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HOW TO HELP STUDENTS LEARN GRAMMAR EFFECTIVELYI. REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE TOPICNowadays, English has been considered as one of the most popular languages. It is now the key factor of globalization of political views, international business as well as education (Johnson, 2009). Thanks to the development of economic with oversea investment and tourism more and more people spend time and money taking English classes at schools or private centers with the hope that they can better their communication in English so that they are able to study abroad, and look for good jobs with high income. Realizing how important English is in education, the Ministry of Education and Training in Vietnam has a number of policies to develop both teachers and students’ English proficiency. For instance, the project of improving teachers’ English proficiency following The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) standard by the end of the year 2020 has been carried out recently to provide further training for those who are not qualified enough. Furthermore, students in Dong Nai province have opportunities to study with foreign teachers, especially Filipino teachers.Despite the fact that teaching English has some improvement recently in the light of learnercentered approach which is adaptable to help students better their English, teaching and learning English in Vietnam has not developed students grammatical competence, motivation, and activeness. The students are expected to be proficient at English after graduating from high school, although there is a considerable studying time, many Vietnamese students are still not able to use English grammar correctly and confidently. As a matter of fact, grammar is very helpful for students. Pradeep (2013) states that grammar is a very important part that cannot be neglected in teaching and studying English. It can be taught through different methods either explicit or implicit. However, Denham (1992) highlights the fact that teachers instruct most of their lessons through Grammar Translation Method approach (GTM) which is known as teachercentered and makes students bored. This suggests that it’s high time for teachers to teach grammar in a variety of ways to allow students to better their grammar competence as well as enhance four main skills including reading, listening, speaking and writing. Thus, in my opinion, it is necessary to carry out this study to make practical benefits for students by applying workable methods. II. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES AND REALITY1. Theoretical perspectivesThe role of grammar in teaching and learning EnglishAccording to Harmer’s viewpoint (1987, pp.12) “Without some understanding of Grammar, students would not be able to do anything more than utter separate items of language for separate functions. The expression of functional language is only possible through the use of the Grammar of the language” Firstly, teaching grammar helps students understand how the language works. Apart from vocabulary, students need to know grammar to understand how it is written or how words are combined together to understand the proper meaning. Without grammar or with a poor knowledge of grammar, they may get confused with complicated expressions. Appropriate grammar techniques are embedded in meaningful, communicative contexts then contribute positively to communicative goals and they also promote accuracy within fluent communicative language use.Secondly, Smith (2001: 15) claimed that if teachers neither pay attention to grammar nor create opportunities for learners to improve grammar, learners are likely to stand the risk of fossilization or reach a point where they can cope with level of communication that is demanded of them by making use of their existing grammatical resources and communication strategies and probably with sufficient fluency. Surely, they do not see the need to develop their linguistic abilities any further.In favor of the importance of grammar, Larsen – Freeman (1986:13) affirms that grammar is regarded as a skill rather than an area of knowledge. Learners do not simply store knowledge about the language and its usage; they need also to develop an ability to do something. They must have a chance of learning situations to overcome the knowledge problem. It is true to say that grammar is the fifth skill besides four skills reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Skill development as well as learning grammar takes practice. Grammar might not be taught only when the students already possessed the knowledge and the ability to use the grammar item in speech, writing and listening comprehension. In fact, grammar is the basis for mastering four language skills. When we have concrete foundation of grammar, we feel much easier to advance.In general, grammar is acknowledged to be of importance in language study and in language teaching and learning in particular. Grammar is acquired naturally from meaningful input and opportunities to interact in the classroom. More especially, learners can improve their grammar competence in a suitable environment without conscious focus on language forms. However, this partly depends on the learning circumstances. As a result, grammar teaching gains its significant role in English Language Teaching because highly developed language skills are difficult to achieve without some knowledge of grammar. Teacher should help students to acquire grammar knowledge through meaningful contexts which improve