A study on some major factors affecting English learning of grade 6 ethnic minority students of a mountainous secondary school to help them learn better

A study on some major factors affecting English learning of grade 6 ethnic minority students of a mountainous secondary school to help them learn better

CHAPETR 1: INTRODUCTION1.1 Rationale

It is undeniable that English is one of the major languages in the world It linkspeople in many fields: science, technology, business, communication, education, etc.Nowadays, English is popular enough to be spoken at every corner of the world.Therefore, teaching and learning English have become the necessity in every country.

In Vietnam, English is one of the foreign languages that are compulsory fromprimary school to university However, there are differences in English learning resultsamong students from different minorities as well as different areas Teaching English toethnic minority students in the remote and mountainous areas of Northern Vietnam haslong been a controversial issue In Sonla, it is a fact that there exists a big gap betweenstudents in towns and students from minorities in mountainous areas Minority students inmountainous schools are considered to learn English not so well as those in towns Whatfactors can affect their learning process is my question for that problem Hence, I have

chosen that topic for my thesis namely “A study on some major factors affectingEnglish learning of grade 6 ethnic minority students of a mountainous secondaryschool to help them learn better” I hope that this research can give a few benefits to

teachers, students and people concerned about this field.

2 Hypothesis

Up to now, there are many factors affecting English learning of grade 6th minoritystudents, and different factors affect them in different ways and different levels.

3 Objectives of the study

The main objectives of this study are as follows:

 To identify the present situation of teaching and learning English of teachers andgrade 6th minority students at Phỏng Lập secondary school.

 To find out some major factors affecting their English leaning

 To find out which the most important factors are and which the least ones are.

 To give some suggested solutions, which could be useful for teachers and learnersin teaching and leaning English at mountainous secondary schools.

4 Scope of the study

For the limitation of time, conditions, and materials, this study only focuses onsome major factors affecting English learning of some grade 6 ethnic minority students atPhong Lap secondary school In addition, this thesis is also carried out on some teachers ofEnglish in this school which can help us to see some major factors affecting Englishlearning to grade 6 students in this school more obviously.

5 Methods of the study

Carrying out this research, the following methods have been used: Theoretical study

 Survey (questionnaire) Interview

 Class observation

6 Research questions

In the thesis, the following questions will be answered.

1 What is the present English learning situation of grade 6 ethnic minority studentsat Phong Lap secondary school?

2 What are some major factors affecting their English learning ? What are the mostand the least important ones?

3 What are suggested solutions to the study?

7 Overview of the study

The study concludes five main following chapters:Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Literature review

Chapter 3: Data collection and analysis Chapter 4: Major findings and discussionsChapter 5: Conclusion

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

This chapter involves different issues in the theories of second language learning:definitions of language acquisition and theoretical background of language learning factorsin specific such as intelligence, personality, learning strategies, teaching strategies,attitudes and motivation as well as environment and context of learning.

2.2 Definitions of language acquisition

“Language acquisition is one of the most impressive and fascinating aspects ofhuman development” (Lightbown, P.M & Spada, N 1999) Up to now, there have beenmany definitions of language acquisition This term is most often used interchangeablewith language learning In their study, they show that according to Krashen, S (1982),acquisition represents “unconscious” learning, which takes place when attention is focusedon meaning rather than language form.

In website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_language_acquisition on February28th, 2008, Second language acquisition is the process by which people learn a secondlanguage in addition to their native language The term “second language” is used todescribe the acquisition of any language after the acquisition of the mother tongue Thereis also research into the similarities and differences of third language acquisition.

The term “language acquisition” becomes more commonly used after Krashen, S.(1982) contrasted it with formal and non-constructive “learning” However, secondlanguage acquisition has become established as the preferred term for this academicdiscipline.

Though second language acquisition is often viewed as part of applied linguistics, itis typically concerned with the language system and learning process themselves, whereasapplied linguistic may focus more on the experiences of the learners, particularly those inthe classroom Additionally, second language acquisition has mostly examined naturalistic

acquisition, where learners acquire a language with little formal training or teaching.

2.3 Theoretical background of language learning factors

“Many of us believe that learners have certain characteristics which lead to more orless successful language learning”, (Lightbown, P.M & Spada, N 1999) There are manyfactors affecting language learning of the learners.

Weiner, B (qtd in Williams, M & Burden, R.L 1997: 105) suggested that, on thewhole, people tend to refer to four main sets of attributions for their perceived success andfailures in life: ability, effort, luck, the perceived difficulty of the task with which they arefaced.

