Applying task based approach in teaching english grammar

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES ************************ LÊ THỊ THANH APPLYING TASK-BASED APPROACH IN TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR: ACTION RESEARCH AT UNIVER ENGLISH CENTER Áp dụng đường hướng dạy học thông qua nhiệm vụ để dạy ngữ pháp: nghiên cứu hành động trung tâm Anh ngữ Univer M.A COMBINED PROGRAM THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI – 2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES ************************ LÊ THỊ THANH APPLYING TASK-BASED APPROACH IN TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR: ACTION RESEARCH AT UNIVER ENGLISH CENTER Áp dụng đường hướng dạy học thông qua nhiệm vụ để dạy ngữ pháp: nghiên cứu hành động trung tâm Anh ngữ Univer M.A COMBINED PROGRAM THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr Dương Thị Nụ HANOI – 2016 DECLARATION OF ORINALITY I declare that this thesis submitted for the Master of Art degree at the University of Languages and International Studies is a presentation of my own research and has not been previously submitted at any other universities for any degrees Wherever contributions of other researches are involved, every effort is made to indicate this clearly, with due reference to the literature, and acknowledgement of collaborative research and discussion The work was done under the guidance of Doctor Duong Thi Nu, at University of Languages and International Studies Hanoi, 2017 L Th Th nh i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To complete this thesis, I owe profound indebtedness to many people who have assisted me a lot when I carried out the research I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Duong Thi Nu, for all the helpful support, guidance and encouragement she gave me while I was conducting the research I am truly grateful to her for her advice and suggestions right from the beginning when this study was only on its formative stage I would like to send my sincere thanks to all other teachers and lecturers at Faculty of Graduate and Postgraduate Studies for all the valuable and priceless knowledge and experience they have transferred to me and to all my students at Univer English Center who have enthusiastically participated in the study Without their assistance, it would have been impossible for me to handle this work I owe a great debt of gratitude to my family and friends for all the support I received to finish this thesis ii ABSTRACT Grammar plays a crucial role in English language learning and teaching, establishing the ground for every other aspect of language Yet the use of grammar in practices such as writing and speaking is not flexible to many of the students Moreover, students get bored of the traditional approaches and quickly forget the knowledge or get troubles applying it in real life That is especially true for university students of low level at Univer English Center who are seeking for better English for their job in the future Task-based approach designed with activities around a focal task that is similar to the task in real world, promoting students to use language into practical context to accomplish a specific purpose, is expected to be a resolution to the dilemma This study is aimed at investigating the application of tasks in teaching gr mm r to find out students’ opinionss towards grammar and learning grammar through t sks, the extent to which the use of t sks to te ch gr mm r ffect students’ learning and the constraints to this application The study was conducted in an action research, realized by means of survey questionnaire, performance tests, collections nd te cher’s journ l to chieve the desired ims The results indicate that the students hold positive opinionss towards grammar and learning grammar through tasks Students are in favor of this learning and teaching approach for its effectiveness, appeal and applicability The analysis of students’ test results lso show th t students h s m de positively significant improvement in their language proficiency particularly grammar It is also revealed that the low language competence of students as well as the limits in a private center hindered the application of tasks in grammar teaching iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration of originality………………………………………………… i Acknowledgements………………………………………………………… ii Abstract…………………………………………………………………… iii Table of contents…………………………………………………………… iv List of Abbreviations……………………………………………………… vii List of tables………………………………………………………………… viii PẢRT A: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………… 1 Rationale…………………………………………………………… 2 Aims and objectives of the study…………………………………… 3 Scopes of the study………………………………………………… Significance of the study…………………………………………… Design of