MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY
WP
THE EFFECTS OF INDIRECT EXPLICIT GRAMMAR
| INSTRUCTION OPERATIONALIZED BY
CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING TASKS ON EFL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS' MASTERY OF ENGLISH
| TENSE AND ASPECT
TRUGNG BAI HOC MO TP.HCM
| THƯ VIỆN
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS (TESOL)
Submitted by DANG THI DOAN TRANG
| Supervisor: Dr NGUYEN THU HUONG
HO CHI MINH City, August 201 |
Trang 2
ABSTRACT
There has been a potential role of grammar in English as a foreign language (EFL) instruction Two approaches to grammar instruction that have been recently discussed are: direct explicit grammar instruction (DEGI) (the teacher-fronted instruction) and indirect explicit grammar instruction (IEGI) (e-g., the use of consciousness-raising tasks) This study attempted to investigate the effects an indirect explicit grammar instruction on EFL learners’ mastery of English tenses
This thesis sought to answer the question of (1) whether there was a significant difference between IEGI and DEGI in improving learners’ grammatical comprehension and production; (2) whether or not there was a positive relationship between grammar rules acquired and the use of those rules in receptive and productive practice; (3) what the learners’ views were on the implementation of discovery tasks
There were ninety-four eleventh-graders of Marie Curie High School in Ho Chi Minh City involved in this research They were conveniently selected and randomly assigned into either the experimental group (EG) or the control group (CG)
4
Influenced by the instructional approaches, both groups increased their grammatical competence and performance However, the EG statistically surpassed the CG in the analysis of grammar rules and the oral proficiency, except for the use of grammar structures in a pre-defined context Convincingly, statistics revealed a high correlation between the grammar rules acquired and their subsequent use Moreover, the experimental learners had favorable attitudes towards the IEGI In brief, the positive findings have offered intriguing implications for the application of IEGI in high schools in Vietnam
Trang 3TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate Or OriginaÏIfy - - ch HH HH HH kg Hà TH HH i Acknowledgements ` K19 11911 9k kh nghiệt il À0 UP N iil Table 28a 0 1V I82g:100x2 6010 V IEL18Uär10i 3T 1X CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION — l 1.1 Background of the Problem - cà S22 S2 9h thư 2 II uốn 3 1.3 Research Questions -ss or sistttitittittitistitiitiieeeseee 3 0i ẻỀỐ ố 4
1.5 Significanee of the Sfuđy 2222222 22221222c c2 xen 5
1.6 Organization of the Thesis .ccc ce cesecseseeeteesseseessseseeseeesessesretseserseeteeeneens 5
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .eeesirirrrre 6
2.1 Overview of Grammar ÏnsfrUCfIOn .- certeeeeecsaesesseeseeseeeaseneeens 6
2.2 Implicit and Explic1t ÍnsfruCtIOIA - «c5 S the HH Hư 9
2.2.1 Implicit Grammar Instruction c ssscesssseessssessssesesssesesseesssseeeeseseeesseeseeat 9 2.2.2 Explicit Grammar Instruction oo cecccceccesceseessenseeneeseneenasesereeseneeneeneeney 10
2.2.2.1 Direct Explicit Grammar Instruction 0.0.0 cece ec seeeteeceseseeeenes 1]
2.2.2.2 Indirect ExplicIt Grammar Ïnstrucf1on . - «<< +<<cc++ 1]
Trang 4con 0/1 23 3.2 Participants and Research SIte - 55s cnhnhH HH 24 3.2.1 Sampling cành Hán kg TH 1111121111 xe 24 KÝ: na ố 24 Ko nh 24
3.3 Data TYD€S HH như HH Hy Hà HH HH ti ¬ - 25
3.3.1 Rule Analysis T€S{ - son nhà HH Hà re 26
3.3.2 Grammar T€S( - Ác 311v HH HH ng HH TH ty rg 27
3.3.3 Oral Production Test T Ngọ ng KT c0 28
E6 nan nh e 28
3.3.3.2 Scoring CTIf€r1a . «- TH tY T9 kg kinh kh 29
Trang 5E90 0m - 43 CHAPTER 4: RESỀUIL/TS . 5 << 5 5 5 9 HH ng 004680 8906 44 4.1 Statistical Analysis of Pre-test ResulÏfs Lê 45 4.1.1 The Pre-Rule AnalysIs Tl€S{ Ăn HH HH HH Hư ntưệt 45 4.1.2 The Pre-Grammar TÏ€S{ - Ăn vn KH ng ng 45 4.1.3 The Pre-Oral Tles( Lọ HH HH Hệ ¬ 46 4.2 Statistical Analysis of Post-test ResuÏ{S - 5 S132 ngư 47 4.2.1 The Post-Rule Analysis TleSf - - HH HH HH HH ht 47 4.2.2 The Post-Grammar Test .- ` ng ng n0 1 ng net 48 4.2.3 The Post-Oral 'T€S( HH KH KH rp 20 4.2.4 The Delayed Written Test t9 99111111 k cv kg He 51 4.2.5 Statistical Analysis of the RAT im Relation to Other Tests 23 4.2.5.1 Correlation Results for the Experimental Group -‹ ‹: 53 4.2.5.2 Correlation Results for the Control GrOup -.-cccccccsseceieessres 55 4.3 Analysis of Data from QuestIOnnaif€ .- ng gen 56
4.3.1 Approach Preferences (Question 1 and 2) ceeseesssceesceeeteceeneeeteeteneeseeeeeees 56 4.3.2 Evaluation of Interest and Effectiveness (Questions 3 & 4) 57
4.3.3 Preferential Ways to Perform Tasks (Question 5) -ece 58
4.3.4 Time and Location (Question 6) HH HH ng HH ke Hư 59
4.3.5 Preferential Reasons (QUESTION 7) .ccccecccccessececssssescsecsesseecessseesseeeesseteneeees 59
4.3.6 Unfavourable Reasons (Question 8) ::cccesssecssssecessnesssseseseuacessesersseensetes 62 4.3.7 Suggestions (QUEStIOND) :cccccsccestetsseecteecesseceseeesecessesecsseceeeeseenssesseessatens 64 S00 nan 66 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION OEF THE FINDINGS s21 <<<< 68
5.1 Research Question Ï (RQÏ) HH HH HS HH nguy 68
Trang 6SN y0 0n xi oi c8 dd 71
5.2 Research Question 2 (RQ2) - - LH HH HH HH Hàn 11111771111 tg 73
5.3 Research Question 3 (RQ3) Teen hi Hài re 74
5.4 Chapter SumImAFY . 5-5 2+ *2t 391132313 th thà th tư 75
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 76
6.1 Main Findings and concÏusions «series HH nh rkt 76
6.2 ImpliCatiO'S cà nành HH HH1 11 111 11111 1 ki 78
NET 80
6.4 Recommendations for Further Researchh -c- c cn se HH He 81 6.5 Chapter SUMIMALY 20 cece eeeeeseceecsessessssseeseesesseeessseseeseesseeeeeeeteeeesssiensetienaeeees 82
REFERENCES c- c1 111566856056 LH 09.1910 9899880688884060180080050100 83
APPENDICES GV 080 1n 005018010098307884094000008054 88
Trang 7LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative Language Teaching
DEGI: Direct Explicit Grammar Instruction
EFL: English as a Foreign Language
EGI: Explicit Grammar Instruction
FonF: Focus on Form
IEGI: Indirect Explicit Grammar Instruction IGE: Implicit Grammar Instruction