students’ motivation. The important of students’ motivationSince motivation is not only a vital but also a highly complex factor determining more or less successful language learning, it is necessary to examine approaches to motivate in learning in order to bring about better insights into it.Over the years there have been in numberable studies on motivation in foreign and second language learning. In these studies, researchers have attempted to explain what is meant by motivation. However, most studies on motivation in foreign and second language learning have been influenced by the work of Gardner (1985) (quoted in Spolsky, 1998), who defines motivation as consisting of effort, plus desire to achieve the goal of learning, plus favorable attitude towards learning the languageAnother theory on motivation can be seen from Littlewood’s perspective (1998:53) that “in second language learning as in every other field of human learning, motivation is the crucial force which determines whether a learner embarks on a task at all, how much energy he devotes to it, and how long he perseveres. It is a complex phenomenon and includes many components: the individual’s drive, need for achievement and success, curiosity, desire for stimulation and new experience, and so on”.
EN G L IS H DẠY TỐT HỌC TỐT EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEPARTMENT OF DONG NAI PROVINCE VINH CUU HIGH SCHOOL CODE: ……………… HOW TO HELP STUDENTS LEARN GRAMMAR EFFECTIVELY Written by: BUI THI XUAN HUONG Trang 1 Research area: English teaching method SCHOOL YEAR: 2014-2015 Trang 2 CURRICULUM VITAE I. PERSONAL INFORMATION 1. Full name: Bui Thi Xuan Huong 2. Date of birth: April 7 th 1986 3. Male/female: female 4. Address: Tan Trieu village, Vinh Cuu district, Dong Nai province 5. Phone number: 0918.539253 6. Email: bt.xuanhuong1@gmail.com 7. Career: English Teacher 8. Work at: Vinh Cuu High School II. EDUCATION 1. University: B.A in English Year graduated: 2010 Trained specialty: English 2. Post graduated: MBA Year graduated: 2013 III. EXPERIENCE Experienced professional field: Teaching Year of teaching: 6 Trang 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Trang 4 HOW TO HELP STUDENTS LEARN GRAMMAR EFFECTIVELY I. REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC Nowadays, English has been considered as one of the most popular languages. It is now the key factor of globalization- of political views, international business as well as education (Johnson, 2009). Thanks to the development of economic with oversea investment and tourism more and more people spend time and money taking English classes at schools or private centers with the hope that they can better their communication in English so that they are able to study abroad, and look for good jobs with high income. Realizing how important English is in education, the Ministry of Education and Training in Vietnam has a number of policies to develop both teachers and students’ English proficiency. For instance, the project of improving teachers’ English proficiency following The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) standard by the end of the year 2020 has been carried out recently to provide further training for those who are not qualified enough. Furthermore, students in Dong Nai province have opportunities to study with foreign teachers, especially Filipino teachers. Despite the fact that teaching English has some improvement recently in the light of learner-centered approach which is adaptable to help students better their English, teaching and learning English in Vietnam has not developed students grammatical competence, motivation, and activeness. The students are expected to be proficient at English after graduating from high school, although there is a considerable studying time, many Vietnamese students are still not able to use English grammar correctly and confidently. As a matter of fact, grammar is very helpful for students. Pradeep (2013) states that grammar is a very important part that cannot be neglected in teaching and studying English. It can be taught through different methods either explicit or implicit. However, Denham (1992) highlights the fact that teachers instruct most of their lessons through Grammar Translation Method approach (GTM) which is known as teacher-centered and makes students bored. This suggests that it’s high time for teachers to teach grammar in a variety of ways to allow students to better their grammar competence as well as enhance four main skills including reading, listening, speaking and writing. Thus, in my opinion, it is necessary to carry out this study to make practical benefits for students by applying workable methods. II. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES AND REALITY 1. Theoretical perspectives The role of grammar in teaching and learning English According to Harmer’s viewpoint (1987, pp.12) “Without some understanding of Grammar, students would not be able to do anything more than utter separate items of language for separate functions. The expression of Trang 5 functional language is only possible through the use of the Grammar of the language” Firstly, teaching grammar helps students understand how the language works. Apart from vocabulary, students need to know grammar to understand how it is written or how words are combined together to understand the proper meaning. Without grammar or with a poor knowledge of grammar, they may get confused with complicated expressions. Appropriate grammar techniques are embedded in meaningful, communicative contexts then contribute positively to communicative goals and they also promote accuracy within fluent communicative language use. Secondly, Smith (2001: 15) claimed that if teachers neither pay attention to grammar nor create opportunities for learners to improve grammar, learners are likely to stand the risk of fossilization or reach a point where they can cope with level of communication that is demanded of them by making use of their existing grammatical resources and communication strategies and probably with sufficient fluency. Surely, they do not see the need to develop their linguistic abilities any further. In favor of the importance of grammar, Larsen – Freeman (1986:13) affirms that grammar is regarded as a skill rather than an area of knowledge. Learners do not simply store knowledge about the language and its usage; they need also to develop an ability to do something. They must have a chance of learning situations to overcome the knowledge problem. It is true to say that grammar is the fifth skill besides four skills reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Skill development as well as learning grammar takes practice. Grammar might not be taught only when the students already possessed the knowledge and the ability to use the grammar item in speech, writing and listening comprehension. In fact, grammar is the basis for mastering four language skills. When we have concrete foundation of grammar, we feel much easier to advance. In general, grammar is acknowledged to be of importance in language study and in language teaching and learning in particular. Grammar is acquired naturally from meaningful input and opportunities to interact in the classroom. More especially, learners can improve their grammar competence in a suitable environment without conscious focus on language forms. However, this partly depends on the learning circumstances. As a result, grammar teaching gains its significant role in English Language Teaching because highly developed language skills are difficult to achieve without some knowledge of grammar. Teacher should help students to acquire grammar knowledge through meaningful contexts which improve students’ motivation. The important of students’ motivation Since motivation is not only a vital but also a highly complex factor determining more or less successful language learning, it is necessary to examine approaches to motivate in learning in order to bring about better insights into it. Trang 6 Over the years there have been in numberable studies on motivation in foreign and second language learning. In these studies, researchers have attempted to explain what is meant by motivation. However, most studies on motivation in foreign and second language learning have been influenced by the work of Gardner (1985) (quoted in Spolsky, 1998), who defines motivation as consisting of effort, plus desire to achieve the goal of learning, plus favorable attitude towards learning the language Another theory on motivation can be seen from Littlewood’s perspective (1998:53) that “in second language learning as in every other field of human learning, motivation is the crucial force which determines whether a learner embarks on a task at all, how much energy he devotes to it, and how long he perseveres. It is a complex phenomenon and includes many components: the individual’s drive, need for achievement and success, curiosity, desire for stimulation and new experience, and so on”. Apparently, Littlewood, not only highlighting the important role of motivation in second language learning but also emphasizing the ‘highly complex construct’ of motivation claimed that if a learner is motivated she will probably decide to undertake a particular task with certain amount of energy and time needed for it. Furthermore, McKay and Tom (1992:2) point out that the need and drive to communicate with others in a new language provide strong motivation for most learners. This is more or less similar to Lightbown and Spada’s (1999: 56) definition of motivation in second language learning that “motivation in second language learning is a complex phenomenon which can be defined in terms of two factors: learner’s communicative needs and their attitudes towards the second community” They also add that '' if learners need to speak the second language in a wide range of social situations or to fulfill professional ambitions, they will perceive the communicative value of the second language and will therefore be motivated to acquire proficiency in it. Likewise, if learners have favorable attitudes towards the speakers of the language, they will desire more contact with them.” Learners’ motivation can change overtime and effect on their language learning. Various studies have found that motivation is strongly related to success in language learning. Gardner (1985) (quoted in Spolsky, 1998) sums up “… it seems clear that achievement in a second language learning is influenced by attitudinal/motivational characteristics. Postulating that achievement in a second language learning is promoted by an integrative motive is not tantamount to saying that this is the only cause or predictor”. However, many research findings shows that successful learning can enhance motivation, and the relationship between learning achievement and Trang 7 motivation is an interactive one. As Gardner and Smythe (1981) (quoted in Hedge, 2000) claim that the high correlation between motivation and successful learning confirms the crucial importance of motivation in the classroom whether learners arrive with it or whether they acquire it through classroom experience. 2. Reality Most of the students in my school are not good at English as well as they don’t enjoy learning English grammar. Most students consider that grammar structures in their textbooks are boring with too much grammar rules and tiring exercises. My students often have the same comments about the challenges and difficulties of English grammar such as “There are so many rules”, “It is so difficult to remember the patterns”, “I made mistakes when I did grammar exercises although I learnt carefully”, “I don’t know how use all the English tenses correctly” and so on. What can we do to solve these problems? As a Vietnamese high school English teacher, I realize that it is time to change the ways we teach English grammar. One of the most common ways of teaching English grammar in my school is to instruct students by Grammar Translation Method (GTM) which focuses on forms. First of all, teachers provide students the form of the new grammar point and givin examples so that students can understand. After that teachers explain the usage ot the grammar point if necessary and ask students to apply the new grammar structure to complete exercises. At the end of the lesson, they ask the students to learn the grammar point by heart and finish all the exercises in workbook at home. The way of teaching grammar mentioned above are very common in most public as well as private school in Vietnam. In my point of view, it clearly shows some problems. Firstly, students feel bored and frustrated with the tiring rules and execises . They have no interest in learning English grammar and they learn the grammar rules just because they are forced to do so. As a result, students lose their motivation. Secondly, students don’t know how to use the new grammar structures. Trying to remember the forms and rules is not enough. More importantly, students should know how to apply the grammar points appropriately and correctly in whatever cases. Finally, students lack of revision. It's easy to forget previous grammar points if they just learn by heart. So, teachers should provide students exciting repetition activities. Many works have been carried out to find out the effective ways to improve students’ grammar acquisition as well as other basic skills. From my own experience and many reference books, I have used some solutions to deal with the arising question Trang 8 “How can teachers help students to learn grammar effectively? I wish these solutions can allow me and other English teachers to successfully resolve the problems in teaching grammar features and help the students better their grammar acquisition. III. SOLUTIONS I have applied the following solutions at Vinh Cuu high School in classes 10A1, 10A2, 11A1 and 11A2 from the beginning of the school year 2014-2015. 3. Teaching grammar in a non-stressed and exciting environment 1.1. What to teach Teachers frequently need to present new grammar to learners and grammar presentations are often at the heart of language lessons. However, English grammar is very complex, so teachers often want to strengthen or supplement the grammatical explanations in order to meet the particular learning events in their own classrooms. As a matter of fact teachers can use variety ways to instruct grammar lessons and they can use not only the course book with ‘ready-made’ presentation but also other materials like a reading texts or online activities. Normally, teachers convey lessons about the following points: 1) the new structure and its possible forms 2) the meanings imparted by the structures in context 3) the core of what the student needs to learn Therefore, teachers should find the ways to present the structure and to check that whether the students are interested in the grammar lessons or not and the core concepts are understood within a certain context. 1.2. How to teach 3.1.1. Using games The understanding of a lesson is more easily achieved when students are engaged, interested and having fun during the lesson. In fact, many games have been conducted in order to teach grammar effectively in an exciting and relaxing learning environment. 1.2.1.1 Word puzzles It is a useful and interactive method whereby students can learn all sorts of important parts of English grammar. They can be used to encourage students to identify and understand various parts of a sentence; grammatical concepts like synonyms, tenses and conjugations; or incorrectly used grammar. Word puzzles such as crosswords are easily modified to suit all age and skill levels and Trang 9 introduce an element of fun competition into the learning process, so they can be invaluable in forging a full and lasting understanding of English grammar. 1.2.1.2 Bingo The game of Bingo is based on people marking off spaces on their card until they fill in a row or column fully. In normal Bingo these are numbers, drawn at random from a pool. In grammar lesson Bingo, they could be pronouns, verbs, nouns, sentence structure, antonyms, and so on – students could use the daily newspaper and attempt to find correct examples of these grammatical concepts faster than each other, thereby “winning” the game – and learning in the process! Short and fun grammar exercises like this can be included on a regular basis during your lessons to keep correct grammar usage fresh your students’ minds and improve their recall of the topics at hand. 1.2.1.3 Jumbled Sentences Choose a number of sentences from the last few chapters (pages) that you have been working on in class. Make sure to choose a nice mixture including adverbs of frequency, time signifiers, adjectives and adverbs, as well as multiple clauses for more advanced classes. Type (or write on the board) jumbled versions of the sentences and ask the students to reassemble them. If you are focusing on specific grammar points, have the students explain why certain words are placed in certain places in a sentence. For example, If you are working on adverbs of frequency, ask students why 'often' is placed as it is in the following negative sentence: 'He doesn't often go to the cinema.' 1.2.1.4 Whisper Circles With the aim to teach the grammar structure (it takes to do ) I used a game named whisper circles + Divide the students into groups of 7 to 10. + Choose one leader from each group. Give the leaders the card which has the sentence "It takes about six seconds for something you drink to reach your stomach." Ask him to memorize the sentence, go back to his group and whisper what he has read on the card to the person on his right. Each person will whisper the sentence to the next person and the sentence can be said only once. The last person will say the sentence out loud. If the sentence is the same with the one written on the card, that group wins. 1.2.1.5 Match and catch the riddle When instructing simple present tense, I can take advantage of this activity to help my student involve more in the lessons. Trang 10 [...]... Guiding students how to learn grammar effectively Teachers often force students to memorize all the grammatical rules, patterns, tenses without teaching them how to improve their grammar knowledge on their own or giving them some strategies to better their learning Therefore, many students have the tendency to do as many exercises as they can to learn by heart the rules or structures According to some... addition, students will feel that it is boring to learn grammar, and gradually lose their interest in grammar lessons It takes too much time That’s why there are a lot of students who are bored with learning grammar Hence, it’s necessary to guide students how to learn grammar effectively I often give my students the following guidelines 1.10 Raise your motivation One of the most important factors that... want to learn grammar to pass the exam? Do you want to learn English grammar to get high marks and see the smiling faces of your parents or someone who is special to you? Do you want to learn English well to have the admiration of your friends? Do you want to improve your current learning, attend university, or enjoy your life in an English speaking country? Do you want to learn English words to communicate... game, and students will particularly appreciate one if it’s not only loads of fun, but also a helpful way to review essential grammar You can design your own to include the tenses and structures your students have learned 4.1.3 Tic Tac Toe Tic Tac Toe is another versatile game, one that can be adapted to suit a wide variety of needs What you need to decide first is which grammar your students need to review... use English grammar effectively 1.16 Learn with your friends Learning with your friends is fun You can fix a particular day of the week (such as Saturday or Sunday) to review your grammar or play some grammar games with your friends You can ask your friends to test your grammar You can also practice the exercises together When you study English grammar together, you can help each other to understand... memorable way, most of the students paid attention to the lessons They had a more positive attitude towards learning grammar More students wanted to answer the given questions Even the weak students wanted to contribute to the lessons So they had motivation to learn their lessons again at home Secondly, when my students did the revision activities that I had just suggested, they showed great interest The... factors that enhances grammar learning is motivation You will find it very hard to study grammar day after day without motivation It is believe that being profiecent in English grammar will better your English learning at school and ensure your future job Motivation can help you to have a more exciting and fulfilling life If you want to learn English grammar effectively, you need to figure out what motivates... definitely remember what you learn better as well However, you do not need to sit down for hours If you want to learn English grammar well, learn step by step is better Study for fifteen minutes every day instead of two hours once a week If you commit to just 15 minutes a day of focused grammar practice, you will soon have firm grammar knowledge Moreover, you should not try to learn too many structures, patterns... lot of chances to review the grammar points they have learnt, it is easy for them to forget Revision is really important and necessary Thus, teachers need to help students consolidate the structures as often as possible In fact, there are a lot of activities to help students review what they’ve learnt In this part, I’ll suggest some reviewing activities that are designed as games so that students have... lesson We can do this by asking student to role play using the new structure, asking students to fill in the blanks, asking multiple-choice questions, asking students to make sentences with the new structures and so on 1.2.1.10 Asking students to role play After presenting a new structure, teachers can ask students to role play using the grammar point to be sure that students really understand the forms . Trieu village, Vinh Cuu district, Dong Nai province 5. Phone number: 0918.539253 6. Email: bt.xuanhuong1@gmail.com 7. Career: English Teacher 8. Work at: Vinh Cuu High School II. EDUCATION 1.