The effectiveness of implementing the 4cs principles in english grammar lessons for ket learners at an english language center

AN GIANG UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES VÕ THỊ HUỲNH DIỆU DAV167049 | DH17AV UNDERGRADUATE THESIS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF IMPLEMENTING THE 4Cs PRINCIPLES IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR LESSONS FOR KET LEARNERS AT AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CENTER SUPERVISOR PHAN THỊ MINH TUYỀN, M.A AN GIANG, JULY 2020 DECLARATION  I hereby declare that the thesis titled “The effectiveness of implementing 4Cs principles in English grammar lessons for KET learners at an English language center” represents my own work and that it has not been previously submitted to any other university or institute in application for admission to degrees or other qualifications _ July 2020 Võ Thị Huỳnh Diệu ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to send my deepest thanks to individuals and institutions for all the support they have given me and my undergraduate thesis First and foremost, I greatly appreciate my supervisor- Ms Phan Thi Minh Tuyen, who is not only my beloved teacher ever but also a dedicated mentor during the time I was carrying out this thesis Since Ms Tuyen was in charge of teaching my English Language Teaching Methodology, Public Speaking and Listening & Speaking classes, she has inspired me positive energy in learning and teaching She has provided me precious guidance in knowledge and techniques in doing research I am also grateful for her instant feedback, corrections along with valuable pieces of lessons and advice I can strongly state that I would not have accomplished this thesis without her support Secondly, I would like to thank my head teacher, Ms Nguyen Thi Anh Guong for always updating me with latest news at university I owe An Giang University a big thank for offering me the best place to study and grow up Thirdly, I am thankful to Mrs La Ngoc Huong, director of the Europe Vietnam Australia International English Center (EVAS) for providing me such a professional working place Mrs Huong has helped me to gain lots of English teaching experience and become confident in life I also not forget to thank the staves at EVAS for their contribution during the time I have been working there Next, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my senior, Mr Nguyen Buu Dang for his assistance when I worked with him at MMW- an Educational Consultancy Company as well as his encouragement in conducting my thesis Especially, I want to send my sincere gratitude to my parents, who always care for me and are always by my side They are always the biggest motivation for me to finish this thesis and try my best in life Last but not least, thank you my KET 22A students for their cooperation in class and participation in this thesis iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii ABSTRACT ix CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the research 1.2 Research aims and questions 1.3 Research hypotheses 1.4 Significance of the research 1.5 Research limitations 1.6 Organization of the thesis CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 The definition of grammar 2.2 Approaches and principles for grammar instructions 2.2.1 Approaches of grammar instruction 2.2.1.1 Deductive Approach 2.2.1.2 Inductive Approach 2.2.2 Grammar teaching principles 2.3 Grammar teaching in the Vietnamese educational context 2.4 The 4Cs of the 21st Century Skills 10 2.4.1 The definition of 4Cs 10 2.4.1.1 Critical Thinking Skill 11 2.4.1.2 Creativity Skill 11 2.4.1.3 Collaboration Skill 11 2.4.1.4 Communication Skill 12 2.4.2 The importance of the 4Cs 12 2.4.2.1 The importance of Critical thinking 12 2.4.2.2 The importance of Creativity 12 2.4.2.3 The importance of Collaboration 12 2.4.2.4 The importance of Communication 13 2.4.3 The overall importance of teaching the 4Cs 13 iv 2.5 Instructional Design Principles for 4Cs Skills Learning 13 2.5.1 Framework for the 4Cs 14 2.5.2 The 4Cs teaching in ESL classrooms 16 2.6 The 4Cs implementation in English grammar teaching in the other investigation 16 2.7 Summary of the Literature review 17 CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 18 3.1 Research design 18 3.2 Participants 18 3.3 Research Instruments 19 3.3.1 Classroom Observation 19 3.3.2 Questionnaires 20 3.3.3 Interview 21 3.3.4 Pre-test/ Post-test design 22 3.4 Procedures 23 3.4.1 Designing grammar activities 23 3.4.2 Administering the observation 23 3.4.3 Administering the questionnaires 23 3.4.4 Administering the interview 24 3.4.5 Administering the pre-test and post-test 24 3.5 Data analysis 24 3.6 Summary 25 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 26 4.1 How are the grammar lessons designed using the 4Cs principles? 