THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

TO HIEN THANH HIGH SCHOOL

EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE

THE APPROPRIATENESS OF FOCUS ON FORM
INSTRUCTION IN THE LIGHT OF CLT TO 11TH GRADE
STUDENTS AT TO HIEN THANH HIGH SCHOOL

Teacher: Hoang Thi Tan
Position: Teacher - Chief Specialist
Field of research: English

THANH HOA YEAR 2019


CONTENT
PART 1:
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................1
1.1. Rationale.........................................................................................................1
1.2. Aim and objectives of study...........................................................................1
1.3. The participants..............................................................................................1
1.4. Research method............................................................................................2
PART 2: CONTENT.............................................................................................2
2.1. Theoretical background..................................................................................2
2.2. The reality before applying this method.........................................................4
2.3. The servey instruments...................................................................................4
2.4. Findings and discussions................................................................................5
PART 3: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION..................................13
3.1. Conclusion....................................................................................................13

school, teaching English grammar in the light of communication has some
problems, such as students’ levels, teachers’ methods, facilities, textbooks, etc.
Further more, students are not hard-working.They spend little time on learning
English. In addition, they have no chance to practice English in real life or listen
to English from native speakers.
In English lessons of high school, teacher almost starts from basic structures
and the simplest knowledge. With the experience of 26 years working as a
teacher of English and of 23 years teaching English at To Hien Thanh high
school, the author always concerns with how to help students learn English
better, how to motivate them in learning English and how to reach the aim of
teaching English in the light of communication are the questions the author
always thinks of. The question of how to equip students with grammatical
competence so that they can use the language to communicate in any situation
has become a matter of teachers of English in general and teachers of English at
To Hien Thanh high school in particular.
For the above reasons, the author intends to investigate the appropriateness
of focus on form instruction in the light of CLT to 11th grade students at To
Hien Thanh high school then to give some suggestions to make English
teaching and learning activities here more communicative. The author hopes that
this study will have some contribution to improving the application of CLT in
ELT in general, English grammar teaching in particular at To Hien Thanh high
school.
1.2. Aim and objectives of study
The aim of the study is to find out the appropriateness of focus on form
instruction in the light of CLT to 11th grade students at To Hien Thanh high
school.
The objectives of study are:
First, to investigate contextual factors affecting the application of focus on
form approach.
Second, to evaluate contextual appropriateness of the focus on form approach.

which teachers present the learners with preselected and sequenced linguistic
items. (Teachers College, Columbia University Working Papers in TESOL &
Applied Linguistics, 2007, Vol. 7, No.1The Forum).
*Advantages of focus on forms
Focus on forms provides understanding of the grammar by a variety of
means: explanation in the L1, pointing out differences between the L1 and
the L2, and aural comprehension activities intended to focus students’
attention on the forms being used; it provides written and oral exercises that
entail using the grammar in both non-communicative and communicative
activities;frequent opportunities for communicative use of the grammar to
promote automatic and accurate use.
*Disadvantages of focus on forms
Focus on forms makes students not pay attention to develop their spoken
language, not have self-confidence in communicating in English with other
people. Teacher introduces knowledge,presents grammatical structures; students
listen to the teacher and write down what the teacher introduces. This approach
is teacher-centered.
According to Long (1997), focus on forms does not identify students’
communicative needs, does not ascertain their learning styles and preferences. It
is an one-size-fit-all approach.
*Definitions of focus on form:
According to Fotos (1998) focus on form is a context based presentation of
grammatical forms, rather than overt teacher-led instruction.
2


Doughty & Williams (1998) mentioned that focus on form integrates attention
to form, meaning and use.
According to Long (1991) Focus on form refers to drawing students’ attention
to linguistic elements as they arise incidentally in lessons whose overriding

conception, seems optimally suited to classrooms that are small enough to
enable instructors to verbally address their students’ problematic forms,
presumably via classroom discussion, Q/A sessions, and impromptu and
planned public speaking events. Likewise, small classes would be needed
for students to have significant amounts of peer interaction both orally and
in written form.
Focus on form instruction ignores the role of negative evidence in second
language teaching, and depends too much on positive evidence.
Learners who learn a second language through communicative classes do not
gain high levels of language proficiency (Higgs and Clifford 1982).
3


