Using grammar games to improve the 12th graders’ grammatical competence an action research project at a high school in nghe an

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY TRẦN THỊ NGHĨA USING GRAMMAR GAMES TO IMPROVE THE 12th GRADERS’ GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN NGHE AN MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION Nghe An – 2018 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY TRẦN THỊ NGHĨA USING GRAMMAR GAMES TO IMPROVE THE 12th GRADERS’ GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN NGHE AN Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Code: 8140111 MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION SUPERVISOR: HUỲNH ANH TUẤN, Ph.D Nghe An – 2018 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates, and have not been published elsewhere Author Tran Thi Nghia i TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i TABLE OF CONTENTS ii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii ABSTRACT viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 The significance of the study 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Organization of the study CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Grammar teaching 2.1.1 History of grammar teaching 2.1.2 Grammar and methodology 2.1.3 Development of grammar methods 2.2 Approaches to grammar teaching 2.2.1 Deductive approach 2.2.2 Inductive approach 2.3 Grammatical competence 10 2.3.1 Definition 10 ii 2.3.2 The importance of grammatical competence 11 2.4 Grammar games 12 2.4.1 What is the definition of game? 12 2.4.2 What is the definition of grammar game? 14 2.4.3 Factors affecting the choice of grammar games in improving high school students’ grammatical competence 14 2.4.4 Advantages and disadvantages of using games 17 2.4.5 The role of using grammar games in improving high school students’ grammatical competence 18 2.5 Using grammar games in language teaching 19 2.5.1 Classroom organization 19 2.5.2 The role of the teacher 19 2.5.3 The role of the learners 21 2.5.4 How to use grammar games in class successfully 21 2.6 Review of related studies 23 Chapter METHODOLOGY 25 3.1 Research setting 26 3.1.1 An overview of the high school where the research was done 26 3.1.2 The teachers 26 3.1.3 The students 27 3.1.4 The English Language syllabus 27 3.2 The participants of the research 27 3.3 Research design 28 3.4 Research procedures 29 iii 3.4.1 Cycle 29 3.4.2 Cycle 33 3.4.3 Observation 39 3.4.4 Reflection 39 3.5 Data collection instruments 39 3.5.1 Observation 39 3.5.2 Interview 39 3.5.3 Questionnaire 40 3.5.4 Test 40 3.6 Data collection procedure 42 3.7 Data analysis 43 3.7.1 Research question 43 3.7.2 Research question 44 3.7.3 Research question 45 Chapter FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 46 4.1 The first research question 46 4.2 The second research question 59 4.3 The third research question 52 Chapter CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 55 5.1 Conclusions 55 5.2 Implications 55 5.2.1 Preparing a good lesson plan 56 5.2.2 Organizing the class activities 56 5.2.3 Giving instructions 58 5.2.4 Creating useful grammar games in grammar lessons 59 iv 5.2.5 Providing support 59 5.3 Limitation 59 5.4 Suggestions for further study 60 REFERENCES 61 APPENDICES I Appendix 1: Questionnaires for students I Appendix 2: Questions for the interview II Appendix 3: textbook III Example of grammar games in Tieng Anh 12 Appendix 4: Pre – test XII Appendix 5: Post - test XII Appendix 6: Scoring Rubric of the students’ writing XIII v LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure1 Action research cycles by Kemmis and Mc Taggart 28 Table1 Scoring Rubric of Grammatical Competence 40 Table2 The table of data showing the students’ progressing score in grammatical competence after being taught through grammar games 47 Table3 Table of data showing the students’ responses in learning grammar through grammar games 50 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I especially would like to express my endless gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Huynh Anh Tuan, for his helpful encouragement, constructive comments and precious advice at all stages of the development of this graduation paper There is no doubt that the study would be impossible to be accomplished without his constant assistance I would also like to express my appreciation to all lecturers at department of post graduate studies of Vinh university for the knowledge, guidance and encouragement they give during my study I also address my gratitude to the principal of the high school for giving me permission to conduct the research in the school and the English teachers for help, assistance and cooperation Many thanks are also given to the students of grade 12A10 for being cooperative during the research My sincere thanks also go to my beloved family who always become my motivation especially to finish 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 vii ABSTRACT The objective of this research was to improve grammatical competence of