Luận văn A study on how oral practice can change TNH 10th graders' attitudes towards grammar learning

ifying nouns. Further more, expansions also give students the opportunity to create new and original sentences from a basic one ,often in a competitive atmosphere. CUE: The lady is crossing the street now. STUDENT A : The tired old lady is crossing the quiet street now. STUDENT B : The boy is crossing the main busy street at the moment. * Deletions Deletions are the reverse of expansions. Example : Delete the negative elements in the following sentences, making any necessary changes. CUE : We don’t like coffee. RESPONSE: We like coffee. CUE : He didn’t leave. RESPONSE : He left. e.Response practice: We all know that all oral exercises are forms of response practice . In the particular types referred to here, question- answer or answer- question procedures are used. Response practice can be devided into three sub- classes: * Question- answer practice : Students can practise the structure of questions through conversion exercises. This type of exercise is useful for such things as forms and uses of tenses, pronouns and cleft sentences, which make clear information focus. It’s usually associated with a picture, slide, or film reading material, film, some project or activity, or a game. Example : Students have been reading about or viewing a film of the adventures of a group of young people in Boston. Through this conversation, a lot of situations can be created in the classroom for both asking questions and obtaining answers. Q. Why didn’t they come home before midnight? A . They didn’t come home because there were fireworks over the river. It was the Fourth of July. Q. Do you often stay out late at night ? A. No, I go home early because I’m always hungry. * Answer- question practice: Answer- question practice takes place when the teacher, or a student, has the answer and the others have to find out what it is. This kind of exercise happens naturally and excitingly in such games as Twenty Questions, Who and What. In this game, a student thinks of someone or something . The players, by asking questions to which A may reply only yes or no, narrow the field of possibilities until they are able to guess the person or object in questions .Before the game is lost , twenty questions may be asked only. * Rejoinders : In English and in other languages, there are conventional ways of responding to the utterances of others which ease social relations and make communication less effortful : ways of agreeing, disagreeing, expressing surprise, astonishment, pleasure,…These responses are often not taught in any systematic way to students of English . Some rejoinders will be learned incidentally because teachers will use them very often , others can be practised in an oral exercise from time to time . Example : Listen to the following sentences and respond to each with an appropriate rejoinder or exclamation. CUE: Good bye and see you at the cafe’ near the school. RESPONSE : ok f. Translation exercises : River and Temperly indicate that translation exercises have slipped into disfavor lately. This is not because translation itself is reprehensible. In fact, it is a natural process with many practical uses. Oral translation drills can be useful where the students learning English share the same first- language background. A series of sentences in the native language is given to elicit rapid formulation of the English equivalents. We may design the series in order to elicit a series of utterances in a tense being practised. (e.g., she’s leaving, we are reading, they are singing, etc.. ). Briefly, such kinds of oral practice are very structured way to introduce students to a new grammatical item. However, most of the oral drills tend to be mechanical and less communicative as requires little free communication from students. 2.5.2.2. Personalized activities This activity is made in a way that students practise grammar while being required to talk about themselves in an involved way at the same time. Teachers ask students to discuss things that affect their personality and to use this subject matter as focus for their grammar practice . In order to make practice drill more involving , teachers can get students to contribute something of their own with teachers’ instructions and encouragement. Example : Students are practising the present progressive tense . They work in groups and one after the other has to say something which is happening at the moment of speaking -> This is Kim Anh. She is talking in class now. -> This is Minh Quan. He isn’t talking now. He is drawing. This activity is named chain drill, it is not very mechanical. For this activity, students can practise the form of a grammatical item they have just learned. 2.5.2.3. Interactive activities One of the problems, as mentioned earlier, about drills is that they are fairly monotonous. Some ways must be found to make controlled language practice more enjoyable and more meaningful , one of which is by using interactive activities . These are designed in such a way that students work together , exchanging information in a purposeful and interesting way . The following example of using charts can illustrate an interactive activity : Example : Students have to write down one of their classmate’s name. Then they ask that student the following questions: What’s your favourite T V programme ? When did you last see your favourite T Vprogramme ? How often do you see your favourite T V programme ? Students can move round the classroom asking as many classmates as possible these questions and fill in the chart with their answers. After finishing the survey, students can report the findings. 