The effects of task based grammatical instructions on primary students productive skills and learning attitudes

Ho Chi Minh City Open University Graduate School 97 Vo Van Tan, Dist.3, HCMC, Vietnam ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET AND REPORT MASTER in TESOL Name of candidate: Nguyễn Thị Thu Hiền Student No: 1781401110007 Email address: thuhien.nguyen2811@gmail.com Name of coursework subject: Thesis Title of this item of work: The effects of task- based grammatical instructions on primary students’ productive skills and learning attitudes Name of instructor: Assoc Prof Pham Vu Phi Ho, PhD Due date: STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP: I certify that the above assignment is my original work; it is based on my own research All sources used by me have been documented No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement This piece of work has not previously been submitted for assessment in this or any other subject or course at this University or elsewhere Student’s Signature……………………………………… Date……………………… Tai Lieu Chat Luong Ho Chi Minh City Open University Graduate School 97 Vo Van Tan, District 3, HCMC, Vietnam Name: Nguyễn Thị Thu Hiền Student Number: 1781401110007 Email Address: thuhien.nguyen2811@gmail.com Name of Coursework Subject: Thesis Title of This Item of Work: The effects of task- based grammatical instructions on primary students’ productive skills and learning attitudes Name of instructor: Assoc Prof Pham Vu Phi Ho, PhD I Certificate of Originality This is to certify that this thesis entitled “The effects of task-based grammatical instructions on primary students’ productive skills and learning attitudes” is my work and does not contain any material previously published or written by another person, nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award at any universities I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project’s design and conception or in style is acknowledged Ho Chi Minh City, November, 2019 Student’s signature Nguyen Thi Thu Hien II Acknowledgement First, most of all, I would like to thank Assoc Prof Pham Vu Phi Ho, PhD, for his expertise, assistance, guidance, and patience throughout the process of completing this thesis Without his help, this thesis would not have been possible I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to my managers Nguyen Thi Ngoc Diep and Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan in the Asian International primary school in Cong Hoa Campus for many generous and helpful suggestions I would like to give special thanks to all of my colleagues for supporting me, sharing valuable information and encouraging me to finish this thesis Last of all, I would like to thank my family for keeping me company on long walks III Abstract Task- based has been applied to teach speaking for students who are in intermediate or upper levels, yet there are few researches in using TBLT in teaching grammar to improve students’ writing and speaking Moreover, the effects of taskbased in low- level students are also limited This research aims to analyze the effects of task-based grammatical instructions on primary students’ productive skills and their learning attitudes in Asian International primary school context The quasiexperimental research design and mixed- methods approach were used to find out the answers to the research questions There are 40 students taking part in this research divided into two groups- experimental and control groups The experimental group was taught with task- based grammatical instruction, while the control group was taught with Grammar translation method in weeks Both groups also had a same pre-test and post-test to measure their improvement after treating with two methods The score of the tests was marked by two raters to ensure the reliability The attitudes of students towards task- based grammatical instructions and GTM (grammar-translation method) were found out based on semi-structured interview The findings revealed that students learning with task- based grammatical instructions have a better speaking performance than those learning with GTM However, there is no difference between the scores of writing outcome in two groups The students’ attitudes towards task- based grammatical instructions are more positive than those towards GTM The results also pointed out implications for teachers in the future, especially in their way of choosing suitable tasks for their students Key words: task- based grammatical instructions, grammar translation method, speaking performance, writing outcome IV Table of contents Certificate of Originality I Acknowledgement II Abstract III Chapter Introduction 1.1 Background of the study 1.2 Statement of the problems 1.3 Definition of key terms 1.3.1 Grammar 1.3.2 Task- based language teaching 1.3.3 Young learners 1.3.4 Productive skills 1.4 Purpose of the study 1.5 Research questions 1.6 Hypothesis 1.7 Significance of the study 1.8 Organization of the study 1.9 Chapter summary Chapter Literature review 2.1 Theorical background 2.1.1 Methods in teaching grammar 2.1.2 Grammar teaching: Explicit or Implicit? 