VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION
GRADUATION PAPER
TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN THE LIGHT
OF COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH TO 11TH
GRADERS IN BLOCK D
AT YEN HOA HIGH SCHOOL, HANOI
Supervisor: Trần Thị Hiếu Thủy (MA)
Student: Kim Thúy An
Year: QH2010

HANOI – 2014
ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ
KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH
KHOÁ LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP
DẠY NGỮ PHÁP TIẾNG ANH THEO ĐỊNH HƯỚNG
GIAO TIẾP CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 11, BAN D,
TRƯỜNG THPT YÊN HÒA, HÀ NỘI
Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Trần Thị Hiếu Thủy
Sinh viên: Kim Thúy An
Khoá: QH2010

HÀ NỘI – NĂM 2014
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ACCEPTANCE PAGE
I hereby state that I: Kim Thúy An, class QH2010.F.1.E1, being a candidate
for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the College
relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the
library.

Yen Hoa High School. Data was collected in three methods: classroom observation,
teacher interview and questionnaires. Both qualitative and quantitative analysis
strategies were employed to investigate the collected data. The results of the study
suggest that the teachers in Yen Hoa High School are trying to apply
Communicative Approach in grammar teaching, yet due to several major factors
they sometimes could not follow the theory strictly. As a result, the Practice stage is
mostly mechanical and the Production stage was omitted. Additionally, the study
reveals several difficulties encountered by the teachers in which the most
prominent difficulties were (1) time management, (2) heavy workload, (3) lack of
creativity and (4) the requirement of current education and examination system in
Vietnamese context. Besides, the research presents some recommendations and
suggestions from both teachers and students, for instance, the syllabus should be
redesigned to agree with the teaching method and examination system should be
changed into more communicative, rather than paper-based.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF ABBREVIATION
A: Answer
Block A: Specializing in three subjects: Mathematics, Physics and
Chemistry
Block D: Specializing in three subjects: Mathematics, Literature and
English.
Block Science: Specializing in Science subjects: Mathematics, Physics,
Chemistry and Biology
CLT: Communicative Language Teaching
EFL: English as a Foreign Language
ESL: English as the Second Language
PPP: Presentation – Practice – Production
Q: Question
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Table 1: The activity students have taken part in the
Practice stage
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8 Table 2: The activity students have taken part in the 27
7
Production stage
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PART 1: INTRODUCTION
This chapter justifies the statement of the research problems, the rationale
and significance of the research. Also in this chapter, the aim and scope of the study
and research questions are presented. A brief introduction to proposed structure is
also included.
1. Statement of research problem and rationale for the study
It has widely been accepted that grammar structures are tremendously
important since they construct the framework of a language. (Lin, 2008) Students,
with good grammar competence, not only produce sentences grammatically but
also have the ability to express their ideas, thoughts and feelings in certain contexts.
By teaching grammar, teachers not only provide students with the means to express
themselves, but also fulfill students’ expectations of what learning a foreign
language involves.
However, how to teach grammar effectively is not easy, and it is of constant
concern of high school teachers. In the past, English learning and teaching at
Vietnamese school mostly concentrated on grammatical structures and rules. Yet,
recently, there have been certain improvements in English language teaching in the
light of Communicative Approach which is adaptable to required objectives and
help students get more opportunities to communicate in English. However, at many
high schools in Vietnam, teaching English grammar still has not been successful in
developing students’ communication ability, activeness and motivation. (Tran,
2013)

lessons at YHS. In brief, this paper addressed the following research questions:
 Question 1: From the perceptions of teachers’ and 11
th
-grade students’ in Block
D at YHS, is the current method of their teaching and learning English grammar
communicative?
 Question 2: What are the difficulties when teaching grammar communicatively
to 11
th
-grade students in block D at YHS, as perceived by teachers?
 Question 3: What are possible recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of
teaching grammar communicatively at YHS, as perceived by teachers and
students?
3. Significance of the study
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Once completed, the researcher hopes that the study would bring certain plus
points to teachers and students at YHS, which could be a considerable contribution
to teaching and English grammar effectively and enjoyably at YHS.
Specifically, to the teacher’s side, the finding of the research may allow
them to have a closer look at the current situation of teaching grammar to block-D
students in grade 11 as well as their students’ opinions and attitude toward grammar
lessons. Moreover, they were offered an opportunity to reveal their difficulties in
teaching grammar. Hence, they can make some adjustment to their teaching
methods in order to help their students develop English grammar ability as well as
interest in grammar lessons.
To the students, through the study, they were able to express their thoughts,
feelings and attitudes during grammar classes, to what extent the effectiveness of
current method was, what they wanted to change or adjust. Especially, the study
would expand their opportunity to study English grammar in a more interactive
environment instead of passive and unmotivated one.

