Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng sách thí điểm tiếng anh 6 trong giảng dạy ngữ pháp cho học sinh tại một số trường trung học cơ sở ở thành phố huế

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYEN LE YEN MY AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF PILOT TEXTBOOK TIENG ANH IN TEACHING GRAMMAR FOR STUDENTS AT SOME LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN HUE CITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Hue University of Foreign Languages HUE, 2016 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYEN LE YEN MY AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF PILOT TEXTBOOK TIENG ANH IN TEACHING GRAMMAR FOR STUDENTS AT SOME LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN HUE CITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.14.01.11 SUPERVISOR: TRUONG BACH LE, D.Ed HUE,2016 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ NGUYEN LE YEN MY NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG SÁCH THÍ ĐIỂM TIẾNG ANH TRONG GIẢNG DẠY NGỮ PHÁP CHO HỌC SINH TẠI MỘT SỐ TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC CƠ SỞ Ở THÀNH PHỐ HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.14.01.11 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS TRƯƠNG BẠCH LÊ HUẾ, 2016 STATEMENT OF AUTHOSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates and have not been published elsewhere Date: …./ …./ 20… Signature Nguyen Le Yen My i ABSTRACT Nowadays, teaching English draws great attention all over the world in general and in Viet nam in particular Many new methods and new textbooks have been used to improve the teaching quality in Viet Nam This study was set out to investigate the use of pilot textbook Tieng Anh in teaching grammar for students at some lower secondary schools in Hue City The study aims to find out: - The attitudes of teachers toward the use of pilot textbook Tieng Anh in teaching grammar - Teachers’ use of the pilot textbook Tieng Anh in teaching grammar - The difficulties in using the pilot textbook Tieng Anh in teaching grammar for grade students In order to obtain reliable results both qualitative and quantitive methods of were used The data were collected by means of questionnaires, interviews and observations The participants of this research are 15 English teachers at some lower secondary schools in Hue city The finding shows that teachers had positive attitudes towards the pilot textbook Tieng Anh in their grammar teaching Almost teachers considered that the pilot textbook is easy for them to teach However this new textbook is only fairy suitable to students’ level Some teachers reported that there are too many and difficult grammar points and new words in each unit for students to master Furthermore, the results from the study revealed that most of teachers encountered difficulties in using the pilot textbook Tieng Anh such as time limitation, large class and multi level Students’ low motivation, overload preparation, facilities and teaching aids shortages and students’ limited linguistic knowledge In spite of a lot of difficulties, teachers carried out various kinds of activities to encourage students to practice grammar Beside the current activities in the pilot textbook, teachers often add more extra activities for students In additionally, some suggestions to overcome the difficulties in using the pilot textbook were given in this study ii Basing on the finding, some pedagogical implication for students, teachers and administrators and textbook designers as well as the suggestions for further research are provided Furthermore, this chapter also indicated the limitations of the research Moreover, some further researches in the same field were recommended for who are interested in this topic iii Acknowledgemen ts This thesis could not have been completed without the guidance 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 thesis supervisor Dr Truong Bach Le, for his invaluable advice, professional instructions and sincere encouragement I am grateful that he provided helpful criticism as well as encouragement during the writing of this thesis paper Without his help, this thesis would be far from being finish My sincere thanks also go to the teachers of the Department of English for the useful knowledge that they taught me during the time I attended the M.A course Additionally, I would like to thank all librarians at Hue College of foreign Languages who have created favorable conditions for me to seek and borrow useful documents iv Thirdly, I wish to send my great appreciation to all friends of English M.A classes (2013-2015 & 2014-2016), especially Mr Hai and Ms Kim Khanh who always informed useful information and cheered up me during the thesis Next, I would also like to acknowledge my gratitude to many teachers of Nguyen Du, To Huu and Tran Cao Van Lower secondary schools, who are willing to complete the questionnaires and provide precious information for the 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 TABLE OF CONTENT Contents pages STATEMENT OF AUTHOSHIP i ABSTRACT .ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv TABLE OF CONTENT v LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF CHARTS ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rational of the study v 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.5 Scope of the Research 1.6 Structure of the study CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Previous Studies Related to the Research 2.2 Teaching Grammar 2.2.1 Definition of grammar 2.2.2 Definition of grammar teaching 2.2.3 The role of grammar in language learning 10 2.3 Approaches to teaching grammar 11 2.3.1 Deductive approach 11 2.3.2 Inductive approach 12 2.4 Procedures of grammar teaching 13 2.4.1 Presentation- Practice-Production (PPP) 14 2.4.2 Deep End Strategy 15 2.4.3 Test-Teach-Test (TTT) 15 2.5 Activities in teaching grammar 16 2.5.1 Games 16 2.5.2 Music 16 2.5.3 Movies 16 2.5.4 Using stories 17 2.5.5 Dialogues/ conversations 18 2.6 The role of textbook in teaching and learning English 18 2.7 An Introduction to the Pilot Textbook Tieng Anh 20 2.7.1 Aims and objectives of the pilot text book Tieng Anh 20 2.7.2 The content of the pilot textbook Tieng Anh 20 vi 2.7.3 The format of the pilot textbook Tieng Anh 21 2.7.4 The Grammar activities in the pilot text book Tieng Anh 25 2.8 The comparison between the pilot textbook Tieng anh with the current textbook Tieng Anh 26 CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 30 3.1 Research approach 30 3.3 Data Collection Instruments 30 3.3.1 Questionnaires 30 3.3.2 Interviews 31 3.4 Procedure for Data Collection and Analysis 32 3.4.1 Procedure for Data Collection 32 3.4.2 Procedure for Data Analysis 32 3.5 Procedure for Research 33 CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DICUSSIONS 34 4.1 Attitudes of teachers toward the pilot textbook Tieng Anh 34 4.2 How teachers use the pilot textbook Tieng Anh to teach grammar? 39 4.3 The difficulties in using pilot textbook Tieng Anh in teaching grammar for grade students 44 CHAPTER V CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 47 5.1 The summary of the study 47 5.2 Implications of the study 49 5.2.2 For teachers 50 5.3 Limitations of the study 52 5.4 Recommendations for future studies 53 REFERENCE 54 APPENDICES 58 vii order to get the good result in learning, students should practice frequently to memorize these grammar points Especially, as mentioned above the learning time is limited so students have not enough time and have no chances to involve in all activities in class It is necessary to more exercises at home and also need to spend more time studying at home so as to understand the lesson in class easily Lastly, if students not understand the lesson, they should ask teachers or friends to explain the lesson again to help them understand the lesson well 5.2.2 For teachers Normally, when examing a pilot textbook and deciding on how to use it, teachers spend a lot of time to find out the most suitable method to design and carry out learning activities from the given activities in the textbook However, it’s not easy to find out the perfect method and teachers always face with many new challenges The current study has several implications for the teachers of English who are concerned about using pilot textbook to teach grammar for grade students These implications drawn from the findings of this study will be addressed in the hope of giving the teachers possible suggestions to reduce the problem and use the pilot textbook more effectively in their teaching process The first difficulty is limited-time, because only have periods per week and teachers only have 45 minutes in class Therefore, if teachers want to save time in class, Mrs H (An English teacher of Tran Cao Van school) said that “teachers should prepare lesson plans, teaching aids (pictures, flashcards) at home and avoid wasting time for unnecessary activities in class” Secondly, the large class and multi-students’ level are also the challenges in teaching Some schools in Vietnam, there are usually at least 40 students in a class so in order to overcome this problem; teachers should pay attention to work arrangement In the interview, Mrs H suggested “teachers should divide class into many smaller groups and assign the group leaders These leaders will help teachers save time and control the whole class more easily Moreover, group work has another good effect on students’ learning When students cooperate to work 50 together, they have chances to exchange their view of points; especially in a group the better students can help their weaker partners to improve their English competences This is the good way help reduce the burden work for teachers and also help students learn more effectively” Thirdly, “How to motivate students?” is the question that almost teachers want to find the answer Teachers’ friendliness is one of the success key to help students open minded in learning In additionally, teachers should be friendly and understand students’ expectations and psychology When Mr L answered some interview questions, he shared that “Understanding students’ expectation is very important in teaching process in general and in teaching English particular It can help teachers understand their students more clearly and change their teaching methods to meet students’ need Thus, students can find more interesting, confident to join in classroom activities” Hence, in teaching teachers should create the friendly atmosphere so that the gap between teachers and students can be shorter and students can forget their anxiety, and can be free when participating in the classroom activities Moreover, Mrs H and Mrs P suggested that “teachers should use good mark to motivate students or should appreciate students’ effort by giving them positive comments such as good job!, well-done!, very good ! By this method, students will have more confidence and motivation in learning” The success of classroom activities depends on the participation of students in those activities When students have enough the interest and confidence in learning, the teaching process will be much easier So, it can be said that the important key to lock the challenges in teaching is create the interest and motivation for students In the interview, Mrs C said that “Teachers need create more new activities or should change the classroom activities more frequently to help students participate in teachers’ activities confidently and be less boredom During teaching process, in order that students understand clearly one or two grammar point, teachers should give more examples for them Students can learn more through these example and they also have the deep understanding about the contents that teachers want to transmit.” 