An investigation into efl teachers beliefs and practices in teaching grammar in some upper secondary schools in yen thanh district nghe an province

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION & TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES -  - PHAN VAN HAU AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL TEACHERS’ BELIEFS AND PRACTICES IN TEACHING GRAMMAR IN SOME UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN YEN THANH DISTRICT NGHE AN PROVINCE MA THESIS IN EDUCATION Hue, 2011 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION & TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES -  - PHAN VAN HAU AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL TEACHERS’ BELIEFS AND PRACTICES IN TEACHING GRAMMAR IN SOME UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN YEN THANH DISTRICT NGHE AN PROVINCE FIELD OF STUDY: THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60 14 10 MA THESIS IN EDUCATION SUPERVISOR: TRUONG BACH LE, D.Ed Hue, 2011 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ -  - PHAN VĂN HẬU KHẢO SÁT VỀ NHẬN THỨC VÀ THỰC TIỄN DẠY NGỮ PHÁP CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TIẾNG ANH TẠI MỘT SỐ TRƯỜNG THPT Ở HUYỆN YÊN THÀNH – TĨNH NGHỆ AN CHUYÊN NGÀNH: LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60 14 10 LUẬN VĂN THẠC SỸ NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC TS TRƯƠNG BẠCH LÊ HUẾ, 2011 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I declare that this research is my own work, the data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates, and have not been published elsewhere Author Phan Van Hau This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support of many individuals I would like to thank all of them First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Truong Bach Le, for his guidance and empathy I am very grateful that Dr Truong Bach Le provided helpful criticism as well as encouragement during the writing of this thesis paper I am also grateful for generosity with his time and expertise His care was not only seen in his smiles, empathetic approaches, reminding phone calls and messages but also in his questions and inquiries These questions made me think and learn a lot Without his help, this thesis would be far from being finished I would like to send my sincere thanks to all my lecturers in the Master Program for their profound knowledge, whole-hearted instructions and great enthusiasms Next, I am especially indebted to Asso.pro Truong Vien and other M.A friends who organized a very useful workshop on SPSS which helped me to analyzed data in my thesis I wish to acknowledge the EFL teachers from six public high schools in Yen Thanh District, Nghe An Province for their cooperation during the process of data collection They gave me generously their precious time to work with me I learned a lot from them about beliefs and practices Besides, my special thanks also is sent to all my friends (Especially Chau Duc Dung, Tran Quoc Hai, and Nguyen Quy Hanh) for their help and sharing ideas and introducing valuable materials to support me in implementing this research Last but not least, I own thanks to my family who has supported me and shared with me all difficulties I had during the time I conducted this research Hue, July 2011 Phan Van Hau TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Pages STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Table of Contents list of Abbreviations & symbols List of Tables .5 List of Charts .6 ABSTRACT CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Research Objectives 10 1.3 Significance .11 1.4 Research Questions 11 1.5 Scope of the research 12 1.6 Organization of the study 12 Chapter II: Literature review .14 2.1 Teachers‟ beliefs in English language teaching 14 2.1.1 The notion of belief .14 2.1.2 Understanding teachers‟ beliefs 16 2.1.3 The sources of teachers‟ beliefs 19 2.1.3a Teachers‟ experience as language learners 19 2.1.3b Experience from teaching 20 2.1.3c Teachers‟ own personality 20 2.2 Practices .20 2.3 Approaches to grammar instruction 21 2.3.1 Grammar translation 21 2.3.2 The direct method 22 2.3.3 The Audio-lingual method .23 2.3.4 Communicative approach to teaching grammar 24 2.3.5 Deductive approach .25 2.3.6 Inductive approach .26 2.4 Previous studies 27 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 29 3.1 Research design 29 3.2 Participants 30 3.3 Research instruments 32 3.4 Data collection procedures 32 3.4.1 Questionnaire 33 3.4.2 Observation 36 3.4.3 Interview 37 3.5 Data Analysis 37 