Rationale
English is spoken today on all five continents as a result of colonial expansion in the last four centuries or so The colonial era is now definitely over but its consequences are only too clear to be seen in the presence of English as an official and often native language in many of the former colonies Even in other countries which were not English colonies, people are using this language widely in every aspects of life because it is considered an indispensably communicative tool in the era of globalization Going with the social development, learning English is obviously not only the increasing desire but also the immense demand of people in over the world
To meet the demand of industrialization and modernization, Vietnam education has made great efforts to train high quality human resources who have enough ability to survive in international environment That means the workers must be able to use English well enough to work successfully with foreigners Therefore, English became an obligated subject taught in almost schools from primary level to higher education in the S-shaped country
In the past, English is taught with grammar-translation approach in which grammatical knowledge is considered most important Its prime position however changed when communicative approach was approved by linguistics and educators
English textbooks in Vietnam nowadays mainly focus on developing the four skills:
Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing It seems that students‟ learning becomes more pleasant Nevertheless, it is not believed that grammar is neglected
Through interesting themes, students also learn to use practical sentence patterns which serve particular functions in particular contexts Without grammar knowledge, students cannot communicate successfully One problem raised in reality is that many teachers feel it difficult to teach grammar to young learners and preferred to teach older ones Although the target structures introduced in children‟s books are much simpler than those in high school textbooks, primary school teachers said they often get confused when trying to find a good way to explain a grammatical phenomenon to their students While there are abundant researches studying vocabulary and the four skill teaching, how to teach grammar effectively and attractively to young learners is definitely a big question whose answer needs to be found as soon as possible
Like many other primary school, Anh Dung primary school requires students to learn English from grade 3 to grade 5 Using the new textbook provided by Ministry of Education and training, students really like this subject because of its less stressfulness and fun activities However, grammar is still the challenge that teachers of English in the school often meet in their classroom Teachers‟ grammar teaching is problematic, and, as the result, students‟ learning is not effective
Rooted from that issue, we need to carry out a study entitled as “ A case study on
Vietnamese primary school teachers’ grammar teaching with practical aims and sensible solutions.
Aims of the study
The study is implemented with the specific aims as follows:
- To understand teachers‟ awareness of teaching English grammar to primary students
- To investigate the real situation of teachers‟ English grammar teaching at Anh Dung primary school, find out the positive factors and problems that affect the quality of teaching and learning English grammar at Anh Dung primary school
- To suggest some doable solutions to improve the quality of teaching and learning English grammar at Anh Dung primary school.
Research questions
With clear aims listed above, the study is carried out in order to find out the answers to the following questions:
- What do the teachers at Anh Dung primary school think about English grammar teaching in primary school?
- How are the teachers at Anh Dung primary school teaching English grammar?
- What are suggestions to improve English grammar teaching and learning at Anh Dung primary school?
Scope of the study
Because of limitations of time and other research conditions, the study is only carried out among 2 teachers and 40 students at one primary school Also, the study mainly focuses on investigating grammar teaching Other matters of English teaching would be beyond the scope of this thesis.
Research methods
In order to conduct a deep investigation into the situation, the thesis is conducted with qualitative method which consists of the following tasks:
- Analyzing the context of grammar teaching of teachers at Anh Dung primary school and then determining research questions
- Choosing the case and research techniques
- Collecting data and information from the students and the teachers at Anh Dung primary school
- Assessing the real situation of learning and teaching English grammar in grade 4 and grade 5 at Anh Dung primary school
- Evaluating the techniques that best fit the teachers and students at Anh Dung primary school
Besides, this thesis is also carried out through a variety of instruments such as class observation, informal interview with the teachers and questionnaire for students at Anh Dung primary school.
Design of the study
The thesis is divided into three parts:
Part A introduces the reason for the choice of the study, aims of the study as well as the scope and methodology of the study
Part B comprises four chapters Chapter I presents an overview of the theoretical background of the research
It is concerned with various linguistic concepts most relevant to the research topic Also it provides a brief summary of the previous studies of the same topic
Chapter II shows the context, description of instruments, data collection and analyzes the results which reveal the present situation of teaching and learning English grammar at Anh Dung primary school
Chapter III draws the findings and offers some suggested techniques to improve English grammar teaching in primary schools in Vietnam
Part C summaries what is addressed in the study, conclusions drawn from the findings, limitation of the study, some suggestions for further research
Literature review
An overview of grammar and grammar teaching
Grammar, the issue which is being discussed in this study, is a very familiar term to language learners Every language has its own grammatical system
According to Longman Dictionary of contemporary English, grammar is: “The rules by which words change their forms and are combined into sentences, or the study or use of these rules.” (Longman Dictionary of contemporary English, 2001, p 619)
Similarly, Jeremy Harmer (1987:1) 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.” More practically, Jim Scrivener shared that “grammar is not just a dry list of facts and rules It is in our heads and it is a living resource that gives us the ability to communicate our ideas and feelings and to understand what other people say or write to us.” (Scrivener, J., 2003)
In short, grammar can be recognized as the system of rules which are used to construct our language so that it is meaningful and comprehensible No matter how it is viewed, grammar still exists as an indispensable element of language whose values are always appreciated There is no doubt that no one can master a language without learning its grammar Without grammatical knowledge, our speech and writing will be useless in communicating to other people Therefore, grammar teaching cannot be neglected in any language schools, especially in EFL classroom
1.1.2 Teaching grammar using communicative approach
There are many influential methods which are widely used by language teachers in the world in general and in Vietnam in particular In the late of 19 th century, traditional method or Grammar – Translation Method (GTM) which was used for the purpose of helping students read and appreciate foreign language literature became popular In the late 19 th century, the GTM was found not very effective in preparing students to use the target language communicatively and a new method, namely Direct Method was born Latter, the Audio-Lingual method in which speaking and listening skill are put at the first place was preferred Despite some advantages, each of these above methods has its own weaknesses so that they are not advised to use widely in EFL classrooms in today‟s world Instead, Communicative method, which shows great effectiveness in developing learners‟ skills and knowledge without reducing their motivation and creativeness, is approved by almost linguistics a Communicative language learning
Berns, an expert in the field of communicative language teaching, wrote that
"language is interaction; it is interpersonal activity and has a clear relationship with society In this light, language study has to look at the use (function) of language in context, both its linguistic context (what is uttered before and after a given piece of discourse) and its social, or situational, context (who is speaking, what their social roles are, why they have come together to speak)" (Berns, 1984, p 5) In other words, Communicative language teaching (CLT) makes use of real-life situations that are necessary to communication The teacher sets up a situation that students are likely to encounter in real life Unlike the audio-lingual method of language teaching, which relies on repetition and drills, the communicative approach can leave students in suspense as to the outcome of a class exercise, which will vary according to their reactions and responses The real-life simulations change from day to day Students' motivation to learn comes from their desire to communicate in meaningful ways about meaningful topics(Galloway, 1993) Moreover, CLT can be said the learner-centered classrooms in which teachers will find themselves talking less and listening more, and becoming active facilitators of their students' learning (Larsen-Freeman, 1986) The teacher sets up the exercise, but because the students' performance is the goal, the teacher must step back and observe, sometimes acting as a referee or monitor b Grammar in CLT classroom
Communicative competence, according to Canale and Swain (1980), is made up of grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence, and strategic competence This means grammar still has an important position in CLT classroom Besides, many scholars emphasized that form focused instruction and communicative activities should be combined If students learn from context by combining grammar in CLT, they pay more attention to target forms and this results in successful language learning