2.5.2.4. Games Without games in class , lessons can’t be attractive to students. Games can be an integrated part of the teaching syllabus. At any stage of language teaching process –when teaching new language items (presentation, controlled practice, communicative practice, or consolidation) or when revising previously presented language items ,teachers can use games ,provided that they are suitable to each stage’s purposes. Students can gradually realize the English grammar structures by doing games- like activities. During the lesson, students can explore the context and discover the new language rules themselves. Students have many chances to play games- to practise communicating through oral activities. If the topics of the game chosen are suitable and interesting , students can take part in the lesson more actively and enthusiastically and thus find the grammar lesson very useful to them. For example: In Unit one- A DAY IN A LIFE OF…- Writing period (sgk lớp 10 –ban cơ bản). Teacher (T) warms students (Ss) up by having them play a game called Noughts and Crosses . T divides the whole class into 2 groups : Noughts and Crosses. T puts the poster on the table. Ss look at the poster : At first before then in the end since then after that after as soon as until till while at that time one day when finally therefore T asks Ss to choose word by word in the cells and make sentences with each word. The 2 groups take turns to choose word by word to make sentences. A correct sentence gets one O or X . The group with 3 O or X vertically, horizontally, or diagonally first will be the winner. Of course, the sentences they make must be grammatically correct and make sense. After finding out the winner, T stops the activity and gives feedback. The game not only helps Ss to practise a grammatical item but also creates a relaxing environment and motivation for them to do the practice effectively. In summary, when grammar is taught with oral practice activities and used as a means of communication rather than as a means for correcting the mechanics and accuracy of sentences, it becomes more purposeful so there is a more motivating focus for classroom learning. Students are more interested in learning English. As the result, they will acquire more knowledge of English grammar .It means that oral English grammar practice brings positive attitudes towards learning English grammar. 2.6. Conclusion Briefly, this presents the literature related to the study. Not only the definition, the role of attitudes as well as the factors influencing students’ attitudes towards English grammar learning, but also Communicative Language Teaching and oral grammar practice are also viewed to figure out the most suitable techniques for effective English grammar teaching. Applying these techniques, the researcher wishes to discover how they can change Tran Nguyen Han High School students’ attitudes towards grammar learning. The following will focus on the research methodology . CHAPTER III : METHODOLOGY In the preceding , the literature on the research topic was briefly reviewed to form the theoretical basis for the whole study. Turning to the practice side, this study was carried out with strict adherence to justified methods of data collection and analysis in order to maximize its vavidity and reliability. This claim would be subtaintiated in this as the participants, the instruments as well as the data analysis are discussed in detail. 3.1. Study design This study aims at measuring the effect of oral grammar practice on students’ attitudes. The researcher gives pre- questionnaire and post-questionnaire . The following design is applied to carry out this study. Pre-treatment questionnaire :O Treatment : X compare Post- treatment questionnaire :O O is dependent variable (attitude) and X is independent variable (oral English grammar practice). X is the treatment administered to the subjects. The difference between the pre- and post- questionnaire scores is taken as an index of the effectiveness of the treatment condition. 3.2. Research questions a. What are the 10th grade students’ attitudes towards grammar learning when traditional teaching methods are used? b. How can oral practice change positively Tran Nguyen Han 10th graders’ attitudes towards English grammar learning ? 3.3. Subjects of the study The subjects of the study were 200 students from class 10 C1,C2,C3,C4 at Tran Nguyen Han High School. All of them were born in 1993 in Hai Phong and they are both male and female. Many of them come from comparatively poor families so their learning condition is not good enough. Their parents can hardly afford to pay even small amount of money for their children’s schooling. A dictionary, a cassette player or even some English books are beyond their reach. Their tools are “Grade 10 English books” only. In addition to this, their lack of awareness of the importance of English as well as their teachers’ teaching method leads to their negative attitudes towards learning English. Although most of them already learnt English for at least four years at lower secondary school, their knowledge of English is still poor and limited. Hardly can they say a correct sentence in the target language. 3.4. Data collection instruments The data was obtained with different instruments : experiment questionnaires and interviews . 3.4.1. Questionnaires As for Gillham (2000), questionnaire is considered the most appropriate research instrument for gathering information concerning the attitudes of the respondents. There are three reasons. Firstly, as the respondents want to remain anonymous, information from questionnaire can be confidential. It is hoped that people will undoubtedly fell freer in an anonymous style of responding. Secondly, a questionnaire is easy to administer enabling the researcher to survey a large number of respondents. Thirdly, the respondents can complete the questionnaire whenever it suits them. Moreover, this is a confirmatory research study. To gather data for the research, two questionnaires were administered : the pre- questionnaire focused on students’ conventional attitudes towards grammar learning; the post- treatment questionnaire was given to measure possible changes in students attitudes as the result of actual use of oral grammar practice in class. * Pre- treatment questionnaire There are10 items in the pre-questionnaire. The purpose of this research is to investigate the students’ conventional attitudes towards English grammar learning. Students have to choose the best option which best describles their opinions . * Post- treatment questionnaire The 10 items of an attitude scale were used to find out changes in students’ attitudes towards English grammar learning in the post- treatment phrase. 