(Skkn 2023) exploring the teaching of communicative grammar in tieng anh 10 global success through integrated skills to enhance students’ language use in context

TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENT Page Part A INTRODUCTION I Reasons for the study II Aims of the study III Methods of the study IV Scope of the study CONTENT Part B I Theoretical and practical background Theoretical background 1.1 What is communicative grammar? 1.2 Why is communicative grammar important? 1.3 When to use communicative grammar? 1.4 Why should students learn communicative grammar? 1.5 Advantages of using communicative grammar in classroom 1.6 Difficulties in using communicative grammar Practical background II The solutions Samples of: “Exploring the teaching of Communicative Grammar in Tieng Anh 10 Global Success through integrated skills to enhance students’ Language Use in Context” Presenting grammar topics in contexts Practicing grammar through using integrated skills 23 Wrap-up (using communicative activities) 38 III Survey and Evaluation 46 Survey & Evaluation 46 Limitations & Recommendations 48 Part C CONCLUSION 49 Part D REFERENCE 50 APPENDIX PART A: INTRODUCTION I Reasons for the study English has now become a global language Among hundreds of different languages, the world chooses English as the medium for people to understand each other According to data from Wikipedia, 53 countries use English as an official language Event countries such as Olympic, global organizations, multinational companies… also consider English as the language of communication Knowing English increases your chances of getting a good job in a multinational company within your home country or for finding work abroad It is also the language of international communication, the media and the internet, so learning English is important for socializing and entertainment as well as work The new general educational program in subject of English follows the regulations setting in general educational program of Ministry of Education and Training It focuses on setting objectives from which enables teachers to identify requirements about learning outcomes Afterward, from the outcomes they can choose or suggest content of teaching As far as we are concerned, one of the key features of the current National Curriculum was the introduction of Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation as an independent subject within the English Programme of Study for Key Stage The Department of Education also brought in a statutory Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar or SPaG test, which requires children to demonstrate competence in this area during their KS2 SATs The government states: “Explicit knowledge of grammar is extremely important, as it gives us more conscious control and choice in our language.” It goes without saying that grammar is part and parcel of the language thanks to which we can communicate messages precisely and accurately However, a lot of students find grammar an unattractive concept in itself and often associate it with the tedious act of studying grammar rules and gap-filling generic sentences Furthermore, they are also indolent to try to memorize grammar rules and structures exactly If teachers always mechanically provide grammar knowledge and ask students to learn by heart, they will forget what they acquire immediately As a result, they cannot apply grammar in real context Consequently, grammar lesson become depressing The truth is that grammar can be taught and practiced in fun and engaging ways Besides, Speaking is actually an important skill in learning a language At EF English Live we think the most exciting part about learning a new language is communicating - it is the real reason we fall in love with languages in the first place - we want to have the ability to talk to anyone, from anywhere in the world When you have enough skills under your belt to open up your mouth and chat to people, really using the language, it is genuinely exciting Talking to people in their own language is challenging too – trying to keep up with the speed of the words, the new words and sentence structures you are not used to, slang words and dialects –the challenge and excitement can be incredibly motivating Also due to the same requirement, in high school level, English is one of the compulsory subjects and a graduation exam subject in high school In the general education program, learning English is built in the direction of communication Forming communication skills is the ultimate goal of the teaching process To form communication skills, the learning environment in general and the English practice environment in particular play a very important role Being learned and practiced in a positive and favorable language environment will help students have good conditions to practice and apply the knowledge they have learned as well as increase their confidence when using English From the above facts, we can confirm that the renovation of English teaching grammar methods in general and creating an environment for students to practice their own language is very necessary, contributing to the implementation of educational goals and human development in Vietnam in the period of industrialization, modernization of the country and also contribute to improving the quality of human resources for the country in the process of integrating into the world economy Stemming from the above reasons, I choose the topic: “Exploring the teaching of Communicative Grammar in Tieng Anh 10 Global Success through integrated skills to enhance students’ Language Use in Context” II Aims of the study - To increase students’ creativity and activeness in learning grammar - To help students learn in free and flexible ways - To help students become more confident, empowered, motivated in other curriculum areas - To produce a dynamic and stimulating environment - To reduce students’ stress and pressure - To increase connections between the home and school - To help students feel more positive toward learning that reflects their own culture and identity - To help grammar lesson become absorbing - To enhance student’s speaking skills III Methods of the study - Base on my personal teaching experience - Study a variety of