26 4.2 What is the effectiveness of grammar lessons using the 4Cs principles on learners’ skill development and test results? 34 4.2.1 The effectiveness of grammar lessons using the 4Cs principles on learners’ skill development 34 4.2.1.1 Results from Classroom Observations 34 4.2.1.2 Results from the descriptive statistics 42 4.2.2 What is the effectiveness of grammar lessons using the 4Cs principles on learners’ test results? 48 4.3 What practical recommendations can be provided to help English teachers teach grammar effectively? 49 v 4.3.1 The grammar activity should encourage communication, collaboration, creativity and develop critical thinking skills 50 4.3.2 The grammar activity designed should be based on learners’ levels of English proficiency, vocabulary range and interests 51 4.3.3 The grammar activity should follow the grammar content and be put in a meaningful context 52 CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 53 5.1 Summary of the discussions 53 5.1.1 How are the grammar lessons designed using the 4Cs principles? 53 5.1.2 What is the effectiveness of grammar lessons using the 4Cs principles on learners’ skill development and test results? 53 5.1.3 What practical recommendations can be provided to help English teachers teach grammar effectively? 53 5.2 Implications 54 5.3 Recommendations for further research 55 Conclusions 55 REFERENCES 56 APPENDICES 60 APPENDIX A: OBSERVATION FORM 60 APPENDIX B: QUESTIONNAIRE 62 APPENDIX C: BẢNG HỎI 66 APPENDIX D: PRE-TEST 70 APPENDIX E: POST- TEST 82 APPENDIX F: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 89 APPENDIX G: RUBRIC FOR REFINING STUDENTS’ COMMUNICATION, COLLABORATION, CRITICAL THINKING AND CREATIVITY 90 vi LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Traditional grammar lessons in Vietnam (Anh, 2013) 10 Table 2: Instructional Design Principles for 4Cs Skills Learning (Greenhill, 2009) 14 Table 3: Framework for 21st century Learning: Summary of Key points (Greenhill, 2009)14 Table 4: The aims of interview questions 22 Table 5: Optimize KET Grammar Syllabus for learners 27 Table 6: Framework for designing grammar lesson at an English center 29 Table 7: Communication Skill Observation Scale 35 Table 8: Collaboration Skill Observation Scale 36 Table 9: Collaboration Skill Observation Scale 37 Table 10: Critical thinking Skill Observation Scale 37 Table 11: Leaners’ communication skill development 42 Table 12: Leaners’ collaboration skill development 45 Table 13: Leaners’ critical thinking skill development 46 Table 14: Leaners’ creativity skill development 47 Table 15: Paired Sample Test of the Pre-test and Post-test 49 Figure 1: Canale and Swain’s model of communicative competence 14 Figure 2: Percentage for gender and students’ grades 18 Figure 3: The framework of language teaching 24 Figure 4: Model Scenario, from Optimize KET, p.41 29 Figure 5: Communication skill Observation Result 36 Figure 6: Collaboration skill Observation Result 37 Figure 7: Critical Thinking Skill Observation Result 38 Figure 8: Creativity skill Observation Result 38 Figure 9: Leaners’ communication skill development 41 Figure 10: Leaners’ collaboration skill development 42 Figure 11: Leaners’ critical thinking skill development 43 Figure 12: Leaners’ creativity skill development 44 Figure 13: Learners’ opinions about 4Cs Skills importance 46 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a foreign language The P21: The Partnership for 21st Century Skills CLT: Communicative Language Teaching PPP: Presentation- Practice- Production KET: Key English Test ELT: English Language Teaching viii ABSTRACT The 21st century learning is generally described as an education reform that aims to equip every student with the essential skills to face 21st-century challenges According to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2009), the main skills of learning and revolution in the 21st Century were presented including communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking, which is known as the 4Cs Skills of the 21st Century This study was conducted to find out the ways to adapt the principles of 4Cs in designing grammar lessons for KET learners at an English center and determine the effectiveness of the activities implemented the 4Cs The research instruments involved were pre-test and post-test, classroom observation, questionnaires, and semi-structured interview A total of 13 KET learners sat