i
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
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am, first of all, particularly indebted to my supervisor, Ms. Nguyen Bach Thao, MA
for her invaluable advice, instructions and correction, excellent suggestions and constant
encouragement during the research period. Without her guidance and help, this work would
not have been accomplished.
Secondly, my sincere thanks also go to all lecturers and staff of the department of Post-
Graduate studies for their valuable lessons and precious helps. Thanks to their lessons as
well as needed helps, I could overcome enormous obstacles when doing the study.
Besides, I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to my colleagues and my students at
Tran Nguyen Han High School who have participated in this research and many others who
helped me during my study at Tran Nguyen Han High School.
Last but not least, I would like to convey my deepest gratitude to my husband, my
children, and my parents for their constant support and thorough understanding.Their great
encouragement and love have helped me to overcome the difficulties during my study.
iii
ABSTRACT
As far as I’m concerned, grammar is central to the teaching and learning of languages .
It is also one of the most difficult aspects of language to teach students perfectly.At Tran

LIST OF GRAPHS.................................................................................................................vii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS...............................................................................................viii
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
2.5. The role of oral grammar practice in grammar teaching......................................11
2.5.1. Definition of oral grammar pracice.....................................................................11
2.5.2. Classification of oral practice activities in teaching and learning grammar.....13
2.6. Conclusion...................................................................................................................23
..................................................................................................................................................23
CHAPTER III : METHODOLOGY...................................................................................24
3.1. Study design.................................................................................................................24
3.2. Research questions......................................................................................................24
v
3.3. Subjects of the study...................................................................................................24
3.4. Data collection instruments.......................................................................................25
3.4.1. Questionnaires......................................................................................................25

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
vii
LIST OF GRAPHS
Graph 1: Students’ opinions of the importance of English grammar for language learning.
Graph 2 : The reasons why English grammar is important in language learning.
Graph 3: Students’ opinions of learning English grammar.
Graph 4: Students’ impression of learning English grammar at school.
Graph 5 : Factors influence students’ attitudes towards grammar learning.
Graph 6 : Students’ opinions of English grammar teaching at school.
Graph 7 : Teaching techniques to present a new English grammar structure.
Graph 8 : Activities students get involved in class to practise new grammar structures.
Graph 9 : Students’ expectations
Graph 10 : Oral English grammar practice makes English grammar lessons more lively,
interesting and stimulate students to learn English.
Graph 11: Oral grammar activities students got involved in.
Graph 12 : Ranking oral grammar activities according to students’ preference.
Graph 13 : Frequency of students’ involvement in oral grammar activities.
Graph 14 : Students’ preference with regard to oral grammar activities organization.
Graph 15: Students’ difficulties when doing grammar practice orally.
Graph 16: Students’ opinions of oral grammar activities.
Graph 17: The usefulness of oral grammar practice in students’ language learning.
Graph 18: Students’ preference in oral grammar practice in the coming time.
Graph 19: Reasons for continuing oral grammar practice in the coming time.
Graph 20: Reasons for not continuing oral grammar practice in the coming time.

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
explanation of new words and grammar structures, asking students to learn by heart and
make sentences, reading the structures, texts or conversations aloud, asking students to
repeat and in general making students passive. Even younger teachers rarely organize
communicative activities in their lessons because they are afraid of making noise which may
influence the neighbouring classes and also they find it difficult to control the class then.
That’s why teachers seem to be interested in giving students a lot of written exercises to do
1
in class. This makes students have no interests in learning grammar at all. Students often do
their grammar exercises reluctantly and passively.
The fact is that the 10
th
grade students at Tran Nguyen Han High School have lots of
difficulties in learning grammar. They are taught grammar through repetition and written
exercises. Students are required to repeat the models and memorize the rules . Lasen-
Freeman (2005) points out that such activities in class are boring and not effective. Further
more, many teachers approach grammar far too seriously, with unsmiling faces, particularly
during the first phases of a new lesson when students are trying to grasp an initial
understanding of the form and meaning of the grammar structure.
The shortage of useful materials and high technology equipment also makes students’
learning slower and uninteresting. According to Beatty(2003: 248), if a language learner can
make use of high technology equipment such as a computer, his language will be improved
much more and faster.

