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ABSTRACTDespite the growing need for communicative skills in English due to theglobalization and the integration of Vietnam into the world‘s economy,it is reported that traditional, grammar translation method is still widelyused in Vietnam, especially in teaching English grammar. Given theimportance of grammar in both spoken and written English, grammarteaching innovations have been promoted. This thesis reports the resultsof a mixed methods study on students‘ attitudes towards an innovativeuse of communicative activities in teaching and learning Englishgrammar at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School, Hanoi, Vietnam. Thereis evidence to support that the students favored grammar learning incontext and in authentic communicative situations. The data pointed outthat communicative activities could enhance the students‘ grammaticalcompetence and their positive attitudes towards learning grammar.However, due to the pressure of national examinations and learners‘traditional learning style preference, to a lesser extent, communicativeactivities did not show their usefulness and feasibility to all students.This lends support to a more holistic approach to employ variousactivities which accommodate students‘ various needs.Keywords: Teaching grammar, Vietnam, grammartranslation methods, communicativelanguage teaching (CLT), communicative activities, English language teaching (ELT).
7 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION TRAINING MINISTRY OF EDUCATION ANDAND TRAINING HANOI UNIVERSITY HANOI UNIVERSITY - - Vũ Thúy Nga HOÀNG NGỌC HƯƠNG USING COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE GRAMMAR LEARNING: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT FOR THE 10TH GRADERS THE EFFECTS OF SEMANTIC MAPPING ON VOCABULARY AT NGUYEN THI MINH KHAI HIGH SCHOOL RETENTION OF NON-ENGLISH MAJOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS AT HANOI COMMUNITY COLLEGE: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN TESOL Supervisor : Dr.INĐặng Xuân Thu SUBMITTED PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN TESOL Hanoi, August, 2014 Table of Contents Table of Contents i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF FIGURES vii LIST OF APPENDICES viii ABSTRACT ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Aims of the study .5 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Thesis organization CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Communicative Language Teaching .8 2.2 CLT and Focus on Form 10 2.3 Is focus on form effective in the CLT classroom? 13 2.4 How the communicative activities are put into practice in Vietnamese classrooms 15 2.5 An eclectic approach to teaching grammar 17 2.6 The factors influencing Vietnamese EFL learners 18 2.6.1.The distinction between English as Second Language (ESL) and English as Foreign Language (EFL) .18 i 2.6.2 The socio-cultural and educational context of Vietnam 19 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 24 3.1 Research methods 24 3.1.1 Rationale for action research 24 3.1.2 Action research procedure 25 3.2 Setting of the study 31 3.3 Summary of the textbook ―English 10‖ 32 3.4 Participants 33 3.5 Data collection .33 3.5.1 Quantitative data .34 3.5.2 Qualitative data: semi-structured interviews 36 3.6 Data analysis 36 3.6.1 Quantitative data analysis .36 3.6.2 Qualitative data analysis 37 3.7 Reliability and validity 37 3.8 Ethical considerations 39 3.9 Summary of Chapter Three 39 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS OF DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 40 4.1 Research question .40 4.2 Research question 49 4.2.1 Students‘ attitudes towards English grammar learning before the use of communicative activities for grammar learning 49 4.2.2 The students‘ attitudes towards English grammar leaning after the use of communicative activities for grammar learning 55 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 61 5.1 Major contributions of this study 61 ii 5.2 Implications of the study 62 5.3 Limitations of the study 67 5.4 Recommendations for further studies 68 5.5 Conclusions .69 REFERENCES 72 APPENDICES 77 APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRES 77 APPENDIX 2: TESTS 80 APPENDIX 3: TABLES OF STATISTICS 86 