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 39 4.1 Beliefs of Upper Secondary School EFL teachers in Yen Thanh on grammar teaching .39 4.1.1 TB on learners‟ approaches to learning grammar 40 4.1.2 TB on teachers‟ approaches to grammar instruction .42 4.1.3 TB on grammar practice 45 4.1.4 TB on learners‟ needs for learning grammar 48 4.1.5 TB on medium of grammar instruction 49 4.1.6 TB on usefulness of grammar for English language use .51 4.1.7 TB on place of grammar in curriculum 52 4.1.8 TB on teachers‟ role in grammar instruction 55 4.1.9 TB on learners‟ preferences in grammar instruction .55 4.1.10 TB on conception of grammar .57 4.1.11 TB on error correction 58 4.1.12 TB on using authentic materials in grammar instruction 60 4.2 Practices in teaching grammar 62 4.3 The interrelationship between beliefs and practices 65 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 70 5.1 Summary of the findings 70 5.1.1 What are the beliefs of EFL teachers in some Upper Secondary Schools in Yen Thanh on teaching grammar? 70 5.1.2 What are the practices of English grammar teaching at some upper secondary schools in Nghe An? .71 5.2 Pedagogical implications and suggestions 72 5.3 Limitations of the study .73 5.4 Suggestions for further research 74 REFERENCES 76 APPENDIX A Questionnaire i APPENDIX B Interview questions v APPENDIX C Classroom Observation Checklist vi APPENDIX D Dividing questions into clusters vii APPENDIX E: Piloted questionnaire xi APPENDIX F: Raw calculations xii APPENDIX G: Mean of 12 Clusters of Teachers‟ beliefs on teaching grammar xiv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS & SYMBOLS BANA: Britain, Autralasia and North America CLT: Communicative language teaching COLT Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching ELT: English language teaching EFL: English Foreign language Gr: Grammar MOET: Ministry of Education and Training S.D Standard Deviation Ss: Students TB: Teachers‟ beliefs TESEP: Tertiary, secondary and primary % Percent LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: School names, classes & types of classes, number of EFL teachers .31 Table 3.2: Personal information of participant teachers 31 Table 3.3: Instruments used in the study 32 Table 3.4: Summary of the questionnaire 35 Table 4.1: The reliability of the questionnaire 39 Table 4.2: Teachers‟ beliefs (TB) on teaching grammar teaching 40 Table 4.3: Mean of TB on learners‟ approaches to learning grammar .41 Table 4.4: Mean of TB on approach to learning grammar 44 Table 4.5: Mean of TB on grammar practice 46 Table 4.6: Mean of TB on learners‟ need for learning grammar 49 Table 4.7: Mean of TB on medium of grammar instruction .50 Table 4.8: Mean of TB on usefulness of grammar for English language use 52 Table 4.9: TB on place of grammar in curriculum 54 Table 4.10: TB on learners‟ preferences in grammar instruction 57 Table 4.11: Mean of TB on conception of grammar .58 Table 4.12: Mean of TB on error correction .59 Table 4.13: TB on using authentic materials in grammar instruction .61 Table 4.14: Activities and names of teachers who had done those activities 63 I 7: Separate treatment of Gr is not good for language learners Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent Neutral 12.0 12.0 12.0 agree 27 54.0 54.0 66.0 strongly agree 17 34.0 34.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 8: St should be aware of forms and funtions Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent Neutral 4.0 4.0 4.0 agree 19 38.0 38.0 42.0 strongly agree 29 58.0 58.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 9: Situations should be set for presenting Gr Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent Neutral 14.0 14.0 14.0 agree 21 42.0 42.0 56.0 strongly agree 22 44.0 44.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 xix I10: Non-contextual structure drills play certain role Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent Neutral 10 20.0 20.0 20.0 agree 22 44.0 44.0 64.0 strongly agree 18 36.0 36.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 11: Learning Gr is important because of tests Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent disagree 6.0 6.0 6.0 Neutral 14.0 14.0 20.0 agree 23 46.0 46.0 66.0 strongly agree 17 34.0 34.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 12: Both Vietnamese & English should be translated in teaching Gr Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 2.0 2.0 2.0 disagree 2.0 2.0 4.0 Neutral 12.0 12.0 16.0 agree 22 44.0 44.0 60.0 strongly agree 20 40.0 40.