INTRODUCTION
RATIONALE
In Vietnam English has played an important part in the development of technology and business nowadays It is considered as the language for international communication and as an instrument for receiving grants and aid Teaching and learning English have become more and more necessary and important because of the international integration process It is offered as a compulsory subject in the curriculum as well as the national high school examinations One of the main tasks assigned to English teaching at school is that of training students to be communicatively competent Moreover, since Vietnam entered WTO, there has been a growing awareness of the importance of and need for spoken English Especially, since school year 2008-
2009 a new educational reform has been carried out, a new National reform Curriculum has been followed in all schools in Vietnam The new textbooks “English 10,11,12” have marked real renovation in English teaching and learning from the traditional approach –Grammar translation method to communicative approach
In Vietnam, foreign language teaching in general and English language teaching in particular is said to be grammar-focused For many English teachers and students teaching English means teaching grammar There are many good reasons for this The first reason for this is the aim of the national examinations whose sole objectives is to measure candidates‟ linguistic or grammatical competence in written form Therefore, the teaching of English in secondary schools is still directed towards preparing students for such a sort of examinations Furthermore, without learning grammar, students can not communicate well, to put it another way, the language they produce is considered ungrammatical and unacceptable
However, how to teach and learn grammar effectively has been in question up to now, and has been considered as a challenge for many Vietnamese teachers of English in secondary schools Both teachers and students in schools are always faced up with many difficulties
At Viet-Ba High school, like at many other high schools in Vietnam, English has been a compulsory subject in secondary curriculum for many years I myself and other English teachers here are aware of the importance of English grammar teaching For me, finding challenges in teaching and learning Grammar in the “Language Focus” periods is one of the ways to deal with grammar more effectively in the secondary school classrooms And this would be of great help to myself as well as to other teachers This is also the reason why my thesis is entitled: “Challenges in Teaching Grammar in the “Language Focus periods” with the New English Textbook Tiếng Anh 12 at Viet-Ba High School and some Possible Solutions”
AIMS OF THE STUDY
For the reasons mentioned above, the specific aims of the study, accordingly, are:
To investigate into the challenges many teachers at Viet-Ba High school encountered in teaching grammar in the “Language Focus” periods with the New English Textbook Tiếng Anh 12
To find out some possible solutions including a variety of techniques and activities to achieve the effectiveness in teaching grammar and in order to make grammar teaching more communicative.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1 What do the teachers at Viet-Ba High school perceive of the problems in teaching Grammar to 12 th form students in the “Language Focus periods”?
2 What should be done to overcome those problems at Viet-Ba High school?
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
On the completion of the study, some advantages of both qualitative and quantitative methods were taken as the main research tools in order to seek answers for the research questions
To begin with, an extensive review of literature was conducted, critically examining grammar‟s role in language teaching and learning, some common methods used in teaching grammar and their influences on teaching and learning grammar
Sources of data were collected, involving the teachers in Viet-Ba High school in order to achieve the aims of the study
Questionnaires: Conducting a survey questionnaire to investigate teachers‟ evaluative comments and their attitudes towards teaching English grammar to 12 grade as well as their perceived challenges
Observation: Observing some classes to investigate how grammar was approached in the classroom by 2 different teachers
Interview: Interviewing 2 grade 12 th teachers to get better insights into the research questions
Data collected from the questionnaires were triangulated with classroom observation and interview All these were done at Viet-Ba High school in Hanoi.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study is limited to the area of teaching grammar in language focus periods in 12 th form at Viet-Ba High school The minor thesis is designed to deal with the challenges which teachers at Viet-Ba High school encounter during the process of teaching grammar and some possible solutions will be introduced with the aim at making grammar lessons more communicative I would like to do the research with only 6 teachers teaching 12 th form with their classes in order to find out the most effective way to teach grammar successfully
The study consists of 3 main parts, which are presented as follows:
Chapter 1 Introduction This chapter provides an overview of the study with specific reference to the rationale, the aims, the methods and the scope of the study
Chapter 2 Development This chapter is divided into four main parts
2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW This part explores the theoretical background for the thesis This part mentions to four main points related to English grammar: Definitions of grammar; the role of Grammar in foreign language teaching; Methods commonly used in teaching grammar; Grammar teaching in the light of CLT
2.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This part presents the research questions of the study, the subjects of the study, and the instruments used to collect the data