However, grammar in CLT is viewed a little differently from it is in traditional methods Grammar which is taught for students is not only linguistic rules and grammatical categories such as tenses, aspects, number, gender…but also practical forms which serve specific functions Grammatical phenomena are not rough and dry to students because they are not introduced separately from the context in which they are used c Teaching grammar in CLT classroom
Teaching grammar communicatively means that the teacher should present the language in situations in which it is used, and he/she must control the activities that follow, allowing learners to practice it in a controlled situation, then in more communicative activities, and finally in fluency activities
According to authors of Methodology Handbook for English teachers in Vietnam, there are some key principles for teaching grammatical structures:
1 Most often, teach structures implicitly In other words, present examples of the structure and allow students to focus on the meaning without teaching grammar
2 Present a structure orally before presenting a written form and an explanation
When listening, it is easier to focus on meaning When reading It is easier to focus on the form Listening first will help the learners to understand the meaning communicated by the structures
3 Use visual aids to help students see the structure and the grammatical meaning
This can be done with a chart or with a graph
4 Connect the form to meaning Students should understand the meaning of the structures they are studying To focus on meaning 1) use the structures in context (as in dialogues or paragraphs), 2) show pictures, or 3) contrast with other similar structures which the students already understand
5 De-emphasize the use of special terms Use common words but not lots of fancy ones to describe language
6 Along with correction, give positive feedback and emphasize communication rather than just grammatical accuracy
7 After practicing a structure in a controlled exercise, give students opportunities to use the structures in more free communicative
1.1.3 The implementation of CLT in teaching grammar in Vietnam
Vietnam is not an exception from the spread of English and CLT Many schools and universities are attempting to employ CLT into syllabus design, examinations, and teaching However, these attempts face resistance from language policy-makers, researchers, teachers and learners According scholars in Vietnam, teachers‟ misconception of CLT and poor methodology are two of the problems which lead to low effectiveness of CLT implementation in Vietnam In particular, teachers do not understand what exactly CLT means so that they only try to increase students‟ talking time and neglect grammar teaching in classroom
Students are not considered the center but teacher as Le (1999) stated the environment of English learning in Vietnam can be compared to “a cultural island where the teacher is expected to be the sole provider of experience in the target language”.
Teaching English grammar to young learners
The study is carried out in a primary school whose students are from 6 to 11
Willis say that generally we can characterize all young children by these characteristics They:
- are developing very quickly as individuals
- learn in variety of ways, by watching, listening, imitating, doing things
- are not able to understand grammatical rules and explanations about language
- try to make sense of situations by making use of non-verbal clues
- talk in their mother tongue about what they understand and do – this helps them learn
- can generally imitate the sounds they hear quite accurately and copy the way adults speak
- love to play and use their imagination
- are comfortable with routines and enjoy repetition
- have quite a short attention span and so need variety (Slattery, Willis, 2006) The above list includes psychological and perceptional factors which affect students in this group when they learn any subjects Having awareness of these characteristics, teachers will be able to find the most suitable methods for the students
1.2.2 Techniques to teach grammar to young learners
Unlike adults, children are not self-motivated to learn English, their world is their daily games, events of interest to them, and teachers should capitalize their curiosity, the desire to play and explore Teaching must be planned in such a way that learning becomes an interesting, at times even entertaining process Developing such interest will lead children to a spontaneous use of language forms The teacher‟s participation in games and activities helps children to overcome any inhibitions they may have If we want teaching to be successful we should consider the learners‟ interests and motivations, because they will pay more attention if they are motivated
In Teacher books of the series Tieng Anh 3, 4, 5 which are using in Vietnamese primary schools, the authors provided helpful recommendation for teachers “Young learners of English begin their English grammar learning based on formulaic sequences and unanalyzed chunks of language met in the context of dialogues, readings, chants, songs, rhymes, stories, and games Through activities, students develop a sense of achievement and gradually transfer chunks to new contexts and use them creatively One way to enable students‟ language awareness is drawing their attention to specific language pattern or features of grammatical forms and, if necessary, comparing or contrasting these with other patterns and forms in Vietnamese The appropriate steps to be used to teach students are:
Focusing students‟ attention on the new grammatical patterns in the texts;
Playing the recording for students to listen and follow in their books, and asking them some questions to check their comprehension;
Playing the recording again for students to listen the second time;
Providing models for students to practice the new grammatical item in a spoken or written activity, using the cued pictures or prompts in their books;
Reinforcing the new grammatical item with a variety of spoken and written activities.” (Teachers‟ book)
Indeed, teaching grammar to young learners is not an easy job Teachers need to use different techniques to teach structures without reducing students‟ happiness and comfortableness In a limited time in class, much more pressure will be put on teachers‟ shoulders if he/she really wants their students understand and use grammar well
1.3 Previous studies on teaching grammar to young learners
While there have been many studies working teaching English vocabulary in primary schools, numbers of studies, which also paid attention to teaching grammar to young learners, have been introduced recently
In 2009, a study named “Grammatical awareness among Primary School English language teachers” was launched in GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies by Munir Shuib from School of Humanities, University Sains Malaysia In particular, the study examined the English language teachers‟ nature and level of grammatical awareness He emphasized that teachers‟ low grammatical awareness can influence students‟ grammar competency The study had valuable findings;
In 2010, Le Thi Ngoc Phuong reported a study entitled “An investigation into teaching English grammar to children learning English as the second language at primary level in Da Nang.” The research was conducted to explore how English grammar was taught to children learning English as a second language at primary level and to study factors influencing grammar teaching and to offer some suggestions to help improve grammar instruction The study was carried out in larger scale involving many teachers and students at different schools in Da Nang
Moreover, the schools are using two textbooks Let‟s learn English and Let‟s Go
In 2011, a study named “Effectiveness of using games in teaching grammar to young learners” was designed as a descriptive study with the aim of exploring the beliefs and habits of Turkish EFL teachers‟ towards using games in young learners‟
English classes The author found that while Turkish EFL teachers accepted the effectiveness of using games in grammar teaching, they did not use games as frequently as expected in their classrooms However, the study only pointed out the problem without any particular solutions or suggestions
In 2012, Alexandra Povjakalová from Masaryk University in Brno conducted the study named “Teaching Grammar to Young Learners using Interactive Whiteboard” The main aim of his work is to design teaching objects for Interactive Whiteboard to teach English grammar in the 5th grade of primary school and to find out how this technical tool helps learners in the complex process of education In this study, the author approved the use of modern technology in today‟s schools, particularly Smart Board or Interactive Board, which can raise students‟ motivation in learning grammar because he found that grammar is still taught in standard way where students sit passively working with their books and worksheets 21 teaching objects including useful activities were designed to provide teachers with available interesting lessons to teach grammar in a new way However, this can be said a kind of expensive solution which is hard to apply widely in Vietnamese schools
One more study which also investigated into teaching grammar communicatively was implemented by Vuong Thi Hai Yen in 2008 Although focusing on Ethnic Minority students at Ha Giang Medical Secondary School, the research provided many valuable findings about the application of CLT in teaching English grammar in Vietnam
In the scope of this study, I conduct the research on real situation of English grammar teaching of primary school teachers to students of grade 4 and grade 5
The study focuses on finding out problems in teachers‟ methodology and conception of teaching grammar in CLT Finally, I am going to suggest some teaching techniques which are effective and easy to apply in Vietnamese primary schools in order to improve the situation
In this chapter, an overview of grammar and grammar teaching is considered
Useful techniques to teach grammar are also mentioned in detail Teacher, however, find it difficult to teach grammar to young learners because of their insufficient development of psychology and perception Therefore, to improve the effectiveness of students‟ learning grammar, there is a need for great effort from teachers
Teachers should adjust their way of teaching so that it is not only easy to understand but also can motivate students to learn grammar better.