documents and share experience with my colleagues - Carry out surveys and interviews among the 10th graders IV Scope of the study - The new English textbook “Tieng Anh 10 global success” - The 10th graders - Teachers of English at Quynh Luu High School & other high school teachers of English in Nghe An province PART B: CONTENT I Theoretical and practical background Theoretical background 1.1 What is communicative grammar? When we look at grammar from the point of view of the speaker and what it is that she/ he wants to communicate and how the message is put across, we call it communicative grammar The message and the act of communication is more important than the grammar Communicative grammar puts the accent on the actual act of communication It gives the speaker all the tools for an effective transmission of the intended message Communicative grammar is based on the communicative approach to the teaching of second/foreign languages Language structures must not be taught in isolation but integrated to the four skills of language: listening, speaking, reading and writing In this way a structure is practiced orally and in written form Grammatical patterns must not only be learned at the utterance level but at the discourse level; the main objective focuses on the development of communicative grammatical competence, which is understood as the ability to use and understand a structure in a variety of situations spontaneously 1.2 Why is communicative grammar important? Communicative grammar is a fresh departure in grammar in that it employs a communicative rather than a structure approach There are several reasons for emphasizing the communication aspects of learning English grammar According to a research, usually, a first- year student at university or college already has grounding in the grammar of language after several years of school English Yet his proficiency in actual using of the language may be disappointing This, I believe, may be partly attributed to grammar “fatigue” The students may be therefore benefit from looking at grammar from another angle, where grammatical structures are systematically related to meanings, uses and situations The conventional method of presenting grammar in terms of structure also has a certain drawback in itself For example, in such a grammar notions of time may be dealt with in as many as four different places: under the tense of the verb, C.33.44.55.54.78.65.5.43.22.2.4 22.Tai lieu Luan 66.55.77.99 van Luan an.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.33.44.55.54.78.655.43.22.2.4.55.22 Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an under time adverbs, under prepositional phrases denoting time and under temporal conjunctions and clauses The students who are primarily interested in making use of the language rather than in learning about its structure is not likely to find such an arrangement particularly helpful Communicative grammar makes it possible to bring similar notions, such as involving time, together in one place 1.3 When to use communicative grammar? Try to always have our students practice a structure both orally and in written form The students must understand a grammatical structure and be able to use it in a variety of situations spontaneously and not just learn the grammatical patterns at the utterance level The approach calls for a certain balance between pre-communicative and communicative activities: the first prepare the learner to handle the language rules for actual communication and the later enable him to use the structures in real communication The students must not only drills and precommunicative exercises in class, but they must interact and communicate with other speakers when they use the patterns they are studying Classes are planned in a way that the students use the structures naturally and not artificially, and they require time and practice to internalize those patterns by using a process in which grammatical structures are recycled with more complex variations 1.4 Why should students learn communicative grammar? Most English teachers feel comfortable teaching a conversation lesson or a lesson that integrates other skills such as listening, reading, or writing They show creativity in those lessons and include a variety to help students improve their language skills; however, this may be more difficult when teaching a grammar topic Unfortunately, grammar topics are often taught as if they are not part of the language, students have been practicing in integrated skills lessons, in grammar rules are explained or memorized written exercises are the focus and the students end up feeling they grasped the rule but they cannot use it when trying to communicate Learning grammar does not need to be boring How can we combine speaking, listening, reading and writing in a grammar lesson and show students that learning grammar doesn’t need to be boring and grammar is in every sentence they say or write Let’s see some basic points: - Presents the grammar topic in context - Focus on the function It is important to remember that the function cannot be understood out of context Therefore, what is grammar mean and how it is used go hand in hand So far the students of Quynh Luu Junior High School have been taught grammar with GTM (Grammar-Translation Method), which just prepares learners for conventional grammar-paper tests Despite their considerable knowledge of Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd 77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77t@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn C.33.44.55.54.78.65.5.43.22.2.4 22.Tai lieu Luan 66.55.77.99 van Luan an.