3.4.2. Interviews This study aims at finding out the students’ attitude towards grammar acquisition when it’s taught either in traditional way or through oral grammar practice. It is not of naturalistic inquiry by nature, therefore the researcher choses the structured interview so as to achieve consistence. In the pre- treatment interview, students are asked 5 questions. The questions focus on students’ awareness of the importance of grammar, students’ interests in grammar learning as well as their comment on grammar teaching. Students are asked 5 other questions in the post- treatment interview after oral grammar practice was applied in teaching. 3.5. Study procedures The experiment was conducted in 15 weeks from the beginning of October. The subjects are students from 4 grade 10 classes.The procedures to carry out the study are as followed: Week 1 and week 2 : Pre- treatment questionnaire and interview Pre- treatment questionnaire and pre- treatment interview were conducted with the involvement of 200 students in week 1 and week 2 to identify the students’ current attitudes towards English grammar learning. Week 3 -14: Experimental lessons The time for experimental teaching was 12 weeks. Each week had 1 period of grammar (45 minutes). The researcher herself was in charge of teaching 12 lessons to these four experimental classes with the application of oral grammar practice. Three or four oral communicative activities were used in each lesson and the students were encouraged to participate in. These oral English grammar practice activities were taken from different sources such as textbooks, reference books, and magazines. Week 15 : Post- treatment questionnaire and post- treatment interview After the application of oral grammar practice, the post – treatment questionnaire and interview were given to the same 200 students of the 4 experimental classes to identify changes in the students’ attitudes towards English grammar learning 3.6. Data analysis Data were collected from different sources : questionnaires , interviews . Pre- treatment questionnaire and interview were used to find out students’ conventional attitudes towards English grammar learning. After that the results of post – treatment questionnaire and interview were compared to find out whether there were changes in students’ attitudes towards grammar learning after the application of oral English grammar practice. The interviews data served to support the data obtained from the survey questionnaires. CHAPTER IV- DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 4.1.Questionnaires 4.1.1. Data analysis of the students’ experiment questionnaires 4.1.1.1. Data analysis of pre- questionnaires The data obtained from the students’ questionnaires will be discussed to find out the students’ conventional attitudes towards English grammar before the application of oral English grammar practice. Graph 1: Students’ opinion of the importance of English grammar for language learning. Source: Question 1, pre- experiment questionnaire. As can be seen in graph 1, most students (97.5%) state English grammar is necessary for their language learning. Only 2.5% of the students have opposite ideas with that point of view. Thus, the majority of the students realizes the importance of English grammar in their language learning. Graph 2: The reasons why English grammar is important in language learning. Source : Question 2, pre- experiment questionnaire. With regard to the reasons why they think English grammar is necessary, all of the students believe that English grammar helps combine words into sentences to express ideas and feelings…, 96% of the students report English grammar assists the learners in memorizing and using the language appropriately in communication, 93.5% of the students agree that English grammar is essential in developing various language skills to reach the aim of communication, 90% of them say English grammar helps develop the learner’s self- confidence in using language. 6.5% of the students have the other ideas. Graph 3: Students’ opinions of learning English grammar. Source: Question 3, pre- experiment questionnaire. Graph 3 illustrates that the largest number of students (91%) say they don’t enjoy learning English grammar, only 9 % of them enjoy learning it. Graph 4 : Students’ impression of learning English grammar at school. Source : Question 4, pre- experiment questionnaire. According to the data in graph 4, students’ feedbacks on learning English grammar at school sound very dull. 97.5% of the students asked say that English grammar learning at school is boring and 95.5% of the students consider learning English grammar at school stressful. No student thinks English is interesting, relaxing, and enjoyable. Basing on graph 4, we know that the students don’t like learning English grammar. c b a e d Graph 5: Factors influence students’ attitudes towards grammar learning. Source : Question 5, pre-experiment questionnaire. On defining the factors that influence students’ attitudes towards grammar learning, their opinions vary. It is no surprise that all students agree the good teaching method has great influence on students’ attitudes towards grammar learning. 90% of the students state that English teachers’ proficiency and rich knowledge also influence the students’ attitudes towards grammar learning. Only 10% of the students disagree with this idea. The majority of the students (85%) report the suitability of the syllabus for English grammar is one of the factors which influence students’ attitudes towards grammar learning . In contrast, the minority of the students (15%) disagree with this point. More than half of the students (55%) disagree that difficult English grammar may influence their attitudes towards grammar learning. Nearly half of them (45%) agree with this idea. d c b a Graph 6: Students’ opinions of English grammar teaching at school. Source : Question 6, pre-experiment questionnaire. When asked about their opinions of English grammar teaching at school, 70% of the students disagree that the teaching English grammar at school is suitable, only 30% of them agree with that idea. 72.5% of them don’t think that the teaching English grammar at their school is motivating, 70% of them don’t think it is suitable, 77.5% of them don’t think it is effective. Only 27.5% of the students agree that it is motivating, 22.5% of them think it is effective. None of them has any other opinions. f a e d c b Graph 7: Teaching techniques to present new English grammar structures . Source : Question 7, pre- experiment questionnaire. Findings from graph 7 indicate that a large number of students (98.5%) report that their teachers often give meaning and explained the rules of new grammar structures in Vietnamese, and 1.5% of the students say they sometimes use this technique when teachers present a new grammar structure. 