Previous study on teaching grammar to young learners
The study was carried out with case study methodology According to Yin
(1984), a case study is an inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident, and in which multiple sources of evidence are used Dobson
(1981) also described “The most common type of case study involves the detailed description and analysis of an individual subject, from whom observations, interviews, and histories provide the database.” Talking about characteristics of case study, Merriam (1988) stated that “Case studies are particularistic, descriptive, and heuristic and rely heavily on inductive reasoning in handling multiple data sources
This case study was implemented with the aim of conducting a deep investigation into the real situation of English grammar teaching of the two teachers at Anh Dung primary school
2.1 Participants and setting of the study 2.1.1 Participants
The participants are 2 teachers who are teaching English at Anh Dung primary school Both of them are female; one is married, one is single The older teacher is Ms Pham Thanh H who has 8 year experience in teaching English
However, she has been working with primary school students for 2 years Before that she taught in an English center Now she is teaching 8 classes with 16 periods per week The younger one who has just graduated from university, Ms Tran Thi T, is the teacher in 7 classes Both of them are qualified enough to teach primary school students
Methodology
Participants and setting of the study
The participants are 2 teachers who are teaching English at Anh Dung primary school Both of them are female; one is married, one is single The older teacher is Ms Pham Thanh H who has 8 year experience in teaching English
However, she has been working with primary school students for 2 years Before that she taught in an English center Now she is teaching 8 classes with 16 periods per week The younger one who has just graduated from university, Ms Tran Thi T, is the teacher in 7 classes Both of them are qualified enough to teach primary school students
Besides, the study was carried out among 40 students who are randomly chosen from class 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B
The study is conducted at Anh Dung primary school in Duong Kinh district, Hai Phong city This is a small school with about 600 students and 24 teachers of all subjects As other schools, English is obligated for students from grade 3 to grade 5
The students have 2 periods of English per week most of which are arranged in one school day
The course books used are Tieng Anh 3, 4, 5 approved by the Ministry of Education and Training in August, 2010 The book follows a systematic, cyclical and them-based syllabus with twenty units of familiar topics Each unit consists of three lessons each of which provides materials for two periods of class contact
However, in reality, teachers only have 1 period of 35 minutes for each lesson
Without any exception, the observed classes also happened in that period of time with a lot of activities Because of some school‟s activities, the two teachers did not follow the same schedule Teacher H taught lesson 1 of unit 20 while teacher T taught lesson 1 of unit 16
In every lesson 1, a new topic is introduced with chosen vocabulary and target sentence patterns The lesson is divided into 4 parts:
- Look, listen, and repeat: This part is colorful illustrated to set up the situation in which English is used The input language is presented in the form of a dialogue or conversation
- Look and say: The second part picks out the model sentences to be learnt
Besides, it provides words/phrases of related topic which can be used to practice the model sentences by substitution technique It means in this part teachers have to teach both vocabulary and grammar, including the presentation and practice
- Talk: This part provides students with an opportunity to speak English freely, using the recently practiced language in different contexts It also helps to reinforce students‟ understanding and memory
- Listen and tick/ listen and number: Last, a listening task is provided to reinforce all the things they have learnt during the lesson
In the next two lessons, all four skills - reading, writing, listening, speaking – are practiced Phonics is also paid attention to Especially, vocabulary and structures are continued to develop
During a school year, students have 2 mid-term tests and two final tests All of them are in written form with typical exercises such as choose the best answer, rewrite the sentences, complete the sentences, read and answer questions.
