A study on the use of speaking activities to facilitate 11th graders grammar acquisition

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY ĐẶNG NGỌC TUẤN A STUDY ON THE USE OF SPEAKING ACTIVITIES TO FACILITATE 11th GRADERS' GRAMMAR ACQUISITION MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION Nghe An, 2018 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY ĐẶNG NGỌC TUẤN A STUDY ON THE USE OF SPEAKING ACTIVITIES TO FACILITATE 11th GRADERS' GRAMMAR ACQUISITION Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Code: 8140111 MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION SUPERVISOR: Trần Bá Tiến, Ph.D Nghe An, 2018 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is original The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates, and have not been published elsewhere Author Đặng Ngọc Tuấn i ABSTRACT This study was carried out to survey the effectiveness of the use of speaking activities to facilitate 11th graders’ grammar acquisition and the attitude of students toward teaching and learning English grammar In addition, there are some English teaching suggestions recommended to improve the grammar teaching method The participants were divided into two groups, each of which had 38 students One served speaking activities in learning grammar and the other did not Before the treatment, all participants did a general English test Besides, the results of a pretreatment test, two post-treatment tests and two questionnaires were administered to achieve the objectives of the study The analysis of the results of the tests showed that using speaking activities is an effective teaching technique which should be widely exploited in teaching and learning grammar The results of the questionnaires indicated that the use of speaking activities had positively changed the students' attitudes towards learning grammar Based on the findings, implications for teaching and learning the speaking skill and suggestions for the future research were also proposed ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Trần Bá Tiến, Ph.D for his helpful encouragement, precious advice and his excellent guidance during my completion of this research And actually, but for his detailed guidance, the study would not have been completed Second, I would like to thank all the lecturers at Department of post graduate at Vinh university for the useful knowledge, guidance and encouragement they have given me during my study Also, I would like to show my sincere gratitude to the principal for giving my permission to conduct the research in the school, and I would like to send my thanks to all the teachers of English and students at the upper secondary school where I conducted the research for their valuable comments, cooperation, willingness to participate in the investigation and accompanying with me during the research Besides, I wish to express my special gratitude to my family and friends who are always beside me and always facilitated my completion of this thesis Finally, I realized that this thesis is still far from being perfect Therefore, any criticisms, ideas and suggestions for the improvement of this thesis are highly appreciated iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENTS .iv LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix Chapter INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Organization Chapter LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definitions of grammar 2.2 The role of grammar in foreign language teaching and learning 2.2.1 Arguments in favor of grammar teaching 2.2.2 Arguments against teaching grammar 2.3 Grammar in communicative activities 2.3.1 Approaches to grammar teaching 2.3.2 Inductive and Deductive Instruction 2.4 Methods of teaching and learning grammar 2.4.1 The Grammar Translation method .10 2.4.2 The Direct Method 10 2.4.3 The Audio- lingual Method 11 2.4.4 Communicative language teaching (CLT) 11 2.5 Common stages of grammar teaching 18 2.5.1 Presentation 19 2.5.2 Practice .20 iv 2.5.3 Production 20 2.6 The similarities between practice and production stage .21 2.7 Differences between practice and production stage 21 2.8 Difficulties in learning grammar 22 2.9 Speaking activities 23 2.9.1 The benefits of using speaking activities in teaching grammar 23 2.9.2 Types of speaking activities .24 2.9.3 Some speaking activities in teaching English grammar 25 Chapter METHODOLOGY 29 3.1 Research questions 29 3.2 Participants .29 3.3 Materials .30 3.4 Instruments for collecting the data 31 3.4.1 Instrument 1: questionnaires 31 3.4.2 Instrument 2: Tests 32 3.5 Data analysis procedure 33 Chapter FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 34 4.1 General English test results 34 4.1.1.The general test scores of both groups 34 4.2 Questionnaire Analysis 36 4.2.1 