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.33.44.55.54.78.655.43.22.2.4.55.22 Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an grammar, the students fail to use the language they have learnt to communicate in real-life situations The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the communicative grammar teaching method was effective in terms of students’ grammatical knowledge and oral communication, and their attitudes towards this teaching method The results of the study highlight the treatment on both grammatical knowledge and oral communication as well as positive attitudes from the students These lead to two major conclusions that the communicative grammar teaching indeed helped the students improve their grammar competence and use it effectively in communication, at least in oral production Besides, this implementation appealed the students’ interest in grammar lessons 1.5 Advantages of using communicative grammar in classroom In the history of EFL teaching methods, various trends in grammar teaching have been applied to enhance learners’ competence in a foreign language, typically Grammar-Translation Method (GTM), Direct Method (DM), Audio-lingual Method (ALM), Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), etc Amongst these, CLT is one of the newest known methods; it is the most favorable in the current trend of language teaching Generally, there are many evidences showing that grammar should be taught in communicative ways that is commonly called CLT (Singh, 2011) Unlike the former methods, CLT is learner-centered, emphasizes communication and real-life situations It views that learners will learn best if they participate in meaningful communication (ibid.) In brief, CLT itself has its own advantages, and it really does benefit learners in a variety of ways In this paper, the term “communicative grammar teaching” is used to refer to teaching grammar communicatively According to “Grammar Practice: Mechanical and Communicative (n.d.)”, this method of grammar teaching is based on the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) to the teaching of second/ foreign languages The main objective focuses on the development of communicative grammatical competence, which is understood as the ability to use and understand a structure in a variety of situations spontaneously 1.6 Difficulties in using communicative grammar? Although being aware of the importance of communicative grammar for students, at present, the introduction of communicative grammar in schools is still limited - Communicative grammar needs to be done through active and practical activities, while many students are still accustomed to passive learning Most of the students of the school come from rural areas, so their ability to adapt to modern society is still weak, and their willingness to apply of communicative grammar is almost nonexistent They just want to copy down grammar structures and rules mechanically from their teachers Therefore, it is so difficult for them to take part in communicative grammar activities Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd 77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77t@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn C.33.44.55.54.78.65.5.43.22.2.4 22.Tai lieu Luan 66.55.77.99 van Luan an.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.33.44.55.54.78.655.43.22.2.4.55.22 Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an To teachers, some of them also are familiar with traditional teaching method, they don’t want to change, create new ideas, new techniques - There is no doubt that teaching and learning communicative grammar can take more time to prepare for the lesson - Disadvantaged and handicapped students generally have fewer opportunities to learn academic content outside of school They cannot catch up with their classmates - Students may be lack of detailed knowledge of the locality and lack of skills Practical background With reference to the current trend of language teaching, CLT is supposed to primarily aim at developing learner’s communicative competence Therefore, the design of most textbooks developed by the MOET (Ministry of Education and Training) in Vietnam is somehow based on CLT However, after many years of studying English at school with these textbooks, Vietnamese students cannot apply their linguistic ability to real-life situations This reality originates from the fact that most teachers apply the traditional method namely GTM in training grammar, in which grammar rules are taught deductively (G Nguyen & H Nguyen, 2004) and thus students keep learning grammar reluctantly in order to deal with conventional paper-tests (Khuong-Cam, www.ccsenet.org/elt English Language Teaching Vol 7, No 6; 2014 75 2010) There are several possible explanations for this preference First, teachers always feel more comfortable and confident when using GTM to teach grammar since this method of teaching is quite familiar to them (G Nguyen & H Nguyen, 2004) Second, the school facilities cannot meet the demand of CLT application Particularly, large-size classes are not ideal environment for a communicative lesson; and schools are deprived of equipment (e.g audiovisual teaching aids) (ibid.) Last but not least, according to KhuongCam, this problem of English grammar teaching derives from such constraints as grammar-based examinations and textbook-based syllabi rather than those mentioned by G Nguyen and H Nguyen Relating this common reality to Quynh Luu Junior High School, the grammar teaching application has been in the same way This truth is proved by the researcher’s seventeen-year experience in teaching English at this school, through this hundreds of class observations and daily personal communications with practitioners and students (personal communication, 2012) To teachers, they all feel confident and comfortable in their current teaching, and thus totally satisfied with the way they have been applying to teach English grammar regardless of knowing that their students cannot use the language for communication Sadly, most of them are quite vague about the CLT implementation (personal communication, 2012) Even a few scarce teachers who have an understanding of CLT express their negative view on it They assert that Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd 77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77t@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn C.33.44.55.54.78.65.5.43.22.2.4 22.Tai lieu Luan 66.55.77.99 van Luan an.