Chapter 2: Methodology
This chapter comprised of research participants, population and sampling
method; data collection and data analysis methods and procedure.
Chapter 3: Findings & Discussion
In this chapter, research findings were presented with further thorough and
thoughtful discussion.
Part 3: Conclusion
This part provided a summary for all the main issues mentioned in the research,
limitation of the research, pedagogical implications and suggestions for further
studies.
List of references
The list was of works consulted to conduct this research.
Appendices
This part showed the teacher interview questions and transcripts, the
observation checklist that was used in this research and the questionnaires that were
sent to participants to ask for their information in this study.
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PART 2: THE STUDY
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter explains the key concepts, as well as provides a review on the
works relevant to the topic. A gap for the research would also be indicated, creating
the path for this study to be implemented.
1. Key concepts
1.1. Traditional Second Language Teaching Methods
1.1.1. The Grammar Translation method: Advantages & Disadvantages
The grammar-translation method was a dominant method in foreign
language teaching during the late nineteenth century to the twentieth (To et al.,
2011). In its modified form, it has continued to be used in some places nowadays.
Grammar-Translation is a way of studying a language that approaches the
language first through detailed analysis of its grammar rules, followed by the

explanations and exercises written in the textbooks or grammatical books in mother
tongue. Besides, translation is often a quick and effective way of teaching difficult
and abstract words. It can reject the ambiguity or misunderstanding between
students in learning a new grammatical structure as everything is translated clearly
into their mother tongue. Similarly, a short explanation is often better than a long
one in the targeted language, especially for beginners. (Teaching English as a
Foreign Language: Grammar Translation Method, 2013)
 Disadvantages
However, this method has some shortcomings and has been strongly
criticized because “it is based on language study (grammar, literature) and written
exercises (translation) rather than real life communication and speech” (To et al.,
2011, p.19). Students are considered to be passive recipients of the given
knowledge. They learn by absorbing the teacher’s explanation in the mother
tongue, memorizing grammar rules and vocabulary list. To be clearer, the grammar-
translation method emphasizes too much on the language as a mass of rules,
therefore, learners have little time to practice. They do not have many chances to
think, learn and conduct meaningful communicative activities in the target
languages. (Teaching English as a Foreign Language: Grammar Translation
Method, 2013). Because of its weak points and inefficient outcome, this method is
rarely used in learning and teaching foreign language in schools in the world
nowadays. Even in Vietnam, although grammar translation method used to be
popular for a long time, the use of this method in schools has proved many
drawbacks and hence needs to be changed.
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1.1.2. The Audio Lingual method: Advantages & Disadvantages
This approach became dominant in the United States during World War II
and then was applied to the teaching of ESL in many other places.
Here is a summary of the key features of the Audio Lingual method, taken
from Brown (1994) and adapted from Prator and Celce-Murcia (1979),
Harmer (2002), Richards & Rodgers (1996).

• Pronunciation is stressed from the beginning
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• The presentation of new language items is tightly graded in order to
minimize possibilities for making mistakes.
• Dialogues and drills (pattern practice) form the basis of audio lingual
classroom practices
• Audiovisual aids (e.g. tape recorders, slides, pictures, language lab, etc.)
assist teacher and learners. (Vu, 2004)
 Disadvantages:
Nevertheless, this method also proves some weak points. Firstly, students’
vocabulary is simple and limited because most of the words are learned in a
dialogue context and learning activities and materials are carefully controlled.
Secondly, students are turned into a kind of machine through repetitive drills,
mimicry and memorization of set phrases, which cannot be flexible and do not help
to promote their creativity. In the long run it will make them to be in boredom.
(Romero, 2013)
1.2. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
1.2.1. Definitions
Richards & Rodgers (1996) defined that Communicative Approach is in
which the goal of language teaching is communicative competence and it aims at
developing procedure for the teaching of the four language skills that acknowledge
the interdependence of language and communicative. They believed that it is best
considered an approach rather than a method.
Vu (2004) in her own research also stated that Communicative Approach is a
development of the work of anthropological linguists who view language primarily
as a system for communication. Communicative Approach is then developed as the
state-of-the-art method of teaching foreign language under the name
“communicative language teaching.”
CLT represents language teaching philosophies that can be interpreted and
applied in various distinctive ways in the classroom. (Rodgers, 2001, cited in

Clearly, grammar makes up all the words and structures in a sentence. There
is a set of rules which governs how units of meaning may be constructed in any
language.
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In short, grammar is the study of the structure and features of a language.
Grammar usually consists of rules and standards that are to be followed to produce
acceptable writing and speaking.
1.3.2. What to teach?
According to Nunan (2003, cited in To et al., 2012, p.55) there are three
dimensions should be addressed when teaching grammar:
- Forms
- Meaning
- Use/Pragmatics (Nunan, 2003)
1.3.3. Principles of teaching grammar
There are three principles which need considering when teaching grammar.
Firstly, inductive and deductive methods should be integrated. Secondly, tasks
should be used to clearly show the relationship between grammatical form and
communicative function. Finally, the development of procedural should be more
focused than declarative knowledge. (Nunan, 2003, cited in To et al., 2012, pp. 56-
57)
1.3.4. Options in teaching grammar
1.3.4.1. Presentation – Practice – Production (PPP)
PPP model is the most widely used in Vietnam’s classrooms (To et al., 2006,
p.60, cited in Pham, 2008). In the Presentation stage, students are guided to
discover the meaning and use of a new piece of language in context and then
provided with a clear model of it (To et al., 2012). Meanwhile, Practice is the stage
“where the target language is isolated and practiced in a controlled way (To et al.,
2012), it means that accuracy is the main target. Lastly, in the Production stage,
students are enabled to “produce the new language they have learnt on their own
(without the teacher)” (To et al., 2012) so that language fluency can be achieved. In