GTM: Grammar Translation Method
MOET: Ministry of Education and Training SLA: Second Language Acquisition
Trang 8LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS TABLES
Table 3.2.3 Description of the Participanl{S - nen 25 Table 3.3.3.2 The Criteria-Grading Table for the Oral Test se rhnhhhèg 30
Table 3.3.4 The Criteria-Grading Scales for the Delayed Written Test 3]
Table 3.6.1A Description of Reliability Statistics of the RAT and GT Tests 37
Table 3.6.1B Descriptions of Reliability Statistics of the Quesfionnaire 38
Table 3.7.2A Summary of the Treatment for the Experimental Group 41
Table 3.7.2B Summary ofthe Treatment for the Confrol Oroup eeeee 42 Table 4.1.1 Summary of the T-Test Result for the Pre-R AT . - -++ «=- 45
Table 4.1.2 Summary of the T-Test Result for the Pre-GT, -. +-+++c+++2 46 Table 4.1.2 Summary of the T-Test Result for the Pre-OT - -.< c7 sce> 46 Table 4.2.1A Summary of the T-Test Result for the Post RAT - -+- 47
Table 4.2.2A Summary of the T-Test Result for the Post GT” -‹ -+-~-«+ 49
Table 4.2.3A Summary of the T-Test Result for the Post-OTỶ -++ 50
Table 4.2.4A Summary of the T-Test Result for the Delayed Written Post-test 52 Table 4.2.5.1 Correlation Results for the EG che re 54
Table 4.2.5.1 Correlation Results for the CG cccccccccccceececeeeseeeeesenessseeeeseeeenaes 55
Trang 9Table 4.3.1 Attitudes towards Grammar and Grammar with CR Tasks 56
Table 4.3.2 Evaluation of Interest and EfÍfectiveness .- - +2 cà seeeeren 57 Table 4.3.3 Preferential Ways to Perform TaSkKS ác Sky he 58 Table 4.3.4 Time and Location to Learn Grammar with CR Tasks — 59 Table 4.3.5 Preferential Reasons for Grammar with CR Tasks - 60 Table 4.3.5 Unfavorable Reasons for Grammar with CR Tasks cà 63 Table 4.3.7 Suggestions to Apply this Instruction Betfer .- «7à: 65 CHARTS
Trang 10CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
No one denies the fact that grammar is an important part that makes up a native speaker’s communicative competence (Bachman, 1997, p.83) Grammar indeed
involves a combination of “language forms and meanings and the ways they are interconnected” (Jacobs, 1995, p.4) This suggests that grammar is an aspect that we
should not ignore if we do not want to experience communication breakdown or misunderstanding For instance, a man might be misunderstood if he answered “] did meet her” instead of “I was meeting her” as a response:to the question of a policeman “Did you meet Alice?” investigating the person involved in an accident The example given provides a bit of evidence of the importance of grammar teaching However, teaching grammar is an area that has received lots of controversies There were times in which grammar instruction was totally rejected in English language classes under the influence of the direct and audiolingual methods The movement was initiated as a ‘rebellion’ towards the overemphasis of grammar during the time of the grammar
translation method '
Trang 11In this chapter, the following six sections will be presented: (1) background of
the problem, (2) research aim, (3) questions, (4) hypothesis, (5) significance of the study, and (6) finally organization of the thesis
1.1 Background of the Problem
In the context of English teaching in most secondary and high schools in Vietnam, the two popular forms of grammar teaching are deduction and induction Some teachers teach grammar deductively while others apply inductive instruction Deductive method is used as a ‘top-down’ process: students are first provided with the structures of the target language then the meaning of the supplied structures is given
and finally they apply those structures in controlled and free practice The most
common forms of illustrative examples and exercises are isolated sentences In this
case, the exercises draw the learners’ attention to verb forms in sentence-level contexts
(Hinkel and Fotos, 2008, p.181) The latter is known as a ‘bottom up’ approach In other words, students discover grammatical rules while working through proper examples and exercises
Even when inductive instruction has been applied, teacher-fronted instruction and decontextualization have been greatly taken into account First, students practice some separated examples Next, teachers draw the target form and meaning from the given examples Then, students continue applying the supplied rules in sentential levels This reality is due to the pressure of form-based exams on English teachers who
have to prepare their students for semester exams, graduation exams, and university
Trang 12The English tense and aspect system is commonly used in both oral and written forms Overall, however, although these target rules have been clearly instructed for many years, students fail to use them The error analysis conducted for this study
revealed the mistakes that are common among high school students, even those who have studied English tense and aspect for six years That is, for example, the “over- generalized structures” (Richards, 1974) (i.e., we are fly, Look! Somebody spelling,
and he is talks quickly) These mistakes may reflect the general results of a separately
rule-supplied instruction and of a shortage of contextualized input Therefore, it is
assumed that grammar teaching is biased in favor of form and decontextualization If true, these could cause a serious drawback for the potential grammar teaching in language education Based on a general summary of a particular teaching context
together with its gap, the present study will establish its objective and research questions as the following
1.2 Research Aim:
The purpose of the study is to investigate the differences in effectiveness of
IEGI compared with that of Direct Explicit Grammar Instruction (DEGI) (e.g., the
currently used method) on EFL learners’ mastery of tense and aspect
1.3 Research Questions
To serve the above purpose, the present research seeks answers to the following questions:
1 Is there a significant difference between the experimental group and the control one as a result of the IEGI treatment (as compared with the DEGI)? If so, to what extent does the experimental group outperform the controi group in terms
Trang 13- grammatical comprehension (accuracy)?
