(Luận văn thạc sĩ) a study on difficulties in studying grammar of english majored students at faculty of english, thuongmai university

THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY ENGLISH FACULTY GRADUATION PAPER Topic: A study on difficulties in studying grammar of English-majored students at Faculty of English, Thuongmai University Supervisor : Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha, MA Student : Nguyen Minh Phuong Class : K54N7 Student Code : 18D170332 HANOI, 2022 an Lu n va ac th si ad o nl w l ul nf va an lu ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CHAPTER 1: Overview of the study _ 1, Rationale of the study 2, Aims of the study 3, Research questions _ 4, Research subjects 5, Scope of the study: _ 6, Reasearch methodology: _ 7, Design of the study: _ CHAPTER 2: Literature review 2.1: Definitions of grammar _ 2.2: Role of grammar in English language teaching and learning _ 2.2.1: For-grammar perspectives 2.2.2: Against-grammar perspectives 10 2.3: Explicit and Implicit approaches to grammar teaching 10 2.4: Deductive and Inductive approaches to grammar instruction _ 12 2.5: Grammar teaching in the major teaching methods 14 2.6: Conclusion: _ 16 CHAPTER 3: Research methodology: 16 3.1: Methodology: _ 16 3.1.1: Subject of the study: _ 16 3.1.2: Research instruments: _ 17 3.1.4: Data analysis procedure 18 3.2 : Research results: _ 19 an Lu 3.2.1: Findings from questionnaires for the students _ 19 3.2.2: Findings from interviews _ 27 CHAPTER 4: Recommendations and suggestions 28 n va 4.1 Summary of the findings 28 ac th 4.2 Recommendations: _ 29 4.3: Limitations of the study 30 si w 4.4: Suggestions for further study 31 4.5: Conclusion _ 32 o nl REFERENCES _ 33 ad APPENDICES _ 37 l ul nf va an lu ABSTRACT The important role of English grammar is apparent for any students in general and for university students in particular because grammar is the basic of their English learning For students at Thuongmai University, grammar has been more paid attentions to as one of the required subjects for English Faculty students at Thuongmai University is grammar However, they have encountered a lot of difficulties in learning grammar This study aimed to investigate the difficulties in grammar learning perceived by Englishmajored - students at Faculty of English, Thuongmai University The results of this study show that the students have specific problems in learning grammar, such as lack of fundamental knowledge, ineffective learning strategies, lack of intrinsic motivation and unsuitable materials This study also find out the factors affecting language acquisition and suggests some solutions to reduce their grammar difficulties and help students to obtain desirable results in learning grammar an Lu n va ac th si ad o nl w l ul nf va an lu ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my great gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha for her precious ideas and tireless efforts in guiding and aiding me to keep me confident to accomplish this study successfully I would not have been able to finish this graduation paper without her assistance and suggestions In addition, I would like to express my gratitude to all of the teachers at Thuongmai University in general and the teachers in the English Faculty in particular because I have received great help from teachers since I have been studying and participating in activities at our school With your erudite knowledge and dedication, you have taught vital knowledge and invaluable lessons to me during my study Besides, I would like to show my sincere thanks to all the third-year students in the English Faculty at Thuongmai University for their enthusiastic participation and completing the survey questionnaire Their cooperation is a significant contribution to the sources of data in this study In addition, I'd like to express my gratitude to all of the writers of the books, papers, and other materials listed in the reference section for their insights and knowledge, which have been reflected and expanded upon in this research Finally, I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to my family and friends They are the people who have always been by my side, supporting and encouraging me throughout my study and growth They are always a great motivation to overcome challenges in the process of doing this research And I will never forget how grateful I am to my parents for lending wings to my dreams There will be some flaws in this study due to the limited knowledge, practical abilities, and time As a result, I am hoping for further suggestions and feedback to help me strengthen this graduation paper Hanoi, April 14th, 2022 Phuong Nguyen Minh Phuong an Lu n va ac th si ad o nl w l ul nf va an lu CHAPTER 1: Overview of the study 1, Rationale of the study an Lu It is impossible to deny that English has become a widespread medium of communication for people all around the world As part of the global integration movement, Vietnam has been increasingly active in training active and dynamic Vietnamese who can communicate effectively in English That is