APPENDIX 4: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND INTERVIEW QUOTES 92 APPENDIX 5: SAMPLE LESSON OF A COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITY 98 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr Dang Xuan Thu, my honorable supervisor for his constant guidance and encouragement without which the completion of this study would absolutely be impossible His patience and the amount of time he spent on revising manuscripts with muddled up contents and complicated statistics have been truly appreciated His sense of fairness, thoughtful criticism and recognition of my work have been essential to the progress and completion of this study I take this opportunity to express my thankfulness to my course instructors and lecturers of Hanoi University for their valuable advice and suggestions throughout my study I would also like to express my sincere thanks to my students of class 10BD2 in Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School for their wholehearted cooperation in completing the questionnaires, tests and participating in the interviews which helped to form a significant part of this study I am indebted to all those who have kindly advised and helped me towards the completion of my thesis Last but not least, my sincere thanks go to my family and my friends whose support has been of great significance to the success of my education endeavors iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT Communicative Language Teaching EFL English as a foreign language ELT English Language Teaching ESL English as a second language MOET Ministry of Education and Training SLA Second Language Acquisition TESOL Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages v LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: The scores of each section and total scores of pre-tests 41 Table 4.2: The results of section B of pre-tests 43 Table 4.3: Total scores of the pre-test and post-test 45 Table 4.4: The changes in scores of Section B in pre- and post-tests 48 Table 4.5: Students‘ responses from Q1-Q4 50 Table 4.6: Students‘ responses from Q5-Q7 51 Table 4.7: Students‘ responses from Q8-Q17 52 Table 4.8: Students‘ responses from Q1-Q3 55 Table 4.9: Students‘ responses from Q4-Q7 56 Table 4.10: Students‘ responses in Q8 57 Table 4.11: Students‘ responses from Q9-Q14 57 Table 4.12: Students‘ responses from Q15-Q16 58 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: One ideal research cycle (Ferrance, 2000, p.50) 26 vii LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRES 77 APPENDIX 2: TESTS 80 APPENDIX 3: TABLES OF STATISTICS 86 APPENDIX 4: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND INTERVIEW QUOTES 92 APPENDIX 5: SAMPLE LESSON OF A COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITY 98 viii ABSTRACT Despite the growing need for communicative skills in English due to the globalization and the integration of Vietnam into the world‘s economy, it is reported that traditional, grammar translation method is still widely used in Vietnam, especially in teaching English grammar Given the importance of grammar in both spoken and written English, grammar teaching innovations have been promoted This thesis reports the results of a mixed methods study on students‘ attitudes towards an innovative use of communicative activities in teaching and learning English grammar at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School, Hanoi, Vietnam There is evidence to support that the students favored grammar learning in context and in authentic communicative situations The data pointed out that communicative activities could enhance the students‘ grammatical competence and their positive attitudes towards learning grammar However, due to the pressure of national examinations and learners‘ traditional learning style preference, to a lesser extent, communicative activities did not show their usefulness and feasibility to all students This lends support to a more holistic approach to employ various activities which accommodate students‘ various needs Keywords: Teaching grammar, Vietnam, grammar-translation methods, communicative language teaching (CLT), communicative activities, English language teaching (ELT) ix APPENDIX 3: TABLES OF STATISTICS Table 4.1: The scores of each section and total scores of