Data collection
To identify the problems, instruments were chosen They are: Class observation, Teacher interview, Questionnaire for students a Class observation
Each teacher had two periods of 35 minutes to be observed I came to class and recorded all activities of the lesson from the beginning to the end Simply, a camera was used in order to catch every important action and word The result of the observation will reveal real situation of grammar teaching in the school b Teacher interview
Teachers were also interviewed with 6 questions about their awareness toward grammar teaching in primary school Question 1 explores teachers‟ knowledge of English teaching for young learners in Vietnamese in general In this question, teachers were asked about how English is taught in primary school and what matter teachers should take into consideration while working with children.Question 2 examines teachers‟ methodological knowledge when asking about steps in teaching grammar basing on PPP model The answers of teachers will be used to compare with their real teaching The next question requires teachers to report main methods and techniques they are applying in teaching grammar The answers of question 4 and 5 reveals problems and difficulties teachers often meet when teaching grammar to primary school students And the last question asked teachers to tell what they need to support their grammar teaching c Questionnaire to students
In order to examine the truth value of teachers‟ answer, a questionnaire including 8 questions was designed for students in observed classes They are all multiple choice questions and written in Vietnamese so that students can understand and answer them The first two questions ask students about their awareness of English learning Question 3 explores teachers‟ use of fun activities and games in class The next 4 questions are the most important ones because their answers will reflect the ways in which teachers often teach grammar in the school The last question asks about form of assessment of the subject
2.2.2 Data collection procedure a Implementing class observation and teacher interview
After deciding to study the teachers at Anh Dung primary school, I had a formal meeting with them to present my intention The aims and scope of the study were also introduced The most important thing is how to persuade them to agree to be observed The study was carried out at the end of the school year when teachers and students were out of examination pressure Moreover, teachers were explained that the results of class observation and interview were used for scientific purpose only, not related to their work at school
The class observation was implemented first in order to get an honest picture of teachers‟ grammar teaching Teachers would teach normal lessons in their normal ways I sat at the last table in class and recorded all activities of the lesson by a digital camera without any participation or interruption
The interview was conducted after each teacher was observed 2 classes All the questions were about English teaching theory and teachers‟ real experiences At first, I tended to ask in English; however, the teacher wanted to answer in Vietnamese because this would be easier for them to express their ideas Their answers which was used later to compare with their teaching were recorded by a mobile phone b Conducting questionnaire for students
The questionnaire for students was the last instrument to be conducted The chosen students were those who belonged to observed classes As predicted, a very carefully and thoroughly explanation was given in order to make sure the young children all understand what to do and how to do I instructed students to answer question by question After about 30 minutes, the results were collected
To find out he answers for research questions, the collected data need to be analyzed and evaluated carefully
First, teachers‟ answers in the interview which were recorded by a mobile phone were transcribed later What they presented was compared with theoretical knowledge and recent trend of teaching English in the country to clarify their awareness of the subject Moreover, their own opinions and teaching habits were also shown clearly when answering different questions These points would be considered in order to see whether they were reflected in their real teaching and how they influenced on their teaching Besides, the problems that teachers often meet when teaching grammar were studied to find out the reasons and best solutions for those
Second, the class observation results which are the most difficult things to analyze were brought under the lights Of course, not all aspects of the teaching were necessarily worked on However, I mostly focused on how teacher taught students a new sentence pattern in each part of a PPP lesson, including presentation, practice, and production In the comparison with theoretical background, teachers‟ weaknesses would be revealed Furthermore, I would consider the influence of teachers‟ teaching and students‟ learning to figure out what is the real reason for all the problems
Last, students‟ responses which were really honest were very important to be concerned because these will be evidences to make sure what the teacher said were trustworthy The number of chosen answers would be presented by percentage which was easier for the readers to imagine Here, I would know more about the real situation of grammar teaching and learning
The methodology in which the study was carried out has just been presented in this chapter This is a case study with the 2 main participants who were teachers at Anh Dung primary school However, to clarify the problem, three different instruments were used involving both teachers and students of the school The data was collected directly in classroom in several days The results which were analyzed thoroughly will be given in the next chapter with further discussion.
Findings, discussion and suggestions
Findings and discussion
The teacher interview and questionnaire for students aim at finding out teachers‟ awareness of teaching English grammar to primary students Being asked
6 questions about English teaching in Vietnam in general and grammar teaching in detail, the two teachers had some similar and also different answers a Teachers’ responses on how English is taught in Vietnamese primary school
First, the interview started with the question about how English is taught at primary school Both of the teachers reported that teaching English for primary school students is to aim at getting students acquaintanted with a foreign language and a different culture In classroom, teachers should pay more attention to teaching communicative skills About this matter teacher H said that besides speaking and listening, the two other skills also need to be considered whereas teacher T added phonics as another issue According to teacher H, teachers should not neglect reading and writing skill because, at the present, English tests are mainly in written form They also shared that teaching very young students is a hard job because they always like exciting activities but are easy to get distracted, or they can remember things really fast but quickly forget them later Therefore, they should not be taught in the way adults are taught And teachers have to play the role of very enthusiastic and patient guides who can get all students involved in all the activities of the lessons b Teachers’ responses on how English grammar should be taught to primary school students
The second question whose responses will be used to compare with teachers‟ teaching to see what the problems are is actually aimed to check teachers‟ methodological knowledge Several sub-questions about teaching activities and teachers‟ role basing on a PPP model lesson were suggested in order to help them communicative activities and games in practice and production stage In the former stage, teacher controlled the whole class working tightly In the latter one, this controlling should be reduced and students should speak more freely However, in the presentation stage the two teachers shared different views While teacher H said teachers should not analyze the information of a sentence with such elements as S,
V, O, …, teacher T answered they should For teacher H, primary school students are too young to understand such linguistics terms Teacher should only make a model sentence for repetitions and substitution drills On the other hand, teacher T said students need to know those in order to compare with their equivalents in Vietnamese Although processing some different points of view, they both agree that teachers should be the people who introduce the structures to save time and they should explain such things as usage, form, meaning, and phonics c Teachers’ response on methods and techniques
The two teachers were quite hesitant when answering the question about which methods and techniques they are applying in teaching grammar They just said they were using communicative methods with mostly interactive speaking and listening in the form of pair work or group work As reported, teachers only follow tasks in textbooks beginning with a dialogue, teaching model sentences, and then practicing them by asking and answering with a partner Game is said to be a time- wasting activity so that it is rarely used in classroom Teacher T added that the important thing is how to explain and instruct students to work rightly According to her, teacher should give a clear and simple presentation about target structures including its form, usage…Giving as many examples as you can in the allowance of time because this can help students to understand better than your words d Teachers’ responses on problems they often meet when teaching grammar
As reported, the students of both two teachers do not remember all the structures they have learnt Many of them often forget or confuse model sentences after the lessons Some even cannot use the structures well in class The teachers too many things to teach in 35 minutes While the text book is designed with 6 periods for each unit, teachers only have a half of the time in reality e Teachers’ responses on what they need to support their grammar teaching
When being asked about what the teachers need to support their grammar teaching, they just said that the school‟s leaders should distribute more time/periods for English subject Besides, they also need to be trained on some techniques or activities of teaching grammar
In conclusion, the two teachers have had some general ideas of English teaching methodology Basically, they know how to teach young learners and their roles in a PPP lesson However, they did not agree with each other on the views of teaching grammar Teacher H said any analysis about form is unnecessary because students can easily repeat model sentences and make a similar one by replacing information On the other hand, teacher T always pointed out separate sentence elements in the new structures However, both of the two teachers seemed to have little things to say about their methods and techniques To know more about this, we will consider the result of class observation which may reveal the real grammar teaching in the school
3.1.2 The results of class observation
In order to have better understanding of how English grammar is taught in Anh Dung primary school, I observed some classes of two teachers and recorded all the activities during the lessons After four class observations, the real situation of grammar teaching was clearly identified with several certain problems which need to be improved in the future Moreover, students were also asked questions to ensure the observation result was reliable a Teachers’ using of traditional method in presentation stage
Teaching foreign structures to children is not an easy task because they have not been ready for linguistics terms yet The simpler the explanation is, the more easily they understand However, a presentation with insufficient knowledge makes the structure unusable to students
In reality, the way of presenting grammar of each teacher is very different
The two observed teachers‟ teaching showed some problems which need to be improved
First, teacher H‟s presentation is revealed She said to the students in Vietnamese:
Teacher H: “Today, I am going to teach you a new structure To ask for the way to somewhere, we use the question: „Where‟s + (the place you want to go to)?‟
And the answer is: „It‟s + (position).‟ Ok, now…example…if I want to ask the way to Hoa Mai primary school, how can I ask?”