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
10
th
graders only.
1.5. Significance of the study
The study was conducted with the expectation that its results would be useful for
teachers of English at TNH High School. Based on the finding, conclusion could be made on
whether oral grammar practice should be applied or not. Hence, it could be a considerable
contribution to teaching and learning English grammar effectively and enjoyablely at TNH
High School.
1.6. Outline of the study
I . Introduction
This gives an overview of the study including the study background. This provides a
brief description of the thesis topic and information related to English grammar teaching and
learning atTNH Upper Secondary School. The aims, the research questions, the scope of the
study and the outline of the minor thesis are also included in this .
3
II. Literature review
This reviews the relevant literature related to the communicative language teaching
methods especially oral practice in English grammar teaching. Particularly, the focuses on
the attitude change and the application of grammar oral practice to change students’ attitudes
in learning grammar.
III. Methodology

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
grammar learning.
5
2.1.2. Attitude change
According to Hovland (1973), attitude change is a response to communication. Listeners
will keep positive attitudes if the communication is successful and interesting. Otherwise,
negative attitudes of the listeners will be formed if the communication is unccessful and
unattractive. The success of communication depends on several factors. The first of these is
the interest of the communicator of a message. To get interest, the tasks and topic are very
important. A frequent change of topic not only makes every student get something that
interests him or her sooner or later, but also helps to maintain students’ attention and
motivation. Further more, teachers should make sure that maximum language use in fact
takes place in every task. To be effective, a communicator must have credibility based on his
or her perceived knowledge of the topic, and also be considered trustworthy. The greater the
students have perceived similarly between the audience and the communicator, the greater
the communicator’s effectiveness becomes.
Hallorah (1967:60-61) states that formation and change of attitude are not two separate
things , but they are interwoven. People always adopt, relinquish and modify attitudes to fit
the ever- changing needs and interests. Simple education can’t change attitudes. Acceptance
of new attitudes depends on who presents the knowledge, how it is presented, how the
person is perceived, the credibility of the communicator, and the conditions by which the
knowledge is received.
In Sherif’s view (1975: 16) , we can understand that attitude will be changed based on

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
attitude, they will carry out their learning to the best of their ability and vice versa. Students’
attitudes have an effect on their classroom behaviour, learning style and learning results.
Lightbrown and Spada (1999) state that attitude is fundamental to the success or failure
that we experience in learning. Depending on the learners’ attitudes, learning language can
7
be a source of enrichment or a sourse of resentment. Agreeing with the role of attitudes,
Brown (1994) says that language learners benefit from positive attitudes while negative
attitudes may lead to unsuccessful attainment of proficiency. Moreover, Gardener (1985: 41)
emphasized that favourable attitudes would be expected to result in better performance than
negative attitudes. If the students hold positive attitudes to learning, they will be willing to
participate in it. This attitude will be helpful for them in their learning. Marzano et all (1994)
mentioned the importance of positive attitude in learning that “without positive attitudes and
perceptions or holding negative attitudes towards the learning, students have little chance of
learning proficiently, if at all”.
In brief, it is clear that attitudes play an important role in learning so students will see
themselves achieving greater and greater result in language learning in general and in
grammar learning in particular whereas negative attitudes will hinder their learning.
2.3. Ways that help to change students’ attitudes
2.3.1. Oral grammar practice creating teaching techniques
Eagly and Chaiken (1993) all claimed that students’ attitude in language learning in
general and grammar in particular may be influenced by oral practice because oral practice
not only brings students favourable feeling but also the belief in learning. As mentioned in

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
teacher) are open to learning your students is the extent to which you are likely to meet with
success in the classroom- because learning your students will inform how you respond at a
particular moments in the lessons”. Things that teachers usually learn from the students may
include the following: students’ attitudes, motivation and preferences in a particular
situation. In the part of students, they need to cooperate with teachers in matching teaching
9
and learning styles. Also they should be open- minded to move from one learning style to
another in order to become more autonomous learners.
To sum up, the author has discussed the major factors affecting students’ attitude change
in grammar learning. Among these factors the researcher chooses oral practice to put in
experiment. The next point will be the discussion on the communicative approach as well as
oral grammar practice in teaching English grammar .
2.4. Grammar teaching from a CLT perspective
As we know, communicative language teaching (CLT) has greatly influenced foreign
languages teaching and learning for at least two decades now.The very term
‘communicative’ carries an obvious ring of truth : we ‘ learn to communicate by
communicating’ (Larsen – Freeman, 1986:131). Of course the fundamental intution behind
this approach is far from new. In the fourth century B.C Aristotle wrote : “ What we have to
learn to do, we learn by doing” (Nicomachean Ethics, Bk. II) . As for Karavas- Doukas
1996) , most teachers now claim to use a communicative approach in some way or other, and
it is hardly surprising that no-one wishes to be called a non- communicative teacher.