for pre-test and post-test before and after the interventions Five grammar activities integrated the 4Cs principles were adapted and assessed with the observation forms Questionnaires were delivered to learners and a semistructured interview consisting of five questions was conducted after the learners completed the post-test The collected data was synthesized and analyzed The findings showed that learners were able to form and develop the 4Cs Skills after studying the activities with 4Cs The findings from pre-test and post-test indicated that the intervention conducted has effectively helped learners improve their test scores The study provided some practical suggestions as a reference for English language teachers to take in order to teach effective grammar lessons ix CHAPTER INTRODUCTION There are six sections in the first chapter: (1) rationale of the research, (2) research aims and questions, (3) research hypotheses, (4) significance of the research, (5) research limitations and (6) organization of the research 1.1 Rationale of the research The emergence of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 in the 21st century has brought dramatic changes to various aspects in almost every society, and one of which is education With remarkable development of automation, the demand for a higher-skilled, better-educated workforce rose in different employment sectors (Casner-Lotto & Barrington, 2006; Fandiño Parra, 2013; Harshbarger, 2016) Leopold and Zahidi (2015) estimated that 80 percent of jobs in 2020 would require creativity, logical reasoning and problem sensitivity In reality, 21st century students really need academic opportunities that can challenge themselves to make rational decisions, present arguments or seek solutions to their problems in order to become future highly-qualified employees (Pink, 2006) As a result, it is the teacher who will help learners develop a strong foundation of knowledge and language skills through appropriate selection of teaching methods and classroom instructions In the context of English language teaching and learning, how grammar is effectively acquired and taught has been a controversial issue in second language acquision research A great number of studies and discussions on grammar teaching can be characterised by three dimensions: form, meaning and function In form-based instruction, the target language is divided into separate linguistic units and presented through explicitly introduced grammar rules and immediate correction of errors in a sequential manner (Long, 2000) Focus-onmeaning, on the other hand, emphasises the natural acquisition process in which learners would subconsciously analyse the forms and eventually deduce the rules from the language input themselves with no direct instruction on grammar and explicit error correction (Krashen, 1982; Larsen-Freeman, 2003) The function-based instruction is more concerned with communicative competence in the way that the meaning of language is always considered in its social circumstances In other words, learners try to match forms to function and meaning 78 79 80 Key: Part 1: 1E 2A 3H 4C 5G Part 2: 6A 7C 8B 9B 10C Part 3: 11A 12A 13C 14B 15B 16C 17F Part 4: 21A 22B 23A 24C 25C 26B 27A Part 5: 28A 29C 30B 31B 32A 33B 34C 18 A 19G 20D 35C Part 6: For questions 36-40, spelling must be correct 36 waiter 37 chemist 38 mechanic 39 painter 40 secretary Part 7: For questions 41-50, ignore capitals Spelling must be correct 41 going 45 the 42 ago 46 there 43 will/ shall 47 to 48 of 49 a 44 is 50 with Part 8: For questions 51-55, spelling must be correct 51 14 Park Road, Ilford 52 Europe, 1815-1875 53 T.Hudson 54 £7.99 55 12 February 81 APPENDIX E: POST- TEST PART Questions 1-5 Which notice (A-H) says this (1-5)? Example: You can take your old shirts or trousers here Answer: H These cost less than usual A KEEP THIS MEDICINE AWAY FROM CHILDREN This is a bad time to be ill B Check your holiday insurance now- before you go away Be careful where you put this C Sorry! No showers in the Sports center this week Dr Jenkins is on holiday until Friday You will need to take a heavy D TODAY- Day trip to the mountains sweater or jacket with you Wear something warm! E You will not be able to wash yourself here for a few days F CAR WASH- $4 We’ll make it look like new G All our winter holidays- 25% cheaper H We buy and sell second-hand clothes PART Questions 6-10 Read the sentences and choose the best answer (A, B or C) for each space Example: Last week, Loise ………some friends at her new school A made B started C played Answer: A The bus is going to……… up the children at the airport tomorrow