An investigation into using situational contexts in teaching grammar for non-English major freshmen in a university in Nam Dinh city

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ****** LẠI THỊ HIỀN AN INVESTIGATION INTO USING SITUATIONAL CONTEXTS IN TEACHING GRAMMAR FOR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR FRESHMEN IN A UNIVERSITY IN NAM DINH CITY (Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng ngữ cảnh tình vào giảng dạy ngữ pháp cho sinh viên không chuyên Tiếng Anh năm thứ trường đại học thành phố Nam Định) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.140.111 HANOI - 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ****** LẠI THỊ HIỀN AN INVESTIGATION INTO USING SITUATIONAL CONTEXTS IN TEACHING GRAMMAR FOR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR FRESHMEN IN A UNIVERSITY IN NAM DINH CITY (Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng ngữ cảnh tình vào giảng dạy ngữ pháp cho sinh viên không chuyên Tiếng Anh năm thứ trường đại học thành phố Nam Định) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.140.111 Supervisor: Dr Hà Cẩm Tâm HANOI - 2014 DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled AN INVESTIGATION INTO USING SITUATIONAL CONTEXTS IN TEACHING GRAMMAR FOR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR FRESHMEN IN A UNIVERSITY IN NAM DINH CITY Is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master at University of Languages and International Studies, Hanoi National University, and that this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other upper secondary schools Hanoi, August 20th, 2008 Lại Thị Hiền i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the help, encouragement and support of a number of people who all deserve my sincere gratitude and appreciation First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Ha Cam Tam for her enthusiastic help and guidance I am also very grateful to all of my students of the class CDDI22A2 at University of Economics and Technical Industry (UNETI), who participated in my action research This contribution played a very important role in my research‟s result I would like to send my special thanks to my lecturers, my friends and my classmates for their sincere comments and criticism Finally, a special word of thanks goes to my readers for their interest and comments on this study ii ABSTRACT In order to be fluency in English, grammar is considered to be the basis to develop other four skills However, when teaching grammar to first-year students at University of Economics and Technical Industry, the author of this research found out that students were not interested in learning grammar Hence, they did not focus on the lesson and ignored doing exercises resulting in bad marks in the tests and exams Thanks to the reasons above, the researcher decided to use situational contexts to teach grammar for students The aims of carrying out this research were to find out students‟ interest in grammar lessons which apply situational contexts and measure whether students can complete grammar exercises better after practicing with situational contexts In order to this research, the researcher first makes plans for the study by preparing situational contexts and deciding how they are applied in the classroom Then, the action stage takes place All the situational contexts are put into practice The teacher gives them to students and they have to make presentation about those situational contexts During this stage, all things happened in the class are observed and taken notes At the same time, after each try-out lesson, there is a test given at the end of the lesson in order to measure students‟ progress Last but not least, the action is evaluated by analyzing and comparing the results of the test and summarizing and discussing the observation notes In the end, the researcher gives comments and conclusions about the study iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Objectives of the study The research questions The scope of the study The significance of the study Methods of the study Organization of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Grammar 1.1.1 Theoretical background about grammar 1.1.1.1 Definitions of grammar 1.1.1.2 The importance of grammar in second language teaching 1.1.2 Approaches in grammar teaching 1.1.2.1 The deductive approach – rule-driven learning 1.1.2.2 The inductive approach – the rule-discovery path 1.1.2.3 Functional-Notional Approach 1.1.3 Techniques in grammar teaching 10 1.1.3.1 Teaching grammar in situational contexts 10 1.1.3.2 Teaching grammar through texts 10 1.1.3.3 Teaching grammar through stories 11 1.1.3.4 Teaching grammar through songs and rhymes 11 1.1.4 Context and situational context in grammar teaching 12 1.1.4.1 Context 12 1.1.4.2 Situational context in teaching grammar 13 1.1.4.2.1 What is a situational context? 