- grammatical production (use)?
2 Is there a positive relationship between the knowledge of grammar rules and the
application of those rules in receptive and productive practice? 3 To what extent do the experimental students agree with the IEGI? 1.4 Hypothesis
Based on the main research questions, the hypotheses of the present study are as
follows:
e for the first question, it may be hypothesized that the experimental group, which received the IEGI, surpasses the control group in the
RAT, the GT, and the speaking test after the treatment
e for the second question, there should be an observable connection between the knowledge of grammar rules acquired and the application
of them in their subsequent use In other words, rule mastery should
assist students in using tenses accurately than those with no rule
mastery
e for the last question, with reference to learners’ views on IEGI, there
should be a relationship between what the students think and how they perform Due to the limitation of IEGI, it may be hypothesized that students who are under average or less able students fainiliarizing with the provision of grammar rules will not favor the IEGI as much as the
Trang 141.5 Significance of the Study
The most purposeful objective of this study is to explore the influence of IEGI on a student’s mastery of tense and aspect Focusing on that overall aim, the findings of
this study may achieve its ultimate goal of: students not only master the grammatical
forms but also use them appropriately and thus help them get better grades in school
and on state exams and enhance their oral and written accuracy in using tenses This is also a great desire of many students and teachers who are concerned for the quality of
language pedagogy in most high schools in Vietnam Furthermore, this project will
provide groundwork for and be beneficial to further research in this area of interest 1.6 Organization of the Study
This thesis is divided into six chapters, with an introduction to each chapter included Chapter 1 focuses on the background to the grammar-teaching problem; this section includes six parts of background, research aim and questions, hypotheses, significance of the study, and structure of the thesis Chapter 2 gives a theoretical framework of grammar instruction, beginning with an overview of grammar teaching, focusing on implicit and explicit instructions These sections are followed by sections
on the direct and indirect approaches Then, there is a section related to studies on
Trang 15CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
As stated in chapter 1, grammar instruction plays a potential role in language
education However, in most high schools, the teaching of grammar-is rule-supplied and decontextualization-oriented Therefore, the key objective of the present study is to investigate the effect of an indirect explicit grammar instruction on_ leainers’ grammatical accuracy and production Thus, this chapter will provide a theoretical framework that serves as a basis for establishing conceptual framework for the study
This chapter first presents an overview of grammar instruction Then, explicit and implicit grammar instructions are distinguished In explicit grammar teaching,
direct and indirect methods are also classified in which the effects of a grammar- discovery approach and discovery tasks are included Finally, the chapter ends with prior research related to explicit grammar teaching These studies can be categorized into two: (1) studies that have examined the impact of a communicative focus on form instruction on the English tense-aspect system, and (2) studies that have compared the effects of direct and indirect instructions on learners’ grammatical accuracy and on sentence-writing production
2.1 Overview of Grammar Instruction
Trang 16the 1970s, stresses meaning-focused input with the assumption that learners would acquire the forms naturally through the process of comprehending and responding to the input (Hinkel and Fotos, 2008) Preferring pure communication on second language
(L2) instruction, Felix (1981) and Krashen (1985) articulated an extreme view that “conscious learning” has minimal influence on learners’ L2 performance in
communication However, one of the limitations of a purely communicative approach is that “certain types of language knowledge and skills are difficult to attain in the process of naturalistic learning, for example, academic and professional speaking and writing” (Hinkel & Fotos, 2008, p.5) Several approaches have been proposed; communicative methodology seems promising, but not by itself, EFL learners can
master the language forms spontaneously Therefore, other approaches to grammar
instruction have been conducted to address the limitations of a purely communicative methodology
In the recent decade, the task-based approach has become a focus in language instruction In this approach, the emphasis is on the task rather than the language (Harmer, 2007, p.51) Many researchers and curriculum developers (Long & Crookers,
1992; Nunan, 1989, 1993; Robinson, 1996; Skehan, 1996, 1998 as cited in Fotos 2008,
p.138) have recommended that second/foreign languages can be essentially instructed through a task-based approach First, it is necessary to give some information about what a ‘task’ is, a term that plays a central role in current SLA research and also in
language pedagogy (Ellis, 2003) Although scholars give different definitions of “task,” they all propose the same characteristics A task is ‘‘an activity or a piece of classroom
work” which primarily stresses “meaning rather than form” and requires learners to “comprehend, manipulate, produce or interact” in the target language to achieve an
objective (Nunan, 1989; Skehan, 1996a; Lee, 2000; Bygate, Skehan, and Swain, 2001
Trang 17learners develop communicative skills has been commonly used in second language classrooms There are also other kinds of tasks which have been advocated in teaching grammar
Explicit structure-based tasks have been considered recently to promote learner
awareness and practice of target forms Although the tasks focus on making the
learners notice grammar forms, this is acquired through interactive activities Fotos
(2008, p.148) has suggested using these tasks as a general method to teach grammar These types of task have been seen to be profitable communicative activities for EFL
grammar teaching because they contribute to the enlargement of “proficiency gains” and of producing “meaningful interaction.” One of the most popular forms of this task
is consciousness-raising tasks which will be clearly described in section 2.2.2
The role of consciousness-raising or awareness has been emphasized in a considerable amount of research Rutherford and Sharwood Smith (1985, p.274) used the term “consciousness-raising” to refer to “the deliberate attempt to draw the learner’s attention specifically to the formal properties of the target language.” This approach is different from the teacher-fronted instruction attempting to instruct
- grammatical competence directly (Rutherford, 1987) Moreover, psychological studies
and cognitive science also show that learning is impossible to take place without
attention In similar, Leow (2007) and Schmidt (1990) discussed in Leow (2007), cited
in Dekeyser (2007) also highlight the importance of attention and awareness in language teaching Low has stated “the role of attention is deemed crucial for further
long-term memory storage of L2 information to take place” (p.22) Schmidt
Trang 18analyze, compare, test hypotheses, and verbalize the underlying rules of the language”
(p.24) Accordingly, both of the two levels of awareness are indispensable factors to
facilitate the acquisition of language forms
It has been presented a set of terms that all work together with the process
involved in this particular instruction (i.c., consciousness-raising tasks), seen as