why, in 2002, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) established new goals for English language instruction in higher education as well as introduced new series of English textbooks from grade to grade 12 The new English textbooks for students are divided into two sets: the advanced and the standard They are claimed to adopt the latest teaching and learning approaches: communicative approach and learner-centered approach and aim at developing both language skills and language knowledge for students Each unit in the new English textbooks consists of five parts: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing and Language Focus, among which the Language Focus sections are to consolidate students‟ pronunciation and grammar Since their nationwide implementation in the 2006-2007 school year, a significant amount of research has been conducted to evaluate these new textbooks, as well as to learn how they are actually implemented and the challenges that teachers and university students face when teaching and learning using the new textbooks The majority of these research, on the other hand, have focused on the teaching and learning of the four language skills, which are thought to be novel to both teachers and students In the Language Focus section, there is still a dearth of research on the teaching and learning of language aspects More significantly, it has yet to be determined whether teachers genuinely teach grammar communicatively or via traditional approaches As a result,, it is necessary to carry out more research on how teachers and students teach and learn grammar in the actual classroom Moreover, after four years of studying English at Thuongmai university, the researcher observed that the teachers and learners there faced a number of difficulties not only in teaching and learning the four language skills but also in teaching and learning grammar during time Stimulated by the above reasons, the researcher has decided to conduct this study It is hoped that this study will discover the difficuties in learning grammar of English-majored students in order to contribute some immediate solutions n va ac th 2, Aims of the study si With the rationale above, my study was conducted with the aims: w - To investigate the difficulties of English-majored students in learning English o nl grammar ad - To investigate factors affecting the grammar acquisition l ul nf va an lu - To recommend some solutions for students to overcome these difficulties 3, Research questions The research was carried out with an attempt to find out the answers to the following questions: What are the main difficulties in learning English grammar? What are the causes of these difficulties? What are the suggested solutions to overcome the difficulties? 4, Research subjects The study was conducted on 110 students studying English major at Thuongmai University They are the English- majored students Because they have almost had experience in English major, so most of them have a quite good command of English written communication including grammar knowledge From that, the researcher hope to reveal the general view on other subjects who are students in other colleges and universities 5, Scope of the study: As mentioned earlier, there are two sets of the new English textbooks for students: the advanced and the standard sets This study is only aimed at investigating the reality of teaching grammar in the standard sets This study is limited to the teaching and learning reality with regard to teaching and learning grammar in Language Focus lessons The investigation of teaching and learning language skills and pronunciation will be beyond the scope of this study This study is a detailed survey at English-majored students Therefore, the findings of the study are not intended to be generalized to other school contexts Indeed the findings may not apply beyond the actual participants in this particular study 6, Reasearch methodology: an Lu The research is done by both quantitative and qualitative methods The instruments were used to collect data from the English- majored students at Thuongmai University with the intention of addressing the aims of the study Questionnaire instrument was used to investigate the current situation of learning English grammar of students, their difficulties, the causes for the difficulties Class observation was employed to get information about the teacher’s methods and the students’ ways of learning English grammar The researcher observed three lessons at different classes but with only one teacher 7, Design of the study: n va ac th si ad o nl w The study is divided into three parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion The Introduction presents an overview of the study including the rationale, aims, scope, significance, methodology and design of the study l ul nf va an lu The major part of the study, the Development, is divided into three chapters Chapter one provides theoretical background for the study Chapter two presents the methodology of the study and the last chapter is devoted to analyzing and discussing the findings