Pre questionnaire .36 4.2.2 Post questionnaire .44 4.3 The test results .46 4.3.1 The pre-treatment test result .46 4.3.2 The post – treatment test results .46 4.3.2.1 The first post- treatment test result of using speaking activities to facilitate grammar 46 4.3.2.2 The second post- treatment test result of using speaking activities to facilitate grammar 49 4.3.2.3 Result of average scores on the first post- treatment test and the second post- treatment test on grammar by participants from two groups .52 v 4.4 Discussion 56 4.4.1 Students’ evaluation of the use of speaking activities to teach grammar .57 4.4.2 Effects of speaking activities on grammar acquisition .57 Chapter CONCLUSION 59 5.1 Summary of the main findings 59 5.2 Pedagogical implications .60 5.2.1 Implication for speaking activity application 60 5.2.2 Suggestions for speaking activities in grammar lessons 62 5.3 Limitations of the study 63 5.4 Suggested further research .64 REFERENCES 65 AppendiCES vi LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: The grammar function in the units in Tieng Anh 11 30 Table 4.1: The average total scores and standard deviations of general English test in group A and group B .36 Table 4.2: Students’comments on teachers’ speaking activity methods in practice and production stages .42 Table 4.3: The frequency of applying speaking activities 43 Table 4.4: The mean and standard deviations of grammar scores of the pre treatment test for both groups 46 Table 4.5: Mean and standard deviations of grammar scores on the first half of the experiment course for both groups 49 Table 4.6: Means and standard deviation of the second post- treatment test for the treatment and control groups 51 Table 4.7: Result of average scores on the first post -treatment test and the second post-treatment test on grammar by participants from two groups 53 Table 4.8: Mean and standard deviations of grammar average scores of the experiment course for both groups 56 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1: The comparison of the general English test result of all participants 34 Figure 4.2: The percentage of the general English test result of Group A 35 Figure 4.3: The percentage of the general English test result of group B .35 Figure 4.4: The role of English grammar of all participants .37 Figure 4.5: Students’ interest toward English grammar of all participants .38 Figure 4.6: The reason why students studied English grammar 38 Figure 4.7: Opinions of students to types of practice in grammar of all participants .39 Students’ preference to forms of interaction in oral grammar 40 Figure 4.8: Figure 4.9: The frequency of all participants about difficulties in learning a new structure 40 Figure 4.10: Students’ difficulties in using speaking activities in grammar practice .41 Figure 4.11: Students’ opinions towards the use of speaking activities to teach grammar 44 Figure 4.12: Students’ opinions of getting a chance to learn many different uses of languages while learning grammar through speaking activities 45 Figure 4.13: The first post-treatment test scores on grammar of the control group and the treatment group 47 Figure 4.14:The percentage of the first post-treatment test of participants’scores about grammar 47 Figure 4.15: The second post –treatment test scores about grammar of the control group and the treatment group 49 Figure 4.16: The percentage of the second post treatment test scores about grammar in the treatment group .50 Figure 4.17: The percentage of the second post-treatment test scores about grammar in the control group 50 Figure 4.18: The percentage of the first post-treatment test and the second post treatment test on grammar by participants from two groups 54 viii D Other reasons ( please specify) ………… Question 4: Which type of practice would you prefer using in learning grammar? A Speaking practice B Written practice Question 5: Which type of interaction would you like oral grammar practice to be organized? A Individually B Pair work C Group work D Whole class Question 6: What makes you difficult in learning a new structure? Options Often Sometimes Rarely Never A Confused about the form B Do not understand the meanings clearly C Do not know how to apply it D Difficult to use it when communicating Question 7: What difficulties you encounter when doing grammar practice orally? A You are shy of speaking in front of class B You can’t concentrate because the class was noisy C You don’t have enough time to cosummate the tasks D You have much pressure when participating in it E Other things (Please specify) Question 8: In practice and production stages, what does your teacher usually ? Options A Ask students to give examples in turn B Only ask students to exercises in the textbooks C Give different tasks for students to participate