2.2. The reality before applying this method
The author chose students of two classes: 11B6 and 11B7 to
test because the English teachers of these classes have two
different methods in teaching grammar. The one teaching at
11B6 usually uses Focus on Forms. She mainly starts from basic
structures and the simplest knowledge. Students listen to the teacher and write
down what the teacher introduces. They learn English passively. On the
contrary, the one teaching at 11B7 usually uses Focus on Form.
Students learn English actively.
* The following is the result the writer got from students’ 15 minute-test (Test1)
Clas Mark 9-10
Mark 7-8
Mark 5-6
Mark 3-4
Mark 0-2
s
11B6 3/45 – 7 % 5 /45 – 11%

opinions about grammatical mistake correction (Question4).
2.3.2. Classroom observation
4


Classroom observation was employed to clarify and test the validity of
information about teaching grammar in the light of communication. The two
lessons the author observed were carried out in two 11 classes: 11B6 and
11B7 by two teachers being on behalf of two teaching styles. Teacher A
always tries to apply CLT in teaching grammar while teacher B always
applies two approaches: focus on form and focus on forms in teaching
grammar. The purpose of the classroom observation is to evaluate whether
the teachers would give the lessons carefully; the ways teachers motivated
as many students as possible into the learning activities; the ways those
teachers monitored their classes; the ways they used to evolve compulsory
knowledge in 45 minutes.
2.3.3. The post-observation interviews with two teachers
Selinger and Shohamy (1989) point out that the use of interview as data
collection instrument permits a level of in-depth information, free response
and flexibility that cannot be obtained by other procedures. In this study,
post-observation interviews consisting of four specific and defined questions
were used. The post-observation interviews were conducted with two teachers
who teach grammar in two styles. The interviews took place in a face-to-face
situations with the subjects. The purpose of the interviews is to discuss for
further information to have in-depth understanding of their evaluation on the
appropriateness of focus on form instruction to students at To Hien Thanh
high school.
2.4. Findings and discussions
*Questionnaire for students
The aim of using Questionnaire for students is to investigate students’ real

effervescent, lively and it is easy to understand.

5


Question2: Please tick the level(s) of effectiveness of the following ways of
learning English (in your opinions)
The level of effectiveness
The ways of learning
Learning grammar through conversations and texts
Listening to the teacher’s explanation of
grammar forms and uses then doing exercises in
the textbook
Writing down and learning by heart examples on
the board then making sentences using structures
having been learned.
Learning by heart sentences having new
structures in concrete situations then applying
them to communicate with classmates
Learning grammar through exercises in the forms of
games, quiz games, songs, working in pairs / groups
Learning by heart grammar structures, rules then
doing exercises in the textbook
Learning grammar through listening, speaking,
reading, writing skills
The teacher spends much time training skills.
The teacher only teaches grammar when you
make mistakes

Very Not very

10

60

31

9

47

43

10

34

55

10

27

59

14

Table2: Students’ opinions about the effectiveness of the ways of learning grammar
28 % of students said that learning grammar through conversations and texts
is very effective while a larger proportion (48 %) say that this way is not very
effective and only 24 % say that it is not effective to learn grammar through

asked about the time of training skills and teaching grammar, only 27 % of
students say that they like their teacher to spend much time training skills, little
time teaching grammar, grammar should be trained only when they make
mistakes. They believe that it is very effective way. Contrary to those students,
59 % consider that it is not very effective and 14 % say that it is ineffective.
Question3: Which of the following activities do you enjoy taking part in when
learning grammar?
Number
Activities
Percentages
of students
Work in pairs
15
15 %
Work in groups
54
54 %
Play
- Information filling
15
15 %
games:
- Combining sentences
40
40 %
- Rearranging words with the
same place of stress; the same
43 %
43
pronunciation(at phonetic lessons)

Correct some mistakes you often make in writing
25
25 %
Correct some mistakes you often make in speaking
19
19 %
Table 4: The ways students want their teacher to correct their mistakes
In question 4 of the questionnaire, respondents are asked to say the way they
want their teacher to correct their mistakes. In this question, the author gives
students only three ways to choose. From the data and findings in the table 4, we
can see that most students (62 %) want their teacher to correct all grammar
mistakes they make concretely. When being asked why, they say that because
they do not want to make mistakes again. To the second way of correcting
mistakes given above (correct some mistakes you often make in writing), only
25 % of students preferred. They explain that it is very important because all the
tests for them are written and they almost do not have to take oral tests. Contrary
to this, 19 % of students want their teacher to correct some mistakes they often
make during their speaking. They say that they learn English to communicate
and they want to use English to talk with friends everywhere in the World.
2.4.2. The findings from classroom observation and discussions.
Unlike the results obtained from the questionnaire, classroom observation
gives a clearer picture about the appropriateness of focus on form instruction to
11th grade students at To Hien Thanh school. The author took the observation at
two classes 11. The grammar lesson observed was part 5: language focus –
Unit1-Textbook Tieng Anh 11.The author chose one unit conducted at two
classes 11 by two teachers using two styles of teaching grammar in order to
compare and to evaluate classroom teachers about their instructional practices
and to identify examples of best practices in accordance with teaching standards.
The following is the lesson observed by the author:
Unit 1: Friendship – Lesson 5: Language focus (Textbook: Tieng Anh 11)