particularly effective for the EFL setting, in which the exposure of communication of
the target language is usually deficient (Hinkel & Fotos, 2008, p.6) Thanks to the
terms of noticing and awareness, consciousness-raising tasks seem promising in EFL classrooms
2.2 Implicit and Explicit Grammar Instruction
It has been outlined that efforts have been made in finding better methods of
teaching grammar The culminating point is the use of consciousness-raising tasks Before discussing the nature and the role of these activities, it is worth getting an idea of the differences between explicit and implicit grammar instruction Stern (1992, as cited in Ellis, 1997, p.84) regards explicit instruction as “problem-solving and reasoning” while implicit, instruction includes “a less intellectually demanding, more intuitive way of learning” Specific descriptions of each kind of instruction are in the following sub-sections
2.2.1 Implicit Grammar Instruction
Clear differences between implicit grammar instruction (IGI) and explicit grammar instruction (EGI) have been drawn from a number of studies According to Dekeyser (1995), implicit instruction takes place if neither rule directions nor
Trang 19encouraged to engage in some kind of practice The goal is that learners “should learn the target grammatical structure to the extent that they can use it not just when they are consciously attending to it and when they are involved in meaning-focused communication” Ellis (1997, p.84) In short, then, teaching grammar implicitly does
not include the conscious direction or instruction of grammatical rules
2.2.2 Explicit Grammar Instruction
On the other hand, instruction is explicit when grammatical structures are presented and explained (i.e., deduction) or as learners are instructed to find out particular forms by doing some tasks (i.e., induction) (Dekeyser, 1995) In EGI, the
aim is “to teach about grammar so that learners construct some kind of conscious, cognitive representation which, if asked, they can articulate” (Ellis, 1997, p84) In relation to this point, Hammerley (1975, as cited in Ellis, 1997, p.85) and psychological studies (e.g., Reber 1976, N Ellis 1993, as cited in Ellis, 1997, p.85)
give contradictory views about EGI Hammerley states that EGI is effective with simple rules, whereas Reber and Ellis have also reported that explicit rule instruction is
more efficient with complex rules From these views, explicit instruction can be
applied either deductively‘or inductively with simple and complex rules
From the mentioned distinctions, it has been suggested that IGI and EGI have different forms but they share one common objective to enable learners to acquire a second language However, to adequately address the issue of grammar teaching in the context of high schools in Viet Nam and to avoid a big change between the permanently used method and the experimental approach, EGI was taken into consideration In what ways can grammar be taught explicitly? Explicit grammar
teaching can be both deductive (direct) and inductive (indirect) (Dekeyser, 1995) In
Trang 20between direct and indirect instructions
2.2.2.1 Direct Explicit Grammar Instruction (DEGI)
Grammar can be instructed deductively through direct instruction It refers to the form of explicit explanations of grammatical structures provided to learners orally
or in writing (Ellis, 1997) It does save time for the teacher and the class; nevertheless,
a major drawback is that the repeated rule presentation of grammar may make students lose their sense of discovery, and that easily leads to the state of tediousness In this method, “students are supplied with a rule (or, perhaps, part of a rule) which they then apply, complete or amend in a task that requires them to analyze data that illustrate its use” (Ellis, 1997, p.86) i-e., students may be given a rule about the simple past tense with a number of sentences and instructed to use the rule to identify which of the sentences are grammatical and which are ungrammatical Learners are therefore quite dependent on the teacher’s explanations or provision of grammar rules
2.2.2.2 Indirect Explicit Grammar Instruction (IEGI)
While direct explicit grammar instruction refers deduction, indirect explicit grammar instruction favors induction or learners’ discovery of the grammatical rules through tasks and therefore does not involve giving grammatical explanations (Ellis, 2008, p.159) It implies a problem-solving approach in which “students are provided with data which illustrates the use of a specific grammatical structure which they analyze to arrive at some generalization that accounts for regularities in the data” (Ellis, 1997, p.86) For example, students may be given a reading passage containing some illustrations of the use of the present perfect tense and the simple past tense and are required to identify the verbs in both tenses and then construct a ‘rule’ to explain their different functions Briefly, from the given input and tasks, learners have to
Trang 21construct the grammar rules for themselves
The tasks commonly used in this approach are indirect consciousness-raising ones which aim: “to help learners construct their own explicit grammar of the target language and to encourage communication in the L2 between learners” (Ellis, 1997, p.87) They are called either pedagogic activities (Ellis, 1997, p.160) or structured input tasks (Thornbury, 2005, p.40); or discovery tasks (Ellis, 2008, p 165) These tasks differ from direct consciousness-raising tasks whose goals are explicit knowledge
<
of grammar rules and which include some “metalingual knowledge” instructed by “direct explanation—of the kind used in the grammar translation method” (Ellis, 1997, p.160) The goals of direct and indirect consciousness-raising tasks have been denoted Below are some suggested ways to design and apply these tasks
The design, application, and limitations of indirect consciousness-raising tasks are worth considering Ellis has suggested some types of operations that can be
performed on the data: (1) identification, (2) Judgment, (3) completion, (4)
modification, (5) sorting, and (6) matching There are also other factors to be noticed This task type can be performed by individuals, pairs or small groups To accomplish
the tasks, both oral and written forms are advised to use and learners can use their first
language or the second language (L2) (pp.161-162) Simultaneously, Hinkle (2008, p.185) has pointed out that these tasks enable learners to examine how grammatical structures are applied in real contexts and raise their implicit and explicit knowledge of grammar through the authentic language In contrast, they have their own limitations; they may not be appropriate to beginners or young learners (Ellis, 1991 and Sheen,
1992, as cited in Ellis, 2003, p.166) Related to indirect explicit grammar instruction,
Trang 22A grammar-discovery approach to teaching explicit knowledge has a great deal of convincing evidence (Ellis, 2008, p.164) First, this approach is more interesting than direct teaching because learners are stimulated to seek something for themselves rather than merely being told about it; for this reason, learners may more effectively
remember what they learn Second, it may encourage learners to form and test their
previous knowledge of the L2 and make the process of grammar ‘learning into a
“content” that the learners can concentrate Third, this instructive approach focuses on
a “learner-training function” to develop skills learners should “investigate language autonomously.” Effectually, learners are encouraged to become actively motivated to find out the way a grammatical structure of the language works In this way, this approach is one of the most effective ways since it gives learners means to enhance