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 xx I13: Only target language is used in Gr periods Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 8.0 8.0 8.0 disagree 10.0 10.0 18.0 Neutral 10 20.0 20.0 38.0 agree 31 62.0 62.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 14: Deductive method is easily to applied Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 14.0 14.0 14.0 disagree 10.0 10.0 24.0 Neutral 15 30.0 30.0 54.0 agree 16 32.0 32.0 86.0 strongly agree 14.0 14.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 15: Inductive method is more effective Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 2.0 2.0 2.0 disagree 4.0 4.0 6.0 Neutral 10 20.0 20.0 26.0 agree 26 52.0 52.0 78.0 strongly agree 11 22.0 22.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 xxi I 16: CLT approach is more interesting Cumulative Frequency Valid disagree Percent Valid Percent Percent 4.0 4.0 4.0 Neutral 10 20.0 20.0 24.0 agree 21 42.0 42.0 66.0 strongly agree 17 34.0 34.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 17: good Ss paticipate in production stage Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 6.0 6.0 6.0 disagree 4.0 4.0 10.0 Neutral 13 26.0 26.0 36.0 agree 26 52.0 52.0 88.0 strongly agree 12.0 12.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 18: Gr is important for Ss Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent disagree 2.0 2.0 2.0 Neutral 8.0 8.0 10.0 agree 22 44.0 44.0 54.0 strongly agree 23 46.0 46.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 xxii I 19: Gr helps Ss learn other skills better Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent disagree 6.0 6.0 6.0 Neutral 18.0 18.0 24.0 agree 23 46.0 46.0 70.0 strongly agree 15 30.0 30.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 20: Teaching Gr is the most important in teaching English Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent disagree 6.0 6.0 6.0 Neutral 12 24.0 24.0 30.0 agree 22 44.0 44.0 74.0 strongly agree 13 26.0 26.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 21: Gr helps Ss speak English better Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent disagree 10.0 10.0 10.0 Neutral 15 30.0 30.0 40.0 agree 26 52.0 52.0 92.0 strongly agree 8.0 8.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 xxiii I 22: Gr helps Ss listen to E better Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 2.0 2.0 2.0 disagree 12.0 12.0 14.0 Neutral 15 30.0 30.0 44.0 agree 28 56.0 56.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 23: Gr helps Ss read E efectively Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent Neutral 11 22.0 22.0 22.0 agree 24 48.0 48.0 70.0 strongly agree 15 30.0 30.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 24: Gr should be taught in every period Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent disagree 2.0 2.0 2.0 Neutral 18.0 18.0 20.0 agree 25 50.0 50.0 70.0 strongly agree 15 30.0 30.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 xxiv I 25: Gr should be taught inL.F Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 10 20.0 20.0 20.0 disagree 12.0 12.0 32.0 Neutral 19 38.0 38.0 70.0 agree 15 30.0 30.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 26: T should control activities in Gr periods Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 25 50.0 50.0 50.0 disagree 16 32.0 32.0 82.0 Neutral 12.0 12.0 94.0 agree 6.0 6.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 27: Production is necessary in Gr teaching Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 2.0 2.0 2.0 disagree 2.0 2.0 4.0 Neutral 11 22.0 22.0 26.0 agree 17 34.0 34.0 60.0 strongly agree 20 40.0 40.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 xxv I 28: Teaching Gr need more time Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent disagree 2.0 2.0 2.0 Neutral 8.0 8.0 10.0 agree 27 54.0 54.0 64.0 strongly agree 18 36.0 36.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 29: Drilling is a usefull tool in teaching Gr Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent Neutral 14.0 14.0 14.0 agree 22 44.0 44.0 58.0 strongly agree 21 42.0 42.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 30: Gr teaching method depends on Ss' level Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent disagree 2.0 2.0 2.0 Neutral 11 22.0 22.0 24.0 agree 25 50.0 50.0 74.0 strongly agree 13 26.0 26.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 xxvi I 31: Ss should apply Gr rules into communication Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent disagree 2.0 2.0 2.0 Neutral 15 30.0 30.0 32.0 agree 20 40.0 40.0 72.0 strongly agree 14 28.0 28.