100% of the students report their teachers explain the rules of new English grammar structures in English.75% of the students reveal that they are rarely given examples of new structures, 25% of them say they never use this technique. It’s no surprise to know that 100% of the students say their teachers never apply the two techniques “give situations in which the structure is used” and “use structure to talk about the real situation in the classroom or Ss’ life”. e d c b a Graph 8 : Activities students get involved in class to practise new grammar structures. Source : Question 8, pre- experiment questionnaire. Data in graph 8 reveals the activities the students get involved in class to practise new grammar structures and the frequency of doing them. All students (100%) say they often do written grammar exercises in textbook. 93.5% of the students report they often do written grammar exercises in textbook or workbook. Only 6.5% of the students report they sometimes do written grammar exercises in textbook and workbook. 88.5% of the students state they sometimes do written grammar exercises outside textbook and workbook. 11.5% of them reveal that they often do written grammar exercises outside textbook and workbook. None of them say they rarely or never do. It’s quite surprising to see that 100% of the students report they never do grammar practice orally. Graph 9: Students’ expectations. Source : Question 9, pre- experiment questionnaire. Graph 9 illustrates that 100% of the students would feel happy if the teachers change the teaching methods and techniques in presenting and practising new grammar structures. It indicates that the current grammar teaching methods and techniques in presenting and practising new grammar structures of the teachers are very boring and not suitable. Graph 10: Students’ suggestions of changes in teaching methods and techniques. Source: Question 10, Pre- questionnaire. 90% of the students think games should be introduced in the grammar lessons. 80% of them think pair- works. 20% of them think group- works. And 10% of them reveal that they like videos. From these figures, we realize that the students want their grammar lessons more exciting and relaxing. 4.1.1.2. Data analysis of post - questionnaires Graph 11: Oral grammar activities students got involved in. Source: Question 1, post- experiment questionnaire. Indicating the activities they got involved in to practise grammar structures over the experiment period, students don’t vary in their opinions. 100% of them choose “Questions and Answer” (Q & A) and “Role playing”, 95% of them choose “Language games”, 91% of them choose “Drillings with word cues, pictures as prompts”, 90% of them choose “Free discussions”, 87.5% of them choose “Problem solving tasks”. None of the students has other ideas. Graph 12: Ranking oral grammar activities according to students’ preference. Source: Question 2, post- experiment questionnaire. When asked to rank the activities (Drillings with word cues, pictures as prompts; Language games; Problem solving tasks; Questions and Answers; Role playing; Free discussions; Others..), according to their interest and usefulness, all the students (100%) choose “ Language games” and “Q and A”, 95% of the students choose “Free discussions”, 92.5% choose “Role playing”, 85% of the students choose “Problem solving tasks” and no students have other ideas. From the graph 12, we realize that the students like “Language games” and “Q and A” most of all. Graph 13: Frequency of students’ involvement in oral grammar activities. Source: Question 3, post- experiment questionnaire. The survey results in the questionnaire indicate that 95% of the students got involved in practising oral grammar very often, only 5% of them say they often did this. This could reflect that oral grammar practice was used very often over the experiment period. Graph 14: Students’ preference with regard to oral grammar activities organization. Source: Question 4, post- experiment questionnaire. According to the data in graph 14, students’ preference with regard to oral grammar activities organization also sounds very encouraging. 88% of the students asked say that they they don’t like grammar practice to be organized individually at all in their lessons, 12% of them say “not very much”. 87% of them state they don’t like it to be organized in the whole class at all, 13% of them say “not very much”. Of those students, 90% think pair- works are OK, 10% rank them at the degree of very much . 82% of the students like it to be organized in groups very much, 16% of them choose “OK” column, only 1% rank “not very much” and 1% also rank at the degree of “ not at all”. Graph 15: Students’ difficulties when doing grammar practice orally. Source: Question 5, post- experiment questionnaire. When asked if the students have any difficulties when doing grammar practice orally, 90% of the students answer “no”, only 10% of the students find doing grammar practice orally difficult. 10% of them think it makes the class noisy, 7.5% of the students feel embarrassed, 5% of them feel scared. It’s very glad to know that no student is under much pressure when doing grammar practice orally. Graph 16: Students’ opinions of oral grammar activities. Source: Question 6, post- experiment questionnaire. With the new way of teachin