“analytical ability” (Ellis and Gaies, 1998) and to promote their curiosity
A discovery task is an inductive consciousness-raising task which plays a crucial role in enhancing noticing can lead to “acquisition and automazation” (Hinkel and Fotos, 2008, p.14) In this task type, learners are guided to discover the target grammar
tule by supplying them with meaningful L2 data and therefore it is a form-meaning connection task which requires the processing input encouraging learners to solve grammatical difficulties interactively (Ellis’ suggestion in Hinkle & Fotos, 2008, p.101) In addition, learners analyze data that have been designed to illustrate how the specific target features work, and they are asked to talk about a language point becoming the focus of the task Thus, this task is also a kind of “a workplan or an
activity” engaging learners to operate language in order to achieve an outcome (Ellis, 2003, p.16) However, researchers (Fotos, 1993, 1994; Fotos & Ellis, 1991 as cited in
Fotos, 2008, p.145) have suggested that although the task content is meaning-focused interaction about the target structure, this task may not require direct production of the grammar point Current suggestions clearly indicate that consciousness-raising tasks
Trang 23are necessary for language learners to attain high levels of proficiency in the target
language
2.3 Studies on Explicit Grammar Instruction
There have been extensive studies on explicit grammar instruction These studies can be classified into two categories: (1) studies that have explored the impact of a focus on form instruction on the acquisition of the simple past and the conditional past and (2) studies that have investigated the effectiveness of direct and indirect explicit instruction on students’ grammatical accuracy and sentence-writing production With regard to study of the first branch, the present study explores the
influence of instruction on EFL high school learners’ mastery of English tenses This
study is also related to the research of the second category because it investigates the effects of pedagogical approaches (i.e., direct and indirect explicit instructions) on learners’ structural accuracy and on the productive use of the grammatical structures
Studies of the effects of instruction on the mastery of the simple past and the conditional past contributed much improvement in SLA Doughty and Varela (1998) compared the effects of.a communicative focus on form with no focus on form instruction on the interlanguage of 34 middle-school learners The intervention group
of 21 learners was instructed with a form-focused instruction of the simple past and the
conditional past along with the science lesson The tasks were designed to elicit spontaneous and planned production of past and would in both oral and written forms During the process of class discussion, individual’s presentation to the class, errors in the simple past and the conditional past were repeated by the teacher’s corrective
feedbacks The remaining 13 students continued their science class without a Focus on
Form (FonF) instruction Both groups completed six labs The first lab served as the
Trang 24science lesson for the experimental group, the fifth served as the posttest, and the sixth
served as the delayed posttest two months after the instruction Duration for each lab’s completion was | to 2 weeks FonF was no longer directed to the experimental group after the experiment
The findings in the oral reports showed that the experimental group increased both interlanguage and target-like forms significantly and maintained their gains of the two kinds, but they finally decreased the use of non-target-like and maintained their decrease On the other hand, the control group.did not change in any of the
measurements
The written lab’s results indicated that the intervention group also increased gains in the target-like and interlanguage forms, but their gains in the form of target-
like did not remain Lower scores were presented for the interlanguage, but scores of
interlanguage in the delayed post-test were significantly superior to the pretest Similarly, the result between the pretest and posttest of non-target-like forms showed a
significant decrease Although there was an increase in the form of non-target-like in
the delayed posttest, the pretest and delayed posttest were significantly different The control group also increased in interlanguage in the posttest, but this was changed in the delayed posttest
From the study of Doughty and Varela, it is clear that a communicative focus- on-form instruction brought in advantageous effects on experimental learners Although the delayed results were not strongly convincing, the fact that the control group did not maintain their improvements during two months indicated “the implementation of the focus-on-form instruction was more effective than leaving students to their own devices to develop target like ability in past time reference” (Doughty & Varela, 1998, p.135) The study demonstrated that the simple past and the
Trang 25conditional past are recognizable, learnable, and even acquired in a classroom setting,
but it was not known that the gains facilitated by the comprehensible input or the specific noticing activities and which form of the past (i.e., the simple past or the
conditional past) outdid The following sections review four studies of the second category, the effects of direct and indirect explicit grammar approaches on students’
grammatical accuracy and on sentential writing production
The first three studies of explicit grammar instruction that compared the relative
effectiveness of different approaches have two things in common: (1) they examined
the effect of direct and indirect instruction on learners’ grammatical accuracy, and (2) they used kinds of instruments (i.e., grammaticality judgment test) which were well- matched to only one group of students Three studies of this kind administered the same test which included a grammaticality judgment section, and a sentence completion and combination section proved the same result The authors of these
studies have suggested that indirect grammar teaching can work as well as direct
instruction in some teaching contexts However, they followed only one type of subject (Japanese university students in general English class) The last study, on the other
hand, applied different instruments (e.g a grammar test, a written test, questionnaires,
and interviews) drawing both similar and different findings Details of the four studies are presented as follows
Fotos and Ellis (1991) compared the direct and indirect explicit instructions on
EFL college learners and found that they resulted in statistically significant improvements in the understanding of dative alternation in two groups of Japanese
students The group that received direct explicit instruction (DEI) got higher scores on
Trang 26instrument favoring the DEI was used to identify grammatical and ungrammatical
sentences
In a later study, Fotos (1993) investigated the effects of the two proposed
instructions on 160 Japanese university EFL learners in general English classes Slightly different from the previous study, this one followed three groups with three
different instructions A pretest-posttest control group design was conducted with three
levels of treatment One was grammar consciousness-raising tasks, in which learners had to solve grammatical problems interactively This task type was to supply opportunities for meaning-focused use of the target language in combination with raising learners’ consciousness of the target grammatical structures through the
development of explicit knowledge The second treatment was to promote consciousness-raising called the teacher-fronted grammar lessons The third treatment