In other field, Spolsky, B (1998) shows us many other factors: attitude,intelligence, aptitude, learning strategies, personality, material, motivation, memory,training strategies, social context Many other researchers agree that they can be dividedinto two groups: internal factors and external factors Weiner, B (qtd in Williams, M &Burden, R.L 1997) saw that internal factors arise from inside and external ones are fromthe outside the learners

For the limitation of time, this study just focuses on some major factors, whichhave more effects on language learning of the ethnic minority learners of grade 6 in remotemountainous areas in Sonla.

2.3.1 Intelligence

It is claimed that intelligence and language proficiency are more or less the samething (Oller, 1981) (qtd in Spolsky, B 1998) This argument follows from his claim forthe existence of a general factor in language proficiency and the high correlation of IQscore with the results of language tests.

The term “intelligence” has traditionally been used to refer to performance oncertain kinds of tests These tests are often associated with success in school, and a linkbetween intelligence and second language learning (Lightbown, P.M & Spada, N 1999).

In Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learner (2002), intelligence is

defined as “the ability to understand and think about things, and to gain and use the

knowledge” Intelligence is inside learners’ mind, helps people think in the best way.Accordingly, IQ (Intelligence quotient) is a number that represents a person’s intelligence,based on the results of a particular type of test Some people say that the high IQ scores aregood predicators of performance on the more academic, literacy-based measures.

Intelligence can be divided into seven groups (qtd in Brown, H.D 1994): Linguistic intelligence

and to interact effectively with them)

 Intrapersonal intelligence (the ability to understand oneself and to develop asense of self-identify)

It is important to keep in mind that “intelligence” is complex and that individualshave many kinds of abilities and strengths, not all of which are measured by traditional IQtests “In our experience, many learners whose academic performance has been weak haveexperienced considerable success in second language learning” (Brown, H.D 1994).

Different people have different kind of intelligence; as a result, have different kindof strength in the life So when learners know about their strength, they can easily getsuccess in language learning.

2.3.2 Personality characteristics

Second language acquisition is defined as the learning and adopting of a languagethat is not your native language Once you have acquired a foreign language, you have

mastered that language Second language acquisition may be more difficult for somepeople than the others A number of personality characteristics has been proposed as likelyto affect second language learning However, it has not been easy to demonstrate theireffects in empirical studies as different studies measuring a similar personality traitproduce different results For example, it is often argued that an extravert (or an unreservedand outgoing person) acquired second language better than an introvert did Nevertheless,research does not always support this conclusion Another aspect of personality that hasbeen studied is inhibition It has been suggested that inhibition discourages risk- taking,which is necessary for progress in language learning Several other personalitycharacteristics such as self-esteem, empathy, dominance, talkativeness and responsivenesshave also been studied Researchers have shown that personality variables may be a majorfactor in acquisition of conversational skills, not in acquisition of literacy skills.

Despite the contradictory results and the problems involved in carrying out researchin the area of personality characteristics, many researchers believe that personality will beshown to have an important influence on success in language learning This relationship isa complex one, however, in that it is not probably personality alone, but the way in whichit combines with other factors that contributes to second language learning

William, M & Burden, R.L (1997: 145) add “A learning strategy is like to tacticused by a player It is a series of skills used with a particular learning purpose in mind.Thus, learning strategies involve an ability to monitor the learning situation and respondaccordingly This means being able to assess the situation, to plan, to select appropriate

skills, to sequence them, to co-ordinate them, to monitor or assess their effectiveness andto revise the plan when necessary.

Learning strategies are divided into four groups by Hedge, T (2000): cognitive,metacognitive, communication, and socio-affective strategies.

Cognitive strategies: are thought processes used directly in learning, which enable

learners to deal with the information presented in task by working on it in different ways.Examples of other cognitive strategies are repetition (i.e imitating a model), writing thingsdown, an inferencing (i.e making guesses about the form or meaning of a new languageitem).

Metacognitive strategies: involve planning for learning, thinking about learning

and how to make it effective, self-monitoring during learning and evaluation of howsuccessful learning has been after working on language on some ways For example, whenthe learners preview the teacher’s comments on their written work, or review the notesthey have made during class, they are using metacognitive strategies.