there a problem to solve? and (d) Can it be assessed in terms of outcome?
(Huang, 2010, p.32)
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According to Huang, J. (2010) in task-based language teaching, the focus is
on the completion of the task. In particular, tasks are usually performed in pairs or
small groups so they provide opportunities for interaction and for the learners’
active use of the language. To complete the task successfully, the focus is on
understanding and communicating meanings. All tasks must have a measurable
outcome. An outcome that is intrinsically engaging is more likely to develop and
maintain learners’ intrinsic motivation. An important feature of a task is it also
ensures that learners focus on form through a closer study of some of the specific
language features at the end of the task
Willis’ Task-Based Learning Framework (Willis, 1996) offers teachers a
practical guide for conducting tasks in the classroom. This framework consists of
three phases: the pre-task phase, the task cycle, and language focus. At the pre-
task phase, the teacher highlights useful words and phrases, helps students
understand directions for the task, and prepares them for the task. The task cycle
includes three components: (a) task: students work in pairs or small groups and the
teacher monitors from a distance; (b) planning: students prepare to report to the
whole class orally or in writing how they did the task and what they decided or
discovered; and (c) report: some groups present their reports to the class or
exchange written reports, and then they compare results. During the task cycle,
students may also hear a recording or read a text about a similar task and compare
how they did it. Finally, the language focus phase can be further divided into two
components: (a) analysis: students examine and discuss specific features of the text
or transcript of the recording; and (b) practice: teacher conducts practice of new
words, phrases, and patterns occurring in the data either during or after the analysis.
In the pre-task stage, students are introduced to the topic and prepared to
cope with the task in a variety of ways. Examples of the pre-task activities are pre-
teaching key linguistic items, establishing the task outcome, or performing a similar

structures (Vu, 2004) and presenting new English grammar rules ( (Pham, 2008) to
grade 10 students in Hanoi.
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3. Conclusion
In conclusion, not only in international context but also in Vietnam,
Communicative Approach has become a necessary and remarkable method to apply
in teaching grammar in EFL classes. However, due to some subjective and
objective reasons, Communicative Approach has not been really effectively used in
the context of Vietnam. Specifically regarding to Vietnamese high schools where
the focus of learning English is on grammar; however, there are not much analysis
on the perception of teachers and students as well as the difficulties encountered by
teachers when applying Communicative Approach into their teaching. In addition,
students like 11
th
graders in block D, YHS who are required to communicate in
English more fluently, compared to students in block A or Science or 10
th
graders
who are younger or 12
th
graders who are under more pressure from university
entrance exams, even more likely to desire to be in communicative English
grammar lessons.
For those reasons, the researchers decided to investigate deeper into this
certain population. It is believed that thanks to the findings of this paper, teachers
can be aware of their students’ perception as well as make some adjustment based
on the recommendations, to allow English grammar lesso
ns to be more useful, interesting and attractive to students. Educators and
authorities may consider the difficulties encountered by teachers and their
recommendations in this study to make some changes to the educational system.

Using questionnaire can enable the researcher to save time, effort and
financial resources effectively (Research & Consultation Guidelines:
Questionnaires, 2013), especially with as a large number of participants as 91
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students in this study. The researcher expected to conduct questionnaire as it
allowed proper control when attendees were doing the survey. The language and
instruction in the questionnaires were simple and written in Vietnamese in order to
suit the students’ English level and be easy to follow and complete. In case there
were professional terms or students found it hard to understand, the researcher
could give clearer definitions and explanations to them to ensure that all the
participants fully understand the questions.
The questionnaire was conducted to collect the opinions, feelings and
attitudes of students about the current situation of teaching grammar in their
classes. The questions were both closed-ended and open-ended to find the answers
for research questions 1 and 3. More specifically, the questionnaire was designed to
explore how the teachers approach new grammar rules, whether their approaches
are traditional or communicative, and whether students find it interesting and
effective and suggestions, and recommendations for the teachers (optional) to
improve the quality of grammar lessons. The researcher was there to administer,
explain some concepts existing in the questionnaire and answer all the questions
from participants. The finding collected from the questionnaires would be
triangulated with information revealed from the classroom observations and
interview.
1.2.2. Interview
Semi-structured interview (in-person interview) was employed to collect
data from the teachers. Firstly, this was to help the researcher to clarify any unclear
points of any issue that need investigating more deeply to make the study thorough.
As Fontana and Frey (1998) state, “interviewing is one of the most common and
most powerful ways we use to try to understand our fellow human beings”.
Secondly, there were only two teachers partaking in the study, the interview to each

In an uncontrolled context such as classroom settings, all the activities taking
place are unpredictable. Therefore, unstructured observations would fail in helping
the researcher to keep control of their note-taking processes. As a result, a
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