the study………………………………………………… PART D: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………… 1.1 Approaches in English Language Teaching…………………… 1.2 Task-based language teaching approach………………………… 1.2.1 R tion le……………………………………………………… 1.2.2 Definition of t sk…………………………………………… 11 1.2.3 Identifying t sk……………………………………………… 16 1.2.4 Task types…………………………………………………… 17 iv 1.2.5 T sk cycle…………………………………………………… 18 1.3 Grammar teaching and learning………………………………… 20 1.4 Task-based language teaching approach and grammar teaching 21 1.5 Task-based language teaching in Vietnam……………………… 24 1.6 Review on previous studies……………………………………… 25 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY………………………… 28 2.1 Research questions………………………………………………… 28 2.2 Method…………………………………………………………… 28 2.3 Design……………………………………………………………… 33 2.4 Participants………………………………………………………… 33 2.5 Procedure and instruments……………………………………… 34 2.6 The action research cycles………………………………………… 36 2.6.1 Research cycle 1……………………………………………… 37 2.6.2 Research cycle 2……………………………………………… 40 41 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS………………… 3.1 What are learners’ opinions towards learning grammar through tasks? 41 3.2 To what extent does the teaching of grammar through tasks help learners acquire and use grammar? 52 3.3 What are the constraints and obstacles to students in learning grammar through tasks? 61 PART C: SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND CONCLUSION… Recapitulation……………………………………………………… v 66 66 Recommendations…………………………………………………… 68 Pedagogical implications and suggestions for further research … 72 Limitations of the study…………………………………………… 74 Conclusion ………………………………………………………… 76 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………… 78 APPENDICES……………………………………………………………… I Appendix I: Survey questionnaire………………………………………… I Appendix II: Lesson plans for the study group………………………… VII Appendix III: Pre-test……………………………………………………… X Appendix IV: Post-test…………………………………………………… XIII Appendix V: Raw data of the questionnaire survey……………………… XVI Appendix VI: Raw data of the pre-test and post-test results…………… vi XVII LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS TBLT: Task-based language teaching TBLL: Task-based language learning TBA: Task-based approach ELT: English language teaching PPP: Presentation-Practice-Production FLT: Foreign language teaching CLT: Communicative language teaching SLA: Second language acquisition GT: Grammar-Translation vii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 1: TBLT fr mework…………………………………………………… 18 T ble 1: Students’ gener l inform tion1……………………………………… 42 T ble 2: Students’ gener l inform tion 2…………………………………… 43 Figure 2: The degree of interest to students…………………………………… 44 Figure 3: The degree of important to students………………………………… 44 Figure 4: The degree of difficulty of grammatical structures to students’ perceptiveness…………………………………………………… 44 Figure 5: The degree of difficulty to exercises…………………………… 44 Figure 6: The degree of students’ int ke fter being t ught………………… 45 Figure 7: The degree of students’ bility to use gr mm tic l knowledge…… 46 Figure 8: The degree of application in other activities and contexts………… 47 Figure 9: The grammar role in language learning…………………………… 47 Table 3: Students’ ev lu tion on le rning gr mm r vi t sks………………… 48 Figure 10: The interesting degree of learning grammar via tasks…………… 49 Figure 11: The effectiveness degree of learning grammar via tasks………… 49 Figure 12: The degree of task difficulty……………………………………… 50 Figure 13: The degree of task suitability……………………………………… 50 Figure 14: The degree of t sk’s likeness to re lity…………………………… 51 Figure 15: The degree of t sk’ pplic bility………………………………… 51 Table 4: Paired Sample T-test Statistics……………………………………… 52 Table 5: Paired Sampled T-test p-value……………………………………… 54 T ble 6: Students’ difficulties in le rning gr mm r………………………… 61 viii 12 How you see the learning grammar through tasks? Tick 1-4 in which is the highest degree and is the lowers degree For example: 1-Very interesting, 2- Interesting, 3- Normal, 4- Not interesting Interesting Effective Difficult Suitable and appropriate Similar to real life Applicable Thank you for your answers! III PHIẾU HỎI KHẢO SÁT Phiếu câu hỏi nhằm mục đích nghi n cứu khảo sát thái độ củ sinh vi n việc học ngữ pháp học ngữ pháp thông qua nhiệm vụ Phiếu câu hỏi sử dụng cho mục đích phân tích số liệu nhằm phục vụ cho nghiên cứu Chúng tơi trân trọng bạn phản hồi cho câu hỏi Ý kiến cá nhân bạn giữ bí mật trường hợp Bạn học tiếng anh rồi? Bạn có bắt đầu học ngữ pháp từ học tiếng anh khơng C Có D Không Nếu không Bạn học từ nào: Bạn thấy ngữ pháp việc học ngữ pháp: Rất thú v Thú v Bình thường Chán Rất chán Theo bạn ngữ pháp có vai trò với việc học tiếng anh khả tiếng anh bạn: Rất quan trọng Quan trọng Khá quan