Then she called a student to answer:
Ngan: “Where‟s primary school Hoa Mai?”
Teacher: Wrong… Where‟s Hoa Mai primary school? And then, how to answer?… We show directions: Go straight ahead It‟s on your right.”
Then she repeated the target structure:
Teacher: “To ask for the way to somewhere, we use the question: „Where‟s + (the place you want to go to)?‟ And the answer: „It‟s + (position)‟ Ok, now the whole class read after me the example ….”
The example was read one time only After that, teacher asked students to practice the structure with four pictures in the book
As being observed, teacher H started to teach new structure from the meaning, then the form, the pronunciation, and example comes the last Teacher was the person who talked all the time and provided everything Students just sat and listened; however, it was not sure to say they all understood
The second teacher, Miss T, also presented in Vietnamese:
Teacher: “Ok, the question today is „What‟s the matter with you?‟ Now class, listen and repeat „What‟s the matter with you?‟ … Again… Louder….Ok, this question is used to ask about other people‟s health matter Now, look at the board.”
Then she wrote the structure on the board
Teacher: “To answer this question, I have the subject „I‟, the verb is „ve got‟
Now listen and repeat „ I‟ve got‟ Again…again…Ok After this phrase, we use a noun to describe a health matter But we need an article „a‟ or „an‟ before that noun
In the dialogue in your book, Tom has got a headache, we will say
„I‟ve got a headache.‟ Now, listen and repeat „ I‟ve got a headache.‟ Again…again
To talk about other matters, we replace the names of illnesses to the blank after „I‟ve got‟ Now I will ask question, and you answer with the words of illnesses which are printed in the flashcards that I point to
T: „ What‟s the matter with you?‟ …S: „I‟ve got a headache.‟
T: „ What‟s the matter with you?‟ …S: „I‟ve got a backache.‟
T: „ What‟s the matter with you?‟ …S: „I‟ve got a cold.‟
Alright, let‟s practice the structure with pictures in your book.”
Differently from Miss H, teacher T presented grammar structures from the pronunciation, the meaning, the form, to the examples However, teacher‟s talking time still held the longest length of time More noticeably, she used many linguistic concepts such as subject, verb, noun, articles while analyzing the form of the answer This can make the knowledge more complicated to students and actually is unnecessary to be introduced
Suggestions on improving teachers‟ grammar teaching in Anh Dung
3.2.1 Raising teachers’ awareness of teaching grammar in CLT
The first and very important thing which is necessary to teachers is the knowledge of CLT Through interview and class observation, it is clear that teacher have an insufficient understanding of CLT purpose and methodology CLT is a communicative approach which aimed to develop communicative competence It does not mean teachers only teach speaking without grammar and using pair-work as much as possible Grammar should be taught in an appropriate way so that students can understand and use it in real life situations Teacher should not only exploit tasks in textbooks but also design a variety of activities to help students practice However, an overuse of games in classroom also does potential harms when students do not learn anything Moreover, CLT can also be considered learner-centre approach in which teachers‟ roles are different from those in the traditional ones Breen and Candlin (cited in Richards and Rodgers (1986) [13]) claim: “The teacher has two main roles: the first role is to facilitate the communication process between all participants in the classroom, and between these participants and the various activities and texts The second role is to act as an independent participant within the learning-teaching group…A third role for the teacher is that of researcher and learner, with much to contribute in terms of appropriate knowledge and abilities, actual and observed experience of the nature of learning and organizational capacities.”
Possibly, educational institutions should hold more teachers training programs which focus on providing teachers with CLT knowledge and teaching methods CLT may be more interesting and fun, but definitely not easy to apply when teachers do not know it well If our teachers know what CLT actually is, they may be more confident to use given tasks textbook as well as self-designed activities in their classroom
In this part, I would like to recommend some useful techniques and activities which teachers can apply in classroom It is important to say that teachers are recommended to apply PPP approach to their lesson It means they need to follow three stages: Presentation, Practice, and Production a In presentation stage
To improve teachers‟ weaknesses in the presentation stage, teachers should sit together and discuss the techniques employed for introducing new structures so teaching, teachers should follow these following steps:
- Give students chances to explore target structures in the provided contex:
Our textbooks which are designed basing on communicative approach created many dialogues at the beginning of every lesson with the aim of setting the context in which sentence patterns were used Teachers, therefore, need to do only one more job that is to ask students to find out the structure instead of introducing it themselves
- Focus students’ attention on target structures through listening: After students speak out the sentence patterns, teachers should play the recordings several times (2 or 3 times is appropriate) to focus the attention of the whole class In the case that many other students are too slow to complete teacher‟ requirement, it is the right time to help them recognize the target language Listening first will help the learners to understand the meaning communicated by the structures Moreover, listening provides natural sounds and intonation of the sentence patterns which is also very important to learn
- Ask students’ simple questions to explicit the target structure: From the illustrated pictures and the listening, students can understand the context in which the target structures were used Quickly, they can produce some general ideas about the grammatical phenomenon they are going to learn Teacher and students can exchange in Vietnamese the usage and the form of the sentence pattern
- Represent and reinforce necessary knowledge of the target structure:
After the discussion, teachers need to represent knowledge of the target structure in simple words to make sure all the students understand and use it well Such matter as usage, form, phonics (pronunciation, stress, intonation) should be always mentioned Necessarily to remember, complicated linguistics terms such as present simple tenses, continuous aspect, third person singular… should be avoided in primary classroom because students are not ready to understand them After that, teachers can ask the whole class to repeat the sentence patterns several times and giving similar examples
As suggested above, teachers do not need to talk much during the lesson but asking and listening more to students CLT teachers often step backward and observe student‟s performance Moreover, students may feel more interested, active, and confident in English class when their ideas are always appreciated by teachers b In practice stage
In this stage, teachers only are the guiders who give instructions and correct students‟ mistakes
- Giving instructions: Many teachers often fail to give effective instructions for students in EFL classroom Mainly, they fall into two problems: their words are either too complicated or too cursory to understand Therefore, teachers should prepare their words carefully in order to get students to know what to do and how to do The instructions should be produced in simple English sentences together with actions or body language For speaking drills with suggested words/phrases in textbook, teachers should always make some model sentences before students‟ practice If teachers give clear instructions, students may have less chance to make mistakes