pre-tests ID Section A Section B Total score MK1 3.8 3.1 6.9 MK2 3.5 2.5 6.0 MK3 3.5 2.5 6.0 MK4 3.0 1.9 4.9 MK5 2.9 2.5 5.4 MK6 3.8 4.4 8.2 MK7 3.8 2.5 6.3 MK8 3.5 2.5 6.0 MK9 3.8 2.5 6.3 MK10 3.5 2.5 6.0 MK11 4.1 2.5 6.6 MK12 3.5 3.1 6.6 MK13 3.8 2.5 6.3 MK14 3.8 3.1 6.9 MK15 3.0 2.5 5.5 MK16 3.2 3.1 6.3 MK17 3.2 2.5 5.7 MK18 4.4 3.1 7.5 MK19 3.0 1.9 4.9 MK20 3.2 2.5 5.7 MK21 3.0 2.5 5.5 MK22 4.1 2.5 6.6 MK23 2.9 3.1 6.0 MK24 3.5 3.1 6.6 MK25 4.1 2.5 6.6 MK26 3.5 2.5 6.0 MK27 2.6 2.5 5.1 MK28 3.2 2.5 5.7 86 Table 4.2: The results of section B of pre-tests ID B1 MK18 4.4 MK9 3.1 MK15 3.1 MK21 3.1 MK22 3.1 MK25 3.1 MK28 3.1 MK7 3.1 MK8 2.5 MK11 2.5 MK26 2.5 MK4 2.5 MK19 2.5 MK1 2.5 MK12 2.5 MK14 2.5 MK24 2.5 MK2 2.5 MK5 2.5 MK13 2.5 MK17 2.5 MK20 2.5 MK27 2.5 MK3 2.5 MK16 2.5 MK23 1.9 MK6 1.9 87 Table 4.3: Total scores of the pre-test and post-test ID Scores of Pre-test Scores of post-test Gain MK4 4.9 7.7 2.8 MK27 5.1 7.7 2.6 MK15 5.5 8.1 2.6 MK18 7.5 10.0 2.5 MK21 5.5 8.0 2.5 MK22 6.6 9.0 2.4 MK25 6.6 9.0 2.4 MK11 6.6 9.0 2.4 MK26 6.0 8.4 2.4 MK28 5.7 8.1 2.4 MK12 6.6 9.0 2.4 MK24 6.6 9.0 2.4 MK19 4.9 7.1 2.2 MK7 6.3 8.4 2.1 MK10 6.0 8.1 2.1 MK2 6.0 8.0 2.0 MK5 5.4 7.4 2.0 MK9 6.3 8.1 1.8 MK13 6.3 8.0 1.7 MK20 5.7 7.4 1.7 MK23 6.0 7.7 1.7 MK14 6.3 8.4 1.5 MK17 5.7 7.1 1.4 MK3 6.0 7.2 1.2 MK1 6.9 8.1 1.2 MK8 7.3 8.4 1.2 MK16 6.3 7.4 1.1 MK6 8.2 8.4 0.2 88 Table 4.4: The changes in scores of Section B in pre- and post-tests ID Section B of pre-test Section B of post-test Gain MK18 3.1 5.0 1.9 MK9 2.5 4.0 1.5 MK10 2.5 4.0 1.5 MK15 2.5 4.0 1.5 MK21 2.5 4.0 1.5 MK22 2.5 4.0 1.5 MK25 2.5 4.0 1.5 MK28 2.5 4.0 1.5 MK7 2.5 4.0 1.5 MK8 2.5 4.0 1.5 MK11 2.5 4.0 1.5 MK26 2.5 4.0 1.5 MK4 1.9 3.0 1.1 MK19 1.9 3.0 1.1 MK1 3.1 4.0 0.9 MK12 3.1 4.0 0.9 MK14 3.1 4.0 0.9 MK24 3.1 4.0 0.9 MK2 2.5 3.0 0.5 MK5 2.5 3.0 0.5 MK13 2.5 3.0 0.5 MK17 2.5 3.0 0.5 MK20 2.5 3.0 0.5 MK27 2.5 3.0 0.5 MK3 2.5 2.5 0.0 MK16 3.1 3.0 -0.1 MK23 3.1 3.0 -0.1 MK6 4.4 4.0 -0.4 89 Questionnaire Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Total Agree A+SA N % N % N % N % % Q1 0 0 28.6 20 71.4 100 Q2 0 3.6 13 46.4 14 50 96.4 Q3 3.6 10.7 19 67.9 17.9 85.8 Q4 14.3 15 53.6 17.9 14.3 32.2 Q5 7.1 32.1 17 60.7 0 60.7 Q6 0 10 35.7 14 50 14.3 64.3 Q7 7.1 11 39.3 12 42.9 10.7 53.6 Q8 3.6 14.3 18 64.3 17.9 82.2 Q9 0 25 10 35.7 11 39.3 75 Q10 3.6 28.6 15 53.6 14.3 67.9 Q11 3.6 15 53.6 14.3 28.6 42.9 Q12 0 12 42.9 14 50 7.1 57.1 Q13 3.6 25 19 67.9 3.6 71.5 Q14 0 14 50 17.9 32.1 50 Q15 0 14 50 32.1 17.9 50 Q16 17 60.7 10 35.7 3.6 0 3.6 Q17 3.6 21.4 12 42.9 32.1 75 90 Questionnaire Strongly Disagree Disagree Strongly Agree Agree N % N % N % N % % Q1 0 0 12 42.9 16 57.1 100 Q2 0 3.6 15 53.6 12 42.9 96.5 Q3 0 0 14 50 14 50 100 Q4 0 0 15 53.6 13 46.4 100 Q5 0 7.1 15 53.6 11 39.3 92.9 Q6 0 3.6 15 53.6 12 42.9 96.5 Q7 0 0 15 53.6 13 46.4 100 Q8 3.6 3.6 18 64.3 28.6 92.9 Q9 0 17.9 14 50 32.1 82.1 Q10 0 3.6 16 57.1 11 39.3 96.4 Q11 0 3.6 17 60.7 10 35.7 96.4 Q12 0 3.6 17 60.7 10 35.7 96.4 Q13 0 10.7 15 53.6 10 35.7 89.3 Q14 0 10.7 16 57.1 32.1 89.2 Q15 3.6 13 46.4 12 42.9 7.1 50 Q16 10.7 11 39.3 32.1 17.9 50 91 APPENDIX 4: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND INTERVIEW QUOTES Date: 19th March 2014 (MK : Students; I: Interviewer) Question 1: I: What you learn English grammar for? Is it important in learning English? MK : Yes, grammar is very important Learning grammar provides the rules for organizing your words to form meaningful sentences If you don‘t know the grammar how can you create good sentences? MK : Grammar is surely very important It helps people comprehend or get meaning in communication MK : Grammar is the law of language It is the rules for building correct sentences So, it is very important in one‘s trial to master English MK : Using grammar for communication would be more accurate However, it will make you unable to speak fluently What is more, it seems that even native speakers sometimes break grammar rules in speaking At the moment, I learn for the future exams, especially for my entrance exam to university MK : Well, I got good scores in grammar classes That indicates my grammar is good But I don‘t think I can apply the rules of grammar I have studied I often realized that some of my utterances were not grammatical But, in my opinion, as far as my message is understood, it‘s