was communicative tasks, in which participants accomplished the tasks having the same characteristics as that of the grammar tasks but not including grammatical content One week after the treatment was completed, learners were administered a
listening and a dictation exercise as they normally did in their English class The
examples of the target structures were included in the story reading texts and dictation exercises provided to the subjects who were required to perform noticing exercises
The results of the study showed that both of the consciousness-raising groups
significantly increased the noticed target structures in the subsequent input but the difference was less evident for the communicative group without explicit notice of the grammar structures In addition, Fotos demonstrated that the knowledge achieved from the consciousness-raising activities assisted learners to promote ‘noticing’ of the target
features that was also observed in another test administered two weeks later Thus, it
Trang 27However, the findings of this study need further research to explore whether the acquired target noticing structures may remain in learners’ language outcomes
In the studies that follow, Fotos (1994) reported that the indirect option was equally effective as the direct approach in teaching explicit knowledge of three
different structures (i.e., adverb-placement, dative alternation, and relative clauses)
Similar to the two previous studies, the unique instrument to measure the effectiveness of the two instructional approaches was a grammaticality judgment test being clearly biased in favor of the explicit group This was because of the influence of identifying the grammatical and ungrammatical sentences inherent in the direct instruction This
study used only a few grammar structures related to word order (i.e., adverb placement
and relative clause) Thus, this raises the question of whether the same treatment can facilitate the acquisition of other grammatical structures which are more difficult to assess by the grammaticality judgment tests In addition, it would be more convincing if there was an assessment of the retention of those structures in learners’ subsequent
use
Wan (1999) filled the gaps of the three previous studies by Ellis and Fotos She examined the nature of the relationships among teaching methods and the acquisition of grammatical forms and production capabilities, as well as students’ attitudes towards grammatical lessons Similar to the study of Fotos (1993), three groups of EFL students with three levels of instruction were included The subjects were 16 to 19 second-year students studying for a Diploma in Computing Studies or Marketing in a technical institute One group was instructed with a grammar task treatment compared with two other groups; a teacher-fronted instruction group and a communicative task group There were two stages of treatments applied for three groups The duration of the first
stage was 40 minutes and that of the second one was 20 minutes, applied two weeks
Trang 28writing level
Contrary to the first three studies by Ellis and Fotos, the study of Wan used
tests, questionnaires and short interviews The subjects did three tests: one pretest before treatment and one posttest after each of the stage of treatment All the three tests
included a grammaticality judgment section and a controlled writing part The
questionnaire focusing on students’ attitudes towards the effectiveness of explicit
attention to grammar and the tasks’ interest was distributed to students at the end of the
first round of treatments The short interviews were to clarify some of the “ambivalent answers” given in the questionnaires to ensure that the participants had understood the questions correctly
From what has been discussed, the grammar instruction and the grammar tasks
effectively focused the students’ attention on the use of reporting verbs, but less
evidence was found on the communicative tasks In similar, grammar tasks were as
useful as grammar instruction in enhancing students’ grammatical knowledge and
sentence-writing production, and both more superior to communicative tasks without explicit notice to grammar Additionally, a positive relationship between grammatical comprehension and production could be observable for the three groups, as well as
significant differences in terms of the quantity and quality of interactions under various task treatments Furthermore, students positively responded to the effectiveness and
interest of most of the grammar lessons though their reactions were not very strong
Regarding the mastery of grammatical knowledge, the finding of this study was supported by the results of the previous studies carried out by Fotos and Ellis (1991) and Fotos (1993 & 1994) However, it has a supplemental effect of the sentential writing production and qualitative methods which have not been mentioned in the previous studies
Trang 29To sum up, studies of the effectiveness of direct and indirect explicit grammar instruction can be reviewed as follows First, noticing the target structures in the comprehensible input is essential for the language learning to take place Second, grammar instruction, including direct and indirect instruction can increase learners’ consciousness to attend to the particular target forms rather than the communicative tasks without specific attention to grammar Third, although there were the completion
and sentential-writing sections, the emergence of the noticing structures in the
performance of oral and written tasks remains unknown
In spite of the positive features of the studies reviewed, they have displayed inadequacies First, it was not known which kind of scores (i.e., the simple past or the conditional past) stood out; it would be more convincing to separate the scores of these
(Doughty and Varela, 1998) This indeed leads to the question of whether English
tenses facilitated by indirect explicit grammar instruction can be compared with the focus-on-form instruction which deals with the simple past and the conditional past
Second, the research methodology (i.e., instruments) found in the last four studies (Fotos and Ellis 1991; Fotos, 1993; Fotos, 1994; Wan, 1999) favors grammatical accuracy rather than retention of the target structures in oral and written forms In addition, time length between the teacher-fronted grammar lessons and the
consciousness-raising tasks in those studies was not specified
From the discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the studies presented, the present research attempts to address the methodological limitations (i.e., grammaticality judgment test and lack of time distribution) found in the previous
research designed by Ellis and Fotos (1991); Fotos (1993, 1994); Wan (1999) It also
reexamined the influence of the two instructional approaches (i.e., direct and indirect
Trang 302.4 Chapter Summary
This chapter has reviewed an overall view of grammar teaching approaches Respectively, a brief summary of grammar teaching has been characterized as (1)
explaining the target rules, (2) emphasizing drills and repetitions and meaning-focused input, and (3) providing opportunities for meaningful practice Next, explicit and implicit grammar instructions have been identified and distinguished Related to explicit instruction, it has also revealed the two contradictory forms: direct and indirect approaches While the first one stresses the significance of presenting rules, the latter favors students’ rule-searched condition Finally, previous studies have been classified, compared, and contrasted involving their methodology, theoretical grounds, and
effects These studies have proved that L2 acquisition can be facilitated by explicit
grammar instruction The literature reviewed in this chapter supports the theoretical framework for the present study In the next chapter, the research methods use will be clarified