13 iv 1.1.4.2.2 The advantages and disadvantages of teaching grammar in situational contexts 13 1.1.4.2.3 Application of situational contexts in teaching grammar 14 1.1.5 1.2 Review of previous studies 16 Action research 16 1.2.1 Definitions of action research 17 1.2.2 Steps to conduct an action research 17 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 19 2.1 The setting of the study 19 2.1.1 The research context 19 2.1.2 The course book 19 2.2 Participants 20 2.3 Instruments 20 2.4 Data collection and analysis 21 2.4.1 Planning 21 2.4.2 Action 26 2.4.3 Observation 28 2.4.4 Reflection 38 PART C: CONCLUSION 41 Major findings 41 Implications for more effective grammar lessons 42 Limitations and suggestions for further research 42 REFERENCES 44 APPENDICES .I v LIST OF GRAPHS Graph 1: Test 1‟s results…………………………………………………………………29 Graph 2: Test 2‟s results…………………………………………………………………31 Graph 3: Test 3‟s results…………………………………………………………………32 Graph 4: Test 4‟s results…………………………………………………………………35 Graph 5: Test 5‟s results…………………………………………………………………36 Graph 6: Test 6‟s results…………………………………………………………………38 vi PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study In times of globalization, English language is becoming more and more important worldwide Many people hold a belief that English can help them to be easily accessed to job opportunities and connect people from all over the world together This contributes to a significant change in school education system in Vietnam From kindergarten to university, English has become a compulsory subject in teaching and learning‟s curriculum Although the four skills including writing, listening, speaking and reading still plays a very important role in teaching and learning English, it is undeniable that English grammar also hold an inevitable position Without grammar competence, people cannot generate ideas into grammatical sentences to write an essay or paragraph as well as understand and be understood in communicating with others However, in University of Economic and Technical Industry (UNETI), grammar teaching encounters lots of difficulties More specifically, lecturers there still prefer the traditional method of teaching grammar Therefore, some of them often explains new words and grammar structures, ask students to learn by heart and make sentences, which makes them passive and bored One more problem lies in students‟ participation in grammar lesson The boring atmosphere and lots of written exercises makes students lose their interest in learning grammar at all Equally important, it is clear that teachers in UNETI not emphasize the role of communication in teaching grammar, so very few communicative activities explored in grammar teaching result in students‟ little chances to approach, be exposed to and practice grammatical items in real-life situations The reason is that they are afraid of the noise students make, and it is difficult for them to control the class Last but not least, in the course book used for first-year non-major students (New Headway Pre-intermediate by Liz and John Soars), lots of situational contexts are provided, but teachers not take the most advantages of them As Harmer (2007:57) stated, “students need to get an idea of how the new language is used by native speakers and the best way of doing this is to present language in context” Therefore, the role of situational context in English teaching and learning in general and in English grammar teaching in particular are proved to be very essential All of the factors mentioned above urge me to conduct a study on situational context in teaching grammar with an aim to find out students‟ and teachers‟ difficulties when applying this method in their teaching and learning It is entitled “An investigation into using situational contexts in teaching grammar for non-English major freshmen in a university in Nam Dinh city” Objectives of the study The objectives of the study are as follows:  To find out if students are more interested in practicing grammar through situational contexts  To measure whether students can complete grammar exercises better after practicing with situational contexts The research questions This study is intended to address the following two research questions: Q1: Are students more interested in practicing grammar through situational contexts? Q2: Can students grammar exercises better after their practices with situational context? The scope of the study As could be seen from the title of the study, this paper strongly focuses on finding out the effectiveness of using situational contexts in increasing students‟ interest in practicing grammar and the ability whether students can complete grammar exercises better after 17 That‟s much too heavy for one person I ……………give you a hand 18 A: Could somebody answer the phone? B; I ……………get it 19 A: It‟s really hot in here B: I ……………put on the air-conditioner 20 There are many dark clouds in the sky It ……………rain today IV APPENDIX Key to test 2: Future form (going to and will) Fill in the blanks with going to or will Will Am going to Is going to Will Will Am going to Am going to Am going to Will 10 Will 11 Will 12 Will 13 Will 14 Will 15 Will 16 Will 17 Will 18 Will 19 Will 20 Is going to V APPENDIX Test (Asking and giving road directions) Exercise 1: Fill in the words below correctly continue, end, excuse, get, left (2x), next, opposite, right, second, straight on, thank, turn, welcome ……………… me, how I ……………… to the cinema? Go ……………… Turn ……………… at the corner Then take the……………… road on your ……………… ……………… to the ……………… of the road ……………… left there The cinema is on your ……………… , ……………… the castle ……………… you very much You‟re ………………… Exercise 2: Choose the most appropriate answer Excuse me! ……………….is the post office, please? a how b what c when d where Could you tell me ……………… to get to the History Museum, please? a how b what c when d where Can you tell me where ………………., please? a is the bank b the bank c the bank is d there a bank Would you mind ……………….me some directions, please? a explaining b giving c/ helping d offering I am ……………….for the new children's library a asking b finding c looking Walk two blocks and turn left……………… a around the bank b at the traffic light VI d trying c in the corner d into a large hotel Go ……………….the flower shop, the drugstore, and the supermarket a across b behind c opposite d past The library will be on your left It's a large red-brick building You can't ………….it a find b forget c miss d see Could you tell me where ……………….some souvenirs, please? a can I buy b could I buy c I can buy d should I buy 10 There are several souvenir shops on Apple Street, about three blocks ……………… a away from b from here c near here VII d not far APPENDIX Key to test (Asking and giving road directions) Exercise 1: Fill in the words below correctly Excuse / get Straight Left Second/ left Continue/ end Turn Right/ opposite Thank Welcome Exercise 2: Choose the most appropriate answer A A C B C B A C C 10 B VIII APPENDIX Test (Making suggestions with let’s go, why don’t you, what about…) Exercise 1: Choose the best answer Hi Lee! … ………….to the beach tomorrow a What about go b Let‟s go c to go No … ………….going the beach tomorrow It‟s going to be too cold a What about b Let‟s go c to go Then why … ………….go to the movies? a don‟t we b doesn‟t we c we go Good idea, Sam! ………………….invite Mark to go with us a Let‟s to b Let‟s c Why doesn‟t you Hi Mark We‟re going to the movies tomorrow Why ………………….come with us? a don‟t we b doesn‟t he c don‟t you The movies? No, I don‟t want to go to the movies ………………… to a baseball game a Let‟s go b Let‟s to go c Let‟s going A baseball game sounds fun! Hey Mark, since you live near the baseball stadium, why ……… pick up the tickets for us? We'll pay you back tomorrow a don‟t you b doesn‟t he c let‟s Well, okay, but you have to pay me back Why…………… get tickets as close to the players as possible? a don‟t they b don‟t we c doesn‟t he Near the players? No, that's too expensive ……………… buy expensive tickets We can sit farther away It's cheaper a Let‟s not b Let‟s c Why not 10 I agree with Lee ………… sit in cheaper seats at the baseball game a Let‟s not b Why don‟t we IX c Let‟s Exercise 2: Find the mistakes in the following sentences and correct them Why you come swimming with us? Let‟s to meet us at outside the station What about have a party on Saturday? Why don‟t we to go to the cinema tomorrow? I‟m bored Let‟s we go to the park X APPENDIX Key to test (Making suggestions with let’s go, why don’t you, what about…) Exercise 1: Choose the best answer B A A B C A A B A 10 C Exercise 2: Find the mistakes in the following sentences and correct them Do  don‟t To  omit it Have  having To go  go We  omit it XI APPENDIX Test 5: Present perfect Continuous (I have been Ving) Exercise 1: Put the verbs into the correct form (present perfect progressive) He (work) ………………………… in this company since 1985 I (wait) ………………………….for you since two o'clock Mary (live) ………………………….in Germany since 1992 Why is he so tired? He (play) …………………………… tennis for five hours How long (learn / you) ……………………… English? We (look for) ………………………the motorway for more than an hour I (live) …………………….without electricity for two weeks The film (run / not) ……………………… for ten minutes yet, but there's a commercial break already How long (work / she) …………………………in the garden? 