Applying task based approach in teaching english grammar for the grade 10 students of basic curriculum at yen dinh 1 high school thanh hoa province

PART A: INTRODUCTIONTitle: “Applying task-based approach in teaching English grammar for the grade 10 students of basic curriculum at Yen Dinh 1 high school- Thanh Hoa province”.. I have

TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS I

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study 1

3 Scope of the study 2

4 Methods of the study 2

5 Significance of the study 2

PART B: CONTENT 3

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 3

1.1 The Importance of Grammar in Language Teaching and Learning 3

1.1.1 Definitions of English grammar 3

1.1.2 The importance of teaching English grammar 3

1.2 Definition of tasks 3

1.3 What is task-based language teaching? 4

1.4 Task-based grammar teaching 5

14.1 Why we use Task-based grammar teaching? 5

1.4.2 Steps in Task-based grammar teaching 5

1.4.2.1 Pre-task 5

1.4.2.2 While- task 5

1.4.2.3 Post-task 6

CHATER 2: THE CURRENT SITUATIONS 7

IN TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN GRADE 10 STUDENTS AT YEN DINH 1 HIGH SCHOOL 7

2.1 An overview of the current situation of teaching and learning English at Yen Dinh 1 High school 7

2.2 Findings from the current situations 7

2.2.1 Results from questionairs 7

2.2.2 Results from observation 8

2.2.3 RESULTS FROM THE PRE-TEST 9

2.3 Solution 11

CHAPTER 3: EXPERIMENT AND RESULTS 13

3.1 Participants 13

3.2 Data collection instruments 13

3.3 Results 13

3.4.1 Results from questionnaires 13

3.3.2 Results from observation 16

3.3.3 Results from post-test 17

3.3.3.1 A comparison of the tests before and after experiment 17

3.3.3.2 Data analysis after experiment 18

3.4 Findings 18

PART C: CONCLUSION 20

1 Suggestions for further research 20

2 Conclusion of the study 20 REFERENCES I APPENDIXES II APPENDIX 1: PRE-TASK SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE II APPENDIX 2: POST-TASK SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES IV APPENDIX 3: PRE-TEST VI APPENDIX 4: POST-TESK VIII APPENDIX 5: POSSIBLE ANSWER KEYS X APPENDIX 6 XIII APPLYING TECHNIQUES IN TEACHING XIII

A model of lesson plan XIII

PART A: INTRODUCTION

Title: “Applying task-based approach in teaching English grammar for the

grade 10 students of basic curriculum at Yen Dinh 1 high school- Thanh Hoa province”.

1 Rationale

One of the most challenging tasks constantly facing English teachers ishow to capture the interest and stimulate the imagination of their students so thatthey will be more motivated to learn, especially in grammar lessons In myschool, teachers usually use PPP models to teach their students We can notdeny that this is a current popular method and it contains a lot of advantages.But it seems that students have to do what they are asked and have to do a lot ofexercises Frankly speaking, they become quite passive, only listen and write.They have little chance to interact, to communicate Teaching grammar does notmean so passive It should involve four skills and student should really be

motivated to learn I have decided to choose this topic with the hope that it will

make certain contributions to the existing knowledge of the field under the studyand help the grade 10 students at Yen Dinh 1 high school- Thanh Hoa provincemaster English grammar well to use it confidently in four skills and get goodmarks in the exams

2 Aims of the study.

The specific aims of this study are as follows:

- Investigating the present situation of learning grammar, especially findingout problems facing students in language focus lessons

- Suggesting useful techniques for the possibility of task-based introduction inorder to increase the students’ motivation in grammar learning as well asheightening the effectiveness of English language teaching

3 Scope of the study

This research focuses on investigating how Yen Dinh 1 language teachersexploit TBA in teaching English grammar in their classes in grade 10 students atYen Dinh 1 high school

4 Methods of the study

To gain effectiveness of the aims the researcher has just mentioned

above, the following methods were used:

- Survey questionnaire for students in class 10A9 and 10A10 at Yen Dinh

1 High School to collect information about their views of the current situationsand their feelings about lessons which are used language games

- The results of tests to check the grammar ability of the students in class10A9 and 10A10 at Yen Dinh 1 High School

-Beside these instruments, classroom observation is used to record moreinformation from teachers and students during lessons

- Constant discussions with the supervisor and colleagues are of greatsignificance

5 Significance of the study

Theoretical significance of the study: the study will supply the Englishlanguage teachers with the understanding of grammar and task-based approach,advantages when employing this method

Practical significance of the study: the research will help the teacher ofEnglish use task-based approach effectively, which will make language focuslessons more successful as well as help students in the grade 10 improve theirgrammar

PART B: CONTENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL

1.1.2 The importance of teaching English grammar

Firstly, teaching grammar helps students understand how the languageworks Apart from vocabulary, students need to know grammar to understandhow it is written or how words are combined together to understand the propermeaning Without grammar or with a poor knowledge of grammar, they may getconfused with complicated expression

Secondly, according to Smith (2001), if teachers neither pay attention togrammar nor create opportunities for learners to improve grammar, learners arelikely to stand the risk of fossilization or reach a point where they can cope withlevel of communication that is demanded of them by making use of theirexisting grammatical resource and communication strategies and probably withsufficient fluency

1.2 Definition of tasks

Nunan (1989) gave a definition of task: “is a piece of classroom workwhich involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing, or

interaction in the target language while their attention is principally focused onmeaning rather than form The task should also have a sense of completeness,being able to stand alone as a communicative act in its own right” Prabhu(1987), one of the first methodologists raising interest and support for TBA,defined: “a task is an activity which requires learners to arrive at an outcomefrom given information through some process of thought, and which allowedteachers to control and regulate that process” He emphasizes the process oflearning, and he confirms that when following the tasks, the learner will geteffective communication.

The definitions of tasks vary in TBA However, all of them have acommon characteristic They all suggested the tasks are concerned withcommunicative use In other words, they refer to undertakings in which thelearner comprehend, interact, produce in the target language in the contexts andfocus on meaning rather than form

1.3 What is task-based language teaching?

Littlewood (2004) indicated that TBA is a development withincommunicative approach It is not at all, Brown (1994) also claims that “TBA is

a perspective that can be taken within a CLT framework” Besides, he stated thatwhat various understandings of TBLT emphasize is the centrality of task itself in

a language course and, for TBLT as an overall approach, the importance oforganizing a course around communicative tasks that learners need to engage inoutside the classroom Also, Foster (1999) pointed out that there are differenttask-based approaches, which share a common idea: giving learners tasks totransact, rather than items to learn, providing an environment, which bestpromotes the natural language learning process

1.4 Task-based grammar teaching

14.1 Why we use Task-based grammar teaching?

Task-based language teaching approach can be viewed as within theframework of communicative teaching and the study of task-based languageteaching stems largely from communicative language teaching (Nunan, 1989) Itputs tasks at the center of the methodological focus It considers the learningprocess as a set of communicative tasks that are directly linked to the curriculargoals It emphasizes the development of students' communicative ability andcommunication takes place through using the grammatical system of thelanguage It combines the teaching of language forms with teaching of languageskills Therefore, it may have significance or it may be effective in grammarteaching

1.4.2 Steps in Task-based grammar teaching

According to Willis (1996) there are three main steps in task-basedgrammar teaching

1.4.2.1 Pre-task

Aim: To prepare student for the task, to engage their attention Topics andtasks are introduced in the pre-task stage Teachers introduce tasks to learners.They present necessary knowledge, explain the requirements and procedures ofthe task in detail and help learners familiarize with the topic, vocabulary andexpressions In this stage, teachers should take the individual differences amonglearners into account

1.4.2.2 While- task

 Planning the task:

Aim: for the Ss to discuss about the works related to grammar points ingroup of six Set a limited time of three or four minutes to discuss this

Circulate and listen to the Ss doing the task, but do not correct any language atthis moment.

 Doing the task:

Aim: For students to prepare an oral report of their task

Stop the task Tell the students to work together preparing a summary oftheir discussion for later report to the whole class They must write notes for thissummary and be prepared to report this orally to the rest of the class Set a timelimit of five minutes for them to do this When the students are ready, ask aspokesperson from each group to do report Rest of the class listens carefully

 Presenting the product of the task:

Aim: For students to get a provision of useful language input

1.4.2.3 Post-task

 Language focus :

Aim: To raise students’ awareness about the target language

Let the students look at the passage again, picking out those sentenceswhich contain grammar points and write them on the board

Check that the Ss understand the meaning of sentences (if necessary) ask Ss to write down the rules of form for grammar point

 Language practice

Aim: To give the students some restricted written practice in the targetlanguage

CHATER 2: THE CURRENT SITUATIONS

IN TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN GRADE 10

STUDENTS AT YEN DINH 1 HIGH SCHOOL

2.1 An overview of the current situation of teaching and learning English at Yen Dinh 1 High school.

The study was conducted with a total of 84 participants of Grade 10 in two classes – experimental class, 10A9 and control class, 10A10 at Yendinh 1 high school Most of them have been learning English for at least 4 years at secondary schools, from Grade 6 to Grade 9, and they used the new English textbooks designed by MOET

2.2 Findings from the current situations.

To find out some current situations in teaching and learning Englishgrammar in class 10A9 and 10A10 at Yen Dinh 1 high school, the researchersurveys the current situations by using questionnaires, interview questions andobservation The researcher found out some following results

2.2.1 Results from questionairs

Table 1- Students’ difficulties in studying English grammar

2 I cannot put the words in correct order 45 54.8%

3 I was very bad at English when I was at

5 I cannot apply all structures correctly 36 43.9%

6 There is a lack of teaching aids at school 15 18.2%

This can be shown that, 60.9% of the students said they could not put theverbs in the correct tenses Besides 45.1% of the students believed that theywere very bad at English when they were at lower high school And 54.8% of

them thought that they cannot put the words in correct order In addition, thenumber of the students who could not remember all structures was 86.5% and43.9% of students could not apply all structures correctly Besides, having asmall number of the students (18.2%) said that the lack of teaching aids atschool is other difficult of them.

In the second questions the researcher asked students about the maincauses of these difficulties

Table 2- The main causes of students’ difficulties in learning English grammar

I was bad at English grammar when I was at

primary and secondary school

Teacher’s teaching method is not effective 72 87.8

I don’t know the good way to learn effectively 60 73.1

As they can be seen in the table, 87,8% of the students showed themethod that teacher used is not suitable In addition, 60 of them (73.1%) don’tknow the good way to learn English grammar Meanwhile 45.1% of them werebad at English grammar when they studied at lower school and 18.2% of themthought that the lack of learning aids at school is other main reason that theyhave difficulties in studying English grammar

2.2.2 Results from observation

 Results from the teacher

With the aim of helping students get knowledge about grammarstructures, almost the teacher applied the traditional methods such as:translation, audio-lingual or using PPP model Besides, the teacher used extra-board or handout in English grammar lessons However, the applying of thesetraditional method hasn’t been done effectively yet

Almost lessons of the teacher were followed the following procedures:+ The teacher presented the structure and then gave some example toillustrate this structure.

+ The teacher gave the form and usage of this structures and askedstudents to write down on their notebook

+ The teacher asked students to give some examples

+ The teacher asked students to practice basing on some exercises in thetextbook

About classroom management The teacher asked the students to workindividually most of the time Sometimes, the teacher asked them to work inpairs Sometimes they had to work in groups There were no leader of groups, as

a result, every member in the group was not appointed particular requires

 Results from the students

In my observation, I realized that most of the students never raised theirhands in lessons They were not willing to practice They only practiced whenbeing asked They sat in silence and the teacher usually took notices of betterstudents

Moreover, most of the students felt unconfident when being asked topractice They showed their worry Nobody wanted the teacher to call his/hername in practice the new structure as well as doing exercises in the textbook

2.2.3 Results from the pre-test

The reseacher delivered a test to two classes, 10A9 and 10A10 to find outthe students’ level in two classes In this test, the teacher checked studentsgrammar by asking them to do a test about conditional type 3, used to+V_infinitive and the structure should and should not

Table 3- Data collected from the test and findings-The comparision between two classes

The experimental class 10A10 10 20 11 1

After giving and collecting the test, the researcher marked and found outthe weakness of the students and compared the result of two classes According

to the data collected, 4 among 84 students got mark 9 to 10, 39 out of studentsgot mark 5- 6 in which class 10 A9 occupied 19 students, which is lower thanthe number of students in 10 A10; and 9 students - a relatively high number, getmark under 5 As we can see, the effectiveness of the lessons before experimentwas not good only a few students got high marks and a lot of students got poormarks Moreover, in comparision between two classes, the researcher saw thatthe studens in two classes have the same level Each class has the same number

of students get mark over 8, and under 5 Some students of class 10A9 even got

a higher marks, 3 out of 42 students got 9 to 10 It can be said that the grammarlevel of students in the experimental class and control class is relatively equal; inwhich students’ level at 10 A9 seems a bit higher than that in 10A10

* Summary

In summary, from the results of observation, survey questionnaire,interview and test, the researcher found out some conclusion about the current inteaching and leaning English grammar at Yen Dinh 1 High School

Firstly, almost the teachers do not use any tasks in teaching Englishgrammar at Yen Dinh 1 High School

Secondly, most of the students did not feel interested in grammar lesson.They do not pay attention to studying because they do not have opportunitiesand motivation to study The classroom’s atmosphere makes them feeluninterested in the lessons According to the classroom observation, very fewstudents contribute to the lessons They only practice when the teacher asks.When being asked, all students want the teacher to change the teaching method

by applying task-based approach

From the steps in teaching English grammar of Willis (1996) throughtask-based approach, I give the solution to teach English grammar as follow:

Pre-task

Aim: To prepare students for the task, to engage their attention Topicsand tasks are introduced in the pre-task stage Teachers introduce tasks tolearners They present necessary knowledge, explain the requirements andprocedures of the task in detail and help learners familiarize with the topic,vocabulary and expressions In this stage, teachers should take the individualdifferences among learners into account

Task

 Planning the task: Students will be able to discuss about the works

related to grammar points in group of six Set a limited time of three or fourminutes to discuss this Circulate and listen to the students doing the task, but donot correct any language at this moment

 Doing the task:

Aim: For students to prepare an oral report of their task

Stop the task Students will be able to work together preparing a summary

of their discussion for later report to the whole class They must write notes forthis summary and be prepared to report this orally to the rest of the class Set atime limit of five minutes for them to do this When the students are ready, ask aspokesperson from each group to do report The rest of the class listenscarefully

 Presenting the product of the task:

Aim: Students will be able to get a provision of useful language input.

Post-task

 Language focus :

Aim: To raise students’ awareness about the target language

Let the students look at the passage again, picking out those sentenceswhich contain grammar points and write them on the board

Check that the Ss understand the meaning of sentences (if necessary)ask Ss to write down the rules of form for grammar point

The reseacher chose two classes, 10A6 and 10 A9, to do a control

experiment The experiment was carried out in the experimental class- 10A10- The other class, 10A9, worked as a control class The researcher applied task-based aproach to teach English grammar to students in class 10A10 in three lessons in order to know whether using task-based approach for teaching

English grammar is effective or not

3.2 Data collection instruments

 Observation was used to check the interest of the students in studyingEnglish grammar after the experiment

 Post- test was used to check the improvement of the students in class10A10 about grammar

 The post questionnaire for 42 students in class 10A10 contained threeitems about the students’ attitudes towards the effect of using task-based inEnglish grammar lessons

3.3 Results

3.4.1 Results from questionnaires

Table 4- Students’ attitudes towards teachers’ application of TBA

1 The new teaching method makes the

grammar class more comfortable

4197.6%

12.4%

2 The new teaching method helps me speak

English more confidently

4197.6%

12.4%

3 The new teaching method helps me

remember my vocabulary better

3890.4%

49.6%4

The new teaching method helps me remember grammar structures which I had learned before

3992.8%

37.2%

5 The new teaching method helps me do

grammar exercises more correctly

4095.2%

24.8%

6 The new teaching method helps me learn

grammar more effectively

3992.8%

37.2%

7 The new teaching method helps me write

English more correctly

4095.2%

24.4%8

The new teaching method does not help

me learn English better than the old method

614.2%

3685.8%

The new teaching method is very difficultfor me

49.5%

3890.5%

10

The new teaching method is appreciate only with students who learn well

921.4%

3378.6%

As shown in table, 97.6% of the students who took part in the experimentfelt that learning grammar through communicative tasks was very comfortablewhich is one of necessary and useful factors in language learning and languageteaching While only 2.4% of them disagree

Regarding the effectiveness of the new teaching method, the majority ofstudents (97.6%) said that the new teaching method helped them speak Englishmore confidently, although 2,4% of them found that it was not effective.Furthermore, 95.2% of them stated that this approach helped them write Englishmore correctly while 4.8% of them disagree In addition, 92.8% of them thoughtthat this method helped them not only remember grammar structures better butalso helped them learn grammar more effectively This was against 7.2% of therespondents disagreeing with statement

Similarly, 90.4% of them recognized that learning grammar through taskshelped them remember vocabulary, although 9.6% of them disagreed

Item number 8 dealt with students’ negative criticism of the new teachingmethod, it was surprising that 6 students (14.2%) acknowledge that it did nothelp them learn grammar better than old method, and 36 students (85.8%)shown that task-based approach help them learn grammar better than the oldmethod The number 9 question having only 3 of the subjects (9.5%)who tookpart in the research that the new teaching method was very difficult to him orher, 99.5% of them affirmed that it was not difficult for them to learn followingthe new teaching method

With the last of ten questions, 21.4% of them disagreed the statement thatthe new teaching method was only appreciate with students who learn well, only78.6% of them agreed with this ideas.

In open-ended questions, three questions of asking students’ reasons fortheir preference and the continuance of the new teaching method were asked.Many students who took part in an experiment said that they liked the newteaching method because the class atmosphere was very comfortable and theywere not pressured Some of them said that this approach made them help theother and learn from each other With the reference to the continuance of thenew teaching method in the future, about 85% of them wanted the teacher tocontinue to teach grammar as following the new method Ten percent of themsaid that they did not like the way the researcher taught them

To answer the second question which helped the researcher to know thereasons why students did not like the new teaching method, and help theresearcher know the limitation of the new teaching method Some students saidthat they did not like this approach because of two reasons: Firstly, its approachdid not help them practice pronunciation in the textbook Secondly, thelimitation of the learning group, she wondered that when doing task in groupthere were a few students who better at English contribute much to the group, incontrast, students who were worse did not contribute much

In the third question, most of students like the teacher continue to teachgrammar following the new method They said that, this method helped them toremember grammar structures easily Furthermore it help them to studyvocabulary better Moreover, its help them to study listening, speaking, listeningand writing well

3.3.2 Results from observation

During experimental teaching lessons, I observed the students’ attitude inclass I saw many students raising their hands to contribute to the lessons With

the aim of proving English teaching and learning, the teacher applied task-basedapproach in their lessons

The teacher used the tasks to present knowledge, the teacher onlytranslated into Vietnamese very little In these lessons, although the teacher usedEnglish mostly, the students still understood what the teacher said The teacheronly used Vietnamese when there were some difficult words or structures.Therefore, the effectiveness of these lessons was better than before

The students were asked to work in pair or group basing on the content ofeach task In these lessons, the teacher used some tasks to teach the structures.The teacher taught English grammar lesson through the task-based approach As

a result, students were very interested in lessons They showed their excitementabout these tasks Thank to these tasks, students contributed to the lessons verywell The class’s atmosphere became interesting

According to the researcher’s observation, in lessons that teachers usedtask-based approach, students not only contributed to the lessons but alsopracticed grammar structures well They showed their confidence when doexercises Moreover, through the tasks students can know the structures clearlyabout the form and the usage of these structures In addition, they remember thestructures easily and apply these structures to do exercises correctly Most ofthem loved tasks that teacher used in lessons

3.3.3 Results from post-test

The results collected after delivering the tests to students and applying suggested solutions are shown in the table below:

Table 5: Result of the test after experiment

The control class- 10 A9 9 20 12 2

3.3.3.1 A comparison of the tests before and after experiment

The results collected after experiment will be more clearly shown in comparison with those of before experiment in two classes the tables below:

Table 6- Comparison between the results of the tests before and after experiment in Class 10

3.3.3.2 Data analysis after experiment

It can be seen from the table that there has a considerable decrease in the number of the students getting bad marks after experiment in class 10A10 The result shows that the number of students in the experimental class- 10A10

getting marks below 5 down from 23.8 % to 7.1 %, those who get marks 5-6 reduce from 47.6% to 23.8% while those in the control class- 10A9 getting marks below 5 remain stable, and those getting marks 5-6 have a little change, 45.2% and 47.6 % respectively There is also a great increase in the number of students getting good marks, from 26.1 % to 50 % with marks 7-8 and 2, 3 % to 19% with marks 9-10, in the experimental class and seems no change in the control class, from 26.1% to 28.5%; and especially, there is a decrease in the students who gets excellent marks from 9-10, from 7.1% to 4.7 % in the control class In general, students’ result after experiment in the experimental class is much better than that before experiment, and by far higher than that in the

control class It means that suggested techniques that the reseacher use in teaching grammar is really effective

3.4 Findings

From the results of observation, survey questionnaire, and test, theresearcher found out some findings about the effectiveness of applying task-based approach in teaching English grammar in class 10A10 at Yen Dinh 1 highSchool after experiment

After applying task-based approach in teaching English grammar lesson

in class 10A10 at Yen Dinh 1 High School, most of the students felt interested ingrammar lessons They paid attention to studying grammar structure through thetasks of the teacher The classroom’s atmosphere makes them feel comfortable

in the lessons Moreover, the teacher usually asks them to work in pairs orgroups, so they have more chance to interact with their friends to get or sharingtheir knowledge In addition, through the context of the tasks that involvegrammar points, the students can guess the form and the usage of this structure

correctly As a result, they can know clearly about the grammar structures aswell as the usage of this structure According to the classroom observation, most

of the students contributed to the lessons They are more interested in studyinggrammar structure than ever before Many students raised their hand to take part

in the language games and to practice When being asked, all the studentswanted the teacher to change the teaching method They wanted the teacher tocontinue apply task-based approach in the grammar lessons

PART C: CONCLUSION

1 Suggestions for further research

Because of the limited time, knowledge, materials and little experience, the study still remains some problems which need to be solved in future studies The following recommendation is made for further study

 The researcher should be carried out with a large number ofparticipants and in longer time

 The study will be more convincing if we carry out the study withquasi-experimental method

 The research only focused on grammar so it is suggested that thereshould be more studies on other skills by applying task-based approach