with to.
(Examples: I have some letters to write ; Does she get anything to eat ?) →
the teacher asked students to comment on the use of to-infinitive through the
given examples → the teacher listened and fed back.
Activity 2: Practice
The teacher asked students to do exercise1 (textbook Tieng Anh 11–page 20)
→ students work in pairs then each student did one sentence in front of the class
(in speaking) → the teacher listened and fed back.
(2) Infinitive without to
Activity 1: Presentation
The teacher called on some students to give out some verbs followed by
infinitive without to → students listed : the verbs of perceptions such as hear,
see, watch, feel, notice…., modal verbs such as can, may, must……, make, let
→ the teacher fed back.
Activity 2: Practice
The teacher asked students to do exercise 2 (textbook Tieng Anh 11–page 21)
in pairs → each student did one sentence in front of the class (in speaking) →
the teacher listened and fed back.
Homework
The teacher asked students to learn grammar by heart and do exercises in the
workbook.
* Comment on lesson 1
During 45 minute-classroom observation, the author had the following
remarks:
Firstly, the teacher implemented what she had prepared in the lesson plan.
Secondly, the teacher let students time brainstorm in both presentation and
practice parts. It helped students to pay more attention to the lesson.
Thirdly, the classroom atmosphere was deep, especially in the part 2
“grammar” students worked more actively in part1 than in part 2.In general,
students were not active in speaking English. The teacher almost had to asked

Part 2: Grammar
(1) Infinitive with to
Activity 1: Presentation
The teacher wrote two sentences on the board and underlined the infinitive
with to (Examples: We go to school to learn; There is a lot of homework to do).
The teacher explained the use and the meaning of to-infinitive through the
examples → students listened to the teacher and noted down → teacher asked
students to give examples with to-infinitive → students worked in pairs then
each student stood up and read out one sentence → others listened and checked
→ the teacher fed back.
Activity 2: Practice
Exercise1(textbook Tieng Anh 11–page 20): The teacher checked if students
understood the requirement of the exercise → the teacher asked student to do
exercise 1in pairs (only 4 0f 8 sentences) → each student stood up and read out
one sentence → the teacher called on another student to repeat the sentence done
by his/her partner → the teacher fed back.
(2) Infinitive without to
Activity 1: Presentation
The teacher wrote 3 sentences on the board and underlined the pair of verbs in
each sentence (Examples: (1) I can speak English; (2) I saw them arrive home
10


late; (3) They made her stay there for the weekend) → the teacher asked
students to say the use of bare-infinitive through the examples → students
discuss in pairs or in groups then answered the teacher’s question→ the teacher
listened and fed back then listed the verbs followed by bare-infinitive.
Activity 2: Practice
Exercise2 (textbook Tieng Anh 11–page 21): The teacher checked if students
understood the requirement of the exercise → the teacher asked student to do

communicative language teaching in teaching grammar, however it was not very
successful because of students’ limitation, such as, ability of communicating in
English, poor vocabulary and grammar, there were still students only sitting,
listening and writing not participating in speaking English because they did not
know how to do those exercises, how to express in English.
2.4.3. The findings from post-observation interviews and discussion.
Selinger and Shohamy (1989) point out that the use of interview as data
collection instrument permits a level of in-depth information, free response and
11


flexibility that cannot be obtained by other procedures. Interview is an effective
tool to supplement the questionnaires. The aim of the interviews is to seek for
insight into the matter through face to face situation, to get deeper ideas into
their understanding of the role of teaching grammar in teaching English, their
attitudes to teaching grammar and the ways they teach grammar lessons. To
conduct interviews, the author used the same four questions to interview two
teachers whose lessons had been observed by the author. From the information
of the interviews, the author can get clearer and deeper ideas about the
appropriateness of focus on form instruction to high school students at To Hien
Thanh school.
The post-observation interviews were conducted with two teachers who teach
grammar in two styles .The interviews took place in a face-to-face situations
with the subjects. The purpose of the interviews is to discuss for further
information to have in-depth understanding of their evaluation on the
appropriateness of focus on form instruction to students at To Hien Thanh high
school.
The author gave four questions to two teachers whose lessons had been
observed. The questions focus on the following categories: the teachers’
attitudes towards teaching grammar (Question 1); the teachers’ opinions about

