i
A study on how oral practice can change TNH 10
th
graders' attitudes towards
grammar learning
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A study on how oral practice can change TNH 10th graders' attitudes towards
grammar learning .....................................................................................................................i
TABLE OF CONTENTS..........................................................................................................i
DECLARATION.....................................................................................................................iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS....................................................................................................iv
ABSTRACT...............................................................................................................................v
TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................................vi
LIST OF GRAPHS..................................................................................................................ix
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS..................................................................................................x
CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................1
1.1. Rationale........................................................................................................................1
1.2. Aims of the study...........................................................................................................3
1.3. Research questions........................................................................................................3
1.4. Scope of the study.........................................................................................................3
1.5. Significance of the study...............................................................................................3
1.6. Outline of the study.......................................................................................................3
CHAPTER II- LITERATURE REVIEW..............................................................................5
2.1. Attitudes.........................................................................................................................5
2.1.1. Definition of attitude...............................................................................................5
2.1.2. Attitude change.......................................................................................................6
2.2. The role of attitudes in language learning..................................................................7
2.3. Ways that help to change students’ attitudes............................................................8
2.3.1. Oral grammar practice creating teaching techniques...........................................8
2.3.2. Narrowing the gap between teaching style and learning style..............................9
2.4. Grammar teaching from a CLT perspective...........................................................10

APPENDICES........................................................................................................................III
Appendix 1:.............................................................................................................................III
Pre - Experiment questionnaire on English grammar learning.......................................III
Appendix 2:.............................................................................................................................VI
iii
PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA TIỀN THỬ NGHIỆM VIỆC HỌC NGỮ PHÁP TIẾNG ANH.....VI
Appendix 3:...............................................................................................................................X
POST- EXPERIMENT QUESTIONNAIRE........................................................................X
ON ENGLISH GRAMMAR LEARNING............................................................................X
Appendix 4:..........................................................................................................................XIII
PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA SAU THỬ NGHIỆM HỌC NGỮ PHÁP TIẾNG ANH...............XIII
Appendix 5:..........................................................................................................................XVI
PRE-EXPERIMENT INTERVIEW.................................................................................XVI
Appendix 6:.........................................................................................................................XVII
PHỎNG VẤN TIỀN THỬ NGHIỆM.............................................................................XVII
Appendix 7:.......................................................................................................................XVIII
POST-EXPERIMENT INTERVIEW............................................................................XVIII
Appendix 8:..........................................................................................................................XIX
PHỎNG VẤN SAU THỬ NGHIỆM.................................................................................XIX
DECLARATION
I certify that this minor thesis entitled “A study on how oral practice can change TNH
10
th
graders' attitudes towards grammar learning ” is submited in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Arts is the results of my own work, except where
otherwise acknowledge and that this minor thesis or any part of the same has not been
submitted for higher degree to any other University or Institution.
Hanoi, 3/2009
Signature
Nguyen Thi Chuc Ha

practice in grammar lessons. Moreover, students can absorb grammar rules as they hear and
use the language through oral communicative activities. And they remark that the use of
communicative activities in grammar lessons helps them acquire grammar more efficiently.
This way of teaching grammar may be a good solution for the 10
th
grade students in
particular and other graders in general.
Based on the findings of the study, some practical recommendations are derived for the
application of communicative activitives so that it can help teachers teach grammar better. It
is also hoped that this study will provide an effective way of teaching grammar and thanks to
it, students at Tran Nguyen Han High School will be more interested in learning grammar to
gain a better result.

vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A study on how oral practice can change TNH 10th graders' attitudes towards
grammar learning .....................................................................................................................i
TABLE OF CONTENTS..........................................................................................................i
DECLARATION.....................................................................................................................iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS....................................................................................................iv
ABSTRACT...............................................................................................................................v
TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................................vi
LIST OF GRAPHS..................................................................................................................ix
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS..................................................................................................x
CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................1
1.1. Rationale........................................................................................................................1
1.2. Aims of the study...........................................................................................................3
1.3. Research questions........................................................................................................3
1.4. Scope of the study.........................................................................................................3
1.5. Significance of the study...............................................................................................3