OK MK : I think it is impossible to write well without applying grammatical rules Different from the errors you made in speaking, the errors in writing even the trivial errors, could be easily identified Thus, grammar is important in writing accurately MK : How can you combine words into sentences and arrange sentences to make a paragraph, if you don‘t know grammar? When you arrange words in correct order, you 92 will get meaningful sentence When you change the order, the meaning will change Grammar operates in all aspects of your writings MK : If your grammar is not correct, your sentence is not accurate, and people cannot understand what you mean By knowing grammatical rules, such as the agreement between the subject and the verb of a sentence, you can easily check any mistake you make in your writing So, grammar is a must in writing MK : I know it is very important to be able to communicate in English MK : Grammar teaches the rules of using the words in the right form Therefore, it will help to use the correct sentences to communicate more easily MK : Grammar helps everyone to read, write, listen and speak and understand English in general MK : Grammar helps us to speak English fluently and be able to communicate with others easily MK : Grammar helps them choose the right words when speaking Without grammar, English may not make sense MK : I want to communicate accurately I want to convey the meaning with correct English MK : English is a means of communication Question 2: I: Are you afraid of writing sentences? Do you often have full score for these test items in the test? Do you often practice it in class? MK : I am afraid of writing, especially combining words into sentences I often write incorrect grammatical sentences It seems like I forget grammatical rules as writing even though I keep them in my mind MK : I never get full scores for writing sentences in tests That‘s the difficult part to get points in tests I often leave this part 93 MK : It is very challenging and hard for me to producing sentences grammatically both in written and spoken form I have to think so long before being able to have a complete sentence It means that I have to use all the grammatical knowledge I acquire I have to notice the meaning, form and other elements like verb tenses, prepositions, and orders of words MK : Multiple choice is easy Just using basic knowledge to recognize grammar is easier than applying it to the situation or producing sentences on my own Question 3: I: How you describe the typical grammar lesson ? Do you think it is enough effective for your needs? MK : The classes usually began with the teacher‘ presentation about certain language facts It is then followed by questions and answers about the rules existed in the presentation What came next was doing exercises in groups or individually MK : First of all, teaching style here focused on explanations of grammatical rules and drills on these rules rather than conversation I don‘t think it is helpful to improve English ability I couldn‘t speak I wish to have more conversation in the class MK : For me, doing exercises related to the grammatical rules I have studied are necessary and important But the teacher seems to spend much time on checking all the textbook exercises, so learning is only doing and checking answers MK : Grammar teaching is boring I don‘t have the chance to communicate and use taught structures We had a lot of exercises, very few of which could improve my English ability I think we were not allowed to speak MK : The teacher either skipped the production stage or spent very little time on free activities because of time constraints MK : The teacher gave most of the class time on exercises in the textbook So she can‘t give more free practice to use the grammar items Furthermore, for me, drill exercises are too easy, so I often think I not need to answer I let the chance for someone else to answer 94 MK : I am just lazy to speak in the class I just wait for the teacher‘ calling MK : I think when checking answers in the textbook exercises, I can read aloud the sentences So I think I have the opportunities to use grammar in everyday conversation Question 4: I: What you think it would be effective for your learning grammar ? MK : Sometimes, I not need much explanation because I had the