10 She (not / be) ………………………….in the garden for more than an hour Exercise 2: Choose the correct answer I‟m very hungry I ………………….all day a Didn‟t eat b haven‟t ate c haven‟t been eating d have been eating Their new kitchen looks fantastic They ………… completely………………….it a Have … beeen redecorating b have …….redecorated b Already ….redecorated d didn‟t ….redecorated Our kitchen‟s a mess We ……….any cleaning for weeks a Didn‟t b haven‟t been doing c have done d have been doing I think they are dating They ……… a lot of each other recently a Had seen b haven‟t been seeing c have been seeing d haven‟t seen We‟ve discovered this café and we ………………there a lot a Have been going b are going c have went XII d have gone APPENDIX 10 Key to test 5: Present perfect Continuous (I have been Ving) Exercise 1: Put the verbs into the correct form (present perfect progressive) Has been working Have been waiting Has been living Has been playing Have you been learning Have been looking for Have been living Has not been running Has she been working 10 Has not been Exercise 2: Choose the correct answer C A B C A XIII APPENDIX 11 Test (Quantity expressions) Exercise 1: Complete the sentences with ăaă / ăană, ăsomeă or ăanyă I want _ juice There´s _ meat in the dish Has she got _ map? Have you got _ money? He needs _ snack It´s _ Italian pizza We use _ in negative sentences and questions in all nouns We use _ in affirmative sentences with all nouns We use _ , _ or numbers with countable nouns 10 There are _ mosquitoes in my bedroom 11 There wasn´t _ litter on the beach 12 There are _ sandwiches on my party 13 She eats _ bananas for breakfast 14 She drinks _ milk with her cereal 15 Can I have _ cookies? Exercise 2: Fill in the blanks with Muchă, ămanyă or ăa lot ofă Your friend has got _ brothers There are _ children in his family She doesn´t drink _ milk How _ is a CD? There are _ people in the room now Eva has got _ homework How _ lemons are there in the box? How _ does that cake cost? XIV There are _ eggs in the box 10 How _ juice is there? 11 Those jeans costs _ money 12 How _ fruit you eat every day? 13 I´ve got _ sandwiches in my schoolbag 14 We are selling _ hamburgers 15 There are _ books on the shelf XV APPENDIX 12 Key to test (Quantity expressions) Exercise 1: Complete the sentences with ăaă / ăană, ăsomeă or ¨any¨ I want some juice There´s some meat in the dish Has she got a map? Have you got any money? He needs a snack It´s an Italian pizza We use any in negative sentences and questions in all nouns We use some in affirmative sentences with all nouns We use a , an or numbers with countable nouns 10 There are some mosquitoes in my bedroom 11 There wasn´t any litter on the beach 12 There are some sandwiches on my party 13 She eats some bananas for breakfast 14 She drinks some milk with her cereal 15 Can I have some cookies? Exercise 2: Fill in the blanks with Muchă, ămanyă or ăa lot ofă Your friend has got many brothers There are many children in his family She doesn´t drink a lot of milk How much is a CD? There are a lot of people in the room now Eva has got a lot of homework How many lemons are there in the box? How much does that cake cost? There are many eggs in the box XVI 10 How much juice is there? 11 Those jeans costs a lot of money 12 How much fruit you eat every day? 13 I´ve got some sandwiches in my schoolbag 14 We are selling a lot of hamburgers 15 There are many books on the shelf XVII OBSERVATION FORM Date : ………………………………… School : ……………………………… Class : ……………………………… Skill: ……………………………… Lesson : ………………………………………………………………………… Purpose of the lesson : ………………………………………………………… Work arrangement : …………………………… Number of groups : ………………………………… Number of acting groups : ………………………………… Students’ behaviour : Tick the things you observed in the class and write the degree for following criteria Criteria Tick (Yes/No) Participation Attentive to tasks Work division in groups Work accomplishment Activeness Confidence in speaking Role-play : Group Notes about students’ role play XVIII Degree