Communication strategies: when the learners used gesture, mine, synonym,

paraphrases, and cognate words from their first language to make themselves understoodand to maintain conversation, despite the gaps in the knowledge of the second language,they are using communication strategies The value of these is that they keep learnersinvolves in conversations through which they practice the language.

Socio-affective strategies: provide the learners with opportunities for practice.

Examples include imitating conversations with native speakers, using other people asinformants about the language, collaborating on tasks, listening to the radio or watchingTV programmers in the language, or spending extra time in the language laboratory etc.

Williams, M & Burden, R.L (1997:144) indicate that most of us have probablyused some or all of the following strategies in learning a foreign language:

 Repeating words over again

 Listening attentively to try to distinguish works

 Trying to work out the rules of the language by forming hypothesis about how itworks

 Testing yourself to see if you remember words Guessing the meanings of unknown words Using your head what you are about to say Practicing the sounds of the language to yourself Asking a speaker to repeat something

 Pretending that you understand in order to keep the communication going

These are some strategies that people use to succeed in the complex task of learning alanguage Good language learners, as suggested in Hedge, T (2000), are people who:

 Find their own way taking change of their learning Organize information about language

 Are creative developing a “feel” for the language by experimenting with itsgrammars and words

 Make their own opportunities for practice in using the language inside and outsidethe classroom

 Use mnemonics and other memory strategies to recall what have been learnt Use contextual cues to help them in comprehension

 Learn to make intelligent guesses

 Learn certain tricks that help to keep conversation going

 Learn different styles of speech and writing and learn their language according tothe formality of the situation, etc.

“Learning strategies include both general approaches to studying language andspecific techniques or study habit” (Chandrasegaran, A., 1981) A learner’s approach to

language study is determined by how he sees language learning He may see it as habitformation or as the discovery of a rule system The approach he adopts will influence hischoice of learning techniques: whether they are inferencing, inductive learning of linguisticpatterns memorization of sentences, pattern practice etc It is said that learning strategiesare very important It ups to the learners from different “cultures” use strategies in differentways If the learners choose suitable strategies with the teacher’s help, they will get successin language learning.

2.3.4 Attitude and motivation

Attitude and motivation factors play a crucial role in second and foreign languagelearning Gardner, R.C and Lambert, W.E (1972) indicate that affective factors, includingattitude and motivation, have statistically independent and significant relationship withforeign language learning achievement Attitude and motivation have a close relationship,“A learner’s attitudes affect the development of motivation” (Spolsky, B 1998:23) Beforeunderstanding about the learners’ motivations, the attitude should be made clear.

There are many different definitions about language attitudes

Language attitudes are defined as the “attitudes which speakers of differentlanguages or language varieties have towards each other’ language or their own language.Expressions of positive or negative feelings towards a language may reflect impressions oflinguistic difficulty or simplicity, ease or difficulty of learning, degree of important,elegance, social status, etc Attitudes towards a language may also show what people feelabout the speakers of that language.

Language attitudes may have an effect on second language or foreign languagelearning The measurement of language attitudes provides information which is useful inlanguage teaching and language planning.” (Richards, J.C; Platt, J and Platt, H 1993: 199)

In Chandrasegaran’s research (1981), attitude refers specifically to states ofemotion and thought relating to the English language, to the learning of English and to theculture of English-speaking peoples

Gardner, R.C (1985:8) adds that individual’s attitude is an evaluative reaction tosome referent or attitude object, inferred on the basic of the individual’s beliefs or opinion

about the reference In practical term, an attitude is a construct derived from a subject’sanswers to a number of questions about an object Its establishment is subject to all thenormal worries of the validity of the instrument used and the subject’s answers to thequestions.

Attitudes do not have direct influence on learning but they lead to motivation whichrefers to the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning a language.

Gardner, R.C and Lambert, W.E (1959) (qtd in Spolsky, B 1998) suggested thatan individual’s motivation to learn a second language is controlled by his attitudes towardthe other group in particular and by his orientation to the task itself In other words,motivation comes from attitude In order to enhance students’ motivational intensity, it isnecessary to know what motivation is.

Motivation itself is a complex construct, as Gardner, R.C (1985) remarks thatmotivation involves four aspects: a goal, effortful behavior, a desire to attain the goal andfavorable attitudes towards the activity in question These four aspects are notunidimensional.

According to Williams, M & Burden, R.L (1997), motivation may be constructedas: a state of cognitive and emotional arousal which leads to a conscious decision to actand gives rise to a period of sustained intellectual and/or physical effort in order to attain apreviously set goal (or goals) It is clear from this that motivation occurs as a result ofcombination of different influences.