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
have fun through communicative activities.
2.5. The role of oral grammar practice in grammar teaching
2.5.1. Definition of oral grammar pracice
A grammar lesson consists of different stages, which are suggested differently by
different methodologists. Ur (1988) organizes grammar teaching into four stages:
presentation, isolation and explanation, practice, and test, whereas according to Celce-
Murcia and Hilles, a grammar lesson goes through four following phases : presentation,
focused practice, communicative practice, teacher- feedback and correction. Harmer (1987)
11
discusses the question of how to teach grammar in three aspects: presentation, practice and
testing. Thus, however different such suggestions are, practice as a stage is always present, it
comes after the initial presentation and explanation when learners have taken knowledge into
short term memory but have not really mastered it yet. Practice may be defined as any kind
of engaging with the language on the part of the learners, usually under the teachers’
supervision, whose primary objective is to consolidate learning. Practice involves both
spoken and written practice. (Ur, 1988:11) 2.5.2 Oral practice in grammar teaching and
learning.
Nunan (2007) agees that oral grammar practice gives learners increasing opportunities
and motivation to interact with other communicators, to raise their awareness of the forms
and functions of English grammar. Grammatical patterns are matched to particular
communicative meanings so learners can see connection between form and function.

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.
The advantage of this technique is that teachers can correct any mistakes that students make
and can encourage them to concentrate on difficulties at the same time. However, the
problem with drills is that they are often not very creative , to which a solution initiated by
Harmer (1999) is that teachers should make sure not to overuse them and that they do not go
on for too long. As soon as students show that they are able to make correct sentences with
the new item, the teachers should move on to more creative activities. Riverers and
Temperley (1991) classified oral drills into six types :
a.Repetition presentation drills :
In this part, the teacher gives a model sentence containing a particular structure or form
to be manipulated and the students repeat the sentence with correct intonation and stress.
Repetation drills are not , in one sense, a special category of exercises which will be used for
practicing certain type of structures; they represent, rather, a commonly used technique for
13
familarizing students with a specific structure. For this reason, they are sometimes called
presentation drills. This oral exercise can be illustrated as below:
MODEL :Where is the bank ? Oh, I see it.
STUDENT:Where is the bank? Oh, I see it.
MODEL: Where are the banks? Oh, I see them.
STUDENT:Where are the banks ? Oh, I see them.
This activity is judged as unreality and lack of application to the students’ situation. In
such above example, unless the students are looking at a picture showing a scene in a city, it

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
words for phrases or phrases for single words (e.g.,adverbs for adverbial phrases, adjectives
for adjectival phrases). Conversions can be classified into three subdivisions : general
conversions, combinitions and restatement.
- General conversions:
Example: Change the following sentences into questions:
CUE: a. Smith and Tom are reading books in the library now.
RESPONSE : -> Are they reading books in the library now?
CUE : b. The actor lives in The USA.
RESPONSE : -> Does the actor live in the USA?
This traditional type of elementary conversion exercise requires the student to attend to
a number of different aspects of the formation of general questions in a very few items.
Students are required to use subject-inversion with ‘be’, doperiphrasis with single and with
popular subjects, and with main verbs including ‘have’ and ‘do’ and ‘a modal’ . This is a
formidable task for an elemetary-level student.
Conversion exercises like the following are also used:
Example : Listen carefully to each of the following sentences and replaced the words which
are repeated by pronouns in the appropriate form and position the words which are repeated.
You may need to add a preposition:
15
MODEL: Tom gave his mother a pen. His mother
RESPONSE: Tom gave her a pen.

16
RESPONSE : Where are you going , Nam ?
All kinds of restatements can be intended to practice different grammatical features. A
realistic note is added if one student pretends to be giving directions to a third party by
telephone , while a second student is supplying the necessary information.
Another type of replacement (sometimes called a contraction) consists of replacing a
longer expression with a shorter one (eg: a clause with prepositional phrase, a prepositional
phrase with a noun phrase …).
Example : Restate each of the following sentences by replacing the relative clause with
an infinitive construction , the words italicized with a noun phrase
a.I need a backpack that I can put my picnic- food in.
RESPONSE: I need a backpack to put my picnic- food in.
b.The man who owns the villa is a famous doctor.
RESPONSE: The owner of the villa is a famous doctor.
d. Sentence modification
According to Rivers and Temperley, we can subdivide sentence modification into three
kinds : completions , expansions and deletions
*Completions
In completions, part of the sentence is given as a cue and the students finish the sentence
either with semantically constant segment in which some syntactic or morphological change
must be made according to the cue , or with a suitable segment which is to some extent
semantically governed by the cue , or with a segment of their own invention.
Example: You will hear the model sentence : If I see her, I’ll tell her.
Throughout the exercise, you will retain the same concluding notion, varying the
segment from future tense to conditional as the introductory segment changes.
MODEL : If I see her, I’ll tell her about that .
CUE : If I saw her…
RESPONSE: If I saw her, I’d tell her about that.
CUE : If You took it…
RESPONSE : IF you took it, I’d tell her about that.