trọng Ít quan trọng Không quan trọng Bạn thấy cấu trúc ngữ pháp tiếng anh: Rất dễ nhớ Dễ nhớ Hay b nhầm lẫn, khó Khi học nhớ nhớ thời gian lại quên Có thể nhớ Khơng thể nhớ Hiện làm tập ngữ pháp, nhìn chung bạn thấy tập ngữ pháp Rất dễ Dễ Bình Hơi khó Khó Rất khó thường IV Khi dạy xong đơn vị ngữ pháp, bạn thấy: Rất hiểu Hiểu Hiểu tương Hiểu đối Khơng hiểu Nếu chọn 1/2/3/4, vui lịng làm tiếp câu sau Bạn sử dụng kiến thức ngữ pháp học làm tập thực hành? Luôn dùng áp dụng cần Có thể nhận biết áp dụng Áp dụng học xong s u lại quên 10 Biết dùng áp dụng chút 11 Thấy nhầm lẫn với kiến thức khác, dùng 12 Không biết áp dụng Khi gặp yêu cầu (viết, nói ) , bạn: Có thể xác đ nh cấu trúc ngữ pháp cần dùng dùng hiệu Phải làm lúc nhận r cấu trúc nên dùng phải dùng Làm theo cảm tính miễn khiến người khác hiểu Lúng túng, làm 10 Khi học xong đơn vị ngữ pháp, bạn thấy: Dễ dàng việc dùng tiếng anh mình: nói, viết, đọc,… Khơng dùng ngồi làm tập Khơng th y đổi Ý kiến khác: 11 Khó khăn bạn học ngữ pháp nói riêng tiếng Anh nói chung là: Thiếu vốn từ vựng Biết từ dùng Không thể nhờ ngữ pháp để dùng 10 Nhớ cấu trúc ngữ pháp dùng 11 Biết ngữ pháp xếp từ cho 12 Ý kiến khác V 12 Bạn thấy việc học ngữ pháp thời gian vừa qua nào? Tick vào ô tương ứng từ 1-4 với cao thấp nhất: Ví dụ: 1Rất thú vị, 2- Thú vị, 3- Bình thường, 4- Không thú vị Sự thú v Hiệu Độ khó Độ phù hợp Độ giống với hoạt động thực tế Tính ứng dụng Cảm ơn câu trả lời bạn! VI APPENDIX II LESSON PLANS FOR THE STUDY GROUP Lesson 1: Present simple and continuous WHICH PARTY ARE YOU AT? Material: Page (Solution 7) Pretask (10ms) - Look at the picture: What are they doing? Use the word in box Task (10ms) - Now work in pair: Your friend is in the party, Let find which party he/she is at? - One ask questions and one has a picture to answer Then the one who is finding must identify the party out of pictures on the board Planning (10ms) - Practice with each other and then try to identify which party are they at? Report (20ms) - Teacher and students listen and then teacher correct mistake in the conversation Language focus (50m) - No.3 and in page - Do exercises - Listening to Exercise no - Make sentences to fill in handout VII What I and what I am doing! Usually Every day What I But Today In the morning This morning In the afternoon This afternoon In the evening This evening After school Now At weekends This weekend At 7.30 everyday At the moment Every month At present VIII What I am doing IX APPENDIX III PRE-TEST Time allowed: 30 minutes Name: I Choose the best answer Water at 100 degrees Celsius A boiling B.boils C.is boiling D.boil Bettina usually television in the evening A watches B.watching C.watch D has watched Rosemary to agree with us now A is seeming B.seem C.seemed D.seems Look! That man your bike! A is stealing B.steals C.stealing D.stolen I’m sorry I to my homework yesterd y A am forgetting B.have forgotten C.forgot D.forget We any interesting films lately A didn’t see B.h ven’t seen C.saw D.have seen Eric _ fl t yet, so he’s still living with his parents A found B.didn’t find C.is finding D.h sn’t found They _ running their own company in 1980 A started B.have started C.are starting D.start She’s l w student nd she for four ye rs now A studied B.is studying C.has been studying D.did study 10 I think I _ my door key I c n’t find it ny where A lost B.have lost C.am losing D.will lose 11 The film _ when we arrived at the cinema A has begun B.begun C.had begun D.begins 12.I w sn’t thirsty because I _ some milk A drunk B.have just drunk C.just drank D.had just drunk 13 Don’t phone me between and We _dinner then A will have B are having C will be having D have 14 He has been working all day He be tired A must B can C may D should 15 Yesterday, I shopping when I _her across the street A was going/ was seeing B went/ was seeing C was going/ saw D went/ saw X II Write the right form of words in brackets, add words if necessary (ex: the, than ) Huyen's hair is my hair (long) My brothers and I, each of us has a car Mine is _car (large) Max is John (thin) Your mother is driver I have ever known (careful) Your baby is _boy in the world (happy) I am _today than I was yesterday (busy) Thang's house is _from school than Huan's house is (far) But Ms Trang's house is _(far) My grandfather is man in the world (gentle) 10 O.Henry is one of _American writers in the 19th century (famous) III Give the correct forms for the verbs in brackets If Mr Brown (sell) his car last year, he would have got more money for it If Susan takes her driving lessons regularly, she (pass) her driving test If Mr Jones (watch) the news every evening, he would know more about politics If Charlie (not stop) eating these green pples, he’ll soon feel sick If you had told me the truth, I (help) you If old Mrs White heard a strange noise, she (call) the