An investigation into grammar learning at ho chi minh city university of education foreign language center m a thesis 60 14 10

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES - - ĐỖ NGỌC QUỲNH AN INVESTIGATION INTO GRAMMAR LEARNING AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) Supervisor ĐOÀN HUỆ DUNG, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY - 2009 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certificate my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: AN INVESTIGATION INTO GRAMMAR LEARNING AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER In terms of the Statement of Requirements for Theses in Master’s Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee Ho Chi Minh City, October 2009 ĐỖ NGỌC QUỲNH RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESES I hereby state that I, Đỗ Ngọc Quỳnh, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for care, loan, or reproduction of theses Ho Chi Minh City, October 2009 Đỗ Ngọc Quỳnh ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr Đoàn Huệ Dung, for all her patient guidance, continuing encouragement, valuable instructions and keen revision of this thesis Without her great help and special care, this thesis would have never been finished Special thanks are also expressed to all of my teachers of TESOL 2005 at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City, for their interesting lectures and whole-hearted guidance Many thanks to the teachers and students at UEFLC who have responded to the questionnaires to provide me such a trustworthy source of data for the research Finally, I also want to thank my family for their love and support during the time of writing this thesis ABSTRACT Input-based approach is a new approach in which the teachers use interpretation tasks to provide their students with a lot of grammatical input For these kinds of tasks, the students are encouraged to focus on both form and meaning of a new structure to answer the questions This study aims to find out if interpretation tasks really work in the grammar teaching and learning at the University of Education Foreign Language Center (UEFLC) The data for the research were mainly collected by means of three questionnaires for 185 students and 15 teachers at UEFLC The first students’ questionnaire was conducted before the experimental teaching and the second one was carried out after the experimental teaching The third questionnaire was done for the teachers The results of the three questionnaires help to find out: (1) the real situation of students’ grammar learning, (2) problems faced by students in learning grammar, (3) if interpretation tasks really work in facilitating the students’ process of learning grammar The results of the study showed that many students thought that their grammar knowledge was limited although they have learned English for a long time They also had some problems in learning grammar After the experimental teaching, both teachers and students had good evaluation of interpretation tasks in understanding form and meaning The tasks were also thought to be interesting and easy to Finally, some practical recommendations were introduced to make interpretation tasks to be more efficiently applied for the students at UEFLC Contents Chapter INTRODUCTION 1.1.Background to the study 1.2 Grammar learning and teaching at the UEFLC 1.3 Aims of the study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Definitions of terms 1.7 Overview of the study Chapter LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Grammar 2.1.1 What is grammar? 2.1.2 Place of grammar in learning and teaching 2.1.3 Why is English grammar difficult to learn? 2.1.4 Causes of errors in grammar learning 2.1.5 Factors affecting the learning ability of grammatical structures .10 2.2 Grammar in different teaching methods .14 2.2.1 Grammar Translation Methods (GTM) .14 2.2.2 Direct Method 15 2.2.3 Audio-lingual Method (ALM) 15 2.2.4 Comprehension-based approach .16 2.2.5 Communicative Approach (CA) .16 2.2.6 Input-oriented approach 17 2.2.7 Output-oriented approach 18 2.2.8 Presentation, practice, and production procedure 19 2.3 Interpretation tasks 20 2.3.1 What are interpretation tasks? .20 2.3.2 What we use interpretation tasks for? .20 2.3.3 General principles for the design of interpretation tasks 21 Chapter RESEARCH DESIGN AND ETHODOLOGY 23 3.1 Research goals and methods 23 3.2 Research Design 24 3.2.1 Subjects 24 3.2.2 Measurement Instruments .24 3.3 Data collection procedure 29 Chapter DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 31 4.1 Responses from the questionnaires .31 4.1.1 Students’ responses before the experimental teaching 31 4.1.2 Students’ responses after the experimental teaching .39 4.1.3 Teacher’s questionnaire .43 4.2 Results from the interviews with teachers 49 4.2.1 The first question: Can you tell me about activities in your grammar lessons? 