Motivation is the extent to which you make choices about goals to pursue and theeffort you will devote to that pursuit (Brown, H.D 1994).

Lightbown, P.M & Spada, N (1999) add that motivation in language learning is acomplex phenomenon which can be defined in term of two factors: learners’communicative needs and their attitudes towards the language community.

Motivation in Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applies Linguistics (p.138) isthe factors that determine a person’s desire to do something In second language andforeign language learning, learning may be affected differently by different types ofmotivation Two types of motivation are sometimes distinguished: (a) instrumental

motivation: wanting to learn a language because it will be useful for certain instrumentalgoals, such as getting a job, reading a foreign newspaper, passing an examination; (b)integrative motivation : wanting to learn in order to communicate with people of otherculture who speak it

It is thought that students who are most successful when learning a target languageare those who like to speak that language, admire the culture and have a desire to becomefamiliar with or even integrate into the society in which the language is used This form ofmotivation is known as integrative motivation In other words, integrative motivation is bythe learners’ positive attitudes toward the target language group and the desire to integrateinto the target language community

In contrast to integrative motivation is the form of motivation referred to asinstrumental motivation This is generally characterized by the desire to obtain somethingpractical or concrete from the study of a second language With instrumental motivation,the purpose of language acquisition is more utilitarian It is often characteristic of languagelearning acquisition, where little or no social integration of the learner into a communityusing the target language take place, or in some instances is even desired.

Motivation can also be divided into extrinsic and intrinsic ones Brown, H.D.(1994) suggests that extrinsic motivation comes from the learner’s desire to get externalreward or cognition of the peers and parents or the avoidance of punishment Intrinsicmotivation comes from the learner’s internal factors.

All above definitions seem to be the case that if learners perceive a goal and if thatgoal is sufficiently attractive, they will be strongly motivated to do whatever necessary toreach that goal.

2.3.5 Teaching strategies

The study of the effects of teaching on second language acquisition seeks tosystematically measure or evaluate the effectiveness of language teaching practice Suchstudies have been undertaken for every level of language, from phonetics to pragmaticsand for almost every current teaching methodology For example, Rosenshine and Furst(1973) (qtd in Williams, M & Burden, R L 1997) identified nine key factors contributing

to effective teaching: clarify of presentations, teaching enthusiasm, variety of activitiesduring lessons, achievement oriented behavior in classrooms, opportunity to learn criterionmaterial, acknowledgement and stimulation of students’ ideas, (lack of) criticism, use ofstructuring comments at the beginning and during lessons, guiding of student answers Inanother study of effective teaching, Brown and McIntyre (1992) (qtd in Williams, M &Burden, R L 1997) identified ten categories as representing elements of good teaching:creating a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere in the classroom, retaining control in theclassroom, presenting work in an interesting and motivating way, providing conditions sopupils understand the work, making clear what people are to do and achieve, judging whatcan be expected of a pupil, helping pupils with difficulties, encouraging pupils to raisetheir expectations of themselves, developing personal, mature relationships with pupils,demonstrating personal talents or knowledge.

It is impossible to summarize all the findings conducted up to now However, wecan see that teachers’ teaching strategies represent other important issue to take intoaccount in helping students to love a subject It is important that teachers create differentalternatives to teach a lesson rather than relying on traditional books or common lectureclasses It is also important that teachers guide their students’ learning process; that meansthat they must know what the target to their students is and they are aiming at (which ismore than acquiring knowledge) Successful learning requires that teachers not only aregood managers but also have an extensive knowledge base about their subject and aboutlearning and teaching strategies Teachers provide help and support, so students can trustthem It does not matter if students make mistakes at the beginning because their teachersare reliable and they have good strategies like using different kinds of materials andbehaving in a friendly way With that kind of help, students will definitely begin to coverthe subject and teachers’ effort These ideas turn out to be very useful in improving a goodfeeling for English as a subject.

2.3.6 Environment and context of learning 2.3.6.1 Textbooks

Textbooks are key components in most language program Much of the languageteaching that occurs throughout the world today could not take place without the extensive

use of textbook The use of textbooks has many advantages; some of them are pointed outas follows:

 They provide the structure and a syllabus for program They help standardize instruction

 They maintain quality

 They provide a variety of learning resources  They are efficient

 They can provide effective language models and inputs They can train teachers

 They are visually appealing

However, there are also potential negative effects For example, they may containinauthentic language; they may distort content; they may not reflect students’ needs; theycan deskill teachers and they are expensive.

2.3.6.2 Classroom structure and climate

The term “classroom structure” has come to be used in a particular way by someresearchers in this field The emphasis has been upon the ways in which learningexperiences have been organized and whether one form of organization is necessarily anybetter than another The main debate has been on whether learners learn better incompetitive, co-operative or individualistic environments.

All these three approaches have been employed effectively by language teachers.We would argue, however, that no one approach can ever be fully effective on its own.Each learner is an individual who must be helped to find his or her own way to becomeautonomous Learners are also members of a social world and will need to be givenopportunities to work co-operatively with others in order to be successful in such a world.At the same time, an element of healthy competition with oneself and among groups can behighly motivating in the short-term Therefore, ways of providing a flexible structure in thelanguage classroom which effectively incorporates all three forms of organization shouldbe found out.

Apart from structure, classroom climate is also very important in language teachingand learning In Moos and Trickiest (1974) (qtd in Williams, M & Burden, R.L 1997) it

is concluded that classes oriented towards innovation and building relationships help tocreate learner satisfaction and interest in the subject matter They enhance social andpersonal growth, but do less well in facilitating traditional achievement scores; classeswhich emphasize task achievement at the expense of warmth often do foster highachievement, but fare far less well in facilitating learner interest, morale or creativity;classes that are kept rigidly under the teachers’ control are more likely to lead todissatisfaction and alienation and do not facilitate personal, social and academic growth;the best result are likely to occur when there is a combination of warmth andaccomplishments and reasonably clear, orderly and well structure milieu.

2.3.6.3 School facilities

We all know that clean, quiet, safe, comfortable and healthy environments areimportant components of successful teaching and learning But which facility attributesaffect academic outcome the most and in what manner and degree? Schneider, M.(November, 2002) suggests six categories (indoor air quality, ventilation, thermal comfort;lighting; acoustics; building age and quality; school size and class size) that have effects onEnglish teaching and learning in particular and all other subjects in general Poor indoor airquality (IAQ) is widespread and its effects are too important to ignore Temperature andhumidity affect IAQ in many ways, perhaps most significantly because their levels canpromote or inhibit the presence of bacterial and mold It has been found that students willperform mental tasks best in rooms kept at moderate humidity levels (40-70%) andmoderate temperature in the range of 68-740F ( Harner1974, Anderson and Lundqvist1979) (qtd in Schneider, M 2002) In addition, schools need especially good ventilationbecause children breathe a greater volume of air in proportion to their body weight thanadults do The purpose of ventilating classrooms and school buildings, at minimum, is toremove or otherwise dilute contaminants that can upside.

Apart from that, classroom lighting plays a particularly critical role in students’performance (Philip 1997) (qtd in Schneider, M 2002) Obviously, students cannot learnwell unless lighting is adequate and there have many studies showing that appropriatelighting improves test scores, reduces off-task behavior and plays a significant role instudents’ achievement.

The research liking acoustics to learning is consistent and convincing: goodacoustics are fundamental to good academic performance Higher student achievement isassociated with schools that have less external noise Outside noise causes increasedstudents’ dissatisfaction with their classroom and that excessive noise causes stress instudents (Earthman and Lesmasters 1998:18) (qtd in Schneider, M 2002) It is also provedthat there has a link between levels of classroom and reverberations to reading andlistening ability, behavior, attention, concentration and achievement in children (Crandell1991, and Crandell et al 1995) (qtd in Schneider, M 2002).

Some other factors such as building quality, school size and class size are alsodiscussed in many studies They are all shown that newer and better school buildingscontribute to higher students’ scores; in small school and small class students have morepositive and challenging learning environment.

2.3.7 Social context

Because language is primary a social mechanism, it is learnt in social contexts.Even in the learning of a first language where the biological basis is important, there isstrong influence from social factors concerned with the special relation of a child andcaretaker Hymes (1972) (qtd in Spolsky, B 1998:131) has continually stressed the socialnature of language and argues for a wider view of linguistic than one limited to thegrammar of sentences What is needed is a linguistics, which can describe whateverfeatures of speech, proves relevant in the given case, and which can relate linguisticselements to each other in term of relationships of role, status, task, and the like Such alinguistic requires foundations in social theory and ethnographic practice as well as inpractical phonetics and grammar (Hymes, 1985) (qtd in Spolsky, B 1998:131).