grammatical rules in the past I need to teach how to use them now MK : Teacher need to pay more attention in how to use English grammar MK : Doing exercises is important because it‘s the first step to remember the structures But these exercises not help improve grammar in real-life situations MK : We don‘t practice grammar enough to improve speaking skills There was no chance to speak English I wanted to it MK : Grammar is important in writing But for speaking, it doesn‘t much I want to practice grammar in writing MK : I need to see grammar in newspaper articles and other types of authentic texts to reinforce grammar MK : I imagine of an English class that when teacher uses English and students are also using English I have more chance to talk because I have to use English when I ask for something or make conversation MK : I see young people and talks in TV speaking English I meet many foreigners on the street I tried to say something even just a word But I couldn‘t talk much MK : I wish I could talk to foreigners I come across on the street I also want to listen and understand what people speak English on TV MK : It can be interesting and challenging to study by using various activities rather than only doing exercises I like looking at target structures contextually, the more real-life, and the better 95 Question 5: I: What you benefit from performing communicative activities conducted in the past 10 weeks? MK : After I finished the communicative activity, I realize that my English has improved MK : As I use English often, the process of reminding words and structures is getting faster Because I‘m getting use to it MK : We explain rules to each others, so I can memorize better MK : My friends often help me when I work with them So I am more interested in doing the activity MK : We feel more confident when speaking English structure under teacher and peers‘ guidance and support MK : Doing these activities makes it easier for us to spot mistakes and write properly in English MK : As you know, we learn English in Vietnam Though we need, to a certain degree, communicative activities to help us improve our communicative competence in the classroom, we should not discontinue the use of grammar exercises Question 6: I: What difficulties you encounter when performing communicative activities conducted in the past 10 weeks? MK : Activities require a lot of skills and knowledge Doing exercises involves just only single skill such as recognizing forms, producing a simple sentence MK : When having conversations, better students often take priority over the others in a group Good students act as a main character, thus cause de-motivation to other students 96 MK : I study for the test It is not necessary to practice other skills in the current situation I would practice these skills later MK : I know it is very important to be able to communicate in English But if I want to graduate from school, I have to pass all kinds of examinations, which are all grammar –based That is why I would rather to work on English grammar exercises MK : I like speaking, but I don‘t know what I say is wrong or not I really care about what people think about my pronunciation and grammar I need more feedback from the teacher, so that‘s what I need for these similar activities in the future MK : Sometimes, I can‘t hear the teacher‘s feedback or even I can‘t hear what the people in the group are discussing about In return, I am not sure people can hear me very well We just can talk to the one next to me And time is up I have just said a few words That‘s all for the whole activity.‖ MK : Since we have educated by traditional methods, without asking the reason of anything, it is sometimes difficult to adapt to new activities Also, we did not have any materials except our books, so it is hard for me to get used to all of the materials used during communicative activities MK : It is sometimes difficult to perform New words and contextual factors make us confused sometimes At that time, we need to ask help from the teacher I know if we discovery by themselves, it would be better MK : When I can‘t communicate or get confused, I begin to speak Vietnamese When the teacher says or explains in English, it is sometimes difficult to understand Vietnamese is a lot easier MK : I often not complete