10 2.1.3 Task- based language teaching 13 2.1.4 Task and exercise 14 2.1.5 Types of tasks 15 2.1.5.1 Closed/ Open tasks 15 V 2.1.5.2 Information gap tasks 15 2.1.5.3 Opinion gap/ Reasoning gap tasks 16 2.1.5.4 Information processing tasks 16 2.1.5.5 Social interactive tasks .17 2.1.6 Requirements in task- based language teaching 17 2.1.6.1 Review of learner errors 17 2.1.6.2 Consciousness’s raising tasks 17 2.1.6.3 Production practice activities 17 2.1.6.4 Noticing activities .17 2.2 Previous studies 18 2.3 Research gaps 23 2.4 Chapter summary 23 Chapter Methodology 24 3.1 Research design 24 3.2 Research setting and participants 25 3.2.1 Research setting 25 3.2.2 Participants 25 3.3 Research procedure 26 3.4 Teaching procedure 27 3.5 Instruments 30 3.5.1 The tests and rubrics for the tests 30 3.5.2 The pre-test and post-test writing 30 3.5.3 The pre-test and post-test speaking 31 3.5.4 Inter-rater reliability 31 3.5.5 Test reliability 32 3.5.6 Interview 38 3.6 Data Analysis 38 VI 3.7 Chapter summary 39 Chapter Result and Discussion 40 4.1 A comparison between the pre-test speaking and writing of two groups 40 4.1.1 A comparison of students’ speaking scores in the pre-test 41 4.1.2 A comparison of students’ writing scores in the pre-test 43 4.2 Research question 45 4.2.1 A comparison of students’ speaking results between pre-test and post-test 45 4.2.1.1 Control group: A comparison of speaking results between pre-test and posttest .45 4.2.1.2 Experimental group: A comparison of speaking results between pre-test and post-test 47 4.2.2 A comparison of students’ posttest speaking results between two groups 50 4.3 Research question 52 4.3.1 A comparison of students’ writing results between pre-test and post-test 52 4.3.1.1 Control group: A comparison of writing results between pre-test and posttest 52 4.3.1.2 Experimental group: A comparison of writing results between pre-test and post-test 54 4.3.2 A comparison of students’ posttest writing 56 4.4 Research question 57 4.4.1 Interview after the whole course 57 4.4.1.1 The interest of teaching method 57 4.4.1.2 The drawbacks that students have when learning with current method……60 4.4.1.3 Expectations that students want in the process of learning 61 4.5 Discussion of the findings 63 4.6 Chapter summary 65 Chapter Conclusions and recommendations for upcoming studies 66 5.1 Summary of research results 66 VII 5.2 Conclusion 67 5.3 Implications for the study 67 5.4 Restrictions and recommendation for further study 68 References 70 APPENDIX A 77 RUBRICS FOR WRITING ASSESSMENT 77 APPENDIX B 79 RUBRICS FOR SPEAKING ASSESSMENT 79 APPENDIX C: TWO TESTS 81 APPENDIX D 91 INTERVIEW 91 APPENDIX E 92 LESSON PLAN 92 APPENDIX F 102 THE CONTENT OF INTERVIEW 102 VIII List of tables Table 2.1 Framework of task- based teaching 14 Table 3.1 A comparison of writing pre-test of two pilot groups 32 Table 3.2 A comparison of speaking pre-test of two pilot groups 34 Table 3.3 A comparison of writing pre-test and post-test 35 Table 3.4 A comparison of speaking pre-test and post-test 36 Table 4.1: The comparison the scores of speaking in control and experimental groups before treatment 41 Table 4.2: The comparison the scores of writing in control and experimental groups before treatment 43 Table 4.3 A comparison of pre-test and post- test speaking score (control group) 46 Table 4.4: The table compares the scores of pre-test and post- test speaking of the experimental group 48 Table 4.5 A comparison of the post-test speaking results between control and experimental groups 50 Table 4.6 The table shows the comparison between the scores of pre-test and post-test writing of the control group 53 Table 4.7 The comparison between the scores of pre-test and post-test writing of the experimental group 54 Table 4.8 A comparison of post-test writing in both groups 56 121 Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? Interviewee: No Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: No Interviewer: How about teacher support? Interviewee: It’s not necessary, I can it by myself Interviewer: Thank you 3/ Interviewer: What is your name? Interviewee: My name is ………… Interviewer: What you feel about learning grammar lesson? Do you actively participate the activities in class? Interviewee: I like it I take part in activities in class Interviewer: Do you have more chance to interact with your friends? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you understand the lessons? Interviewee: the tasks helps me understand the lessons without learning by heart Interviewer: Do you think that you are confident when communicating with the others? Interviewee: a little, sometimes I feel shy Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? Interviewee: No 122 Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: more activities like this Interviewer: Thank you 4/ Interviewer: What is your name? Interviewee: My name is ………… Interviewer: What you feel about learning grammar lesson? Do you actively participate the activities in class? Interviewee: It’s happy I sometimes take part in class Interviewer: Do you have more chance to interact with your friends? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you understand the lesson? Interviewee: I think yes Interviewer: Do you think that you are confident when communicating with the others? Interviewee: 50 % Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? Interviewee: At first, this method is difficult because I am not familiar with this, but now, it’s OK Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: No Interviewer: Thank you 123 5/ Interviewer: What is your name? Interviewee: My name is ………… Interviewer: What you feel about learning grammar lesson? Interviewee: It’s interesting (Do you actively participate the activities in class?), Yes Interviewer: Do you have more chance to interact with your friends? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you understand the lessons? Interviewee: Yes, because I and my friends discover it Interviewer: Do you think that you are confident when communicating with the others? Interviewee: Yes, with my friends and family Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? Interviewee: the tasks require us to speak a lot Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: maybe more teacher help, especially when I not know what to Interviewer: Thank you 6/ Interviewer: What is your name? Interviewee: My name is ………… Interviewer: What you feel about learning grammar lesson? Interviewee: I like it (Do you actively participate the activities in class?), Yes Interviewer: Do you have more chance to interact with your friends? Interviewee: Yes 124 Interviewer: Do you understand the lessons? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you think that you are confident when communicating with the others? Interviewee: I think yes Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? Interviewee: some tasks are so strange, I have a lot of things to in class Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: working with my friends Interviewer: Thank you 7/ Interviewer: What is your name? Interviewee: My name is …………… Interviewer: What you feel about learning grammar lesson? Interviewee: I like it (Do you actively participate the activities in class?), Yes Interviewer: Do you have more chance to interact with your friends? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you understand the lesson? Interviewee: it’s easy for me to understand the lesson because when I the task, I can find the meaning of the structure Interviewer: Do you think that you are confident when communicating with the others? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? 125 Interviewee: I find some tasks interesting, for example, finding the differences between Sai Gon in 1990 and 2019, seeing the picture, some vocabulary I don’t know but fortunately, my friends in my group know Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: I like these activities, if you give more, it’s good Interviewer: Thank you 8/ Interviewer: What is your name? Interviewee: My name is ………… Interviewer: What you feel about learning grammar lesson? Interviewee: I know many knowledge (Do you actively participate the activities in class?), Yes Interviewer: Do you have more chance to interact with your friends? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you understand the lessons? Interviewee: 100% Interviewee: just a little because sometimes I use wrong tenses and vocab Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? Interviewee: Yes, it requires me a lot of vocabulary Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: Teacher will support in some activities Interviewer: Thank you 126 9/ Interviewer: What is your name? Interviewee: My name is …………… Interviewer: What you feel about learning grammar lesson? Interviewee: I like it, it’s funny (Do you actively participate the activities in class?), Yes Interviewer: Do you have more chance to interact with your friends? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you understand the lessons? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you think that you are confident when communicating with the others? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? Interviewee: No Vietnamese in class makes me uncomfortable, sometimes when I not understand, I don’t know how to talk with teacher Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: Teacher explains more in all activities Interviewer: Thank you 10/ Interviewer: What is your name? Interviewee: My name is ……………… Interviewer: What you feel about learning grammar lesson? Interviewee: It’s interesting (Do you actively participate the activities in class?), Yes Interviewer: Do you have more chance to interact with your friends? 127 Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you understand the lessons immediately in class? Interviewee: Yes, through the tasks Interviewer: Do you think that you are confident when communicating with the others? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? Interviewee: I was really surprised because there were a lot of activities that I had to during the lesson, I don’t understand what exactly to do, but now it’s OK Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: I need more help from my teacher, Ì we have teacher, we will better Interviewer: Thank you 11/ Interviewer: What is your name? Interviewee: My name is ………… Interviewer: What you feel about learning grammar lesson? Interviewee: It’s interesting (Do you actively participate the activities in class?), Yes Interviewer: Do you have more chance to interact with your friends? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you understand the lessons? Interviewee: Yes 128 Interviewer: Do you think that you are confident when communicating with the others? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? Interviewee: Yes, my teacher let us the tasks by ourselves without help Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: More support from my teacher Interviewer: Thank you 12/ Interviewer: What is your name? Interviewee: My name is …………… Interviewer: What you feel about learning grammar lesson? Interviewee: It’s ok and I like it (Do you actively participate the activities in class?), Yes about 90% Interviewer: Do you have more chance to interact with your friends? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you understand the lessons? Interviewee: Yes, teacher gives us tasks, they’re funny and helpful Interviewer: Do you think that you are confident when communicating with the others? Interviewee: ohm, yes Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? Interviewee: it needs a widen knowledge of vocab 129 Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: I need more teacher help, especially difficult tasks Interviewer: Thank you 13/ Interviewer: What is your name? Interviewee: My name is …………… Interviewer: What you feel about learning grammar lesson? Interviewee: It’s funny (Do you actively participate the activities in class?), Yes Interviewer: Do you have more chance to interact with your friends? Interviewee: Yes, Interviewer: Do you understand the lessons? Interviewee: I totally understand because of the tasks and many steps teacher gives in class Interviewer: Do you think that you are confident when communicating with the others? Interviewee: I don’t know but yesterday, I went to Phu Quoc, I talked with the