- Mistake correction: CLT exploits a lot of interactive activities such as pair- work, group-work… However, only completing those activities is not enough More importantly, teachers have to realize and correct students‟ mistakes which are unavoidable in any EFL classroom This is precious time for students to learn from their own mistakes Teachers who have a higher proficiency of English language should firstly never be angry or impatient Students, especially at this age, can learn things quickly but then forget them quickly We cannot expect them to use the target structures which have just presented in last some minutes without any difficulties Second, teachers should take notes all the students‟ mistakes instead of interfering while students are practicing Sometimes, teachers may give other students priority to find problems in their classmates‟ sentences Third, the correction should be done in front of the whole class to ensure everyone knows what the c In production stage
Different dynamic exercises should be introduced to practice grammar in a very spontaneous way in order to give the learners enough input to memorize structures Nursery rhymes, riddles, songs, story-telling, role-plays, games, crossword puzzles could be very helpful and efficient in practicing any grammar structures Physical activity combined with oral performance is an ideal solution as young learners enjoy being physically active Total physical response - or as Vilke (see in Andraka & Bogdanić, 2004) says, total emotional response - is very important in teaching young learners because they learn spontaneously, with all their senses included, so saying and at the same time doing it is far more effective than just producing something orally Since young learners may easily get bored or tired, making them physically active can help to keep their concentration and energy (Andraks and Bogdanić 2004)
In this paper, I would like to share some interesting but effective activities in teaching grammar in CLT from my own experience
(1) Board Game/ Snake Game: This is a fun game to practice or revise any structures Teacher draws a large snake on the board and divides its body into a number of squares (at least 15) In each square write a letter as a prompt to the category of question Children in the class are divided into two teams Individuals from each team must answer questions dictated by a square on the board and shake the dice to take more steps Which team reaches the finish line first will be the winner The game can be held in a large class with little preparation
(2) Cross the river: Two students from two other sides of an imaginary bridge try to cross the river by answering teacher‟s questions When teacher utters the question, the fastest one to give right answer will take one more step The game continue until two students meet each other at the same point on the bridge, then they have to play “Rock, paper, scissors” to decide which one will stay It always attracts students from the beginning to the last minutes because of competitive and nervous environment when waiting to know who will fall down
(3) Guessing Game: It is not a new game but always effective in a large class By asking a limited number of questions, the two teams have to guess the words or names in the cards which is being held in the chosen student‟s hands
(4) Act out/ Silent movie: Act out is also a familiar game in primary classroom However, teacher should raise the level of difficulty by requiring students to make completed sentences about the activities instead of only yelling out the phrases
Recapitulation
This paper was aimed at investigating real grammar teaching at Anh Dung primary school Aspiring to find out the reasons for the problem that young students often meet difficulties in remembering and using English structures, I conducted a case study with the assistance of three research instruments including class observation, interview for teachers, and questionnaires for students The findings of the research reveal interesting facts about teachers‟ awareness and teaching methodology and result in doable suggestions on improving grammar teaching in the school.
Conclusions
Teaching grammatical structures of a foreign language to such young learners is definitely not an easy job The period of 35 minutes in class is a short time for students to practice and produce target structures Moreover, children at this age possess a short span of attention and memory so that they are always attracted by many other interesting things of the outside world At first, I thought those are the main obstructions which lead to low effectiveness of grammar learning among primary school students However, after analyzing all the data, I can conclude that teachers‟ teaching had the greatest influence on the causes of the problems While they said that they applied CLT in teaching grammar, their real teaching did not show that
First, teachers used traditional method in presentation stage Students‟ talking time and participation in exploring new sentence patterns were limited while teachers played the role of the presenter all the time of this stage Teachers thought that initiating in presenting knowledge would save much time Actually, that brought more harm than good when students became passive and unmotivated in the lesson Moreover, teachers‟ explanation with the use of linguistics terms made the knowledge more difficult for students to understand None of them followed proper steps in teaching grammar in CLT
Second, teachers did not provide enough practice for students so that they often forgot the full structures after 35 minute lesson Beside substitution drills in textbook, teachers almost did not prepare other activities After requiring students to work in pairs with a cursory instruction and very little help, teachers called each pair to present their work as a way of spending time Learning atmosphere was boring and uncompetitive because it was not a real CLT classroom Students could not use the target structures well because they were not practiced in real-life situations
Third, after students‟ practice, teachers corrected mistakes inappropriately The problem here is teachers did not name the mistakes to the whole class but fixed individual‟s wrong sentences themselves It also means the majority of students had no chance to recognize normal mistakes and know how to make them right As the result, students kept making mistakes and teachers used much time to correct them
The last finding is teacher did not recycle learnt structures frequently There are actually many chances that teachers could ask students to recall sentence patterns they have learnt However, in all observed lessons, both of the two teachers did not implement this While teachers often claimed that students‟ forgetfulness was because of students‟ psychological and perceptional characteristics, they actually had not completed their duty well yet
In short, all the inappropriate work that teachers at Anh Dung primary school have done is due to their mis-conception of the teaching approach they are applying
Actually, they did not understand what CLT really means so that they did not pay attention to students‟ roles and benefits in learning process Speaking in pairs or groups is not totally CLT Teachers need to work harder in preparing the lessons so that students will be provided as many as possible opportunities to explore, practice, and produce target sentences in suitable contexts
From the important findings, I recommended useful suggestions to improve grammar teaching at Anh Dung primary school First of all, teachers need to learn themselves or be trained more about CLT so that they know exactly what they should do in their English classroom Teachers have to mater key principles in teaching English in general and teaching grammar in particular using communicative approach Basing on the theoretical foundation, teacher may know how to adjust their methods to make grammar lesson more effective Provincial Department of Education and Training should pay more attention to provide knowledge of CLT before introducing practical activities to teachers In details, I suggested principle steps in presenting grammar and communicative activities to practice grammar which are suitable to be implemented at Anh Dung primary school When teaching a new structure, teachers should always remember to give examples in real context before asking students to guess its use Listening always precedes form The explanation should be clear and simple enough to understand, but still informative to use The appearance of linguistics terms should be limited as much as possible And the more students practice, the more they understand and remember the structures Teachers need to think and create variety of activities for students to practice and produce sentence patterns they have learnt Finally, no matter what teachers do, they always need to reduce teachers‟ talking time and increase students‟ participation.
Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study
of time, I would be able to find out more specific reasons for shortcomings in teacher‟s grammar teaching at Anh Dung primary school Basing on those facts, I would suggest more practical solutions which support teachers effectively in their real teaching
Last but not least, some recommendations are given with hope to achieve more benefits for teaching English at the school in terms of CLT application Further studies may focus on following topics:
- The CLT application in teaching other aspects: reading, listening, vocabulary and writing
- The disadvantages of CLT in attaining its educational goals
- The helpful techniques to build student‟ learning habits in terms of CLT application
These recommendations should be accomplished with the purpose of improving English teaching at the school
1 Andraka, Bogdanić (2004) Marija Andraka, Spomenka Bogdanić, "Ništa kontra gramatike", Zbornik Učiteljske akademije u Zagrebu, Vol 6, No 1., Zagreb 2004, 71-77
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1 Hoang Van Van (2012), Tieng Anh 3, Teacher book, Ministry of Education and Training, Hanoi
2 Hoang Van Van (2012), Tieng Anh 4, Teacher book, Ministry of Education and Training, Hanoi
3 Hoang Van Van (2013), Tieng Anh 5, Teacher book, Ministry of Education and Training, Hanoi
1 How is English taught in Vietnamese primary school?
- What are the aims of teaching English for primary school students?
- What are the psychological matters that teachers should take into consideration while teaching English to primary school students?
- What is teachers‟ role? What are students supposed to perfrom in class?
- Should teachers teach English for primary school students in such the way teaching for adult beginners?
- What skills should teachers pay more attention while teaching English for primary school students?
2 How should grammar be taught for primary school students?
- Should teachers always introduce the structures?
- Should teachers analyze all the sentence elements like S, V, O …?
- What should teacher explain to students? (usage, form, ?)
- What kinds of activities should teachers provide students?
- Should teachers use games to practice target structures?
- What should teacher do before, while and after students‟ practice?
- What kinds of activities should teachers provide students?
- Are they different from activities of the practice stage?
- What is the teacher‟s role?
3 What methods and techniques are you applying in teaching grammar in your classes?
4 Do you think your students understand well and remember all sentence patterns you have taught them? Can they use the learnt sentence patterns well?
5 What difficulties you have encountered while teaching English grammar to your students?
6 What do you need to support your grammar teaching?
` Các em thân mến, dưới đây là những câu hỏi về việc dạy ngữ pháp tiếng Anh của các thầy cô giáo ở trường của các em Hãy trả lời các câu hỏi bằng việc khoanh tròn vào các đáp án đúng Câu trả lời của các em hoàn toàn chỉ phục vụ cho mục đích nghiên cứu và không ảnh hưởng đến mọi kết quả học tập và rèn luyện của các em
1 Các em có thích học môn Tiếng Anh không? a Rất thích c Bình thường b Thích d Không thích
2 Vì sao các em thích học môn Tiếng Anh? a Vì môn học thú vị, hấp dẫn c Vì môn tiếng Anh rất quan trọng b Vì cô giáo cho chơi nhiều trò chơi d Vì dễ được điểm cao
3 Ở trên lớp giáo viên dạy tiếng Anh có thường xuyên tổ chức các trò chơi và hoạt động học tập mới, vui nhộn cho các em không? a Thường xuyên c Ít khi
4 Giáo viên dạy các mẫu câu mới cho các em thế nào? a Giáo viên giới thiệu mẫu câu rồi giải thich b Giáo viên để em tự tìm mẫu câu mới trong bài và đoán ý nghĩa dựa vào tình huống trong sách
5 Giáo viên thường giải thích những gì về mẫu câu mới cho các em? (Câu hỏi này các em có thể chọn nhiều phương án trả lời) a Cách dùng b Cấu tạo c Phát âm, ngữ điệu
6 Giáo viên giúp các em luyện tập mẫu câu vừa mới học như thế nào? Câu hỏi này các em có thể lựa chọn nhiều đáp án a Đọc đồng thanh nhiều lần câu hỏi và câu trả lời c Luyện tập thông qua trò chơi vui nhộn b Hỏi đáp theo bài tập trong sách giáo khoa d Làm bài tập viết
7 Giao viên có thường xuyên kiểm tra lại các mẫu câu đã học không? a Hiếm khi c Thường xuyên b Thỉnh thoảng d Rất thường xuyên
8 Các bài kiểm tra của các em diễn ra dưới hình thức nào? a Viết c Kết hợp cả hình thức viết và phỏng vấn b Phỏng vấn, hỏi đáp d.Hình thức khác: thuyết trình, đóng kịch…
Cám ơn sự tham gia giúp đỡ của các em Chúc các em học tốt
Teacher: Pham Thi H Date of observation: 20/5/2014
Class: 5A Unit 20: Finding the way
Size: 35 Lesson 1: Asking for and giving direction
Time Teacher’s activities Students’ activities
- T introduces the title of the new lesson and asks Ss to repeat
- T checks old lesson: asks Ss to write words of unit 19
- T asks the whole class to repeat the words
- Ss listen and repeat the title of the lesson
- Ss write words on the board
- T teaches vocabulary in the conversation
- T reads the conversation twice, and then asks students to repeat
“ Today, I am going to teach you a new structure To ask for the way to somewhere, we use the question:
- T asks one student to make an example
- T represents the structure and its use
- T asks Ss to practice asking and answering questions to find ways to different places using the learnt structure
- T calls on each pairs to make up sentences (Many Ss cannot make up sentences)
- T corrects mistakes and asks Ss to repeat
- When all the pairs have presented,
- T asks Ss to write all the sentences they have made on their notebook
- One student make an example
- Pairs present their work in turn
- T explains the requirements of task
- T asks Ss to study the pictures and read the incomplete sentences silently before listening
- T lets Ss listen twice and do the task
- T asks for the answers and checks
- Study the pictures and read the sentences
Teacher: Pham Thi H Date of observation: 22/5/2014
Size: 35 Lesson 1: Asking about places you travelled to
Time Teacher’s activities Students’ activities
- T introduces the title of the new lesson and explains what
- T asks some questions about the - Listen and repeat pictures in their book
- T teaches vocabulary in the conversation
- T reads the conversation twice, and then asks students to repeat
“Today, I am going to teach you a new structure To ask for the place you traveled to, we use the question:
- T reads the model sentences and asks Ss to repeat
- T asks Ss to study the pictures
- T asks Ss to practice asking and answering questions in pairs
- T calls on each pairs to make up sentences
- T corrects mistakes and asks Ss to repeat
- Pairs present their work in turn
- T instructs Ss how to do the tasks
- T asks Ss to work in pairs or groups
- T asks the whole class to repeat the model sentences
- Ss listen to the instruction
- Work in pairs or groups
Teacher: Nguyen Thi T Date of observation: 21/5/2014
Class: 5B Unit 16: What‟s the matter with you?
Size: 35 Lesson 1: Asking about health problems
Time Teacher’s activities Students’ activities
- Warm-up: T holds a small game named „Hangman‟ with the key word „Health‟
- Ss play the game and find the key word
- T asks questions about the picture
What‟s the matter with you?”