in D Other ways Question 9: How often are you given the following communicative practice activities to learn English grammar in class? Options A games B Role play C Discussion D Information gap E Telling story activity F Communicative drills G Reconstruction activity Often Sometimes Rarely Never APPENDIX POST-TREATMENT QUESTIONNAIRE DELIVERED TO STUDENTS The post treatment questionnaire here includes questions, they are used to investigate students’ opinions towards the use of speaking activities in the treatment class after 16 weeks and getting a chance to learn many different uses of languages, which helps them acquire the language more accurately and fluently while learning grammar through speaking activities All of their answers will be signigicant data of the research The researcher will explain if necessary to make sure that students understand all Question 1: What you think of the speaking activities your teachers used in teaching grammar? A very interesting B rather interesting C interesting D uninteresting Question 2: While learning grammar through speaking activities , I can learn many different uses of languages, which helps me acquire the language more accurately and fluently A Strongly agree B Agree C Disagree D Neutral E Strongly disagree APPENDIX GENERAL ENGLISH TEST Task 1: Look at the text in each question What does it say? Mark the correct letter A, B or C on your answer sheet A Juan will sell Maria his guitar if she wants it B Pedro has a guitar which Maria might want to buy C Juan would prefer to sell his guitar to Pedro A The homework given out on Friday must be returned by Monday B Students who wish to hand in their homework on Monday should tell Mr Peters C Anyone having problems with their homework may have extra time to complete it What does Dan have to A Remember to make sure his football shirt is clean in time for the match B Remember where he put the football shirt that he needs for the match C Remember to wash his football shirt after the match What does Sarah need to know? A if Janine will be available to go to the restaurant B if the food at the restaurant will be all right for Janine C if Janine wants to see the restaurant menu before Saturday A Part of the pool is not deep enough for diving B Diving is forbidden in all areas of the pool C The far end of the pool is reserved for divers only Task 2: Look at the sentences below about sports courses available in Newport Read the text on the opposite page to decide if each sentence is correct or incorrect If it is correct, mark A on your answer sheet If it is not correct, mark B on your answer sheet Citisport can send their own instructors to schools in the area If the sport you want is unavailable, Citisport will set up a course for you The golf lessons can take place even in bad weather It is necessary to join the Kingsway Golf Centre in order to practise there Citisport in Newport Weat Citisport aim to improve Sports training and facilities in Newport, giving you more opportunity to try both new and traditional sports, As well as running our own courses, Citisport can also provide sports advisers and qualified coaches for youth groups, schools and colleges in and around Newport And if you can't find the sport you want to take up, let us know and we'll try to find you a local club which will help you Golf We are pleased to be able to offer lessons at Kingsway Golf Centre just outside Newport These are run by experienced golf professionals, and are held on an all-weather practice area The Centre also has Pay and Play golf facilities so you can continue to play and make progress after the lessons have finished These facilities are available to all players, whether or not they are members of the Centre The adult lessons are open to anyone aged 13 and over, and are suitable for all levels from beginners upwards These take place on Wednesdays from 3.00 to 4.00 pm over a period of six weeks Children's lessons for 7—1 year olds are held from 2.00 to 3.00 pm on Saturdays during term time Tennis The Citisport tennis courses provide an opportunity for local people to develop their skills on the brand new indoor tennis court at Newport Leisure Centre All equipment can be provided, but please feel free to use your own racket if you prefer Our Starter course is held on Mondays from -.00 to 8.00 pm, and is for beginners of 12 years and over Our Improver course, which takes place on Tuesdays from 8.00 to 9.00 pm, is for players with some experience Football for girls By popular request, Citisport is holding another one-day, girls-only football course This aims to give local girls, whether new or experienced players, the chance to learn essential skills and develop more advanced ones One of Newport City Football Club's players will come along to take part in a