of the study The Conclusion part provides a brief summary of the findings in correspondence with the three proposed research questions as well as offering some recommendations for better grammar teaching and learning The limitations of and suggestions for further study are also discussed in this chapter Besides, the survey questionnaire for the teachers and students, the classroom observation transcripts and the interview transcripts are included in the Appendices CHAPTER 2: Literature review 2.1: Definitions of grammar Concerning the terms “grammar”, several researchers have attempted to define it Apparently, depending on one‟s theoretical orientation, different people define grammar differently The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (as cited in Harmer, 1987, p.1) defines grammar as “the study and practice of 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 Here grammar constitutes a subset of rules relating to word formation (morphology) and sentence formation (syntax) Huddleston (1984) shares the similar view when seeing grammar as consisting of morphology and syntax According to him, morphology deals with forms of words while syntax deals with the ordering of the words to form sentences (p 1) an Lu As can be inferred from the two definitions above, grammar is conventionally seen as the study of morphology and syntax of sentences n va Cobbett (1984) regards grammar as “constituting rules and principles that help a person to make use of words or manipulate and combine words to give meaning in a proper manner It concerns with form and structure of words and their relationships in sentences” ac th si o nl w According to Fromkin and Rodman (1998), "The sounds and sound patterns, the basic units of meaning such as words and the rules to combine them to form new sentences constitute the grammar of a language" (p.14) ad There are several similarities among two above-cited definitions The first thing is that according to these authors, grammar is assumed to be a guide through l ul nf va an lu which words are put together to make correct sentences Secondly, grammar is composed of rules not only relating to word formation (morphology) and sentence formation (syntax) but also concerned with the meaning of the sentence (semantics) and the sound system (phonology) within a language However, one drawback that all four definitions above (in both the first and second categories) have in common is that grammar has been concerned almost exclusively with the analysis at the level of the sentence I am in favour of Widdowson (1990) with the claim that “grammar is not just a collection of sentence patterns signifying nonsense” (p 81) For Thornbury (1999), grammar is not just rules on how to combine words at the sentence level, but it also takes into account the role of context in which a sentence is made He says that “when we process language we are not only trying to make sense of the words and the grammar, we are also trying to infer the speaker‟s (or writer‟s) intention” (p 6) Hughes and McCarthy (1998) view grammar as discourse not as sentence and coined the term discourse grammar They argued that “grammatical statements that not take account of such contextual features are inadequate and unable to support grammar teaching effectively.” (p 265) an Lu For the purpose of the study, I use the definition of Richards, Platt, and Platt (1992) in their Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics: Grammar is a description of the structure of a language and the way in which linguistic units such as words and phrases are combined to produce sentences in the language It usually takes into account the meanings and functions these sentences have in overall system of the language It may or may not include the description of the sound of a language (p.161) In this definition, grammar is viewed as descriptive, which refers to the structure of a language as it is actually used by speakers and writers Moreover, this definition shows both linguistic and social features of grammar as it refers to not only rules to make correct sentences but also meanings and functions of such sentences in the language, which is necessary for the teaching and learning of foreign language 2.2: Role of grammar in English language teaching and learning n va ac th Along the history of second language teaching, the role of grammar has been an issue of controversy According to Richards (2002), it is “perhaps the most controversial issue in language teaching” (p 145) Thornbury (1999) asserts that “in fact, no other issue has so preoccupied theorists and practitioners as the grammar debate, and the history of language teaching is essentially the history of the claims and counterclaims for and against the teaching of grammar” (p 14) The debate has brought about an extreme split of attitudes, namely, those who hold that grammar should receive a central attention in language teaching and those who hold that grammar should not si ad o nl w l ul nf va an lu be taught at all 2.2.1: For-grammar perspectives Many scholars in the field of language teaching and learning emphasize