police If I (have) good luck, I would have won the first prize If I (be) you, I would throw away all this old junk If you (need) any help, call me 10 If you (put) water into a freeze, it (become) ice XI APPENDIX IV POST-TEST Time allowed: 90 minutes Name:……………………………………………… I Choose the best answer Who playing the guitar? a enjoys b is enjoying c enjoy d enjoying Tom and Jill for their holiday on March st a are leaving b are going to leave c will leave d leave My f ther’s p rtner is ill nd d d overtime this week a works b worked c is working d working I’ll c ll you if I your help a need b needed c will need d am needing Only Terry the answer a know b knowed c knew d was knowing Tim is person I’ve ever met a the more annoying b the most annoying c more annoying d most annoying Students in our school wear uniforms mustn’t b must c don’t h ve to must d shouldn’t – Your room is a mess! - I know Mum, I after my music lesson a will clean b am cleaning c am going to clean it d clean it I’ve known John ye rs a of b since c from d for 10 I’ll sk mum s soon s she home a will come b come c comes d is coming 11 Gerry was born in London but he in Liverpool for the last ten years a lives b has lived c lived d is living 12 Where before she moved to Glasgow? a would she live b used she to live c was she used to live d did she use to live 13 Jill went to the UK at university a to study b study c to studying d for studying 14 Tome and Mary TV at six p.m yesterday XII a watched b was watching c watch d were watching 15 They painting the kitchen a have just finished b just finished c are just finishing d just finish 16 This is the match we played yesterday a who b what c when d which 17 If Bob the answer he would surely tell you a knows b would know c will know d knew 18 Mum is very tired because she all day a has cleaned b cleaned c was cleaning d has been cleaning 19 Jack was late for the bus so when he came to school lessons a had already started b already started c have already started d were already starting 20 My computer is the same yours a than b as c to d from 21 I Tim in the office at p.m so I can give him your message a meet b will meet c am meeting d am going to meet 22 If Jim late again the teacher very angry with him a is/will be b was/would be c will be/will be d will be/is 23 J mes t home yet He doesn’t finish work until six p.m a must be b can’t be c can be d mustn’t be 24 The policeman told me the car a to leave b left c be leaving d to have left 25 Mum asked me where the CD a had I put b did I put c I put d I had put 26 My father wishes he his job didn’t lose b would lose c had lost d h dn’t lost 27 If only I some more money a have b had c would have d have had 28 I l te for school yesterd y if I h dn’t overslept wouldn’t be b wouldn’t h ve been c would have been d had been 29 I don’t h ve money but I will be h ppy to lend you wh t I h ve a many b little c few d much 30 They have to the work a themself b themselves c theirself XIII d theirselves II Choose the best answer In my free time I often ………………… sk tebo rding a go to b play c go d ride S lly didn’t t ke her ………………… kit so she didn’t h ve ny lipstick or mascara with her a painting b make up c make over d decorating Jason felt very ………………… before the ex m He w s sure he would well a confident b nervous c depressed d guilty You c n ………………… lot of money by lw ys turning the light off when you are not in the room a waste b lend c save d lose My sister finds it difficult to …………………decisions a make b c get d have III WRITING Imagine you are on holiday by the sea How are you spending your time? What is the weather like? Are you having a good time? Write part of a postcard to friend When did you last go to a party? Write some sentences about it Use some of these ideas: whose party? Where? What did you wear? Music, food, drink? Good time? XIV Which of the things in the box you have done today? Which haven’t you done? Write six sentences Clean my teeth have breakfast write a letter Buy a newspapers watch films surf web XV APPENDIX V RAW DATA OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY XVI APPENDIX VI RAW DATA OF THE PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST RESULTS XVII ... and application of using task- based approach in teaching and learning grammar This study is expected to investigate the use of tasks in teaching grammar and then draw out findings with comparisons... However, grammar teaching is still one of the most controversial topics and remains hot in debate on language teaching In Vietnam, the teaching and learning of grammar seem to mainly focus on teaching. .. TBLT: Task- based language teaching TBLL: Task- based language learning TBA: Task- based approach ELT: English language teaching PPP: Presentation-Practice-Production FLT: Foreign language teaching