4.2. Interviews.....................................................................................................................42
4.2.1. Pre- treatment interview.......................................................................................42
4.2.2. Post- treatment interview.....................................................................................43
4.3. Discussion.....................................................................................................................44
4.4. Summary......................................................................................................................45
CHAPTER V : CONCLUSION............................................................................................46
5.1. Summary and conclusion:..........................................................................................46
5.2. Limitations of the study:............................................................................................46
5.3. Suggestions for further study:...................................................................................47
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................I
APPENDICES........................................................................................................................III
Appendix 1:.............................................................................................................................III
Pre - Experiment questionnaire on English grammar learning.......................................III
Appendix 2:.............................................................................................................................VI
PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA TIỀN THỬ NGHIỆM VIỆC HỌC NGỮ PHÁP TIẾNG ANH.....VI
Appendix 3:...............................................................................................................................X
POST- EXPERIMENT QUESTIONNAIRE........................................................................X
ON ENGLISH GRAMMAR LEARNING............................................................................X
viii
Appendix 4:..........................................................................................................................XIII
PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA SAU THỬ NGHIỆM HỌC NGỮ PHÁP TIẾNG ANH...............XIII
Appendix 5:..........................................................................................................................XVI
PRE-EXPERIMENT INTERVIEW.................................................................................XVI
Appendix 6:.........................................................................................................................XVII
PHỎNG VẤN TIỀN THỬ NGHIỆM.............................................................................XVII
Appendix 7:.......................................................................................................................XVIII
POST-EXPERIMENT INTERVIEW............................................................................XVIII
Appendix 8:..........................................................................................................................XIX
PHỎNG VẤN SAU THỬ NGHIỆM.................................................................................XIX
ix

Q : Question
Q&A : Questions and Answers
TNH : Trần Nguyên Hãn
T : Teacher
Ss : Students
CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
It has widely been accepted in language teaching and learning that grammar structures
are very important because they make up the skeleton of a language. Without grammar,
words hang together with no real meaning or sense. So as to be able to use a language to
some degree of proficiency, we need to master some grammatical knowledge. Grammar is an
important and necessary part in students’ learning because it forms the basis for the
development of four skills: reading skill, speaking skill, listening skill and writing skill.
Students, with good grammar mastery, not only produce sentences grammatically but also
acquire the ability to apply grammatical knowledge in certain contexts to express their
thoughts and feelings as well as to receive feedback. By teaching grammar, teachers not only
give students 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 very easy and it is of constant concern
of high school teachers. So far, a great number of studies have been conducted to assist
teachers and students in teaching and acquiring English grammar.
Research and teaching practice have revealed that there’s a close relation between
teaching methods and learners’ attitudes towards learning, which in turn have great influence
on the learning results. This study, therefore, is carried out to investigate how the shift from
traditional methods to communicative ones affect the attitudes towards English grammar at
Tran Nguyen Han High school.
When teaching grammar, teachers of English at Tran Nguyen Han High School seem to
prefer traditional teaching methods in which grammar rules are taught deductively because
of the great influence on teaching habit caused by Haiphong environment and the former
objectives of teaching. The common practice of some senior teachers is just giving the

difficult for teachers to finish their teaching successfully because of the time constraint, the
large class size, and the students’ mixed level. As the result, the students can produce correct
forms when doing exercises and taking tests, but consistently make errors while trying to
produce their own free writing or speech. It’s obvious that the students do not master
grammar structures thoroughly. And of course, this way of teaching and learning may result
in the students’ negative attitudes towards English grammar acquisition which surely hinders
their language learning conduct.
This situation also provides another good reason for the study to be conducted with the
hope to identify whether oral practice can change positively Tran Nguyen Han High school
students’ attitudes towards English grammar learning .
2
1.2. Aims of the study
The purpose of this study is to investigate Tran Nguyen Han 10
th
grade students’
attitudes towards grammar learning when grammar is practiced orally instead of through
written exercises
1.3. Research questions
a. What are Tran Nguyen Han 10
th
graders’ attitudes towards grammar learning when
traditional teaching methods are used?
b. How can oral practice change positively Tran Nguyen Han 10
th
graders’ attitudes
towards English grammar learning ?
1.4. Scope of the study
Due to the time limit and financial constraint, the author was unable to carry out the
investigation on a large scale. The researcher, therefore, would like to focus on the real
teaching and learning English grammar at Tran Nguyen Han High School, restricted to the

and limitation of the study will also be presented in this .
4
CHAPTER II- LITERATURE REVIEW
This focuses on some theoretical grounds of attitude and grammar teaching and
learning. It consists of two parts. The first part is concerned with major issues regarding
attitudes, the roles of attitudes in language learning and factors that affect the attitudes
change. The second one discusses communication approach in teaching grammar as well as
oral grammar practice.
2.1. Attitudes
2.1.1. Definition of attitude
According to Hallorah (1967) , attitude represents an individual’s like or dislike for an
item. Attitudes are positive, negative or neutral views of an “attitude object” i.e. a teaching
style, person, situation or event. People can also be “ambivalent” towards a target, meaning
that they simultaneously possesses a positive and a negative bias towards the attitude in
question.
In Gibb’s opinion (1988) attitude is generally defined as a state of mind, which is
influenced by feelings, experiences of the world and belief.
Fazio (1986) states that attitude comprises of three components: “an affective
component involving feelings about and evaluation of the object, a cognitive component
involving belief about the object and a behavioral intentions component” .
The above definitions show people’s attitude towards certain referent object, a
behavioral intentions component and a cognitive component involving belief about the
object. In language learning, we can see students’ attitudes in their feelings and belief about
the way of acting towards the lessons,learning style, teachers and the course books.
Briefly, attitudes have three main components : affective, behavioral and cognitive. The
affective components are easily assessed by monitoring physiological signs such as heart rate
whereas the behavioral aspects may be assessed by direct observation. On the other hand, the
cognitive aspects of attitude are generally measured by interviews, survey and other
reporting methods. This study concentrates on affective and cognitive components. It relates
to students’ feelings and belief about communicative teaching as well as evaluation of