Trang 31CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In the previous chapter, Chapter 2, a theory-oriented background for the present research has been articulated Also included was an exploration of the- contextualized -use of grammar structures and the rule-searched condition tasks as a specific phenomenon for the grammar teaching Considering this theoretical foundation, this chapter presents the methods of the experimental research project that was completed in an effort to test the hypothesis that have been presented The six sections below encompass the basic research design, instrumentation used, the participants selected and the research site used, the preparations for the experimental stage, an elaboration of the instructional treatment, and the analytical framework chosen to review the outcomes Each of these sections will be discussed respectively
3.1 Research Design
The main purpose of this section is to provide a procedural plan to conduct this study According to McMillan and Schumacher (2001, p.166), a research design refers to a plan to choose participants and research sites, procedures to conduct the study and collect data to answer the research questions Thus, this chapter speaks to the related
elements of the approach used to carry out the study, the subjects, when, where, and
under which circumstances the study was conducted
3.1.1 Pretest-Posttest Quasi-Experimental Design
Trang 32education, since it is often impossible to randomly assign subjects” (p.342) In this school-based study, the only option was quasi-experiment because classes were formed at the start of the school year Ninety-four participants, English students in the researcher’s classes, were first chosen and randomly designated a participating in the
experimental group and the control group Next, both groups were given a pretest measuring their level on the criterion variables of analyzing rules of tenses (i.e., rule
analysis test), applying these rules in a pre-defined context (i.e., grammar test) and a
free-defined setting (i.e., oral test) The third stage was to administer the treatment (new pedagogy) to the experimental group while the control group continued to receive the traditional instruction Each group was then given a posttest and a delayed posttest
3.1.2 Internal Validity
McMillan and Schumacher (2001, p.347) have mentioned some threats to internal validity of a nonequivalent pretest-posttest quasi-experiment Among those
threats, the two definite weaknesses are selection and maturation Thus, these
extraneous variables should be controlled to avoid weakening the effect of the treatment First, selection indicates a “systematic difference” in subjects’ abilities or characteristics between the two groups being compared Although the subjects were
not randomly chosen, they ‘had some common characteristics (i.e., age, level, and years
spent on learning English) as those of the population In fact, this threat could be
controlled Second, maturational threats “refer to the changes in the subjects of a study over time that affect the dependent variable” (p.190) Some of the changes are
“growing older and getting tired and bored.” The total amount of instruction was five weeks and the duration treatment was two periods per week, each lasted forty-five minutes Because of time distributed, it was not long enough for the subjects in both groups to have been matured Such length of time might not make the students tired and bored so the maturation might not have threatened the results of this study
Trang 333.2 Participants and Research Site 3.2.1 Sampling
While not the best sampling procedure for respresentativeness, the most common form of sampling in educational research is non-probability sampling For this project, the target population was EFL high school students in two classes that were selected conveniently among the 25 Grade-11 The subjects were chosen according to non-probability sampling, also called convenience or availability sampling (McMillan
& Schumacher, 2001, p.173) They were those who were available to the researcher
The students in these two classes are further described in section 3.2.3 3.2.2 Research Site
The present study was conducted at Marie Curie High School, Ho Chi Minh City This is one of the largest public schools with 20,700 square meters and 3,383 students ranging in age from 15-18 At the time of data collection, there were 73 classes being offered across 3 grade levels: 23 Grade-10 classes, 25 Grade-11 classes,
and 25 Grade-12 classes Grade 10 consisted of 1,165 students, and Grades 11 and 12
consisted of 1,100 and 1,118 students, respectively All of the classes, at each level
were also separated into three sections: the Basic Section, the Section of Natural Sciences, and the Section of Social Sciences and Humanities
3.2.3 Participants
Trang 34similar grades the students received from the secondary graduation exam After one year learning in the tenth-grade, their English knowledge is quite different Therefore, the researcher chose two classes whose grades in the English second semester exam were relatively equal Specifically, each class had seven students getting the under average scores and the other forty students, achieving fair, good, and excellent grades, were nearly the same One of the two classes was designated randomly as an experimental group This class, which had 47 members, was more heavily weighted towards females (33) and than males (14); the other was treated as the control group having 47 students, 26 of whom were females and the rest (21) were males The subjects of the present study are described in terms of group, number, gender, and
scores achieved in table 3.2.3
Table 3.2.3 Description of the Participants Class Total Gender Scores achieved in the 2" semester exam in grade 10 Male Female <3 3.5-4.5 5-6.5 7-8.5 9-10 Experimental - 47 14 33 l 6 21 14 5 30% 70% 2.13% | 12.76% | 44.68% | 29.79% | 10.64% Control 47 21 26 I 6 22 12 6 45% 55% | 2.13% 12.76% | 46.81% | 25.53% | 12.76% 3.3 Data Types
The present study used a quantitative method with different sources of data related to the objectives and research questions The assessment instruments that were
involved in this study were a rule analysis test (RAT), a grammar test (GT), an oral test (OT), a written test (WT), and a survey questionnaire The first three tests were
included in the pretest and the posttest, and the last test was conducted in a delayed post-test The pretest was administered a week before the treatments (August 4, 2010) The post-test including the RAT and the GT was conducted one day after the two
instructional methods implemented (September 9, 2010), and the OT was administered
Trang 35a week after that (September, 15, 2010) The questionnaires were distributed to the
experimental group after finishing the treatment (September 8, 2010) Finally, the
delayed post-test was given a month after the speaking section taken place (October 13,
2010)
Each type of measuring instrument which has its own forms and purposes plays a key factor to determining the quality of a piece of educational research Therefore, this study took great care with both of those two aspects The RAT and the GT were
designed in both subjective and objective forms The subjective items were for measuring the students’ ability to avoid errors in using tenses and the objective form was used to check the learners’ recognition of tenses Furthermore, the administration of the oral and written tests was to examine whether the rules acquired could be
remained and produced In these two tests, students were given a context that was not a pre-defined setting as that of the grammar test The limited environment of the grammar test was therefore explored All tests were designed as a means not only to
assess the proficiency level of the targeted structure but also to measure knowledge of