50 4.2.2 The second question “What you think of grammar exercises in International Express coursebooks and workbooks ?” .50 4.2.3 The third question “What problems your students have in learning grammar?” 50 4.2.4 The fourth question “What think of the interpretation tasks recommended by the researcher in teaching grammar?” 51 4.3 Findings .51 4.3.1 Grammar learning at UEFLC 51 4.3.2 Grammar teaching at UEFLC 52 4.3.3 The application of interpretation tasks 53 Chapter CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 55 5.1 Conclusions 55 5.2 Recommendations .56 5.2.1 For the application of interpretation tasks in grammar teaching .56 5.2.2 For grammar teaching at UEFLC 59 5.2.3 For grammar learning at UEFLC 60 5.3 Further research .60 REFERENCES 62 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS For the purpose of simplification and convenience in reference, the following abbreviations are utilized in the thesis: ALM Audio-lingual Method CA Communicative approach GTM Grammar-translation method HCMC Ho Chi Minh city IT interpretation tasks PPP Presentation Practice Production TESOL Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages UEFLC: the University of Education Foreign Language Center LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1 Students’ characteristics Table 4.2 Students’ time of learning English Table 4.3 Students' purposes in studying grammar Table 4.4 Student's evaluation of their grammar knowledge Table 4.5 Students' practising grammar at home Table 4.6 Students' problems in learning grammar Table 4.7 Students' characteristics of experimental classes Table 4.8 Students’ evaluation of the interpretation tasks in understanding form and meaning Table 4.9 Students’ evaluation of interpretation tasks in arousing interest in learning grammar Table 4.10 Students’ evaluation of the applicability of g interpretation tasks Table 4.11 Teacher’s characteristics Table 4.12 Teachers’ teaching experience Table 4.13 Teacher’s qualifications Table 4.14 Students' difficulties in learning grammar Table 4.15 Teacher's comments on interpretation tasks in understanding form and meaning Table 4.16 Teacher's comments on interpretation tasks in arousing interest Table 4.17 Teacher's comments on the applicability of interpretation tasks LIST OF CHARTS Chart 4.1 Students’ evaluations of learning grammar Chart 4.2 Students’ opinion: The examples are difficult to understand Chart 4.3 Students’ opinion: The grammar tasks are not interesting Chart 4.4 Students’ opinion: The grammar section is not clear enough Chart 4.5 Students' grammar learning methods Chart 4.6 Teachers’ opinion: The examples are difficult to understand Chart 4.7 Teachers’ opinion: The tasks are not interesting Chart 4.8 Teachers’ opinion: The grammar section is not clear enough 109 Appendix 6B Handouts for Class B3 - Intermediate level UNIT 1: ACTION AND STATE VERBS A Interpretation tasks Task Read this conversation Underline all non-action verbs that describe a situation is in progress Circle all non-action verbs that describe a situation that is generally true Aline: This steak tastes delicious Your salmon looks good too Ben: Here, I’m putting some on your plate I think you’ll like it Aline: Mnn I like it Funny, I usually don’t like fish Ben: Red has effect on people Aline: I have no idea what you’re talking about What you mean? Ben: Well, colors can change the way we feel For example, people often feel hungrier in a red room I notice that you’re looking at the red wallpaper Aline: And I certainly feel hungry right now I’m eating half your salmon Ben: That’s OK I’m tasting your steak Task Jan and Stefan are at their lunchtime meeting Complete the sentences with the Present Simple or the Present Continuous form of the verbs Use positive, negative and question forms A have Jan: I think we should order What are you having? Stefan: The lobster’s great They have the best seafood in town here B have Jan: The ad still isn’t completely ready, but …………you ………… a time to come over to the studio and see it this afternoon? Stefan: I’m sorry, Jan, but I ……………………a meeting with my boss at 2.30 C think Stefan: I ………… about the deadline for the ad Could you finish it by next 110 Tuesday? Jan: What? Our delivery date is next Friday! But I ……………… it might be possible if we work through the weekend D see Jan: But, Stefan, I (not) ……………………why you need to change the date Stefan: Well, I’ve recently arranged a meeting for all our branch managers next week I ……………………them on Wednesday afternoon, and it would be a great chance to show them the ad B Communication practice Task 1: Describe an object but don’t tell what it is Your classmates guess the object Use non-action verbs in your description Example: You can see it in the classroom It is hard and it has different colours People use it to write on the board What is it? Task 2: Complete the questions Use the ideas in parentheses or your own ideas Survey five classmates then report the results to the class  Do you know …………………………………………….? (karate)  Do you like …………………………………………….? (dancing)  Do you remember the movie …………………………………………….? (Star Wars)  Do you understand …………………………………………….? (Chinese)  What you think of …………………………………………….? (yoga)  How much does your …………………………………………….cost? (watch)  …………………………………………….………………………………………… … 111 Appendix 6C Handouts for Class B3 - Intermediate level UNIT 2: PAST SIMPLE AND PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE A Interpretation tasks Task Match the sentences in A with the categories in B A He and his wife opened a travel agency in 1980 He has signed special contractions with 120 airlines We didn’t want to make it difficult Friends Reunited has been one of the most successful dot com companies B a a past state b a past action c a state that began in the past and continues to the present d an action which happened in a period from the past to the present Task Read the information about Joe and Maria Then circle the letter of the sentence (a or b) that best describes the situation It’s 2005 Joe’s family moved to Houston in 1995 They still live there a Joe’s family lived in Houston for 10 years b Joe’s family has lived in Houston for 10 years Joe is telling Maria that the weather in Los Angeles has been too hot for the past five days a The weather is uncomfortable now b The weather is comfortable now Joe started to play the piano 10 years ago, but he doesn’t play any more a Joe has played the piano for 10 years b Joe played the piano for 10 years This month Maria and Joe have met once in Boston and once in Los Angeles 112 They will meet once more in New York a They’ve seen each other twice this month b They saw each other twice this month Maria’s mother visited Maria in Boston When she got home, she wrote, a “It was a great visit” b “It has been a great visit” Task Complete the entry in Maria’s journal Circle the correct verb forms Thursday, September 28 It’s 8:00 p.m It’s been/ was a hard day, and it’s not over yet! I still have to work on that report I’ve begun/ began it last night, but so far I’ve written/ wrote only two pages And it’s due tomorrow! Work has been/ was so difficult lately I’ve worked/ worked hard every night this week I feel exhausted and I haven’t gotten/ didn’t get much sleep last night And, of course, I miss Joe Even though I’ve seen / saw him last week, it seems like a long time ago This commuter relationship is beginning to get me down We’ve lived/ lived apart for too long Oh, there’s the phone I hope it’s Joe Task Complete the text with the past simple or the present perfect of the verbs in brackets The Internet …has been (be) with us for many years – since the 1970s, in fact That …………………………(be) when scientists first …………………………(invent) the system because they …………………………(need) to exchange information quickly and safely Of course in those days most people…………………………(not, know) about the Internet, and they certainly …………………………(not, use) it It is easy to forget that …………………………(happen) only since the 1990s it ………………………… (be) about 1995 when the biggest names in the internet business – names like AOL and Yahoo – really ………………………… (begin) the worldwide internet revolution Over the years, the Internet …………………………(bring) a world of information into people’s homes, and it ………………………… (give) people new ways of communicating It ………………………… (create) new ways of doing business, too One of these is the online auction system of eBay This allows anybody to sell almost anything to the buyer with the highest offer Now many millions of people ………………………… (add) this to their other 113 activities on the Internet Task A school newspaper is interviewing two college professors Listen to the interview Then listen again and check the items that are now true The professors …………………………………  are married  live in different cities  are at the same university  live in Boston  are in Austin  have a house B Communication practice How has your family changed in the last five years? Write a paragraph about some of the changes Use the present perfect and the simple past Example: Five years ago, all my brothers and sisters lived at home Since then, we all have moved away … Appendix 6D Handouts for B3 class - Intermediate level UNIT 2: USED TO + TO INFINITIVE A Interpretation tasks Task Read this fashion article Underline all the examples of used to that refer to a habit in the past In many ways, fashion used to be much simpler Women didn’t use to wear pants to the office, and men’s clothes never used to come in bright colors People also used to dress in special ways for different situations They didn’t use blue jeans as business clothes 114 or wear jogging suits when they traveled Today you can go to the