the role grammar plays in language learning For instance, Savignon (1991), one of the leading advocates of communicative language teaching, emphasizes that “communication cannot take place in the absence of structure, or grammar” (p 268) In agreement with Savignon, in their communicative competence model, Canale and Swain (1980) clearly view grammar as one component of communicative competence and without grammar, learners can communicate effectively only in a limited number of situations After reviewing ideas on the role of grammar teaching, Nunan (1991) came to a conclusion that "grammar exists to enable us to 'mean', and without grammar it is impossible to communicate beyond a very rudimentary level.” Furthermore, Wilkins (as cited in Nunan, 1991, p 152), one of the architects of communicative approach to language teaching, also points out that “acquiring the grammatical system of the target language is of central importance, because an inadequate knowledge of grammar would severely constrain linguistic creativity and limit the capacity for communication” The list of supporters of grammar is still going on Long and Richards (1987) assert that grammar plays a central role in the four language skills and vocabulary to establish communicative tasks Brown (2007) points out that “grammatical competence occupies a prominent position as a major component of communicative competence” (p 348) For Palmer (1984), the central part of a language is its grammar, and this should be of “vital interest to any intelligent educated person If it has not been of such interest, then the fault must be in the failure to recognize its importance within an Lu n va ac th si ad o nl w l ul nf va an lu this essentially human activity” (p 9) 2.2.2: Against-grammar perspectives Due to the fact that many language learners know the grammar rules of a language well, but they cannot communicate effectively in that language (Hinkel & Fotos, 2002), several scholars not believe that grammar teaching will have any impact on communicative purposes and therefore neglect it Prabhu (1987), for example, believes that development of competence requires the creation of conditions in which learner engage in an effort to cope with communication, not a systematization of planned grammatical input The strongest advocate of this view is Krashen (1983, 1987), who is famous for his learning and acquisition hypothesis and his Monitor theory Based on his learning and acquisition hypothesis, Krashen argues that from learning the learners obtain conscious knowledge of grammar which is not responsible for actual L2 performance On the other hand, acquisition is the underlying process which is responsible for the actual performance and this can only happen unconsciously through natural exposure to comprehensible inputs What‟s more, according to his Monitor theory, consciously-learned grammar can only function as monitoring and monitoring overuse will only disturb the flow of production Consequently, this grow-up holds that formal and conscious study of grammar should be strongly rejected if the objective of learning the language is productive competence However, Krashen has received many strong criticisms from other researchers as his acquisition theory seems to be merely based on his own observation without supporting evidence an Lu In conclusion, grammar plays a very important role in language teaching, even though there was a time when grammar was severely rejected, but as Richards (2002) says, in recent years grammar teaching has regained its rightful place in the language teaching and “grammar is too important to be ignored” (p 145) The debate is now not on whether grammar competence is important but rather on how to teach grammar Therefore, the rest of this chapter is devoted to presenting two core approaches to grammar teaching and critically looking into the teaching of grammar in some major teaching methods 2.3: Explicit and Implicit approaches to grammar teaching n va As mentioned earlier, the issue related to grammar is not whether to teach it ac th si ad o nl w l ul nf va an lu 10 As seen from table above, written grammar exercises in the textbook appears to be the most frequently used activity with 100% of the teachers claiming to frequently resort to it, followed closely by translation exercises with 66.6% of the teachers occasionally using it The high percentage of the teachers using grammar exercises in the textbook indicated their maximum dependence on the textbook This reality was further evidenced by the fact that 66.7% reported that they rarely designed or adapted the exercises for the students It is noteworthy that communicative activities and games or puzzles rate as the most seldom used activities, with 100% and 83.3% of the teachers admitting to never or rarely use them respectively  Teachers’ techniques of dealing with the students’ errors Frequently Occasionall (%) y (%) Rarely (%) Neve r (%) A Correct errors by yourselves B Help students to find out andcorrect their own errors 33.3 66.7 0 83.3 16.7 0 C Ask students to peercorrecting 33.3 50 16.7 D Don‟t correct any errors 