opinion)? Why do you think so?”, two teachers have different points of view in
teaching grammar. For teacher A, giving grammar structures and rules, sentence
patterns then drilling many types of exercises is the best way to teach grammar.
The reason she gave for this is because of students’ levels of English.
Furthermore after three years at high school, they have to take a General
Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and English is one of the six
optional subjects at this examination. There are only written tests, not oral tests.
Whereas teacher B consideres that teaching grammar in the light of
communication is an effective way in teaching grammar. She says that she
always asks students to apply the sentence patterns, grammar structures they
have learned in real situations. To help students practice English more easily, she
gives them contexts or situations, encourages them to speak English as much as
possible. Thanks to applying the method above, the grammar lessons conducted
by her are less boring and students especially 11 th grade students usually pay
attention to learn grammar.
The information collected above is only the teachers’ opinions. To evaluate
the appropriateness of focus on form instruction to 11th grade students at To Hien
Thanh high school, the author combined all the data and the information
collected from questionnaire for students, classroom observation, postclassroom observation interviews with two teachers.
* The following is the result of 15 minute-test 2 conducted after applying focus
on form instruction in the light of CLT to students of classes 11B6 and 11B7
Clas Mark 9-10
Mark 7-8
Mark 5-6
Mark 3-4
Mark 0-2
s
11B6 9 /45 – 7 % 10/45 – 11% 21 /45 – 40 % 4/45- 29% 1/45 – 13%
11B7 15/45–18 % 18 /45 – 33 % 12 /45 – 40 % 0 /45- 4,5% 0/45– 4,5%
The ststistics above show that applying focus on form instruction in the light

1998: 302).
In conclusion, the teaching of grammar in the light of CLT is by far, the most
challenging task any Vietnamese teacher may face in his/her daily classroom,
especially at To Hien Thanh high school. The study has been completed with the
great efforts to investigate to what extent focus on form instruction is used at To
Hien Thanh high school; the appropriateness of focus on form in the light of
CLT instruction to 11th grade students then to find out the things the English
teachers here should do to make applying CLT in teaching and learning English
have good results and effectiveness.
To have those results, the writer used survey questionnaire for students; took
classroom observation at two 11th classes. After classroom observation, the
writer conducted two post-observation interviews with two teachers whose
lessons had been observed. With each instrument of the study, the writer had
analysis and discussion to make the data collected clearer. The aims of those
activities are to find out the answers to three research questions of the study: (1)
To what extent is focus on form instruction used at To Hien Thanh high school?
(2). How appropriate is focus on form instruction to students at To Hien Thanh
high school? (3).What should teachers do to make applying CLT in teaching and
learning English at To Hien Thanh high school have good results and
effectiveness, in addition, to evaluate contextual appropriateness of teaching
methods then to give some suggestions, some solutions of teaching method so
that applying CLT in teaching and learning English at To Hien Thanh high
school has good results and effectiveness.
The findings reveal that both teachers and students at To Hien Thanh high
school have positive attitude toward grammar teaching and learning. They also
point out that the biggest aim of teaching and learning grammar is for good
results at examination. The combination of both focus on form and focus on
forms is the teachers’ common teaching method as well as the students’ favorite
way of learning English grammar.
The data collected from questionnaires, classroom observations and postobservation interviews with two teachers were consolidated and categorized.


REFFERENCES
1. By the free dictionary on line
2. Canh, L.V.(2004) Understanding Foreign Language Teaching Methodology.
Hanoi National University Press
3. Celce - Murcia, M. (1988), Techniques and Resources in teaching grammar,
Oxford- Oxford University Press
4. C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second
language acquisition Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
5. Fotos, S. (1998). Shifting the focus from forms to form in the EFL classroom.
ELTJournal.
6. Higgs, T., & Clifford, R. (1982). The push toward communication. In T. Higgs
(ed.), Curriculum, competence and the foreign language teacher. Skokie, IL:
National Textbook.
7. Koul, L. (1984). Methodology of Education Research 3rd ed. NewDeli. Vikas
Publishing Lmt
8. Long, M.H.1991. “Focus on form: a design feature in language teaching
methodology”
9. Long, M. H. (1997). Focus on Form in Task-based language teaching
10.Long, M., & Robinson, P. (1998). Focus on form: Theory, research and
practice.
C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom language
acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
11. Long, M. (2000). Focus on form in task-based language teaching. In R. D.
Lambert
& E. Shohamy (Eds.), Language policy and pedagogy: Essays in honor of A.
Ronald Walton. Philadelphia: Benjamins.
12. McElroy, Howard (1934). Selecting a basic textbook. The Modern Language
Journal
13. Poole, A. (2003b).