language ( Tesser, 1993) . Abelson (1968) argues that there are numerous theories of attitude
formation and attitude change such as Consistency theories, which imply that we must be
6
consistent in our beliefs and values. Heider (1959) states that when beliefs are unbalanced,
stress is created and there is pressure to change attitudes.
Attitudes can be changed by a number of sources including other people, media, family
or other subject itself. In 1968, McGuire developed steps to change an attitude.The steps are
attention, comprehension, retention, yielding, and action. Traindis (1971:144-146 ) agrees
that in analyzing the attitude –change process, we must consider the effect of who says what,
how to whom, with what effect.According to him, attitudes change :
- When a person receives new information from others or media - Cognitive change.
- When a person is forced to behave in a way different from normal - Behavioral change.
- Through direct experience with the attitude object - Affective change.
( Traindis, 1971 :142 )
Students may become bored and inattentive in class, do badly on tests and get
discouraged from the courses if students keep poor attitudes in learning. In some cases, they
can dropt out of University. But by applying a new technique or providing practical useful
information , teachers can change students’ attitude. Learners’ attitudes will be more
favorable if they are learning new information that they can apply to the needs they have.
Therefore, depending on some theories of attitude change, the author decided to follow
the Hovland’s view (1973) “Attitudes change as a response to communication’’ with the
fully hope that the findings of the study will be the certain application of oral grammar
practice in teaching and learning at TNH High School. As the result, students’ attitudes can
be changed from negative to positive because oral grammar practice not only meets the
demands of communication but also supports students’ needs as well.
2.2. The role of attitudes in language learning
Attitudes and learning go hand in hand. Garder and Lamber (1972) all agree that “
success in mastering a foreign language would depend not only on intellectual capacity and
language aptitude , but on one’s attitudes towards representatives of that language as well” .
In fact, attitudes play an important role in students’ learning. If they maintain a positive

or intonation of their sentences as they wish, use their facial expression, physical movement
ect…This makes the lesson not only more lively but also more interesting , and it also makes
students more interested in learning. Besides, personalization will increase students’ interest
if students provide responses that are true for them.
8
In Ur’s view (1998) we can understand that when learners discuss issues with each
other, they will use the target language in a realistic manner. This transmission of new ideas
encourages students to express their personal experiences, opinions and feelings which
improve learners interests. Pennington (1995) states that as learners increase their interests
and their need to communicate with different individuals for different purposes, they require
additional communicative resources.
In summary, when grammar is taught and practiced 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. Therefore, they will acquire more knowledge of grammar. This means
that oral grammar practice brings positive attitudes towards grammar learning.
2.3.2. Narrowing the gap between teaching style and learning style
Zhenhui (2001) emphasized that narrowing the gap between teaching style and learning
style is also necessary in attitude change because it plays an important role in enabling
students to maximize their classroom experiences in favourable psychological state.
Nunan (1989) agrees that students will have positive attitudes if their subjective needs
and perception related to the learning process are recognized by teachers. This is echoed by
Kumaravadivelu (1991:98), who claims “ the narrower the gap between teacher intention and
the learners interpretation, the greater the chances of achieving desired learning outcomes”.
In order to narrow the gap between teaching style and learning style, there should be a
compromise between teachers and students. For teachers , they should find the suitable
teaching style for the students.When teachers apply suitable teaching style, students will
keep positive attitudes towards their learning. Kirkegaard (quoted in Larsen- Freeman,1997)
proclaims that “ Real education begins when the teacher learns from a student”. This idea is
also shared by Larsen- Freeman (1997), who stresses that “…the extent to which you (a