question and answer session during the day The course fee of £30 includes morning and afternoon refreshments Please bring a packed lunch The course will take place on Saturday, 9th November from 9.00 to 5.00 pm, and is open to all girls aged 10—14 years living in the Newport area Gymnastics This course is for beginners aged 8—14 and will provide an introduction to basic skills There is a maximum of six pupils per coach in each class At the end of the course there is a demonstration for friends and family of all the skills learnt there Thursdays, 6.00 to 7.00 pm Task 3: Read the text below and choose the correct word for each space For each question, mark the correct letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet Birth of the Movies Did you know that cinema is more than 100 years old? Moving pictures (10) invented by the brothers Louis and Auguste Lumière The first showing of a moving picture or 'movie' (11) place in a cinema in Paris on 28th December 1895 On that day, the Lumière brothers showed movies (12) their newly-invented machine, called the CinematograPhe The audience saw a funny film in (13) a gardener spilt a lot of water on (14) accident Everyone really loved it! 10 A were B did C had D got 11 A found B took C went D gave 12 A doing B making C setting D using 13 A where B who C which D what 14 A yourself B himself C themselves D itself Task 4: by Here are some sentences about schools in Britain For each question, complete the second sentence so that it means the same as the first Use no more than three words Write only the missing words on your answer sheet 15 It costs nothing to attend a state school It doesn’t cost to attend a state school 16 City schools are usually larger than schools in the country Schools in the country are not as city schools 17 Uniforms must be worn by children in some schools Children must uniforms in some schools 18 Each class has about thirty children In each class are about thirty children 19 Children can buy hot lunches at most schools At most schools .possible for children to buy hot lunches Task 5: There six questions in this part For each question, there are three pictures and a short recording For each question, choose the correct answer A, B or C 20 Which T-shirt does the boy decide to buy? 21 Who will be on the stage next? 22 What time will the pie be ready? 23 Which photo does the girl dislike? 24 What should the students take on the school trip? 25 Where the boys decide to go? _ THE END APPENDIX PRE-TREATMENT TEST ON GRAMMAR I Finish each of the following sentences in such a way that it means the same as the sentence printed before it Hurry up or we will be late for the last bus  If ……………………………………………… He had a flu because he went out in the rain last night  If ……………………………………………… Stop talking or you won’t understand the lesson  Unless ………………………………………… She doesn’t have enough money, so she can’t buy the dictionary  If ……………………………………………… II Finish each of the following sentences Using the structure “it is / was that” She bought the car from Tom ………………………………………………………………… My secretary sent the bill to Mr Harding yesterday ………………………………………………………………… I was born and grew up in the village ………………………………………………………………… This girl was bitten by the dog yesterday ………………………………………………………………… III Combine each pair of sentences into one, using relative clauses: 9.The police have caught a man He stole £10,000 from a bank ………………………………………………………………………………… 10.These are the books I use them in the class ………………………………………………………………………………… 11.I like the town You live there ………………………………………………………………………………… 12.Do you like the song? ; we listened to it last night ………………………………………………………………………………… 13.Many diseases are no longer dangerous People died of them years ago ………………………………………………………………………… 14.The matter is very important You should pay attention to it ……………………………………………………………………………… IV Reduce the following relative clauses, using Participle Phrases: 15.The man who teaches my son is my friend ………………………………………………………………………………… 16.We are driving on the road which was built in 1980 ……………………………………………………………………………… 17.I saw many houses that were destroyed by the storm ………………………………………………………………………………… 18.Do you know the woman who made a very interesting speech last night? ………………………………………………………………………………… V Reduce the following relative clauses, using To- infinitives: 19.John was the last person who left the room ………………………………………………………………………………… 20.He was the first man that was interviewed yesterday ………………………………………………………………………………… APPENDIX THE FIRST POST-TREATMENT TEST ON GRAMMAR I Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions If Jake …………… to go on the trip, would you have gone? A doesn’t agree B didn’t agree C hadn’t agreed D wouldn’t agree If energy …………… inexpensive and unlimited, many things in the