0 100 E Other ways: ……………… 0 0 Table 7: Tteachers’ techniques of dealing with students’ errors Based on these results, helping the students to correct their errors is by far the most used correcting technique, which was frequently employed by 83.3% and occasionally used by 16.7% of the teachers 33.3% of the teachers usually corrected the students‟ errors on their own and 66.7% of the teachers occasionally did this Asking the students to peer-correcting appears to be the least used technique with only 33.3% of the respondents adhering to it It is also interesting to note that none of the teachers ignored the students‟ errors an Lu  Factors affect the ways teachers teach grammar in the Language Focus lessons n va In order to determine factors that affect teachers‟ decisions, the teachers were presented with a list of eight factors and asked to access how important each of these factors were to them personally in deciding how to teach and the type of activities to use Their responses to this question are shown in table 8: The most The least Not important important important at all (%) (%) (%) ac th si ad o nl w l ul nf va an lu 23 A The interests of my students 33.3 66.6 B The level of my students 100 0 C Time allowance 83.3 16.7 D My personal beliefs 16.7 66.6 16.7 50 33.3 16.7 F Nature of grammar structures 33.3 50 16.7 G Innovation goals and requirements H The ways my colleagues teach 16.7 33.3 50 16.7 83.3 E Availability of materials Table 8: Factors influencing the way the teachers teach grammar Based on these results, the teachers‟ own perceptions on the students‟ level of English proficiency seems to be the most influential factor behind their decisions in the classrooms, closely followed by time allowance (83.3%) and availability of materials (50%) The teachers appeared to be slightly influenced by the nature of grammar structures to be presented and their students‟ interests, with percentages of 33.3 and 33.3 respectively Their personal beliefs (16.7%) and innovation goals and requirements (16.7%) had little impact on the ways the teachers teach grammar It is interesting to note that the way other colleagues teach rates as the least important factor with a percentage of 100, followed by innovation goals and requirements and availability of materials 3.2.1.3 The students’ ways of learning English grammar an Lu Students’ evaluations of the grammar teaching and learning Questions and in the questionnaire for the students investigated their evaluation of grammar teaching in the Language Focus lessons The results of their responses were presented in two tables below: Students (%) A Good understanding 29.6 n va B Vague understanding 60 th C No understanding at all 10.4 ac si Table 9: Students’ level of understanding of grammar structures presented in the Language Focus lessons w ad o nl From the results shown in the table above, there appears a worrying fact that the number of the respondents having good understanding of grammar structures presented in the Language Focus lessons is less than those having vague understanding, with the l ul nf va an lu 24 percentages of 29.6 and 60 respectively It is a warning for the teachers to know that the proportion of the students who don‟t understand the grammar structures after the lessons accounted for 10.4% Students (%) A Interesting 15.6 B Boring 51 C Stressful 67.4 D Relaxing 11.9 Table 10: The students’ impressions of grammar lessons The results from table 10 shows that in contrast to a few students thinking grammar lessons as interesting and relaxing, most of the students reporting that grammar lessons were boring (51%) and stressful (67.4%) The majority of these students specified their opinions as follows: - My teacher usually urged me to the exercises quickly So I just applied the - forms of the structures to the exercises but didn’t have time to think why - Every lesson, my teacher came in and explained the grammar and asked us to exercises in the textbook - When I hadn’t understood the first grammar structure yet, my teacher moved to the second one The lesson was very fast  Students’ preferences for the teachers’ grammar presentation methods Question Deductive approach Students (%) 23 Inductive approach 32 Combination of two approaches 45 Other ways: ……………… an Lu Table 11: Students’ preferences for the teachers’ grammar presentation methods n va ac th si ad o nl w l ul nf va an lu 25 Table 11 reveals the variety in the students‟ preferences for the teachers‟ teaching methods It is significant that the students who wished their teachers to combine both deductive and inductive approaches when introducing new grammar structures made up 45% of the total respondents The findings also indicate that the percentage of the students preferring to induce the rules for themselves was much higher than for those wanting their teachers to state grammar rules straightforward (32% compared to 23%) These figures suggest the students‟ desire for becoming more active in the grammar lessons  Students’ favorite grammar practice activities Students (%) A Do written grammar exercises in the textbook B Do written grammar exercises that their teachers designed or adapted from the textbook 84.4 9.6 C Do translation exercises from English into Vietnamese and vice versa 35.5 D Participate in games or puzzles 68.9 D Engage in communicative activities 78.5 E Other ways: ……………………………………… Table 12: Students’ favourite grammar practice activities in the Language Focus lessons an Lu Among the five activities mentioned in the question, doing the written grammar exercises in the textbook is the most preferable activity which was chosen by 84.4% of the students The next highly rated activity which 78.5% of the students wanted to is engaging in communicative tasks In the third place, playing games or puzzles was loved by 68.9% of the total respondents It is also worth mentioning here that 48 out of 135 students (35.5%) showed their interests in doing translation exercises, from English into Vietnamese and vice versa, while doing adapted exercises rates as the least favorable activity, with only 9.6% of the students claiming to like it n va ac th si w ad o nl 3.2.1.4: Difficulties in learning English grammar as perceived by the students l ul nf va an lu 26 Difficultie s A Lack of time to grammar exercises in class Students (%) 83 B Few opportunities to use the grammar structures to 77 communicate C Lack of interest in learning grammar 21.5 D Ineffective teaching methods 34.8 E Learning too many grammar structures in each lesson 56.3 G Large class 11 H Lack of learning facilities 14 I Other difficulties: ………………………………… Table 14: Students’ difficulties in learning English grammar Table 14 shows how challenging it was for the pupils to acquire English grammar The main issue that 83 percent of students have is that they not have enough time to master grammatical structures in the textbook exercises In addition, many of them (77 percent) admitted that they have few opportunities to put what they've learned in communications into practice 56.3 percent of pupils, like 83.3 percent of teachers, believe they have to learn too many grammar items in forty-five minute lessons The fact that their teachers' teaching techniques not assist them learn grammar in class is a prevalent problem for 47 respondents (34.8 percent) The learning of grammar was not hampered by a large class or a lack of learning facilities.in the Language Focus lessons as they are mentioned by only 11% and 14% of the students, respectively 3.2.2: Findings from interviews an Lu The researcher performed structured interviews with twelve students in order to gain more in-depth information on the subject On the basis of accessibility, twelve students from the sample were invited to the interviews One question was posed to each student: What suggestions you have for improving grammar learning in the Language Focus lessons? n va Students believed that in order to make class more effective, teachers should not only assist students with grammar exercises, but also teach them how to apply grammar knowledge to build the four macro skills in a flexible manner Other students remarked that the lecturers should go through the grammar structures in greater depth Some students agreed with the lecturers and suggested that learning grammar would be more efficient if they not have to learn too many grammar structures in one lesson More students expressed the need to engage in communicative activities or games so that they could have more interaction with the teachers and their friends in the classrooms ac th si ad o nl w l ul nf va an lu 27 an Lu CHAPTER 4: Recommendations and suggestions 4.1 Summary of the findings The goal of this study is to examine and investigate the challenges that English majors face in learning grammar at Thuongmai University's Faculty of English Based on the findings and analysis presented in the previous sections, this discussion focuses on answering the four research questions raised in the methodology chapter, which concern teachers' and students' attitudes toward the importance of grammar learning, actual grammar teaching and learning in classrooms, the extent to which these teaching and learning match the underlying methodology of the new textbook, and student difficulties To begin, the data revealed that teachers and students at Thuongmai University have generally good attitudes toward the importance of grammar instruction and learning The most essential reason for the importance of grammar that they offered is for their examination success The second issue is how English grammar is taught and learned at Thuongmai University by both teachers and students Positive features in the teaching of grammar included the instructors' flexible use of pair and group work in grammar courses, as well as varied ways of dealing with errors, demonstrating their attempts to create a more student-centered classroom However, in the Language Focus courses, the teachers still used the grammar-translation method to teach grammar The extensive use of mother language, the preference for a deductive approach to convey grammatical structures, the prominent role of teachers, the frequent use of translation tasks in the classroom, and the presentation of grammar points out of context all support this assertion When it came to activities for students to practice grammar, there was a trend among teachers to rely heavily on textual grammar exercises found in textbooks, with little or no customization The results of the interview also suggested that the teachers expected to move away from the old technique of grammar instruction, but they had little understanding of what grammar instruction in the context of CLT actually entailed In terms of the students, the results of the interview and questionnaire revealed that a high percentage of them voiced dissatisfaction with the existing grammar teaching in the Language Focus courses When the courses were over, the majority of them still didn't have a complete knowledge of the grammar structures Furthermore, two-thirds of the students regarded grammar lectures to be tedious and demanding The identical pattern of every grammar class and the pressure to complete all grammatical problems in the textbook are to blame for this bad feeling Furthermore, the majority of the pupils appeared to be passive consumers of information in the classroom More crucially, there was a disconnect between the teaching methods of the teachers and the learning styles of the pupils Despite the fact that most teachers were slow to find the rules, student replies indicated that they found them fascinating and appealing, and that they wished to be taught in this manner In terms of grammar practice activities, students wanted to have more opportunities to employ grammar in meaningful communications as well as to confirm their mastery of grammar structures in written problems in the textbook This gap existed because the results of the questionnaires revealed that teachers were more influenced by their own perceptions n va ac th si ad o nl w l ul nf va an lu 28 of the students' level of English and the timeframe allotted than by the students' interests and innovation goals and requirements when deciding what activities to teach and how to teach them The results of this investigation also revealed a discrepancy between the ways of teaching and learning grammar and the new textbook's underlying teaching philosophy Despite the fact that the new textbook claims to be taught and acquired in a student-centered and communicative manner, the grammar sections were taught in an old-fashioned manner, with a teacher-led approach and Grammar-Translation as the main teaching method Furthermore, these data revealed a variety of issues in the teaching and learning of grammar in Language Focus sessions, as perceived by teachers and students Time limits, pressures to deal with too many grammar structures in one lesson, students' lack of interest in learning grammar, overcrowded classrooms, and poor teaching circumstances were all issues that both teachers and students faced Furthermore, one of the professors cited the kids' low level of English competence as one of their significant issues In terms of the students, their teachers' inadequate teaching methods hampered their ability to learn grammar 4.2 Recommendations: an Lu For teacher: The results of the interviews with the instructors also revealed that the teachers not have a thorough concept of how to teach grammar in a communicative style As a result, frequent workshops and training courses on how to teach grammar in the new teaching style should be provided to instructors Teachers should be given opportunities to meet periodically with a group of colleagues and undertake some communicative exercises themselves, then discuss whether they work, why they work, how they could be adapted for the local context, and so on, if they wished to change their approach to teaching grammar Teachers will be able to fully comprehend what the change means and how to put it into practice as a result of this According to the data, there was a disconnect between teachers' usual teaching approaches and students' preferred learning methods This disparity was primarily caused by teachers' failure to accommodate students' interests while designing lessons As a result, it is up to the teachers to close the gap They should explain the grammar structures in a variety of ways, utilizing inductive and deductive reasoning interchangeably or a combination of both, to cater to the diverse interests of the pupils Rather than waiting for the textbook to change, teachers could consider how to adjust the grammar exercises to engage pupils Structural activities are still necessary since students must have a solid foundation in linguistics before they can communicate Besides, the teachers should adapt the exercises or organized some meaningful tasks so that the students can use knowledge and make the grammar lessons less boring and stressful n va ac th si w ad o nl For student: Being aware of grammar Students should think about grammar and notice the aspects of English grammar l ul nf va an lu 29 that are the same as or very similar to or different from those in Vietnamese language If students notice grammar similarities and differences, they will probably learn the rules more quickly Cooperating with teacher and students Students should engage with the teacher by participating in discussions, answering questions, and providing feedback on other students' responses More significantly, students can seek assistance from the teacher if they encounter new words or have difficulty pronouncing them in order to complete the assignments correctly Students should also cooperate and establish positive relationships with one another, such as working together to prepare for tasks, discussing ideas, doing peer correction, and providing feedback on others' performance throughout the session.Working meticulously Work on one specific grammar challenge at the time Although students should continually learn different aspects of English grammar, one of the best ways to overcome challenges is to focus on one challenge at a time Practising and revising Students can benefit from practice and review to help them recall what they've learned To begin, attempt to gain an overview of English grammar from the textbook, making a list of the most significant grammatical principles and making a strategy to learn and practice each portion Second, within one or two weeks, students should plan how to apply the grammatical concepts they acquired in a day Finally, students must practice a grammatical point until they are able to apply it smoothly and fluently before moving on to the next grammar point They can also practice their grammar by undertaking exercises Making mistakes is unpleasant, but it is unavoidable when learning a language Identifying and focusing on common grammar errors is an effective technique to learn grammar If students learn from their mistakes properly, they can use them to increase their learning They must also understand that making mistakes is an important component of self-improvement Instead of being consumed by shame and remorse, consider how people might learn from their mistakes People who speak the same language frequently make the same grammatical errors in English Many Vietnamese students, for example, struggle with the words "hard" and "hardly." 4.3: Limitations of the study an Lu The findings, like any other study, must be viewed in the context of the study's limitations To begin with, the study had limitations in that the data may not fully reflect all of the issues that students may have in learning English grammar because the information was gathered through questionnaires with restricted optional items Other obstacles may exist for students and teachers, but they may be unwilling or unable to address them when filling out the questionnaires for various reasons n va ac th si ad o nl w Second, the researcher could not observe all of the teachers' grammar lessons, and while the researcher behaved as a non-participant observer, the teachers and students might respond differently with a "guest." As a result, the information gleaned from class observation may not accurately reflect what was going on in the classrooms Being aware of the issue, the researcher attempted to reduce their influence, yet it is l ul nf va an lu 30 possible that they will not be completely eliminated 4.4: Suggestions for further study The following recommendations for further research are given based on the study's findings and limitations The challenges in learning English grammar were studied in this study, however the core of the teachers' teaching methods was not completely discussed As a result, further indepth research into the factors influencing how teachers teach grammar should be conducted Furthermore, as stated in the study's scope, the research solely looked into the learning of grammar in textbook Conducting similar studies with the advanced English textbook would be interesting and informative an Lu n va ac th si ad o nl w l ul nf va an lu 31 4.5: Conclusion To summarize, the current study has provided information on the current state of difficulties in learning English grammar, including teachers' and students' attitudes toward the importance of grammar teaching and learning, the methods they use to teach and learn grammar, and the challenges they face The immediate pedagogical implications of what was discovered about the existing situation were offered to improve the teaching and learning of grammar The study's weaknesses were also reviewed, as well as suggestions for further research an Lu n va ac th si ad o nl w l ul nf va an lu 32 REFERENCES Andrews, K L Z (2007) The Effects of Implicit and Explicit Instruction on Simple and Complex Grammatical Structures for Adult English Language Learners Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, 11(2), 1-15 Retrieved from http://tesl- ej.org/ej42/a5.html Brown, H D (2007) Principles of language learning and teaching (5th ed.) 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What you suggest to improve the teaching and learning of grammar in the Language Focus lessons?  Interview question for the students What you suggest to improve the teaching and learning of grammar in the Language Focus lessons? an Lu n va ac th si o nl w ad 37 l ul nf va an lu