A take B pick C turn She is busy on Saturday morning ……… she went shopping in the afternoon A because B so C however The children………two hours cooking the meal A waited B passed C spent Our train stopped but the …… came and fixed it A tourist B mechanic C explorer 10 They went on the trip…… only two suitcases A with B for C and 82 PART Questions 11-15 Complete the five conversations For questions 11-15, choose A, B or C 11 How did you go to Madrid? A On Wednesday B By plane C It’s expensive 12 Are you sure the film starts at 10? A Yes, I am B No, I didn’t C Yes, I 13 Can I speak to John, please? A Speaking B It doesn’t matter C How are you? 14 Is Mike still doing his homework? A Yes, he does B It’s ready C Let’s ask him 15 I really must go now! A How long is it? B Can’t you stay? C What time? Questions 16-20 Complete the conversation What does Tom say to the receptionist? Choose the correct letter A-H Example: Receptionist: Good evening, can I help you? Tom: 0……… Answer: C Tom: Receptionist: I’m afraid all our 20…………………Receptionist: single rooms are full How long Would you write your name in the you want to stay? book, please? Tom: 16………………… Receptionist: I have a double room A I see Can I get something to eat for £60 in this hotel? Tom: 17………………… B Would you show me the room? Receptionist: I’m sure they’re full C I’m looking for a single room too There are a lot of tourists in D What time does it finish? town at the moment E If I stay here, can I leave my Tom: 18………………… suitcase in my room tomorrow Receptionist: I’m afraid the afternoon? restaurant is closed Breakfast F That’s rather expensive Are starts at tomorrow there any other hotels near Tom: 19………………… here? Receptionist: Your room must be G Just for one night empty by 12 o’clock But you can H Ok I’ll take the room put your luggage in reception 83 PART Questions 21-27 Read the article about Bill Bryson, a writer Are sentences 21-27 ‘Right’ (A) or ‘Wrong’ (B)? If there is not enough information to answer ‘Right’ (A) or ‘Wrong’ (B), choose ‘Doesn’t say’ (C) Bill Bryson I was born in the United States but I have written several travel books about England I lived there with my wife and four children for 20 years, but for the last three years we have lived in the United States Our children are now learning about life in the United States I’m sure they will be happier because they have lived in two countries I like Britain and I want to return, but my daughter, Felicity, is going to start college here soon, so it won’t be for another four years I have just been to England for six weeks to work on a radio program about the English language and also to talk about the book I’ve just written Most writers don’t like doing this; they don’t like travelling around the country, selling their book I don’t mind it I like visiting new places and meeting lots of people It’s very different from the life I have in the United States when I’m writing In England, people drove me around in big cars and I stayed in expensive hotels It was good because I didn’t have to pay any bills Everyone was kind to me and it was fun Example: Bill has written about a country he has visited A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say Answer: A 21 Bill returned to the United States after living in England for a long time A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say 22 Bill thinks it will be good for his children to live in more than one country A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say 23 Bill’s daughter didn’t want to go to college in England A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say 24 Bill has just visited England to finish writing his new book A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say 25 Bill is happy with the things he has to to sell his books A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say 26 Bill has travelled to many different places in the United States A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say 27 It costs Bill a lot of money to travel around England for six weeks A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say 85 PART Questions 28-35 Read the article about bears Choose the best word (A, B or C) for each space BEARS The bear can (0) ……….a dangerous animal The adult bear is very strong and it can kill a person Bears are (28)……… at climbing trees and they can run very fast But they cannot see well and, (29)……… most animals, they find food by using (30)…… noses There are seven kinds of bear The biggest is the white polar bear, (31)…… is almost three meters tall There are two kinds of black bear (32)………lives in the forests of North