grammatical form, meaning, and use In addition, consideration was given concerning the usefulness of the instruction and many other components related to the objectives
of the study, and thus the questionnaire was edited to contribute to the results of the
tests Further descriptions of each of the instruments are provided in the following sub- sections
3.3.1 Rule Analysis Test (RAT)
The RAT was designed with 10 multiple-choice items and 14 true/false
statements, adapted from Harding and Taylor (2005) and Cunningham and Moor
(2005), it was a 20-minute test The first ten items required students to match each
Trang 36preceding sentence Five tenses and aspects were included in the 10 matching items There were three sentences in present continuous, three in simple present, two in simple past, and two in present and past perfect Finally, the participants were asked to read the other!4 numbered sentences and wrote T (true) or F (false) for the statement that best describes each preceding sentence The test writer maintained balance between tense and aspect; there were two sentences in simple past; three in past continuous, five in present and past perfect, two in simple present, and two in present continuous To do this test type, learners needed to understand when each tense or aspect is used and how it is formed The total scores were ten; each correct answer was graded 0.416 points and an incorrect one got 0 point (See Appendix 1 A-B)
3.3.2 Grammar Test (GT)
There were 12 objective and 12 subjective items divided equally between tenses and aspects, adapted from Murphy (2004) with duration of 25 minutes allowed In the first six multiple-choice items, students were to choose the underlined word or phrase
that is incorrect in tenses In the next six objective sentences, they were to select the
best option from among the four responses provided in order to have a grammatically correct sentence In the first subjective part, students read four situations and used the correct tense or aspect of eight verbs in brackets Lastly, learners read the context of
four sentences and then completed or wrote the second sentence using the words given
Totally, there were ten grades; an accurate option or answer got 0.416 marks, inappropriate tense use received a zero mark The test assesses learners’ proficiency level of form, meaning, and use of tenses and aspects (See Appendix 1C-D)
Trang 373.3.3 Oral Production Test
An oral production test mainly evaluated spoken accuracy on the dependent variable in the present study, adapted from Ur (2009) There were two examiners: an
interlocutor and an assessor The researcher was the interlocutor who asked questions and told the candidates what to do The assessor did not speak but listened carefully
The whole process of oral testing was videotaped for the researcher to transcribe and to
double-check the scores of each test taker
The tasks and formats of the oral interaction for the pretest and posttest were the
same However, a different photo, adopted from Ur (2009) was given to each pair of students between the pretest and post-test, and the questions differed in the two
measurements There were two parts of the speaking test The first part took between two to three minutes In this part, each candidate talked with the interlocutor;
candidates gave some information about themselves (e.g their names, where they
come from, their family, etc.) The interlocutor also asked about the students’ daily lives and such things as likes, dislikes, and interests Part two of the oral test lasted from three to five minutes In this section, the two candidates talked to each other about
the given pictures focusing on (1) the differences between the two photos or the
habitual events, (2) the ongoing activity, (3) the story, and (4) the recent actions (See Appendix 2A-EF)
3.3.3.1 Procedures
Trang 38he/she comes from Then the interlocutor asked his/her interests, likes, or dislikes Second, each pair of students was given a photo or each member of a pair was given a different picture (A or B) The students had 3-5 minutes to observe the distributed
photo and prepare for the story or found the differences between two photos; i.e., what
people in the pictures have been/are doing/do
3.3.3.2 Scoring Criteria
Both examiners gave marks based on the criterion-referenced scale to evaluate
individuals’ language skills and accuracy in using tense in response to particular instruction The scale was used to orient the examiners to “make inferences about how
much language ability a test taker has, and not merely how well the test taker performs relative to other individuals, including native speakers” (Bachman & Palmer, 2002, p.212)
The results of this test were presented as scores which ultimately determined the effectiveness of the instruction on the learners’ spoken accuracy Therefore, scoring rubrics were carefully taken into consideration to ensure the test’s reliability Scoring is valid and reliable only if.(1) appropriate descriptions of criteria grading and clear recognitions are written, (2) inappropriate features of performance are not taken notice of, and (3) each performance has more than one rater (Hughes, 1999, p.110) Thus, the
rubrics for this oral test were designed based on the mentioned grading scales Details
are presented in table 3.3.3.2
Trang 39Table 3.3.3.2 The Criteria-Grading Table for the Oral Test
Pre- and Post- Oral Test Score
Stage 1: Students’ introduction and responses in using tenses Scores were graded based on the following points
1 Student’s introduction himself/herself
a Grammar entirely accurate l
b Occasionally grammatical errors (1-2 mistakes) 0.5
c Frequently grammatical errors (3-4 mistakes) 0.25
d Inaccurate use of tense / 0
2 Students’ responses to the interlocutor (at least 2 questions)
a Grammar entirely accurate l
b Occasionally grammatical errors (1-2 mistakés) 0.5
c Frequently grammatical errors (3-4 mistakes) 0.25
d Inaccurate use of tense 0
Total 2
Stage 2: Students’ interactions in using tenses
(at least 4 questions and 4 responses; each of the item got 1)
1 Each clear and grammatical correct question and response (freedom from 2
basic error)
2 Each clear and grammatical correct question and response (1 basic error) 1,5
3 Occasionally grammatical errors (2-3 mistakes) 1
4 Frequently grammatical errors (4 mistakes) 0.5
5 Inaccurate use of tense 0
Total 8
Trang 40
3.3.4 Delayed Written Post-test
The written test was administered only in the post stage to both experimental and control groups with the main purpose to check the retention of the grammar structures and the correlation between the grammar rules and the use of these structures in a free-defined context Each student was required to write a letter to his/her friend telling him/her about one of the most memorable past experiences The letter, adopted from the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), was a kind of a narrative so the key focus was on the correct use of tenses It was mainly graded on the grammatical accuracy and good descriptions of the topic, not on the content development, idea organization, and cohesion or coherency The letter was to include some main points as: when/where/how the memorable past experience happened, who was involved, and how the experience affected him/her Relying on the mentioned criteria, the teacher designed the following criteria grading table
Table 3.3.4 The Criteria-Grading Scales for the Delayed Written Test
Criteria grading for the Delayed Posttest Score
Descriptions of criteria grading
1 Error-free with one or two clear sentences to introduce the topic of the letter 2
2 Good descriptions, freedom from basic error to maintain the theme including some points as a When the memorable past experience happened 1 b Where it happened ] c How it happened 1
d Who was involved 1
e How it affected the writer 2 3 A grammatical correct concluding sentence to end the letter 2
Total 10