is that learners should use the language they know in order to get meaning across as
effectively as possible. For the second type of communicative activities, the activity can be
devised in such a way that they place emphasis on social as well as functional aspects of
communication. Students must still aim to convey meaning effectively, but must also pay
greater attention to the social context in which the interaction takes place. Simulation and
role playing are examples of important techniques for creating a wider variety of social
situations and relationships than would otherwise occur.
10
Communicative practice has many advantages, as discussed by Harmer (1987), they are
usually enjoyable; they give students a chance to use their language; they allow both students
and teachers to see how well the students are doing in their language learning; and they give
a break from the normal teacher and students’ arrangements in a classroom.
In the modern time, the world is changing very quickly, the tendency towards
internationalization and globalization is developing very fast. So everyone needs to use a
common language. So far, many people have learnt and used English as an international
language.Vietnam is a developing country that is trying to catch up with the growth rate of
the world. Learning English has become the most highlighted task. English study , however,
is still far from being satisfactory. Learners often get embarrassed in English
communication. Therefore, nowadays communication is emphasized world widely. We
study a foreign language not only to understand it but also use it in different contexts and for
different purposes, that is, we use it as a means of communication.
Similarly, in grammar teaching and learning, on the one hand, students need to know the
rules. On the other, with more opportunities to work with foreigners and the increasing
number of foreign visitors, or oversea study, there is a good need for communication in a
second language. That is why grammar should be taught with communicative practice. In
other words, there must be occasions when students in the classroom use language to
communicate ideas, not just to practice language.
To conclude, from the principles of CLT, the goal of teaching grammar is to help the
learners to speak with organized sentence structures in order to make themselves understood.
Teaching grammar therefore doesn’t mean we do grammar drills. Grammar teaching can

feedback on attempts at producing meaningful language, the errors will gradually diminish
(Corder, 1981; Selinker,1972, 1992). Thanks to that students will learn grammar better .
Teaching grammar communicatively or using communicative activities means teaching
grammar effectively. In other words, oral grammar practice provides for effective grammar
acquisition.But how to organize oral practice successfully is a hard question. According to
Ur (1988: 15) , “Interest is an essential feature of successful oral practice”. Without properly
getting involved in practising grammar orally and communicatively, students feel bored and
find it difficult to concentrate , their attention wanders, and they may spend much of the
lesson time thinking or dreaming of other things. So the poor quality of effort and attention
will reduce their learning results. Besides, because of bordom, students may start out -of-
focus talks often talk or produce unruly behaviour, therefore more valuable learning time
12
may be wasted on coping with discipline problems. On the contrary, if students are interested
in what is done, they will not only learn effeciently, they are also likely to enjoy the process
and want to continue learning.
Nunan (2007) emphasized that oral practice activities ,in grammar learning and teaching,
not only maintain learners’ interests but also sustain their attention in the long term process
of acquiring grammatical knowledge and skills in English. Oral practice will offer students
opportunities to practice and use grammar realistically and meaningfully so as to activate
learners’ knowledge of grammar. Oral grammar practice also increase the realism and
usefulness of grammar lessons. Moreover, for many teachers, correcting grammar errors in
students’ written work is quite a time consuming task.
In brief, grammar should be taught through oral practice activities to increase students’
interests which results in more effective grammar acquisition.
2.5.2. Classification of oral practice activities in teaching and learning grammar
2.5.2.1. Drills
In Harmer’s view (1999), drills are “fairly mechanical ways of getting students to
demonstrate and practice their ability to use specific language items in a controlled manner”.
Usually oral grammar practice is done with the whole class rather than with students in pairs
and the teachers are able to get students to ask and answer questions quickly and efficiently.

RESPONSE : You like your book
CUE : Smith and Tom
RESPONSE : Smith and Tom like their books
This drill is termed correlative substitution and methodologists discuss it as useful for
studying such things as reflexives, possessives, the –s ending of the third person singular
verb in the present tense, the changing forms of the verb be , irregular verbs, the inflection of
the verb after relative pronouns, the forms of the plural and possessive morphemes, and
certain sequences of tenses in related clauses. To some extent, this activity is still mechanical
and it’s suggested that the cue be designed with a natural sounding tag which elicits a
response that completes a conversational interchange to make it more realistic.
Another subdivision of substitution drills is called multiple substitution drills in which ,
to make the substitutions in the appropriate slots, students have to think of the meaning of
the whole sentence . For this reason, students need to be very alert to perform this exercise
successfully.
MODEL : Nam brings many dics to class.
14
CUE: Jane and Mary
RESPONSE : Jane and Mary bring many dics to class.
CUE : books
RESPONSE : Jane and Mary bring many books to class.
CUE: The lecturer
RESPONSE : the lecturer brings many books to class.
This activity can be a testing tool to see if students can continue to make a certain
grammartical adjustment they have been learning while they are distracted by other
preoccupations.
c. Conversions
This term is used for exercises in changing sentence type , in combining two sentences
into one , in moving from one mood or tense to another, in changing word class (e.g.,
replacing nouns by pronouns), substituting phrases for clauses or clauses for phrases (e.g.,
adverbial phrases for adverbial clauses, infinitive phrases for clauses), or substituting single