world would be different A is B will be C would be D were Unless you …………… all of my questions, I cannot anything to help you A answered B answer C would answer D are answering If I had enough money,…………… A I will buy that house B I am buy that house C I can buy that house D I could buy that house If he…………… that she was in the hospital, he …………… to see her A knows/ will come B knew/ would come C had known/ would have come D has known/will have come If everything is all right, we …………… our work on time A complete B are completing C have completed D will complete When someone …………… you a present, it is a custom to give them in return A give B gives C will give D has given I threw my old trainers and bought some new …………… A ones B one C some D any There is …………… waiting outside to see you She did not tell me her name A no one B anyone C someone D everyone 10 There are two films on TV this evening Which …………… would you prefer to see? A one B ones C someone 11 “We all know the man is a thief, don’t we?” D anyone – “Yes, …………… knows, but ………… dares to say so publicly” A someone/ no one B everyone/ no one C anyone/ no one D anyone/ someone 12 I would like to offer a small reward to who finds my missing dog A someone B anyone C no one D one 13 Nobody …………….late for the meeting last night, were they? A were B is C was D are II Finish each of the following sentences in such a way that it means the same as the sentence printed before it 14 Hurry up or we will be late for the last bus  If ……………………………………………… 15 He had a flu because he went out in the rain last night  If ……………………………………………… 16 Stop talking or you will not understand the lesson  Unless ……………………………………………… 17 She does not have enough money, so she cannot buy the dictionary  If ……………………………………………… III Mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the underlined part that needs correction in each of the following questions 18 This bag is very old I need a new ones A B C D 19 The room is empty Where is anyone? A B C D 20 We did not meet no one on our way back last night? A B C D APPENDIX 10 THE SECOND POST-TREATMENT TEST ONGRAMMAR (Relative clauses - conjunctions-cleft sentences) I Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions The boy to ………… we talked last night is a very successful student A who B whom C whose D that What’s the name of the blonde girl ………… just came in? A who B whose C whom D A & B are correct Mexico City, ……… has a population of over 10 million, is probably the fastest growing city in the world A which B whose C that D where This is Henry, …… sister works for my father A who B whose C that D whom Could you iron the trousers …………… are hanging up behind the door? A who B which C that D B & C are correct The man………… we met yesterday has much experience in climbing mountains A who B that C whom D all are correct 34) The house ………………… I was born is for sale A in which B where C that D in where The composition …………… by Jane was really interesting A to write B writing C wrote D written I want you to meet the woman ……………… A who teach me how to drive B teaching me how to drive C that is taught me how to drive D who is taught me how to drive 10 We don’t know the reason …………… Peter is absent today A who B which C that D why 11 ……… Son and Vinh like English But Neither of them likes literature A None B Both C Either D Neither 12 ………… she nor I am responsible for that It isn’t our duty A Either B None C Neither D Both 13 My parents want me …………… to study ………… to behave well A either/or B neither/nor C either/both D not only/but also 14 The hotel is neither spacious…….… A or comfortable B nor comfortable C or comfort D nor comfort 15 It was Tam that …… … a bicycle as a scholarship A was given B gave C had given D has given 16 He was the first man …………………the burning building A whom left B leaving C to leave D left II Finish each of the following sentences Using the structure “it is / was that” 17 She bought the car from Tom ………………………………………………………………… 18 My secretary sent the bill to Mr Harding yesterday ………………………………………………………………… 19 I was born and grew up in the village ………………………………………………………………… 20 This girl was bitten by the dog yesterday ………………………………………………………………… ... questions What is the students’ evaluation of the use of speaking activities to teach grammar ? Does the use of speaking activities improve 11th graders? ?? grammar acquisition? 3.2 Participants The. .. the use of speaking activities to facilitate 11th graders? ?? grammar acquisition and the attitude of students toward teaching and learning English grammar In addition, there are some English teaching... decided to the research “ A study on the use of speaking activities to facilitate 11th graders? ?? grammar acquisition? ?? With the hope that this study will provide some useful speaking activities