2.3 DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION This part explores a detailed description of data analysis and a discussion of the findings of the study
2.4 FINDINGS AND SOME POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS FOR BETTER TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR in the “Language Focus” TO 12 TH FORM STUDENTS AT VIET-BA HIGH SCHOOL This part presents the summary of the major findings including some possible problems in teaching English grammar encountered by teachers in Vietnam in general and at Viet-Ba High school in particular Especially, some recommendations proposed for the administrators and for the teachers teaching grammar in the upper secondary school are mentioned in this part Finally, the limitations of the study and some suggestions for further research are presented
DEVELOPMENT
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
2.4 FINDINGS AND SOME POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS FOR BETTER TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR in the “Language Focus” TO 12 TH FORM STUDENTS AT VIET-BA HIGH SCHOOL This part presents the summary of the major findings including some possible problems in teaching English grammar encountered by teachers in Vietnam in general and at Viet-Ba High school in particular Especially, some recommendations proposed for the administrators and for the teachers teaching grammar in the upper secondary school are mentioned in this part Finally, the limitations of the study and some suggestions for further research are presented
It is not easy to define exactly what grammar is Up to now many linguistics and grammarians have given out their different definitions of grammar The most important is how the term is being used in each particular context There are so many definitions of grammar but in this study I would like to list out some of the following ones
The first definition of grammar I want to mention is by “The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English” It defines grammar as the rules by which words change their forms and are combined into sentences
“There are two basic elements in this definition: the rules of grammar; and the study and practice of the rules The rules of grammar are about how words change and how they are put together into sentences The knowledge of grammar also tells the learner what to do if he wants to put the some phrase into the sentence Grammar should be called the way in which words change themselves and group together to make sentences” (Harmer, 1991, p 1)
Here is a working definition! Grammar is essentially about the systems and patterns we use to select and combine words…By studying grammar we come to recognize the structure and regularity which is the foundation of language and we gain the tools to talk about the language system (Burns, 1999, pp 4-5)
Thornbury (2001, p 2) even introduces the term “to grammar” implying that it is a process that we do as we speak and makes the analogy between product and process in terms of something finished like an omelette and the process of making it, saying that it is impossible, if you only see or taste the omelette, to be able to actually make it
Ur (1998, p 1) has given a broader definition to grammar, which is clear and easy to understand: “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”
Bastone (1994) defines grammar is multi-dimensional: grammar is a formal mechanism, a functional system from signaling meanings, or a dynamic resource which both users and learners call on in different ways at different times
Cristal (2004) gives more ideas of grammar as:
“Grammar is the structural foundation of our ability to express ourselves The more we are aware of how it works, the more we can monitor the meaning and effectiveness of the way we and others use language”
In this definition, he emphasizes the importance of grammar For him, grammar can help foster precision, detect ambiguity, and exploit the richness of expression available in English
And it can help everyone not only teachers of English, but also teachers of anything, for all teaching is ultimately a matter of getting to grips with meaning
Whatever grammar may be defined, it belongs to one of the aspects exploited by the linguistics such as grammar as social function, grammar as discourse, etc This has influence on the way to teach and select materials to teach grammar in the light of CLT Being a teacher of English, to support my teaching I have chosen three aspects of grammar below for my discussion
2.1.1.1 Grammar as rules With regard to rules, Swain (1985) coins the third category of rule: pedagogic language rules
“By „pedagogic rules” I mean rules which are designed to help foreign-language learners understand particular aspects of the languages they are studying (whether these rules are addressed directly to the learners, or to teachers and materials writers who are expected to pass on the rules to the learners in one form or another, is immaterial).‟
Here he refers to a collection of such rules, unoriginally, as a “pedagogic grammar” This term can also reasonably be applied to a collection of rules designed for students who are learning about the structure of their own language, and much of what shall I have to say is relevant to mother-tongue language instruction
Grammar and rules are the things synonymous in the minds of many teachers and learners It is obviously true because mentioning to what grammar is, many linguistics and grammarians use the words “rules” in their definitions
As defined in dictionary, grammar is the system of rules governing the conventional arrangement and relationship of words in a sentence Technically, grammar refers to sentence- level rules only, and not to rules governing the relationship among sentences, which we refer to as discourse rules
A typical definition of grammar would be 'the rules by which words change their form and are combined into sentences' or 'a book which teaches these rules' (dictionary definitions) but for the purposes of learning a language these definition are not enough