51 In sum, it hoped that these suggestions above can help teachers overcome the challenges and difficulties they have faced when using the Pilot textbook Tieng Anh to teach grammar for grade students 5.2.3 For administrators and textbook designers For the administrators, this textbook is only piloted at some secondary schools so teachers don’t have any experience in using it There should be workshops to introduce about the pilot textbook and to train the teachers who using the pilot textbook Tieng Anh in their teaching And through this workshop, teachers can express their difficulties in using the Textbook for every teacher to solve together or to share their experiences for every teachers to imitate For the designer, it is very important to investigate the use of the pilot textbook Tieng Anh in the real context in order that find out its limitation Especially, it is a also important to investigate the real level of students and their expectations, their needs to design the suitable knowledge and activity for students 5.3 Limitations of the study Honestly, there were so many problems that the researcher encountered while conducting this study This study mainly focuses on the the use of pilot textbook Tieng Anh in teaching and learning grammar to grade students at some lower secondary schools in Hue City There are some limitations of this study First, this is only the third years to apply this pilot textbook in teaching English at some lower secondary schools on nation in general and in Hue City particular So, the number of questionnaires, interviews that teachers and students were asked to fill in were limited, only 15 teachers participate in the research Furthermore, it is very difficult to have the observation’s permit that is the reason why the researcher could only observe classes at some lower secondary schools in Hue City Secondly, as with all questionnaires, there is a possibility that not all questions were answered with due care 52 Lastly, with the interviews, some teachers were busy and did not willing to answer the clear answers They only said yes and no or sometimes explain very little 5.4 Recommendations for future studies This study was conducted with 15 English teachers who are in charge of using the pilot textbook Tieng Anh to teach English at some lower secondary schools in Hue City So far, this study has been paid attention to the area of grammar in English teaching and learning This is not a new study but the school year 2014-2015 is only the third year the new textbook Tieng Anh has been piloted in some lower secondary schools, so for those who are interested in exploring the use of the pilot textbook Tieng Anh 6, there are some recommendations for further studies that may concern the other aspects of teaching and learning English with this textbook There are some recommendations for future research related to the pilot textbook Tieng Anh - The investigation into the use of pilot textbook Tieng Anh in teaching listening skill - The investigation into the use of pilot textbook Tieng Anh in teaching reading skill - The investigation into the use of pilot textbook Tieng Anh in teaching vocabulary - The investigation into the use of pilot textbook Tieng Anh in teaching writing skill 53 REFERENCE Azar, B (2006) Grammar teaching and communicative teaching: A hybrid That Works Retrieves September 28th , 2015 Anderson, J (2005) Mechanically Inclined Portaland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers Allen, M (1985) Teaching English with video London: Longman Baker, A, & Greene, E (1987) Storytelling: Art and Technique New York: R R Bowker Company Borg, S (1998) Teacher’ pedagogical systems and grammar teaching: A Qualitive Study.T Quarterly 32(1) Borg, S (2003) Teacher cognition in Grammar teaching: A Literature Review 12, 96-108 Test Teach Test (2006) The internet Teaching English article Retrieved January 27th, 2016, from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/test-teach-test Crystal, D (1995) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English Language Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Crystal, D (2004) In Word 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of the Inclusion of Music in specially designed academic instruction in English SDAIE) Content lessons for English language learners ProQuest Dissertations and Theses California State University, Fresno 56 Stoller, F 1988 Films and Video tapes in the ESL/EFL Classroom Paper presented at the annual meeting of the teachers of English to speakers of other languages Tabbert, Russell (1984) Parsing the Question “ Why Teach Grammar” The English Journal.73(8):38-42 Thornbury, Scott (1999) How to Teach Grammar Essex: Pearson Education Limited Tomlinson, B (2011a) Materials Development in Language Teaching (pp ix-xviii) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Truong, T.T.L (2011) An investigation into teachers’ perceptions and practice of teaching “ Let’s Go” to children at some Primary Schools in Hue Unpublished MA Thesis Hue University Ur, P (1988) Grammar Practice Activities: A practical guide for Teachers London: Cambridge University Press Ur, P (1991) A Course In Language Teaching London: Cambridge University Press Ur, P (1999) A Course In Language Teaching London: Cambridge University Press Ur, P (1996), A course in Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press August, 13th, 2014, from http://www.scribd.com/doc/5708437/ Vo,T.P.K (2008) An investigation into the difficulties that teachers and students face in using new English textbook at three lower secondary schools in Hue Unpublished MA Thesis Hue University Wragg E.C ( 2002) An