guess If correct, they also get point Continue until all the cards have been used and the team with the higher score is the winner Note: If successful learners give the answer first, unsuccessful learners in the group are asked to repeat the correct sentence (Adapted from Reward- The Resource Pack-.Elementary by Suasn Kay) c Story-telling Sample 7: Unit - p.52-53 - New Headway- Elementary by Liz and John Soars „Everyone loves stories, including ESL students Stories are used in contemporary ESL materials to promote communication and expression in the classroom‟ (Celce-Murcia, 1988) This activity can be used to practise the narrative tense- the Past Simple (See the appendix 6) Type of activity: group work, whole class Aim: To encourage students to tell a story by ordering sentences TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 34 Language: Simple narrative in the past tense Preparation: Copy the worksheet and cut into strips Time: 20 minutes Procedure: Divide the class into groups of seven and hand out the strips of paper Students are chosen at random Each group has a group leader Without looking at each other‟s papers, the students should read their own strip out at random and then discuss the order together until all the strips of paper are organized into the correct order When they have finished, explain that the story is actually a quiz Ask students to exchange their ideas to find out the answer This is a point to attract students into the activity Answer: The doctor is the boy‟s mother Have students stand in the correct order Have students memorize their strips Or each reporter from each group will retell the story, using their own language (Adapted from Ready-made English by Kurt Scheibner) d Picture description Sample 8: Unit 7-p.52- 59- New Headway-Elementary by Liz and John Soars The past is the theme of unit Additional material is to help students have more opportunities to practise the language using past tense of regular verbs The pictures are parts of a funny story so it attracts students a lot (See the appendix 7) POOR FABIO Type of activity: group work Aim: To predict a story from pictures and to match lines of a story to pictures Grammar: Past Simple: regular verbs Preparation: Copy the worksheet for each group of four students and cut it up as indicated Time: 30-40 minutes Procedure: Ask students to work in groups of four Give each group a copy of the picture story but not give them the text yet Explain that they are going to read the story but before they that, they should spend a TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 35 few minutes in their group looking at the picture story and trying to work out what is happening Write the following verbs on the board Ask students to work in groups and to decide which verbs they expect to see in the story work be play decid e smile danc study e recei ve marr y watc ask die carry open finis h want walk have h faint notic e When the students have done that, work with the whole class and ask groups of students to take it in turns to call out the verbs they have chosen Underline the verbs they call out and not worry about whether they appear in the text of the story Elicit the past tense of the verbs you have underlined Now the students are ready to read the story Give each group a copy of the cutup text and ask them to match one piece of text to each picture The group which puts the story in the correct order in the shortest time is the winner and gets a small gift Extra activity: For successful learners: Retell the story to the whole class by their own language and body language For unsuccessful learners: Put the verbs from the story into three columns according to the pronunciation of ed-endings (Adapted from Reward- the Resource Pack-.Elementary by Suasn Kay) 3.2.6 Step 6: Consolidation To help students remember easily what they have learned, before the class finishes, the teacher can ask some students to summarize the main points of the lesson, and the teacher will write them on the board in the form of formula or chart TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 36 The class finishes with an assignment as homework which will be corrected later in the next class 3.3 Analysis of the results of the tested sample class I have tested this teaching grammar in the light of Eclectic Approach on one of my classes: D3H1 After one month of applying this approach to teaching grammar, here are my observations At first, students seemed very surprised at the new way of teaching, and since they were not familiar with this new way of teaching yet, the class did not go very smoothly and I could not finish my lessons as planned However, for the following classes, everything was good The students appeared more and more interested in learning and took part in the activities more actively although there were still some passive and shy students The results seemed very optimistic The evaluation to ask for students‟ reaction after one month learning grammar in the new way consists of items: Options Agree Neutral Disagree You find studying grammar in the new method very 62 18 (77.5%) (22.5%) (0%) 68 10 (85%) 12.5%) (2.5%) 70 10 (87.5%) (12.5%) (0%) 55 20 (68.75%) (25%) (6.25%) interesting With your teacher‟s way of teaching grammar, you can understand the lesson very well Your teacher‟s way of teaching grammar helps you use grammar for communication After one month of studying grammar in this way, you feel much more self-confident Table 12: Students‟ reaction after one month learning grammar in the new way Table 12 shows very optimistic results of teaching grammar in the light of Eclectic Approach It is clear that more than three-thirds of students (77.5%) felt grammar classes interesting, a greater number of students (85%) could understand the lesson well, and 87.5% students can use grammar for communication, which is their main purpose in studying grammar Although there are some shy students or even some have no ideas about their self-confidence when learning grammar in the new way, it is hope that this method of TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 37 teaching grammar could be applicable to teach grammar effectively at EPU as well as in other universities with the same students‟ levels and learning conditions TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 38 Part Iii: CONCLUSION There is no perfect method of teaching that can be used for every school, any student‟s level, in any country The effectiveness of teaching does not depend mainly on the method itself, but on the application of appropriate methods to appropriate subjects, students‟ levels, needs and purpose of studying In this study, I have mentioned an understanding of the position of grammar in ELT as well as some different views on grammar teaching Added to this, the results of the study about the attitudes of teachers and students at EPU towards the position of grammar, the current situation of teaching and learning grammar to first-year students at EPU, students‟ wants about learning grammar are presented Based on the findings, some simple ways to use certain kinds of visual aids with the aims of combining teaching English grammar and developing speaking skills of first-year students at EPU are suggested After recognizing the needs, interests, purposes, and levels of students at EPU, as well as the real conditions of learning and the teachers‟ experiences about teaching and learning English grammar through questionnaires for teachers and students, we suggest an applicable approach of teaching grammar: in the light of Eclectic Approach, in which the teacher combines different techniques of different methods of teaching to help students understand, acquire and use learned grammar points for communicative purposes in active, lively and cooperative classroom atmosphere However, due to time constraint, there are still some limitations with my study due to limited time, lack of resources and also my doing research ability Firstly, the study merely focuses on suggesting an applicable and effective method of teaching grammar while there are a lot of possible solutions to the problem that students get the English marks below average and they have to retake the examination or retake the English course The solutions can also be improving the learning conditions including class size, equipments, facilities etc or taking into consideration the various factors when designing a test (validity, reliability, practicality and discrimination) While the first one belongs to the responsibility of the management board, the latter can be included in another study Moreover, further study on designing supplementary materials and exercises in various types for practising grammar is quite a lot of contribution One more limitation to my study is that only some kinds of communicative activities among so many common and effective activities are represented This is one of the very limitations of the study The last but not TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 39 least weak point is the limited number of participants which prevents the findings from being generalized to all learners of English Anyway, it is hoped that this method of teaching grammar could be applied not only to students at EPU, but also in other universities and colleges with the same students‟ levels and learning conditions Finally, it is my hope that this study would be useful to teachers and learners of English in general and to my colleagues and first-year students at EPU in particular TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com References Brown, H.D (1994) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching Prentice Hall Regents Brumfit, C J (1983) Communicative Methodology in Language Teaching Cambridge University Press Celce-Murcia, M (1988) Techniques and Resources in Teaching Grammar Oxford University Press Celce-Murcia, M (1980) Group Work with Grammar Teaching Retrieved April, 2007 from English Teaching Forum (vol.40 (2002), no 1, pp 42) Doff, A (1988) Teach English: A training course for teachers Cambridge University Press Graham, C (1993) Grammar Chants Oxford University Press Harmer, J (1988) Teaching and Learning Grammar Longman Group UK Limited Hawkins, E (1984) Awareness of Language: An Introduction Cambridge University Press Hornby, A.S (1995) Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Oxford University Press 10 Kay S (1997) Reward-The Resource Pack Macmillan 11 Knowles, M (1973) The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species Gulf Publishing Company 12 Larsen-Freeman, D (1986) Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching Oxford University Press 13 Larsen-Freeman, D and M.H Long (1993) An Introduction to Second Language Acquisition Research Longman 14 McKay, S.L (1987) Teaching Grammar Prentice Hall: Hertfordshire 15 Paulston, C.B and Bruder M N (1976) Teaching English as a Second Language: Techniques and Procedures Massachusetts: Winthrop publisher, Inc., 16 Peck, A (1987) Language Teachers at work Prentice Hall TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 17 Practor and Celce-Murcia, M (1979) An outline of Language teaching Approaches Cambridge University Press 18 Rivers, W M (1982) Communicating Naturally in a Second Language Cambridge University Press 19 Scheibner, K (1995) Ready-made English Heinemann 20 Ur, P (1988) Grammar Practice Activities Cambridge University Press 21 Ur, P (1996) A Course in Language Teaching Cambridge University Press TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ... questions: - What are the attitudes of teachers and students in teaching and learning grammar? - What is the current situation of teaching and learning English Grammar to first-year students at. .. national university, hanoi College of foreign languages Department of post-Graduate studies VŨ THỊ HỒNG THƯ AN ACTION RESEARCH ON TEACHING GRAMMAR IN THE LIGHT OF THE ECLECTIC APPROACH WITH FIRST-YEAR. .. meet with the real conditions of learning, the needs and situations of the students My suggested approach is a combination of the Traditional Method, the Audio-Lingual Method, and the Communicative