II. Choose the one word or phrase that best completes the sentences
3. It was so relaxing to be ________ close friends.
A. in
B. between
C. among
D. around
4. She's made friends ________ a little girl who lives next door.
A. to
B. of
C. by
D. with
5. The children seem to be totally capable ________ working by themselves.
A. on
B. of
C. in
D. for
6. Your friendship should be based on ________ trust.
A. basic
B. fragile
C. mutual
D. blind
7. The company expects ________ from its employees.
A. constancy
B. quality
C. interest
D. loyalty
8. I've got lots of ________, but only a few are really good friends
A. close friends B. acquaintances C. neighbors
D. partners
9. Friendship is a two-sided ________, it lives by give-and-take.

II. Choose the one word or phrase that best completes the sentences.
3. Many people find it ________ lasting friendships.
A. difficult to make
B. difficulty in making
C. is difficult to make
D. difficult making
4. You ________ any friends if you ________ talking like that.
A. will win/ carry on
B. won't win/ carry on
C. wouldn't win/ carried on
D. would have won/ had carried on
5. The aim of the culture festival is ____ friendship between the two countries.
A. promote
B. promoting
C. to promote
D. being promoted
6. People he ________ turned out to be only fair-weather friends.


A. trusted
B. has trusted
C. was trusting
D. had trusted
7. I believe that everyone has had ________ experiences in their life.
A. memorable
B. observable
C. acceptable
D. reflexible
8. He rose from his chair and ________ her warmly.
A. protected

B. He was thought to have been in London last year.
C. He is thought to be in London last year.
D. He is thought to have been in London last year.
15. David seems really ill at case in front of all those people.
A. David feels uncomfortable in front of all those people.
B. David is easy to be ill because of all those people.
C. David is ill because he stands in front of all those people.
D. David fells comfortable in front of all those people.
KEY
1D 2D 3A 4B 5C 6D 7A 8C 9D 10D
11A 12C 13A 14D 15A


APPENDIX II
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS
Question1: What is your opinion about grammar lessons at school?
□ Boring, difficult to understand and to remember
□ Understanding grammar structures but the classroom is deep
□ Interesting, effervescent, lively and easy to understand
Question2: Please tick the level(s) of effectiveness of the following ways of
learning English (in your opinions)
The ways of learning

The level of effectiveness
Very
Not very
Not
effective
effective
effective

□ Combining sentences
□ Rearranging words with the same place of stress; the same


pronunciation(at phonetic lessons)
□ Rearranging words into correct sentences(using pieces)
Question4: In what way do you want your teacher correct your mistakes?
□ Have a detailed correction of all grammar mistakes you make
□ Correct some mistakes you often make in writing
□ Correct some mistakes you often make in speaking


APPENDIX III
TWO LESSON PLANS
Unit 1: Friendship ( Textbook Tieng Anh 11 )
Lesson 5: Language focus
Period 6
Time: 45 minutes
Class size: 50 students
Objectives
1, Knowledge: Help students pronounce sounds / dʒ / & / tʃ/ and correctly use
infinitives and bare-infinitives.
2, Skills: Pronunciation
3, Attitudes: Students actively participate in pairwork, groupwork while doing
exercises (phonetics, pronunciation, grammar).
Method:
Integrated, mainly communicative.
LESSON PLAN 1
Procedure
Teacher's activities


Read after the T in chorus
Each student stands up & reads
Work in small groups
A volunteer of each group stands
up & points out

Write down


Teacher's activities
underlined the infinitive with to
Examples: - I have some letters to write
- Does she get anything to eat ?
T asked students to comment on the use
of to- infinitive through the given
examples
T listens & feeds back then leads into
new lesson
- Activity 2: Practice
Exercise1 ( Textbook – Page20 )
T asks students to put the words in
correct order then make sentences using
to +Vinf
T asks each student to do one sentence.
T checks & correct ( if it has)
(2) Infinitive without “ to”
- Activity 1: Presentation
T asks students to give out some verbs
followed by infinitive without to