the 12th graders of a high school by using grammar games To carry out the research, the Classroom Action Research is used The researcher conducted two cycles and there are each cycle four elements (planning, action, observation and reflection) in each cycle In order to have the data, the researcher used instruments of observation, interviews, questionnaires and the students’ achievement in the pre-test and post-test to support the data collected Qualitatively and quantitatively are two ways of presenting the data obtained The research findings showed that the grammar games were effective in improving the grammatical competence of the students in the class This can be seen in the improvements among the students after each cycle, specifically the rise in the students’ mean scores in the test results: 48, 97 in the pre-test and 68,3 in the post-test The effectiveness of using grammar games in improving the students’ grammatical competence was also recognized based on the students’ responses that showed their positive attitudes to the teaching method viii 2005 ISBN 978140580064 SCRIVENER, Jim Learning Teaching Oxford: Heinemann, 1994 ISBN 0435240897 UR, Penny Grammar practice activities: a practical guide for teachers.1.vyd Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988 ISBN 9780521338479 UR, Penny A course in Language Teaching Cambridge: CUP, 1991 ISBN 9780521449946 WOODS, Edward Introducing Grammar.1.vyd London: penguin Books Ltd, 1995 ISBN 0140814116 WRIGHT, A.; BETTERIDGE, D.; BUCKBY, M Games for Language Learning Cambridge: CUP, 1984 62 APPENDICES Appendix 1: Questionnaires for students This questionnaire is designed for my research into ―Using grammar games to improve the 12th graders’ grammatical competence: an action research project at a high school in Nghean” To have the data for my study, please answer the following questions by putting an ―X‖ in the box of the appropriate choice Your answer is used for research purposes only Thank you for cooperation Strongly agree Questions I enjoy taking part in the grammar games very much I am satisfied with my performance in the grammar games I put a lot of effort into the grammar games I felt comfortable while working on the grammar games Grammar games change my habit in memorizing the structure of grammar Grammar games create the real need for me to use structures of grammar Grammar games requires me to think critically and work actively Grammar games offered me a chance to use the structures of grammar a lot and in a natural way I suppose that grammar games well prepare me for real-life communications 10 Grammar games offered me a chance to remember the grammar points easily and deeply I agree Somewhat agree Disagree Appendix 2: Questions for the interview Do you often complete the tasks given by the teacher in time? Is it difficult for you to understand the instructions of the tasks clearly? When working in groups, the different levels of members in the groups affect your group’s results? Does the noisy atmosphere affects your thinking of the answers? Do you listen clearly and remember deeply the other group’s presentation? II Appendix 3: Example of grammar games in Tieng Anh 12 textbook The grammar points in Tienganh 12 textbook belong to the part ―Language Focus‖ Time for teaching grammar in this part is about 30-35 minutes Because the time is not much, each game used to teach each grammar points only lasts from to 15 minutes There are from to exercises for practicing grammar structures, so the teacher should choose suitable games And it is very necessary to turn those exercises into games Moreover, before practicing the grammar points through the exercises, the teacher should have short games to revise or present these grammar points Some of these exercises can be used as the students’ homework Unit 1: includes the following grammar points and time for teaching them of about 35 minutes - The past simple, the present perfect Game 1: (7 minutes – to revise the past simple and the present perfect before doing the exercises Visual aids: posters The teacher asks the students to work in four groups: Group 1: write on the poster the formation of the past simple Group 2: write on the poster the usage of the past simple Group 3: write on the poster the formation of the present perfect Group 4: write on the poster the usage of the present perfect The teacher asks the students to comment the writings, then the teacher gives the feedback and give good marks to the group that complete the task well and fastest Game 2: (7 minutes – to practice exercise 1) The teacher asks the students to work individually The teacher calls the first student to answer the first sentence If the student does well his/ her task, he/ she will have the right to choose the other student to the next sentence This student also has the right to choose the next other student if he/ she has the right answer The teacher gives comments III Game 3: (7 minutes – to practice exercise 2) The teacher divides the class into groups The teacher gives each groups the cards in which