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 32 Gr is concern with using correct tenses Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent disagree 4.0 4.0 4.0 Neutral 12.0 12.0 16.0 agree 23 46.0 46.0 62.0 strongly agree 19 38.0 38.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 33: Gr involves teaching structures Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent disagree 2.0 2.0 2.0 Neutral 10 20.0 20.0 22.0 agree 24 48.0 48.0 70.0 strongly agree 15 30.0 30.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 xxvii I 34: All errors should be corrected Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 14.0 14.0 14.0 disagree 14.0 14.0 28.0 Neutral 18.0 18.0 46.0 agree 27 54.0 54.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 35: Hindering communicative errors should be corrected Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 2.0 2.0 2.0 disagree 2.0 2.0 4.0 Neutral 14 28.0 28.0 32.0 agree 21 42.0 42.0 74.0 strongly agree 13 26.0 26.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 36: English and Vietnamese should be balanced using in Gr teaching Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent disagree 6.0 6.0 6.0 Neutral 18.0 18.0 24.0 agree 29 58.0 58.0 82.0 strongly agree 18.0 18.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 xxviii I 37: Ss find Gr beneficial Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 2.0 2.0 2.0 Neutral 17 34.0 34.0 36.0 agree 20 40.0 40.0 76.0 strongly agree 12 24.0 24.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 38: Ss want to learn Gr because of tests Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent disagree 8.0 8.0 8.0 Neutral 14 28.0 28.0 36.0 agree 32 64.0 64.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 39: Ss prefer G traditional method Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 14 28.0 28.0 28.0 disagree 18.0 18.0 46.0 Neutral 11 22.0 22.0 68.0 agree 16 32.0 32.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 xxix I 40: Ss wants Gr to be taught clearly Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent disagree 6.0 6.0 6.0 Neutral 16.0 16.0 22.0 agree 21 42.0 42.0 64.0 strongly agree 18 36.0 36.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 41: T finds it difficult to correct Ss' mistakes Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 2.0 2.0 2.0 disagree 6.0 6.0 8.0 Neutral 14 28.0 28.0 36.0 agree 15 30.0 30.0 66.0 strongly agree 17 34.0 34.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 42: Ss find it difficult to deal with Gr in real-life materials Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 4.0 4.0 4.0 disagree 10.0 10.0 14.0 Neutral 16 32.0 32.0 46.0 agree 20 40.0 40.0 86.0 strongly agree 14.0 14.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 xxx I 43: Real-life materials are difficult because of culture Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 14.0 14.0 14.0 disagree 10.0 10.0 24.0 Neutral 10 20.0 20.0 44.0 agree 26 52.0 52.0 96.0 strongly agree 4.0 4.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 44:Real -life material are difficult because of vocabulary Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 2.0 2.0 2.0 disagree 6.0 6.0 8.0 Neutral 13 26.0 26.0 34.0 agree 16 32.0 32.0 66.0 strongly agree 17 34.0 34.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 45: Time-consuming to use real-life materials Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 4.0 4.0 4.0 disagree 2.0 2.0 6.0 Neutral 11 22.0 22.0 28.0 agree 23 46.0 46.0 74.0 strongly agree 13 26.0 26.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 xxxi I 46: Difficult to apply real-life material Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent disagree 2.0 2.0 2.0 Neutral 16.0 16.0 18.0 agree 25 50.0 50.0 68.0 strongly agree 16 32.0 32.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 47: Difficult to apply Gr into communication Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent disagree 4.0 4.0 4.0 Neutral 14 28.0 28.0 32.0 agree 23 46.0 46.0 78.0 strongly agree 11 22.0 22.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 I 48: Ss language competence is not good to exercises Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent disagree 8.0 8.0 8.0 Neutral 14 28.0 28.0 36.0 agree 21 42.0 42.0 78.0 strongly agree 11 22.0 22.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 xxxii I 49: Ss are passive and not familiar with CLT method Cumulative Valid Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent strongly disagree 14.0 14.0 14.0 disagree 16.0 16.0 30.0 Neutral 13 26.0 26.0 56.0 agree 22 44.0 44.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 xxxiii