opera and find some women in evening gowns while others are in blue jeans Even buying jeans used to be easier – they came only in blue denim I’m still not used to buying green jeans and wearing them to work! Task Look at these pictures from an old magazine Use the verbs in the box with used to to complete the sentences about the pictures used to be used to carry used to dance used to dress used to have used to wear Women’s skirts used to be long and formal All men ………………………… long hair Children ………………………… like adults Men and women ………………………… at formal balls Women ………………………… many petticoats under their skirts Men ………………………… walking sticks Task Two friends are talking about their past Listen to their conversation Then listen again Check the things they used to in the past and the things they now 115 Past Now get up very early without an alarm clock   use an alarm clock   have a big breakfast   have a cup of coffee   look at the newspaper   B Communication practice Task Choose the things you used to or you didn’t use to when you were a child Then talk to your partner about your past events Example: I didn’t use to cry a lot when I was a child I used to play truant when I was a child  cry a lot  tell lies with my parents  play truant  believe in fairy tales  play hide-and-seek  read a lot of comic books  fight with other children  (add your own)  have a pet Task Write a two-paragraph essay Contrast your life in the past and your life now In the first paragraph, describe how your life used to be at some time in the past In the second paragraph, describe your life today Example: I used to live in Russia I attended St Petersburg University In those days I used to go out a lot with my friends … Today I am living in Florida and attending Miami University … 116 Appendix 6E Handouts for B3 class - Intermediate level UNIT 3: SUBJECT AND OBJECT QUESTIONS A Interpretation tasks Task Match the questions and answers Question Who did you see? Who saw you? What his her? What did she hit? Which man did you give the money to? Which man gave you the money? Answer a His wife saw me b She hit a car c I gave the money to Harry d A car hit her e Harry gave me the money f I saw the defendant Task Complete the cross-examination Write the lawyer’s questions Lawyer: What time did you return home ? (What time/ you/ return home?) Witness: I returned home just before midnight Lawyer:……………………………………………………… (How/ you/ get home?) Witness: Someone gave me a ride Lawyer:……………………………………………………… (Who/ give/ you/ a ride?) 117 Witness: A friend from work Lawyer:……………………………………………………… (What/ happen/ next?) Witness: I opened my door and saw someone on my living room floor Lawyer:……………………………………………………… (Who/ you/ see?) Witness: Deborah Collins Lawyer:……………………………………………………… (Who/ be/ Deborah Collins) Witness: She’s my wife’s boss I mean, she was my wife’s boss She’s dead now Lawyer:……………………………………………………… (What/ you/ do?) Witness: I called the police Lawyer:……………………………………………………… (When/ the police/ arrive?) Witness: In about ten minutes Lawyer:……………………………………………………… (What/ they/ ask you?) Witness: They asked me to describe the crime scene Lawyer:……………………………………………………… (How many police officers/ come?) Witness: I don’t remember Why? Lawyer: I’m asking the questions here Please just answer Task You are on the phone with a friend There is a bad connection Listen to the following sentences Then listen again Circle the letter of the question you need to ask in order to get the correct information a Who did you see at the restaurant? b Who saw you at the restaurant a Which car did the truck hit? b Which car hit the truck? a When did it happen? 118 b Why did it happen? a Whose mother did you call? b Whose mother called you? a Who did you report it to? b Who reported it? a How many people heard the shouts? b How many shouts did you hear? a Who saw the man? b Who did the man see? a Why you have to hang up? b When you have to hang up? B Communication practice Work with a partner Think of something exciting or interesting that you once saw Tell your partner Then write a list of questions and interview your partner to get more information Take notes and write up the interview Example: A I once saw a bad car accident B Where did it happen? B On the highway C How many cars were there in the accident? A There was one car and a truck B What did you do? A I ……………………………… Appendix 6F 119 Handouts for B3 class - Intermediate level UNIT RELATIVE CLAUSES A Interpretation tasks Task Read the sentences Could the relative pronouns be replaced by the relative pronoun in parentheses without creating a different meaning or making an incorrect sentence? …Yes…… Are you the kind of person who resembles a sunflower? (that) ……… There is a science of personality identification that grew out of the work of Swiss psychologist Carl Jung (which) ……… Based on this system, they develop a test