introduction to classroom Observation Taylor & Francis eLibrary INTERNET SOURCES: http://www.azargrammar.com/assets/authorsCorners/Transcript TESOL2008_HybirdThatWorks.pdf http://site.ebrary.com/lib/jyvaskyla/doc?id=10073901&ppg=1 http:// iteslj.org/Techniques/Saricoban-songs.html http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/test-teach-test 57 APPENDICES APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE (For teachers) This questionnaire was designed with the aim to collect necessary information for the research” “An investigation into the use of Pilot Textbook Tieng Anh in teaching Grammar for students at some Lower Secondary Schools in Hue city”” All the collected data in this questionnaire will be confidential and are only for purpose of study only not for any other purposes Your responses and feedback to the questions in this questionnaire will contribute greatly to the success of the research Therefore, it is very precious to receive your enthusiastic cooperation Please put a stick () before each option in order to answer the following questions For many questions you may choose more than one option Thanks for your cooperation I PERSONAL INFORMATION Full name:……………………………………………………… School:…………………………………………………………… Gender: Male Female Ages:……………………………………………………………… II QUESTIONS Question 1: How much you like the Pilot textbook Tieng Anh 6? Highly Fairly A little Not at all Question 2: In your opinion, is the grammar knowledge in the pilot textbook Tieng Anh suitable for students’ level? 58 Very suitable Suitable Fairly suitable Slightly suitable Not suitable Question : The pilot textbook Tieng Anh is easy for teachers to teach grammar than the textbook Tieng Anh Do you …… ……….? Strongly agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly disagree Question 4: With you, how useful are the grammar activities in the pilot textbook Tieng Anh 6? Very useful Useful Fairly useful Slightly useful Unuseful Question 5: How communicative are the grammar activities in the pilot textbook Tieng Anh 6? Highly Fairly Moderately Slightly Not at all Question 6: The sequence of grammar activities in the pilot textbook Tieng Anh is convenient for your teaching Do you…… ? Agree Strongly agree 59 Undecided Disagree Strongly disagree Question 7: Do you follow the procedures of teaching grammar in the pilot textbook Tieng Anh 6? Yes No Question 8: If yes, to what extent you follow? Always Very often Sometimes Rarely Never Question 9: If no, why? …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… Question 10: When using the Pilot Textbook Tieng Anh 6, you follow the three-stage procedure of the PPP to teach grammar? Yes, always Yes, often Yes, sometimes No, rarely No, never Question 11: Do you use supplemental activities outside the pilot textbook Tieng Anh to teach grammar? Yes, Always Yes, often Yes, sometimes never Question 12: If yes, what activities you use? Using games Using music Using movies Using a story 60 No, rarely No, Others (Please specify)………………………………………………………… Question 13: How you use grammar exercises in the pilot textbook Tieng Anh 6? Using the available exercises given in the pilot textbook Adapting the exercises in the pilot textbook Adding extra grammar exercises from other material outside the available activities and exercises in the pilot textbook Designing new exercises or activities Question 14: How often you use extra grammar exercises from other material outside the pilot textbook to supplement? Always Very often Sometimes Rarely Never Question 15: what kind of extra grammar exercises you often use? Information Gap Rewrite Arrangement Writing (letter, paragraph, etc) Giving correct form of verb Correction of mistakes Other (Please specify)………………………………………………………… Question 16: When using the pilot textbook Tieng Anh to teach grammar, which language you use to explain grammar points, English or Vietnamese? Vietnamese both Vietnamese and English English Question 17: What difficulties you often encounter when using the pilot textbook Tieng Anh to teach grammar? Time limitation Large class and multi-level students Students’ low motivation 61 No guidelines Facilities and teaching aids shortages Students’ limited linguistic knowledge Others (Please specify)………………………………………………………… Question 18: In your opinion, what should teachers to attract and encourage students’ participation in grammar activities? Combining game and exercises Using compliments or good marks to encourage students Not being strict when students make mistakes Giving clear instructions and simple activities for students Others (Please specify)………………………………………………………… Question 19: What you think should be done to facilitate your students’ study of grammar from the Pilot textbook Tieng Anh 6? Asking students learn by heart all grammar points Asking students to work in pairs to find out the grammar mistakes in a paragraph or sentence Asking students to write a short paragraph or conversation using the Grammar point they have just learnt Advising students to practice by doing more exercises at home Advising students to read and write more Others (Please specify):……………………………………………………… Question 20: Do you have any suggestions to facilitate the teaching of grammar by using the Pilot Textbook Tieng Anh 6? ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… 62 APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS What are your difficulties when using the pilot textbook Tieng Anh 6? What are some advantages and disadvantages of the pilot textbook? In your opinion, why many students feel fearful and boring in English Grammar activities? What methods you often use to encourage students enthusiastic participate in English Grammar activities? According to you, what should English teacher in order to use the Pilot textbook Tieng Anh effectively? 63 APPENDIX 64