- T asks Ss to repeat the questions
- T explains the meaning of the questions and how to answer it I‟ve got + (illnesses)
- T chants and asks students to repeat
- T holds a game named Mime to practice vocabulary
- T represents the structure and its use
- T asks Ss to practice asking and answering questions in pairs
- T corrects mistakes and asks Ss to repeat
- T explains the requirements of task
- T asks Ss to study the pictures
- T lets Ss listen twice and do the task
- T asks for the answers and checks
Teacher: Pham Thi H Date of observation: 23/5/2014
Size: 35 Lesson 1: Asking and answering about zoo animals
Time Teacher’s activities Students’ activities
- T hold a game: T asks Ss to tell the names of animals they know
- T introduces the title of the lesson and asks Ss to repeat
- Ss tell the name of animals they know
- T asks questions about the pictures
- T reads the conversation twice, and then asks students to repeat
- T asks Ss to practice in pairs
- T asks Ss to repeat the questions
- T explains the meaning of the questions and how to answer it
- T asks Ss to read the words using flashcards
- T chants and asks students to repeat
- T holds a game named Whisper to practice vocabulary
- T gives an example with new structures
- T asks Ss to practice asking and answering questions in pairs
- T calls on each pairs to make up sentences
- T corrects mistakes and asks Ss to
- When all the pairs have presented,
T holds a game named Mime to review vocabulary again
- T instructs Ss how to do the tasks
- T asks Ss to work in pairs or groups
- T asks the whole class to repeat the model sentences
- Ss listen to the instruction
- Work in pairs or groups
This is a modeling lesson plan for a grammar lesson which is suggested in Teacher book of Tieng Anh 5
1 Objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to ask for and giving directions
2 Teaching aids: maps, CD, cassette, flashcard, paper, worksheets, magnets
3 Anticipated problems: Students may have difficulty in giving direction using different prepositions, so that teacher should teach them how to give direction
Time Teachers’ activities Students’ activities
- Ask the whole class to read aloud the chant in page 70
2 New lesson a Look, listen, and repeat (Presentation)
- Introduce the name of new lesson and asks students for its meaning
- Ask Ss to look at pictures in part 1 and answer some questions about the pictures
How many people are there?
- Summary main ideas about the picture
- Play the tape and let Ss listen two times
- Ask the whole class to repeat, and then students to repeat in groups
- Ask Ss to find out new question and its answers in the conversation
- Play the tape twice for students to focus on the target sentence pattern
- Asks Ss to discuss the use and meaning of the question and how to answer it
- Give comment and present the
- Listen and guess the meaning of the lesson
- Look at part 1 and answer questions
- Find out the question and its answer
- Guess the use and meaning of the question and how to answer it
Giving direction ( go straight ahead, go along the street, turn left, turn right,
….It‟s on your…/between/ next to/ on the corner….)
- Ask students repeat the sentence pattern and phrases
- Asks them to give their own examples
- Correct mistakes if necessary and give comment
- Ask Ss to repeat the use, meaning, and form of the sentence pattern b Point, ask and answer (Practice)
- Ask Ss to focus on part 2 and explain the requirement of the task
- Ask Ss some questions about the pictures in this part
Opera house, Bookshop, Cinema, History museum
- Reinforce the phrases used to give direction
- Ask Ss to work in pairs practicing the sentence pattern with pictures in their books
- Go around to observe and provide help
- Retell the use, meaning and form of the sentence patterns
- Play the role and make
- Asks some student to make up sentences with the role of passengers and policemen
- Remind the whole class of common mistakes when using this sentence pattern c Talk or Other activities (Production)
- Recall the new language of the lesson today
- Ask Ss some questions for places which are close to the schools
- Ask Ss to participated in a small game:
Divide class into 3 teams Show 2 maps with only streets and roads One is stuck on the board; one is hung at the end of the class
The players of each group will stand back to the board and asks questions (Where‟s)
Teacher sticks a flashcard of a place on the map on the board The other members of groups will give the players directions
The players will listen and find the right position to stick the flashcard on the
- Play the game using target language map at the end of the class
Which team finishes first will get points
- Finally, call on some students to play the role of a tour guide to introduce about some places in their own city
- Give comment of students‟ work
- Give Ss a worksheet of the lesson
Interviewee: Ms Pham Thi Hoa
1 L: How is English taught in Vietnamese primary school?
What are the aims of teaching English for primary school students?
H: Primary school students learn English to get to know new language and then a different culture This provides them chances to integrate into the world
L: What are the psychological matters that teachers should take into consideration while teaching English to primary school students?
H: The children are really active They like participating in different activities should provide variety of learning activities in class However, children can quickly forget what they have learnt
L: What is teachers‟ role? What are students supposed to perform in class?
H: Because students are young, teacher should give careful instructions for students to know exactly what to do and how to do In class, students are supposed to form and use the target language
L: Should teachers teach English for primary school students in such the way teaching for adult beginners?
H: No That will make them feel difficult to understand They need a different method which is simple and easy to acquire
L: What skills should teachers pay more attention while teaching English for primary school students?
H: Teacher should pay more to communicate skills such as speaking and listening Besides, reading and writing skills are need to be taken into consideration because they are also important in learning and forming language Moreover, they need to read and write well in English in order to do their exercises and tests
2 L: How should grammar be taught for primary school students?
(In presentation stage, practice stage, and production stage) H: In presentation stage, teacher should introduce the new structure and get students to focus on it Students will learn new structures through repetition because the young children cannot remember as quickly as high school students Teacher should not analyze sentence elements such as S,V, O… because it is difficult to understand Teacher only give a model sentence for students to repeat and then provide new words for substitution However, teacher should give a clear presentation of the use, form and meaning of the target structures
In practice stage, I often ask them to work and interact in pairs by asking and answering questions so that they can support each other Before students‟ practice, teacher gives instruction While students are working, teacher goes around observing and taking notes mistakes After that, teacher can correct the popular mistakes
In production stage, students are still asks to communicate in pairs or groups However, teacher can raise the level of difficulty of the task and provide them more freedom in using target language Students are encouraged to talk about favorite topics using all the learnt structures Sometimes, teacher can make up a simple play for students to join In this stage, teacher‟s interference and controlling are reduced while students can create their own conversation freely
3 L: What methods and techniques are you applying in teaching grammar in your classes?
H: I often use interactive communicative method in teaching grammar In class,
I provide students chances to practice speaking and listening
4 L: Do you think your students understand well and remember all sentence patterns you have taught them? Can they use the learnt sentence patterns well?
H: No Students usually forget the learnt sentence patterns They sometimes misuse them or miss some elements of the sentence
5 L: What difficulties you have encountered while teaching English grammar to your students?
H: Because of limited time in class, students do not have enough time to practice When the amount of knowledge increases after lessons, students can easily forget or misuse the structures
6 L: What do you need to support your grammar teaching?