these tasks in time A lots of things to I need more time to MK : The teacher should have more clearer instruction of the task I myself cannot explore the requirements in communicative activities 97 APPENDIX 5: SAMPLE LESSON OF A COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITY (see next page) 98 Teacher‘s page aloud to the writers Writers will listen Article (Unit 13, Language Focus, p.139) The media carefully and write each word from the word box in the correct category depending on what they hear Asks students to fold the paper in half so Activity type : Categories they see only their part Purpose: Students practice Give a few minutes for Readers to read reading and listening to sentences with the paragraph silently and for writers to definite and indefinite articles Students look over the phrases in the word box read aloud a short paragraph that includes To model the activity, read aloud the first sentences with definite articles, indefinite two sentences in the paragraph Have articles, or no article Other students must Writers look at the word bank Point out listen to correctly categorize words in a that the word ―people‖ has been added to chart the ―no article‖ category as an example Have students complete the activity Walk Set-up: Pairs or small groups Time: minutes to prepare / 10 minutes to the activity Materials Preparation : Make one copy of the Student‘s Page for each pair or small group around and offer help as needed When everyone has finished, copy the chart from the Student‘s Page onto the board Have a volunteer Reader read the passage to the class as volunteer Writers complete the chart Answers: a: wall / different room 2.Be sure each student has a pen or pencil an : answering machine / emergency the : house / call No article : people / like Homework Procedure Write about the disadvantages of a land Have the students form groups of Pass out one Student‘s Page to each pair in the group Choose one out of the four students to be a Reader Three students will be writers The reader will go to line Teacher summarizes some ideas of disadvantages and collects the Student‘ Page so that students cannot copy it Submit homework in the next English lesson another group, reading the paragraph 100 Student‘s Page Articles / Categories The media Work in pairs or in groups One student is in the Reader Other students are Writers Fold the paper in half so only your part is showing For the Reader: Read the paragraph aloud When you finish, read it aloud again Be sure to speak slowly and clearly so other students can take notes Everyone seems to have a cell phone these days People can easily talk, text, and go online Life was not as convenient before cell phones Before cell phones, it was necessary to use a ―land line‖ A land line is a phone that has to plug into a wall You cannot take a land line with you when you leave the house In fact, sometimes it isn‘t even possible to use a land line in a different room! In the past, what happened if someone called while you were away from home? You missed the call, unless you had an answering machine How did people make calls when they were not at home? What if there was an emergency? Often, the only option was to use a payphone Of course, even today, not everyone has a cell phone However, most people agree that they make life much easier For the Writer(s): Listen to the Reader Look at the words in the word bank When you hear the Reader use words from the word bank, decide if they followed the indefinite article a, the indefinite article an, the definite article the, or no article Write the words in the correct category People different room answering machine life emergency wall call payphone a an the house no article people 101 ... explains, ―learning involves the incorporating of new information into old sets of beliefs and knowledge for the purpose of maintaining a consistent world view (p.302) The importance of making... for the interpretation Writing the report Sharing you findings with stakeholders and peers Reflecting Evaluating the first cycle of the process Implementing the findings or new strategy... received none at all Interestingly, the group that did the best was the one that received the rule, that is, explicit information about what is correct, in addition to being told that their own response