there are letter A, B, C The teacher lets students discuss the exercise in some minutes Then the teacher reads the number, each group has to decide the answer and raise the card (A, B, or C) that corresponds with the answer The group that raises the card first and have the right answer will get point The group having the most point will be the winner Game 4: (7 minutes – to give more practice to the students) Noughts and crosses Draw a table on the board, like this: o X The teacher divides the class into two teams: Team 1: Noughts, Team 2: Crosses The teacher calls students from teams to go to the board The teacher asks the students from teams to make sentences using the past simple or the present perfect When the student gives a right answer, their team will get one noughts or cross and the student standing near the board will tick on the table When their team make a line of noughts or crosses, they will become the winner The teacher gives comments Unit 3: Grammar point: Reported speech Time: 35 minutes Game 1: to revise reported speech Gossip about the teacher (from BegemTonyali) The teacher asks the students to think about 10 things they want to know about their IV teacher and ask the questions, which are written on the board The class is divided into groups The first group leave the class and wait outside The first group members takes turn in asking the teacher the question the questions and write down the answers Now, they leave and the second group does the same thing However, what they not know is that the teacher is honest and gives correct answers to only one group, but lies to the other It’s a good idea not to tell them beforehand Then, students pair off as 1st and 2nd group partners The activity goes like this and one of the students tells his partner ―I asked the teacher how old she was and she told me she was 16.‖ Then the other partner goes ―I asked the same questions, but she told me she was 36 Etc…until all the questions are reported Here they have to pay attention to the usage of the reporting verbs and have fun in finding which group the teacher lied to Game 2: to practice exercise The teacher asks the students to work individually The teacher calls the first student to answer the first sentence If the student does well his/ her task, he/ she will have the right to choose the other student to the next sentence This student also has the right to choose the next other student if he/ she has the right answer The teacher gives comments Game 3: to give more practice reported speech to the students The teacher divides the class into teams Each team is divided into two groups (group 1: direct speech), group 2: indirect speech) Groups are given cards in which there are some sentences Then the students pairs off as the direct and indirect speech groups The student who has the card whispers the sentence in the card to the partner and this student will write the sentence in indirect speech When the second student finishes writing, the firs student has to glue the card on the board For example: Student whispers: I received a present last night Student writes on the board: My friend said that he had received a present the night before V The activity goes like this and the team that finishes first and has more right sentences will be the winner Unit 4: Grammar points: Passive voice Game 1: (7 minutes – to revise the structure of the passive voice in different tenses) Visual aids: posters The teacher asks the students to work in four groups: Group 1: write on the poster the structure of the passive voice in the simple present tense and the past simple tense Group 2: write on the poster the structure of the passive voice in the simple present continuous tense and the past continuous tense Group 3: write on the poster the structure of the passive voice in the present perfect tense and the past perfect tense Group 4: write on the poster the structure of the passive voice in the simple future and modal verbs The teacher asks the students to comment the writings, then the teacher gives the feedback and give good marks to the group that complete the task well and fastest Game 2: to practice exercise The teacher asks the students to work individually The teacher calls the first student to answer the first sentence If the student does well his/ her task, he/ she will have the right to choose the other student to the next sentence This student also has the right to choose the next other student if he/ she has the right answer The teacher gives comments Game 3: to give more practice exercise The teacher divides the class into teams Each team is divided into two groups (group 1: active), group 2: passive) Groups are given cards in which there are sentences in exercise Then the students pairs off as the active and passive groups The student who has the card whispers the sentence in the card to the partner and the number of the sentence according to the text book and this student VI will write the sentence in passive voice and the number of the sentence For example: Student whispers: Jane hasn’t