foreigners Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? Interviewee: I’m not interested in this method at first lessons, but now I like because there are many activities to Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: No Interviewer: Thank you 130 14/ Interviewer: What is your name? Interviewee: My name is …………… Interviewer: What you feel about learning grammar lesson? Interviewee: It’s interesting (Do you actively participate the activities in class?), Yes Interviewer: Do you have more chance to interact with your friends? Interviewee: 100% Interviewer: Do you understand the lessons? Interviewee: yes, we step by step understand new knowledge through activities Interviewer: Do you think that you are confident when communicating with the others? Interviewee: I think yes Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? Interviewee: Yes, it’s new method for me, but I try to all tasks follow the rules in class Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: No Interviewer: Thank you 15/ Interviewer: What is your name? Interviewee: My name is …………… Interviewer: What you feel about learning grammar lesson? Do you like it? Interviewee: Yes (Do you actively participate the activities in class?), Yes (How many percentages?) about 80 % 131 Interviewer: Do you have more chance to interact with your friends? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you understand the lessons? Interviewee: Yes, activities in class help us understand the lesson easily Interviewer: Do you think that you are confident when communicating with the others? Interviewee: Yes, with the foreigners Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? Interviewee: No Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: Yes, telling a story is also funny Interviewer: Thank you 16/ Interviewer: What is your name? Interviewee: My name is ………… Interviewer: What you feel about learning grammar lesson? Interviewee: It’s interesting (Do you actively participate the activities in class?), Yes, actively Interviewer: Do you have more chance to interact with your friends? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you understand the lessons? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you think that you are confident when communicating with the others? Interviewee: Yes 132 Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? Interviewee: Yes, I’m so confused with some tasks I do, because I’ve done before Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: Teacher explains more when we the tasks Interviewer: Thank you 17/ Interviewer: What is your name? Interviewee: My name is …………… Interviewer: What you feel about learning grammar lesson? Interviewee: I really like it (Do you actively participate the activities in class?), Yes Interviewer: Do you have more chance to interact with your friends? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you understand the lessons? Interviewee: I think all thanks to activities in class, I talk with my friends very much and complete all the tasks which make me better understand the meaning of new lesson Interviewer: Do you think that you are confident when communicating with the others? Interviewee: Yes (100%?) Yap Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? Interviewee: sometimes I have difficulty with vocabulary 133 Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: More activities like this Interviewer: Thank you 18/ Interviewer: What is your name? Interviewee: My name is …………… Interviewer: What you feel about learning grammar lesson? Interviewee: I like it (Do you actively participate the activities in class?), Yes Interviewer: Do you have more chance to interact with your friends? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you understand the lessons? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you think that you are confident when communicating with the others? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? Interviewee: this method requires me to be active in class hii Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: Sometimes teacher should help us in some vocabulary we not know Interviewer: Thank you 19/Interviewer: What is your name? Interviewee: My name is ………… 134 Interviewer: What you feel about learning grammar lesson? Interviewee: It’s funny (Do you actively participate the activities in class?), Yes Interviewer: Do you have more chance to interact with your friends? Interviewee: of course Interviewer: Do you understand the lesson? Interviewee: Yes, because there are many activities for us to practice Interviewer: Do you think that you are confident when communicating with the others? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? Interviewee: sometimes I not have enough vocab to talk Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: More activities for us Interviewer: Thank you 20/ Interviewer: What is your name? Interviewee: My name is ……… Interviewer: What you feel about learning grammar lesson? Is it interesting? Interviewee: It’s funny (Do you actively participate the activities in class?), Yes Interviewer: Do you have more chance to interact with your friends? Interviewee: Yes Interviewer: Do you understand the lessons? 135 Interviewee: Yes, at first when teacher gives tasks to us, we find it difficult, but then we are so excited because we can understand the lessons Interviewer: Do you think that you are confident when communicating with the others? Interviewee: yes, when I talk about what happens around me with my friends For example, I told them a story, I know that I have to use past simple tense Interviewer: Do you have any drawbacks of learning grammar with current teaching method? Interviewee: I not have many vocabulary Interviewer: Do you have any expectations for your grammar learning to get better results? Interviewee: Yes, I want more activities like that Interviewer: Thank you