The process of the first language learning can be better understood if the socialdimension is included Social factors have even more importance in the case of secondlanguage learning because of the greater complexity of the second language Learner’ssocial context and the resulting increase in its ability to cause variability The process oflanguage learning can be very stressful, and the impact of positive or negative attitudesfrom the surrounding society can be critical Community attitudes towards the languagebeing learnt can have a profound impact on SLA where the community has a broadly

negative view of the target language and its speakers, or a negative view of its relation tothem, learning is typically difficult.

Other common social factors include the attitude of parents towards language studyand the nature of group dynamics in the language classroom It is believed that socialcontext influences in SLA in two indirect but essential ways First, it plays a major role indeveloping in the learner the set of attitudes towards the language being learnt, its speakersand the language learning situation that are hypothesized to influence motivation directly.Second, it determines the social provision of language learning situation and opportunities(Spolsky, B 1998:131).

2.4 Summary

This chapter has presented relevant literature, which has helped to form thetheoretical framework for the study Different definitions about second languageacquisition and different language learning factors have been discussed.

Through what have been mentioned in this chapter, it is important to reconfirm thatin foreign language teaching process, the teachers should pay attention to many factorsaffecting students’ learning then solve out their problems to help the students get higherresults.

In the next chapter, a research will be provided to find out the effects of thesementioned factors on students’ English learning.

CHAPTER 3: DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

3.1 Introduction

This chapter consists of two parts The first part focuses on the context of the study,in which the description of aims and the participants of the study will be given The secondpart is an analysis on the data from the survey questionnaire, class observation and theinterview.

3.2 Context of the study 3.2.1 Aiming

The main purpose of carrying out this study is to investigate the present situation ofteaching and learning English in grade 6 at a remote mountainous secondary school inSonla Furthermore, the major factors affecting English learning of grade 6 ethnic minoritystudents will be identified Basing on the results collected, some suggestions which can beuseful to helps the students learn English better will be given.

3.2.2 Participants

The participants of my study are the 2 teachers and 50 ethnic minority students (40Thái, 7 Kháng, 3 Xá) who are teaching and learning English in grade 6 at Phong LapSecondary School- a school in the specially poor religion- where the newly publishedEnglish book 6 is the main textbook.

3.3 Data collection 3.3.1 The IQ test

The IQ test is designed to simply measure the students’ intelligence The test, whichlasts 10 minutes, has ten questions mainly focus on the linguistic and logical intelligence 1mark will be given to each right answer The students’ intelligence will be measured by thescores.

 High Intelligent: 9-10 marks

 Intelligent: 7-8 marks

 Average: 5-6 marks

 Not intelligent: 3-4 marks

 Not intelligent at all: under 3 marks

3.3.2 Survey questionnaire

To some extent, using survey questionnaire allows the researcher to collect the dataneeded in “quantitative form” Besides, the researcher finds it easy to analyse and reportthe collected data because all informants answer the same questions The questionnaireconsists of 20 questions which belong to 7 parts At first, the learning results of grade 6ethnic minority students will be found in part one (question 1) Part two (question 2) aimsat exploring students’ personality characteristics Next, the social contexts will be madeclear in part three (questions 3-8) In part four, by answering four questions from question9 to 12, the students can express their motivation and attitude towards English Thestudents learning strategies and styles will be shown in part five (questions 13- 15) Then,students’ subjective reflection to their teachers’ teaching strategies is described in part six(questions 16-18) The final part of the questionnaire is made to find out the students’comments on their English textbook, which can help the researcher give some suggestionslater.

3.3.3 Class observation

The author of the study chose classes 6A and 6C to observe All activities, whichthe teachers and students were performing in real classroom settings, were watched andrecorded These enable the researcher to elicit reliable data.

The observation was carried out two times for the same unit in these classes Foreach class, the researcher observed a 45 minute lesson She has set a checklist for herobservation including teachers’ performances, students’ attitudes towards the teachers’activities, their involvement in the lesson, their interaction with each other and the teacheras well as the description of learning condition and classroom facility.

The lesson chosen to be observed belongs to unit 4- Big or Small, Lesson 1- A1, 2.This lesson contains a text which is a description of a school and the possessive “s” form.The content of the lesson is considered not to be very difficult The researcher would liketo observe how the teachers deal with this text and new grammatical item as well as what