cleaned the floor yet Student writes on the board: The floor hasn’t been cleaned yet The activity goes like this and the team that finishes first and has more right sentences will be the winner Game 4: to practice exercise 3.The passing ball The teacher prepares a small ball The teacher lets students prepare the exercise in some minutes The teacher explains the rules of the game: The teacher will read the passage When the teacher is reading, the students have to pass the ball to their friends The teacher will stop at the verbs which need to be changed into passive voice When the teacher stops, the teacher who has the ball in hand will have to give the answer (by writing it on the board) The activity goes like this until the teacher finishes reading the passage The teacher asks students look at the answers on the board and give comments Then the teacher gives the feedback Game 5: to practice more about passive voice: passive partners The teacher instructs each student to write five interview style questions to ask a classmate For example: What sports you play? Which language are you learning? The teacher puts the students into pairs Each student in the pair should take turns asking and answering the questions The only rule is that the students must answer using passive voice For instance: Student 1: What sports you play? Student 2: Basketball and football are played by me Student 2: Which language are you learning? Student 1: English is being learnt by me VII If desired, the teacher can ask for a few pairs to ask and answer their questions in front of the class as a demonstration Alternatively, move around the room as the pairs are working together and listen to catch mistakes and fix errors Unit 5: Grammar points: Conditional sentences Game 1: (7 minutes – to revise the structure and the usage of the conditional sentences) Visual aids: posters The teacher asks the students to work in four groups: Group 1: write on the poster the structure of the conditional sentence type Group 2: write on the poster the structure of the conditional sentence type Group 3: write on the poster the structure of the conditional sentence type Group 4: write on the poster the usage of the conditional type 1, 2, The teacher asks the students to comment the writings, then the teacher gives the feedback and give good marks to the group that complete the task well and fastest Game 2: To practice conditional sentence The teacher divides the class into two teams The teacher asks the students to count in each team in order that each student in each team has one number Thus, two students in the class will have the same number The teacher asks each student in the first team to write one If-clause of the conditional sentence type For instance: Student 1: If I go out tonight,……………… Student 2: If he has some money,……………… Student 3: If it is fine today, …………………… The teacher also asks each student in the second team to write one main-clause of the conditional sentence type For instance: Student 1: I will buy a book Student 2: She will meet him The teacher also encourages the student to write the funny clause VIII Then, the teacher will call the number Two students from two team who have the number that the teacher calls will go to the board and write his/her clause and they also write their number For instance: The teacher calls number 1, two students having number go to the board and write: If I go out tonight, ………… I will buy a book The teacher calls number 2, two students having number go to the board and write: If he has some money, ……… She will meet him The activity goes like this Then the teacher lets the students to read all the sentence making from each pair and choose the right sentence and choose the most interesting sentence The pair having the right and the most interesting sentence will become the perfect pair Game 3: To practice the structure in the second conditional sentence The teacher divides the class into four groups and gives each group one poster The teacher gives one sentence, for example: If I were you, I would work hard The students must use the end of this sentence to begin their own sentence, for example: If I worked hard, I would pass the exam If I passed the exam, my parents would be happy…………… Then each group shows the poster on the board The teacher asks the students to read the writings and give comments The groups writing the most right sentences will be the winner Game 4: To practice the structure in the third conditional sentence The teacher prepares some pictures showing real situations in the pasts The teacher divides the class into four groups The teacher asks each group to discuss and write the conditional sentence type basing on the situation in the pictures Then the students show their posters on the board The teacher asks the students to look at the pictures again and give comments to the sentences Finally, the teacher IX gives the feedback The groups writing the most sentences suitable to the situations in the pictures will be the winner Unit 6: Grammar point: Relative pronouns Game 1: to practice exercise 1: add who, whoever, whose, whom or which to complete the following sentences The teachers gets the students to write down ―who, whoever, whose, whom or which‖ on a piece of paper Put one word on each side of paper Then the teacher asks the students to prepare exercise in some minutes The teacher choose the sentences given in exercise (not in order) and reads out the incomplete sentences such as ―There is one person to ……… I owe more than I can say‖ or ―Mrs Brown was the first owner ………… dog won three prizes in the same show‖ The teacher gets the students to hold up the word they think fits the sentence as quickly as possible The activity goes like this and the student who has the most right answer first will be the winner Game 2: to practice exercise The teacher cut apart the sentences in exercise into pieces – the beginning of the sentences, the relative clauses, and the end of the sentences Shuffle all the pieces together and give them to a group of three or four students The students must then work together to assemble each of the sentences correctly with the pieces the teacher have given them using context clues Game 3: to practice more relative pronoun (Chain writing) The teacher has each person in the class start with a blank piece of paper They will write one sentence on the paper that begins with the following: It was the day that…They will then complete the sentence, fold over the top of the paper, and then pass it to the next person That person completes this sentence: There was a girl/boy who… They then fold over the top of the paper and pass it to a third person That person finishes this sentence: She met a girl/boy who… When the fourth person gets the paper, they finished this sentence: They had to defeat a monster that… The fifth and final person finishes this sentence: The X outcome was something that… When all five people have finished their sentences, have them give the papers to the teacher The teacher will then unfold each paper and read the completed story The students are sure to get a laugh from these silly, multi-author stories XI Appendix 4: Pre – test Write an essay on the importance of family in a person’s life Appendix 5: Post - test The teacher asks the students to this task: Suppose you were offered a job with one of the international organizations, which one would you like to choose? Write an essay of about 200 words expressing the reasons why you choose the organization The test runs for 45 minutes The aspects will be assessed by the researcher are: grammar, comprehension, fluency, coherence and vocabulary XII Appendix Scoring Rubric of the students’ writing Categories Grammar Scores The Criteria of scoring The student makes no mistakes in writing and it is acceptable The student sometimes makes some mistakes but it does not influence the meaning The student often makes grammar mistake that influence of meaning The student makes a lot of grammar mistakes that block the meaning and often rearrange the sentence The student has bad grammar mistake so it becomes so hard to understand Comprehension The student can express and understand the idea well and the content is clear The student comprehends the ideas in all although there is repeating in certain part The student comprehends the ideas but there are some repetition The student is difficult to follow what he/she wrote The student does not comprehend although in simple idea Fluency The student is able to write fluently The student’s fluency is having a little disruption by language problem The student makes some mistakes in language problem The student makes some mistakes because of limited language XIII The student makes a lot of mistakes because of limited language Coherence The student is able to write coherently The student’s fluency is having a little disruption by language problem The student makes some mistakes in language problem The student makes some mistakes because of limited language The student makes a lot of mistakes because of limited language Vocabulary Use of vocabulary and idioms is virtually that of native speaker Sometimes uses inappropriate terms and must rephrases ideas because of lexical and equities Frequently uses the wrong words conversion somewhat limited because of inadequate vocabulary Misuse of words and very limited vocabulary makes comprehension quite difficult Vocabulary limitation so extreme as to make conversation virtually impossible ( Adapted from Brown,2004,p.147) XIV ... understand the situation of teaching and learning English grammar at a high school in Nghe an; the application of games in teaching grammar for the 12th graders at the school Thanks to it, I will find...MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY TRẦN THỊ NGH? ?A USING GRAMMAR GAMES TO IMPROVE THE 12th GRADERS’ GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN NGHE AN. .. taught at school That means learning a language through grammatical rules and mainly translation Speaking played a second role In the 19th century, grammar - translation method appeared Richard and