America, and the other lives in South- East Asia (33)…….not all black bears are black They may be dark brown or a reddish brown Everyone loves the black and white panda bear, which comes from China Not (34)…….pandas live in the forest today (35)…….it is difficult to find food Example: A is 28 A beautiful 29 A like 30 A them 31 A what 32 A Both 33 A But 34 A many 35 because of B being B fun B from B those B which B One B Because B more B because C be Answer: C C good C for C their C who C He C Until C much C however PART Question 36-40 Read the description of some holiday words What is the word for each one? The first letter is already there There is one space for each other letter in the word Example: You need to buy this to travel on a bus or an airplane t_ _ _ _ _ Answer: ticket 36 Make sure this is big enough to hold all your clothes for your holiday s 37 This person repairs your car m 38 You go on this by travelling from one place to another j 39 An act of finding out or discovering something new.e 40 These people visit a place for relaxing, usually while on holiday t PART Questions 41-50 Complete the letter Write ONE word for each space Example: be 86 Paris Dear Maria, It’s good to (0)……back home in my country but I still think (41)…….all the friends I made in our English class, especially you I cried (42)…… I left England because my visit (43)……too short I would (44)…….to return to England but (45)…….time I will stay in a different city I have started English classes again here I learnt a (46)…….of things in England but I know I (47)…….to study even harder (48)…… about you? (49)…… you still looking for a job? I hope you find (50)…….soon Love, Sophie PART Questions 51-55 Read the letter from Jane Harvey Fill in the information on the Lost Property Report Form 16 March The Manager North Line Trains London Dear Sir, On 14 March, I got on the 12.45 train to London at Manchester station I had a suitcase and a handbag with me When I got off the train at 14.50, I did not have my handbag Has anyone found it? Please phone me on 723419 or, after 6.0pm, on 796327 Jane Harvey 87 LOST PROPERTY REPORT FORM Name of passenger: Jane Harvey Travelling from: (51)…………………………… Date of journey: (52)…………………………… Time journey started: (53)……………………… What did you lose? (54)………………………… Daytime phone number: 56 (55)…………………… PART Question Key: Part 1: 1G 2D 3A 4E 5C Part 2: 6B 7B 8C 9B 10A Part 3: 11B 12A 13A 14C 15B 16 G 17F Part 4: 21A 22A 23C 24B 25A 26C 27B Part 5: 28C 29A 30C 31B 32B 33A 34A Part 6: For questions 36-40, spelling must be correct 36 suitcase 37 mechanic 38 journey Part 7: For questions 41-50, ignore capitals Spelling must be correct 41 about/of 42 after/when/as/before 39 explore Part 8: 19 E 20 H 35B 40 tourist 43 was/felt/seemed 45 this/next 46 lot/number 47 have/need/ought one/something/it 18 A 44 like/love/hope 48 What/How 49 Are 50 For questions 51-55, spelling must be correct 51 Manchester (station) 52 14 March 53 12.45 54 (a/my) handbag 55 723419 88 APPENDIX F: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Do you feel interested in taking part in the activities implementing the 4C’s Skills? Why? How you feel about the differences between the activities in grammar lessons you have ever participated in before and that of lessons implementing the 4C’s Skills? Do you think you learn communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity skills from the activities? If yes, Please specific how? How is your post- test result changed after studying the grammar lessons implementing the 4C’s Skills compared to the pre-test? Would you like to learn more grammar lessons with the activities like that in the future? 89 APPENDIX G: RUBRIC FOR REFINING STUDENTS’ COMMUNICATION, COLLABORATION, CRITICAL THINKING AND CREATIVITY 4Cs Basic Developing Proficient Refined Communication Students have limited opportunities to share ideas and only a small number of students speak when prompted Only some students are engaged in the conversation and able to summarize the thoughts Students have weekly opportunities to share ideas Most students embrace the opportunity to communicate, though not all will participate in conversation with peers Students have daily opportunities to share ideas All students embrace the opportunity to communicate with others, and most show excellent skills in summarizing the ideas of others and responding to those ideas appropriately All students are not only able to effectively communicate their ideas in an articulate way, but can also exhibit exemplary listening skills, including summarizing peers ideas and responding to those ideas The teacher ensures that