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.33.44.55.54.78.655.43.22.2.4.55.22 Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an applying CLT in grammar teaching faces a lot of difficulties due to certain constraints of school facilities; besides, it requires much endeavor from the teacher; they hence not often implement it For students, when being asked about the reality of grammar instruction they have been experienced, most of them state that what they learn from grammar classes is a series of grammatical structure provision followed by mechanical practice in the form of isolated sentences, which only serves conventional grammar-paper tests (personal communication, 2012) Consequently, though they have considerable knowledge of grammar, they cannot use English to communicate, even in simple situations like personal introduction Stimulated by the basis of the mentioned reality, a decision to conduct a study to help students get improved in English grammatical knowledge and communicative performance at least in the form of oral production is made That is to say, the current study is conducted with two primary aims: (1) to investigate the effects of communicative grammar teaching on students’ achievement of grammatical knowledge and oral production, and (2) to ascertain students’ attitudes towards communicative grammar lessons To obtain the above purposes, the study addresses the following research questions: 1) Does communicative grammar teaching affect students’ achievement of grammatical knowledge and oral production? 2) What are the students’ attitudes towards the communicative grammar teaching method? II The solutions Samples of “Exploring the teaching of Communicative Grammar in Tieng Anh 10 Global Success through integrated skills to enhance students’ Language Use in Context” Presenting grammar topics in contexts 1.1 Setting context(s)/ Building dialogue (s) (Using the students and you, the teacher) An effective way of explaining grammar is to let students see the grammar being used in context When they see language reading texts, for example, students get a good idea of how it functions in connected discourse A direct context for language can often be found in the lives and experiences of the people in the room Personal contexts immediately show how applicable the grammar is, and can also be more memorable than stories of people from outside the students’ worlds This collaborative technique involves setting a scene and, with the students’ help, writing a dialogue on the board including the language you want to focus on (E.g., the teacher provides a framework for a dialogue between waiters and customers in a restaurant, a dialogue between two or three students after class, teacher and students in the class, etc.) Example Reported speech (unit 9) Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd 77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77t@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn C.33.44.55.54.78.65.5.43.22.2.4 22.Tai lieu Luan 66.55.77.99 van Luan an.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.33.44.55.54.78.655.43.22.2.4.55.22 Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an What you usually on weekends? Tom: I play soccer with friends Teddy: I visit my grandma Joe: I my homework Bear: I clean the house - Set the context: “You are a teacher and you are working with your students in your class Ask them what they usually on weekends.” - Separate the board into two sides; write the sentences in direct speech (use quotation marks) on one side and sentences in reported speech on the other side - Show them how to “report” - For example, Direct speech Indirect speech Tom said, “I play soccer with friends.” Tom said that he played soccer with friends Teddy said, “I visit my grandma.” Teddy said she visited her grandma Bear said, “I clean the house.” Bear said that he cleaned the house Joe said, “I my homework.” Joe said that he did his homework - Make sure students understand that the verb in simple present was changed to simple past, and the reason is that the reporting verb is in the past Notes: we can ask different questions to teach students how to report other tenses Ex: + What are you doing for the holidays? => for teaching present continuous tense + What did you last weekend? => for teaching past tenses ………………………… Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd 77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77t@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn C.33.44.55.54.78.65.5.43.22.2.4 22.Tai lieu Luan 66.55.77.99 van Luan an.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.33.44.55.54.78.655.43.22.2.4.55.22 Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an Example The past simple vs past continuous with When and While (Unit 4) Introduce The past simple vs past continuous with When and While in the context through a conversation about weekend activities - Set the context: Alice and Edward are classmates They’re talking about their weekend Did you have a good weekend? Alice: Hi, Edward Did you have a good weekend? Edward: Oh, yes! I watched a great movie on Friday On Saturday, when I was going shopping with my friend Helen, I bumped into our old friend John Edward Alice Alice: That sounds good! What was he doing there? Edward: John was buying something for his birthday party You look tired What did you on the weekend? Alice: Well, did not have much fun While you were going out, I worked all the time and prepared our presentation Edward: Oh, no! I totally forgot the presentation! - Focus student’s attention on the picture of two people (Edward and Alice) talking in the street - Let students guess what the conversation is about - Show the title of the dialogue (Did you have a good weekend?) and set the scene: “Edward and Alice are classmates It’s Monday morning and they talk about their weekends.” - Ask students “Who had a good weekend? Who had a bad weekend?” to give a specific listening task and let students guess - Play a recording of the dialogue - Elicit the answers from students (Alice = bad weekend, Edward = good weekend) - Hand out the printed dialogues and have students read while I play the recording again At the same time, ask students to underline “verbs” in the simple past and past continuous - Make sure that students are able to distinguish the meaning and form of the target language Example Passive voice with modal verbs (Unit 6) - Set the context: Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd 77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77t@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn