PRACTICING ENGLISH GRAMMAR THROUGH CREATIVE ACTIVITIES FOR STUDENTS IN GRADE 10 AT LE CHAN HIGH SCHOOL

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES TRAN THI XIEM PRACTICING ENGLISH GRAMMAR THROUGH CREATIVE ACTIVITIES FOR STUDENTS IN GRADE 10 AT LE CHAN HIGH SCHOOL (Thực hành ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh thông qua hoạt động ngôn ngữ sáng tạo cho học sinh khối 10 trường Trung học phổ thông Lê Chân.) M.A THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 THAI NGUYEN – 2019 i THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES TRAN THI XIEM PRACTICING ENGLISH GRAMMAR THROUGH CREATIVE ACTIVITIES FOR STUDENTS IN GRADE 10 AT LE CHAN HIGH SCHOOL (Thực hành ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh thông qua hoạt động ngôn ngữ sáng tạo cho học sinh khối 10 trường Trung học phổ thông Lê Chân) M.A THESIS (APPLICATION ORIENTATION) Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Dr Duong Duc Minh THAI NGUYEN – 2019 ii THE CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT I hereby declare that this graduation project is based on my own original work except for quotations and citation that have been duly acknowledged I also declare that it has not been previously submitted for any other courses/degrees at Thai Nguyen University or other institutions Thái Nguyên, ngày 23 tháng năm 2019 Trần Thị Xiêm Supervisor Dr Duong Duc Minh i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my sincere gratitude to those who gave me the possibility to complete this dissertation First and foremost, my gratitude goes to my supervisor, Dr Duong Duc Minh for his patient guidance and insightful advice throughout the duration of the study despite his busy schedule Without his assistance, motivation, enthusiasm and immense knowledge, this study would not have been completed Secondly, I appreciate the tremendous support from my school – Le Chan High School I would like to give many thanks to the students who directly engaged in the lessons throughout the process of data collection Their enthusiasm and serious contribution made the process of data collection effective and reliable I also acknowledge my thankfulness to my headmaster who helped facilitate my research conducted smoothly Last but not least, my endless thanks approve to my parents, my husband, my son and daughter for their time, encouragement, motivation and support me on my way of study Tran Thi Xiem, ii ABSTRACT The present study aims to investigate the situation of learning English grammar among the students in grade 10 at Le Chan High School and to determine the effectiveness (if any) of the teaching English grammar with creative language activities A quasi-experimental research designs with pre-test and post-test as main data collection instruments A questionnaire was also administered to obtain students’ interest on using language games in teaching grammar Results show level of English grammar achievement in both experimental group and control group, and there were no statistically significant differences in students’ score between experimental and control group However, results from the questionnaires show students’ interest and motivation in learning English grammar with language games In specific, it is found that creative language activities applied by the English teachers for 10th grade students have had better impacts on their learning motivation and interest Based on these results and findings, the study also proposes some recommendations for teachers to enhance the students’ motivation in learning English grammar Key words: grammar, quasi-experimental research, high school students, language games, CL iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi LIST OF TABLES vivii LIST OF FIGURES viii PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale for the study Aims of the study Research questions Significance of the study Scope of the study Structure of the thesis PART 2: DEVELOPMENT .5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Overview of grammar 1.1.1 Definitions of grammar 1.1.2 Forms of grammar 1.2 Overview of grammar teaching methods 1.2.1 The grammar-translation method 1.2.2 The Direct Method 1.2.3 The Audio - Lingual Method 1.2.4 Communicative language teaching (CLT) 10 1.3 The application of creative language activities in teaching English grammar 12 1.3.1 Definition of creative language activities and learner’s motivation 12 1.3.2 The impacts of creative language activities to the learners’ motivation 12 CHAPTER2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 14 2.1 Research design 14 2.2 Participants 14 2.3 Instrument 14 2.3.1 Pre-test 14 2.3.2 Post-test 15 2.3.3 Questionnaire 15 2.4 Data collection and analysis procedures 16 iv 2.4.1 Data collection procedure 16 2.4.2 Data analysis 17 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 18 3.1 Findings from pre-test and post-test 18 3.1.1 Describing the implementation steps 18 3.1.2 Results from pre-test and post-test 19 3.2 Results from questionnaires 21 3.2.1 Students’ reaction to the teaching method 21 3.2.2 Students’ belief on the values of CLA application in English grammar teaching and learning 23 3.2.3 Students’ thoughts about the effectiveness of CLA in English grammar teaching and learning 25 3.2.4 Level of satisfaction with CLA methods 26 3.2.5 Students’ attitudes toward their English grammar learning 27 3.2.4 The current level of motivation for their learning English 28 3.3 Discussion on research’s findings 29 PART 3: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 32 Conclusion 32 Recommendations 33 2.1 Recommendations for English teachers 33 2.2 Recommendations for the students 33 Limitation of this study and suggestions for further studies 34 REFERENCES 36 APPENDIXES I APPENDIX 1: PRE-QUESTIONNAIRE I APPENDIX 2: POST-QUESTIONNAIRE III APPENDIX 3: PRE-TEST VII APPENDIX 4: POST-TEST IX APPENDIX 5: THE LESSONS PRACTICED WITH CLA XI v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLA: Creative language activities CLT: Communicative language teaching DM: Direct method GTM: Grammar – translation method vi LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Description of the Pre-test and Post-test score 20 Table 3.2: The analysis of Independent Sample T-Test of pre-test grammar score 20 Table 3.3: The analysis of Independent samples T-Test of post-test grammar score between experimental and control class 20 Table 3.4: The analysis of Paired Samples T-test between pre-test and post-test score on students’ grammar for the experimental group 21 Table 3.5: Students’ reaction to activities with communicative language games when learning grammar 22 Table 3.6: Students’ belief on the values of CLA application in English grammar teaching and learning 24 Table 3.7: Students’ thoughts about the effectiveness of CLA in English grammar teaching and learning 25 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1 : Level of satisfaction with the current method 27 Figure 3.2 : Students’ behaviors to their English grammar learning 28 Figure 3.3 : Students’ opinions to CLA methods 29 Figure 3.4 : The level of motivation with CLA method 30 viii APPENDIXES APPENDIX 1: PRE-QUESTIONNAIRE The purpose: This questionnaire aims to collect information and data on the situation of teaching and learning English grammar among 10th students at Le Chan High School for the research in this dissertation on the same topic I declare that all information you provide is completely private and kept confidential Thank you very much! I Personal information Your name: Class: Your English teacher’s name: What is your current English average score? II Please answer the following questions Question 1: Tick (x) for your answer Questions Very unlikely How you feel ….? when you use English to interact with your classmates in the classroom? when you participate in class discussions? when working in pairs in the English class? when working in small groups in the English class? when participating in CLA games in the English class? when you use English to interact with your teacher in the classroom? I Neutral Highly unlikely Question 2: What time you spend on learning English grammar every day? A Less than hour B From to hours C More than hours Question 3: In general, how satisfied are you with your English teacher’s current method? A Highly satisfied B Satisfied C Neutral D Dissatisfied E Highly dissatisfied Question 4: How you feel about your English learning motivation after learning English grammar with the current method? A Highly motivated B Satisfied C Neutral D Unmotivated E Highly unmotivated Thank you for your contribution! II APPENDIX 2: POST-QUESTIONNAIRE The purpose: This questionnaire aims to collect information and data on the impacts of CLA methods on teaching and learning English grammar among 10th students at Le Chan High School for the research in this dissertation on the same topic I declare that all information you provide is completely private and kept confidential Thank you very much! I Personal information Your name: Class: Your English teacher’s name: What is your current English average score? II Please answer the following questions Question 1: Tick (x) for your answer Questions Very How you feel ….? unlikely when you use English to interact with your classmates in the classroom? when you participate in class discussions? when working in pairs in the English class? when working in small groups in the English class? when participating in CLA games in the English class? III Neutral Highly unlikely when you use English to interact with your teacher in the classroom? Question 2: How you evaluate on the application of CLA in language teaching and learning? Agree Disagree I believe that CLA are both fun and entertaining I believe that CLA should be given a special role in a foreign language learning programme I believe that CLA present many opportunities to learners to show their skills not only in grammar but also in many language areas I think that teachers should use CLA for fun only for breaking down boredom IV Question 3: What you think about the effectiveness of CLA in English grammar teaching and learning? Please tick (x) for your answer Agree Disagree I believe that using CLA can lower students’ anxiety I believe that CLA are not very effective in grammar teaching and learning I believe that CLA encourage, entertain, teach and promote fluency I believe that CLA are highly motivating and entertaining way of learning grammar, especially for weak students I believe that while participating these activities, learners are not concerned about focusing on the structures, but learn them naturally Question 4: What is your opinion about applying games in teaching English grammar? A It helps me to learn English grammar better than before B It is not effective in helping me to learn English better than before C It makes my English grammar learning become worse Question 5: In general, how satisfied are you with your English teacher’s CLA method? A Highly satisfied B Satisfied C Neutral D Dissatisfied V E Highly dissatisfied Question 6: How you feel about your English learning motivation after learning English grammar with CLA? A Highly motivated B Satisfied C Neutral D Unmotivated E Highly unmotivated VI APPENDIX 3: PRE-TEST PRE-TEST MARK: TIME: 30 MINUTES Exercise 1: Complete these conversations Put the verbs in brackets into the first-or second conditional A: We’re not late, are we? B: No We……………… (be) fine if we……………… (leave) in the next ten minutes A: Come on, can’t you and Anne be friends? B: No, I……………… (speak) to her again unless she……………… (say) sorry for what she’s done A: Soyou think it’s my fault that I feel so tired? B: Yes, you……………… (feel) much better if you……………… (go) to bed at a reasonable time A: What’s your idea of the most perfect place for a holiday? B: I think I……………… (go) to the Seychelles if I……………… (have) the money A: Do you and your brother get together very often? B: No, we……………… (see) each other more if we……………… (live) closer, but he lives in Scotland A: Is it going to be a big party? B: Yes, if most people……………… (come), there……………… (be) about 100 of us A: Let’s go to the beach B: No, it’s too cold If it……………… (be) warmer, I……………… (not mind) going to the beach A: I don’t know what happened to my dictionary I’ve looked everywhere for it B: What……………… (you/do) if you……………… (not find) it? VII A: Do you have any plans for next year? B: Well, I……………… (travel) if I……………… (can afford) it But I don’t have any money 10 A: Why you read newspapers? B: Well, if I……………… (not read) newspapers, I……………… (not know) what was happening in the world Exercise 2: Choose the best option for each sentence in the following 1/ I can’t understand what he sees in her! If anyone treats / will treat / treated me like that, I am /will be / would be extremely angry 2/ If you help / helped me with this exercise, I will / would the same for you one day 3/ If we find / found a taxi, we will get / would get there before the play starts 4/ It’s quite simple really If you take / will take / took these tablets every day, then you lose / will lose / lost / would lose weight 5/ I can’t play football, but I’m sure that if I will / / did, I play / will play / would play a lot better than anyone in this awful team 6/ If Ann weren’t driving / didn’t drive / hadn’t driven so fast, her car didn’t crash / wouldn’t crash / wouldn’t have crashed into a tree 7/ What bad luck! If Alan didn’t fall / hadn’t fallen / wouldn’t fall over, he won / would win / would have won the race 8/ We have a suggestion to make How you feel/would you feel if we offered/ would offer/ had offered you the job of assistant manager? 9/ I wish you tell/ had told/ told me about the test I haven’t done my revision 10/ I’m sorry I missed your birthday party I really wish I come/ came/ had come/ would come _End of Test _ VIII APPENDIX 4: POST-TEST POST-TEST MARK: TIME: 30 MINUTES Exercise 1: Choose the best answer from the four options given (A, B, C, or D) to complete each sentence They are not _to take part in this program of the World Health Organization A so old B old enough C enough old D as old The football match was postponed _the bad weather A despite B in spite C because D because of Peter doesn’t like scuba-diving _does his brother A Too B Neither C So D Either If I had the map now, I _a short-cut across the desert A could have B take C could take D can take taken If I were you, I would _the new teaching method A try B trying C to try D tries My father is very busy _, he is always willing to give a hand with the housework A Despite B Although C However D Therefore The capital of Thailand is _ A London B Paris C Bangkok D Phnom Penh This detailed map is _the atlas A more useful B more useful C more useful as D usefully than than The smaller the room is, the _furniture it needs IX A less B fewer C smaller D more 10 He hates _at while he is out in the street A stared B be stared C is stared D being stared Exercise 2: There is at least one mistake in this sentence Correct all the mistakes you can find The wheels were sticked at the mud She was born deafly and dumbly Mentally, I began making a list of thing I had to Women have gradual become more involved on the decision-make process I keep my private papers hide She sat the desk, her pen clenching between her tooth The juice contains no adding sugar It was a day proud in the nation’s history There is one particular patience I’d like you to see 10 Is there anything in particularly you’d like for dinner? _End of Test _ X APPENDIX 5: THE LESSONS PRACTICED WITH CLA Activity 1: “If I…” This game is used when teaching Language Focus in conditional sentences in Unit 8, Unit 9, Unit 11 (English 10 textbook) In specific, the teacher divides the class into two equal teams, each team member will take out a small piece of paper to write down their dreams Team A will be the team of those who write all English sentences that begin with “If I ” meaning that team B will be the team of those who write all English sentences that begin with the words “I would ” At the end of game, each sentence will be voted on which pair is the best, most meaningful or funny, witty as well as the worst one After writing, the sheets will be put in parts, a part of “If I ” and a part of “I would ” Teachers will take turns picking up sheets in sections and then read aloud to everyone Finally, the class will choose the phrase “If I , I will ” which is the best to award If there are many good questions, it will be decided by raising their hand to choose the better team Note: Can be changed to apply to other conditional sentences (subject to teacher’s selection) For example: Teacher picks sheets in caps then read sheet “If I were a bird”, and read sheet “I would be a monkey!” This sentence, though meaning “If I were a bird then I would be a monkey” could be eliminated but could be put into the finals, it would have a bit of fun Activity 2: Crossword puzzle In order for Reading lessons and vocabulary to be less boring, teachers sometimes create exercises with crossword as a form of “learning and playing” Teachers can let students play in groups The groups will guess the words for the horizontal or vertical row and give the correct answer The specific questions are mentioned in the following:  Unit 5: TECHNOLOGY AND YOU - Reading (English 10) ACROSS XI Vietnamese people now use …………………….to cook food It helps us cook food using electricity (2 words) It doesn’t have wires, and it works by radio and you can carry it with you and use it anywhere to talk to somebody (2 words) DOWN It is used for taking photographs, moving pictures or television pictures It makes copies of documents by photographing them It cools and dries the air in a room, a car or an airplane (2 words) You can watch programs with moving pictures and sounds through it It helps keep food cold so that food stays fresh It is used for listening to programs that are broadcast to the public Keys: ACROSS gas cooker electric cooker mobile phone DOWN XII camera air - conditioner fridge photocopier television radio Instruction for teachers: - Draw cells on the board, each cell contains word (or a drawing) - Divide students into groups, one is Noughts (0) and one is Crosses (X) - Two groups take turns choosing words in the boxes and placing sentences with that word - Any group that has a correct sentence will get a “0” or an “X” - The group has three “0” or three “X” on a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row will be the winner Activity 3: Word Jungle In lesson 3, the teacher asks students to find the words they have learned (horizontal, vertical or diagonal) This game can help them review the words they have learned or become familiar with some new words through the game Hence, it can be applied in the Warm-up section XIII  Unit 7: Mass Media - Reading (English 10) T E L E V I S I O N M R B T U N R B U I A A I O O L Y E P N G D N U O S E L E T A I T P U K A I C E Z O F E F Y T N F R I D I S Y R T E M N N H L S Y S E T R E L M S Y S T E M T E When implementing this type of exercise, teachers should limit the topic to students because the language is really vast and immense In order for the class to be more live and encourage students’ participation, the teacher can divide the class into groups and can reward the group for finding the most words in the shortest time Activity 4: Circle The constant grammar lessons make both teachers and students feel depressed and tired In such situations the game is used as a way to change the atmosphere in the classroom Circle games have a great effect when encouraging the whole class to participate in the lesson Currently, in learning English, group activities or team-work are very popular Such activities increase the students’ learning motivation and interest instead of common teaching methods Instruction: - Teachers can start by giving the first and circular words, each student adds the next word, not repeating the words the previous students used - Teachers emphasize the importance of fixed phrases and correct derivation while students conduct games The story can be developed in many different forms Some groups may need teachers to decide on punctuation and start new sentences For example: XIV  Unit 1: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF… – Language Focus (English 10) The teacher gives the first word THREE and asks each student to give words that contain /i:/ and I The students must make sure that the sentence is meaningful and correct about the grammatical structure Ex: Three sleepy sheep and a bee see Bill kick a big tin under the kitchen sink  Unit 4: SPECIAL EDUCATION… – Language Focus (English 10) The teacher gave the first word PAUL and asked each student to come up with words that contain /a:/ and K negative Ex: Paul wants to call daughter's not to pour water on the floor and watch out the dog Change location if (Change places if ) This is an activity in which the teacher stands in the center, and the students will gather in a closed circle XV ... followings: What is the current situation of teaching and learning English grammar at grade 10 at Le Chan high school? To what extent creative language activities have effects on students at Le Chan. .. activities in teaching grammars in this school, hence it is the reason why I have chosen the topic: Practicing English grammar through creative activities for students in grade 10 at Le Chan high school. .. the creative languages activities in teaching grammar, especially the students in grade 10 at Le Chan high school To this date, there has been no single attempt to study on practicing these activities