Skkn through context to enhance grade 10 students’ gramamatical competence at thọ xuân 5 high school

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HÓA TRƯỜNG THPT THỌ XUÂN SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM THROUGH CONTEXT TO ENHANCE GRADE 10 STUDENTS’ GRAMAMATICAL COMPETENCE AT THỌ XUÂN HIGH SCHOOL Người thực hiện: Phạm Thị Nga Chức vụ: Giáo viên SKKN thuộc lĩnh vực( mơn):Tiếng Anh THANH HĨA NĂM 2022 skkn PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the study We use language as a means of communication in everyday situations Regarded as an international language, English is spoken in most parts of the world - and is considered the principle means of communication among the trade, diplomatic, and airline communities English has been a compulsory subject among Vietnamese students for many years Teaching English in Vietnam will help our students take advantage of globalization, and teachers are always seeking ways to improve their techniques for more effective lesson plans and higher cognitive retention among their students at all levels As a teacher of English at a high school, the author constantly faces the many problems inherent in helping students absorb and apply a foreign language In discussion with grade 10 students, I know that they really want to learn English for communication However, they not have many learning strategies, especially strategies for using grammar accurately and appropriately Contrary to my expectations, what they often in the language focus lessons is to copy language structures the teacher already writes on the board They then translate everything into Vietnamese before completing exercises in their textbooks One of the reasons raised is that teaching grammar in the school focuses on form, rather than the use of grammar in context This is one of the problems raised by Nunan (1998)- teaching grammar without contexts prevents students from distinguishing the discrepancies in different use of forms for different meanings in communication Therefore, though students are very good at grammar knowledge, most of them are unable to apply and communicate in real-life situations As a teacher of English , I recognize that teaching English for spoken and written communication is particularly important However, my personal experience of its methods or techniques is still limited due to the following reasons: skkn Skkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.school Skkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.school The number of students of each class in most schools in Vietnam as well as in my province is over 40 Besides, because of time limitations, the teacher would sometimes make use of grammar translation methods or lecturing methods for the sake of input completion Therefore, the students have very few opportunities for spoken or written communication; and they not get familiar with natural responses to communicative situations except for question- answer activities between the teacher and student individuals For the above reasons, the students lack confidence and creativity to use grammar communicatively For all the reasons mentioned above, I have decided to choose “Through context to enhance grade 10 students’ gramamatical competence” as the topic of my initiative titled 1.2 Purpose of the study and research questions The purpose of this action research is to explore the effect of using context on the development of grade 10 students’ grammatical competence at Tho Xuân School The study also aims to identify students’ problems with the hope that context will help improve their grammatical ability The research project includes a short introduction, a review of current literature related to the definition of context, its advantages , a description of data collection and data analysis methods in which the students will be provided with a questionnaire on their learning styles, learning habits, preferences and their views on activities The final parts of the research paper are sections discussing on anticipated outcomes and possible problems occurring during the research project together with a brief conclusion and some limitations of the research In an attempt to achieve the above-presented aims, the study should to answer the following research questions: Is teaching grammar through context more effective than teaching grammar without context? Are there any necessary changes to the grammar lessons to foster the learning and teaching grammar through context? 1.3 Scope of the study skkn Skkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.school Skkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.school Although there are many ways to motivate students to learn English, it is impractical to cover them all in this paper Due to the limited time and length of a minor thesis, I chose to the focus of my investigation is on the students’ grammatical competence at Tho xuan High school The student focus group is comprised of 40 students of grade 10 at this school 1.4 Methods of the study This study involves 40 students at Tho Xuan high school The study employs grammartical (pre test and post test) as the principal method of data collection Data are analyzed statistically, resulting in percentage of items PART2: DEVELOPMENT 2.1 Literature Review 2.1.1 Meaning, Form, and Use There has been a great variety of research on language instruction in general and grammar instruction in particular One of the approaches focuses on forms, with the explicit grammar instruction This refers to of Skinner’s behaviorism and Piaget’s cognitivism theory, from which some methods originated, such as audio-lingual and the idea of universal grammar, respectively However, such approaches to grammar instruction have been inadequate The lack of language learners’ communicative competence has given the emergence of communicative approach in the 1970s Nevertheless, communicative language teaching discussed in (Celce-Murcia, Dornyei, & Thurrell, 1997), which emphasizes wholly on meaning with much neglect on form has proven to be insufficient As a consequence, the recent trend in teaching grammar, “Focus on form” (Doughty & Williams, 1998; Fotos, 1998) has referred back to the importance of form on the communicative competence The form enables the meaning to be expressed clearly and effectively It is considered as the means of negotiation of meaning in context Both form and meaning all have a reciprocal relationship According to Van Lier (1988), “The middle way, covering both form and meaning, accuracy and fluency, would skkn Skkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.school Skkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.school seem to be the most sensible way to proceed, and indeed there currently appears to be a general consensus that it is unwise to neglect either area” (p 276) The term “ teaching grammar through context” also refers to “focus on form” Teaching grammar through context is an approach which combines the teaching of both form and meaning in a specific context This combination of teaching grammar allows learners to figure out the meaning in the structures being instructed The instruction focuses on form, meaning and use, among which Nunan (1998) emphasizes “the systematic relationships” (p 102) This approach to teaching grammar is backed by Nunan (1998) as “offering different communicative meanings” (p 103) In other words, teaching grammar in context is not just confined to the form-based but also meaning-based instruction It is not only context-bound but also form-focused in a way that fosters communicative competence Teaching grammar through context is beneficial theoretically and empirically Theoretically, there has been research on the benefits of teaching grammar in context Nunan emphasizes the “systematic relationships that exist between form, meaning and use” in teaching grammar (Nunan 1998, p 102) The importance of teaching grammar in context is emphasized by Halliday (1985) cited in Nunan (1998) because the connection between form and meaning or context is usually intertwined and interrelated to achieve the goal of communication The essential relationship between form, meaning and the use of grammar provides the three following advantages for facilitating the effectiveness of producing and using the target language being learnt in communicative situations First, teaching grammar through context provides opportunities for learners to greatly explore and exploit the meanings underpinning grammatical forms (Nunan 1998, p 103-104) In his argument, Nunan (1998) gives the example of passive voice which is taught without context In this way, students are given transformation exercises to change from active voice to passive voice skkn Skkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.school Skkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.school Consequently, the meaning of passive voice, in which the preference on the emphasis on action rather than the performer, is not properly addressed Second, this approach in teaching grammar allows learners to comprehend the use of grammar in authentic context and understand the relationship between forms and meaning (Nunan 1998, p.105) This approach helps learners understand and use different forms to address different meanings in different appropriate contexts Third, teaching grammar through context also helps students apply and use the language structures they are learning to negotiate meanings and feelings, which are important parts in communication Despite its benefits, teaching grammar through context has its own constraints According to Fotos (1998), focus-on-form can be greatly exploited in the ESL context where learners should be mostly exposed to ESL setting On the contrary, teaching grammar through context in EFL classrooms enables learners to use the language in context while in real-life the target forms are not put in use frequently Although there is a constraint to teaching grammar through context, its benefits far outweigh its disadvantages Of all the advantages given, it is worth researching into how students can benefit when grammar is taught through context They emphasize that by doing this, teachers can separate out the difficulties, allowing students first to concentrate on the problems, and then on the social context 2.1.2 Kinds of context applied in the research Context means a variety of things Context can be linguistic, involving the linguistic environment of a language item, as well as situational, involving extra linguistic elements that contribute to the construction of meaning 2.1.3.Linguistic context Linguistic context or verbal context refers to the linguistic environment in which a word is used within a text As a matter of fact, understanding the meaning of  vocabulary items using linguistic context may involve syntactic and morphological interpretation of the elements within a text In other words, to determine the meaning of an item, it is necessary to know whether the item is a skkn Skkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.school Ending A film Name Character Task 2: About 200 words, write a letter to your English teacher, describing a film you have just seen , using the areas( things) you already put in the mind map PART 3:CONCLUSION 3.1 The result of pre enhancing My expectation is that after experimental sessions, grammar in context lessons will enable the experimental group to produce better developed written English than the control group in the post-test, in terms of the following features: accuracy, fluency, language function ,organization of the written discourse I am in the hope that the teaching of of grammar through context can really increase the experimental group’s self-awareness through observing and clarifying feelings, thoughts and attitudes Also, some low-motivated students will possibly also get benefits from the technique of learning grammar through context Table 3.1: Numbers of students in score levels according to pre enhancing results of the control and experimental group 14 skkn Skkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.school Skkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.schoolSkkn.through.context.to.enhance.grade.10.students’.gramamatical.competence.at.tho.xuan.5.high.school Control group Score of level Number of students Experimental group Percentage Number of students Percentage Weak (