curriculum requires students to communicate with each other, as well as other authentic audiences who may have an interest in the work at hand Students are involved in identifying audiences Students are provided with regular opportunities to collaborate Tasks are Collaboration is an expected part of the classroom experience Students All students have the ability to work productively with their peers to accomplish a of their peers Collaboration There are limited opportunities for students to work together to complete a 90 task Student collaboration is only evident among some students All students not participate equally in the collaborative process and most learning tasks are designed so that collaboration is not necessary designed to require all students to collaborate in order to be successful Many students engage in the collaborative effort, but not all students are fully invested or see the value of collaborating with peers embrace the opportunity to collaborate with peers with the teacher acting as the facilitator task Each student participates equally, and fully without needing the teacher to facilitate the interactions of the group Students find value in working with their peers The teacher designs curriculum that requires students to work together to complete tasks The learning environment promotes a sense of community and collaboration Critical thinking There are limited opportunities for students to struggle with a concept or idea Much of the students’ work is designed at a cognitive level that does not Students are provided with regular opportunities to think critically The teacher effectively scaffolds the process by providing students with direct Reasonably challenging curriculum is an expectation in the classroom Students have command of a sufficient repertoire of learning strategies, All students use learning strategies work toward mastery of the work Students embrace the process of struggling with a problem and persist in their efforts to solve 91 Creativity challenge students When challenging work is presented to students, some students embrace the challenge, while others avoid the task instruction in learning strategies that will assist them to complete the work The work is designed to be student centered, but the teacher must provide significant interventions in order for the students to be successful which assist them in making progress with the work and persevering The teacher facilitates student progress and encourages curiosity among students problems or complete tasks The teacher designs curriculum that moves students outside of their comfort zone of thinking Students are continually challenged to engage in work that is authentic The teacher requires students to solve problems Curiosity is valued and encouraged Students have limited opportunities to make their own choices about how to demonstrate mastery of the standards When students are presented with these opportunities, only some students are willing to think about the problem in a different way Students have regular opportunities to use a variety of methods to show their mastery of standards Some students embrace the opportunity to think about problems in different ways, while other students resist the opportunity and crave more structured, teacher directed tasks The teacher Students have daily opportunities to solve problems in a variety of ways Students are also given opportunities to show their mastery of standards in ways they choose All students embrace these opportunities and are willing to take intellectual risks in order to explore diverse ways to All students have the ability to think about a task from multiple perspectives Students are willing to think about problems in multiple ways or elaborate on solutions with little or no direction from the teacher The teacher designs work that requires students to think about problems from 92 assists students who struggle by providing them with scaffolded activities to nurture their creativity complete a task multiple perspectives 93 ...DECLARATION  I hereby declare that the thesis titled ? ?The effectiveness of implementing 4Cs principles in English grammar lessons for KET learners at an English language center? ?? represents... effectiveness of applying the 4Cs principles in grammar lessons for KET learners at a foreign language center to answer the following research questions: How are the grammar lessons designed using the. .. implementation in English grammar teaching in the other investigation In a study about integrating the skills of 21st Century Education into the English lessons, Anugerahwati (2019) gave an example of implementing