which has been refined many times over the decades (that) ……… She’s the kind of person whom others consider shy (that) ……… He’s just as likely to be imagining a time when he was hiking alone in the mountains (that) ……… Jack and Barbara, who have been married for years, are good examples (whom) ……… The loan officer, who makes Gary feel criticized, is only trying to his job (that) ……… Judgers are people who prefer a predictable environment (which) Task Read the sentences again Underline the adjective clause in each sentence Then say whether the clause is defining (D) or non-defining (ND) …ND… This is my sister, who has lived in France for a long time ………They’re going to Miami, where they grew up ………It was a great summer that I’ll never forget ………This is Mrs Parker, whose daughter has won the scholarship of the Art College ………Did you remember the year when the second world war ended ? ………This is Mr Jackson, who has come back from Canada ………A cafe is a small restaurant where people can get a light meal there ………He finally married the girl whom he loved ………My sister, whom you met at school yesterday, is very tall 120 10 ………New York Harbour, which is ice-free in all seasons, is one of the largest harbours in the world Task Complete the sentences with that, which, where, who and whose Then decide if the relative clauses are defining (D) or non-defining (ND) D Andrea works for a large investment bank …which/ that… is in London The head office of her company, ……………… is located in the centre of the city, is only twenty minutes from her house She often travels to countries ……………… she can practise her languages Her husband, ………………speaks excellent Spanish, helps her learn She would prefer to improve her Spanish by living ……………… she can speak it on a daily basis The language ……………… she found most difficult was Japanese Andrea had a teacher ………………was the best she had ever had The teacher, ……………… first language was Japanese, was very patient Arabic is the language ……………… she would like to learn next Task Match the words on the left with the descriptions on the right …e… An acquaintance a is a person who is married to you ………An album b is an event which brings people together after a long separation ………A soul mate c is a relationship which exists between friends ………A colleague d is a person who is your husband’s or wife’s relative ……… A confidant e is a person who knows you but not a close friend ……… An empathy f is a feeling which lets you experience another person’s feelings ……… A friendship g is a person who is very similar to you in thought and feeling ……… An in-law h is a book which has pages for saving photos ……… A reunion i is a person who listens to your private feelings and thoughts 10 ………A spouse j is a person who has the same job or profession as you 121 Task Listen to the TV film reviewer give her weekly review Then listen again to certain of the reviewer’s sentences Write T (true) or F (false) to indicate if each item correctly restates the sentences that you hear ………… The film festival can be seen this holiday weekend ………… None of these great movies has been shown in more than a decade ………… A beautiful mind is about a character created by director Ron Howard ………… Jennifer Connelly won an Oscar for her portrayal of Nash’s wife ………… Saving Private Ryan is about an army captain who is rescued by a soldier in World War II ………… Saving Private Ryan makes the reviewer cry ………… Chicago has only one main star ………… Michael J Fox was responsible for launching Back to the Future ………… All who regard themselves as serious movie buffs must see Casablanca 10 ………… The reviewer says black-and-white movies are not pretty B Communication practice Task Complete the questionnaire Check all the items that you believe are true A friend is someone who … always tells you the truth talks to you every day has known you for a long time respects you cries with you understands you lends you money 10 gives you advice helps you when you are in 11 keeps your secrets trouble 12 cares about you listens to your problems Now compare questionnaires with a partner Discuss the reasons for your choices Example: A I think a friend is someone who always tells you the truth 122 B I don’t agree Sometimes the truth can hurt you Task Complete the sentences using Adjective clauses Have you ever read the Harry Potter novels, which ……………………………………………………….? Have you ever seen Titanic, which ……………………………………………………………………………………… ? Have you ever been to Vietnam, which …………………………………………………………………………… ? I am going to tell you about the place where …………………………………………………………………… I am going to tell you about the person who …………………………………………………………………… I am going to tell you about the book that ……………………………………………………………………… I am going to tell you about the film that ………………………………………………………………………… I am going to tell you about the singer whose songs ……………………………………………………… 123 123