Luận văn tiếng Anh:A study on teaching English grammar to sixth grade students at Ngo Quyen secondary school = Nghiên cứu việc dạy ngữ pháp tiếng Anh cho học sinh lớp sáu tại trường phổ thông trung học Ngô Quyền. M.A Thesis Linguistics: 60 14 10
Nhà xuất bản:University of Languages and International Studies

M.A. Thesis. English language teaching methodology -- University of Languages and International Studies. Vietnam National University, Hanoi, 2012
Since the new series of English textbook were put into practice throughout the country, a great number of researches have been carried out to investigate its effectiveness and its implementation. However, most of the attention was paid to the teaching and learning of the four macro skills, and there has been little research on how grammar was treated in the actual classroom under innovation goals. Therefore, this thesis was carried out to explore the reality of teaching and learning of grammar in the Language Focus lessons at Ngo Quyen Secondary school. In order to achieve the aim, two instruments were employed: survey questionnaires, class observation. The data revealed that both the teachers and the students have positive attitudes towards grammar teaching and learning and that most of the teachers still teach grammar in the Grammar-Traditional methods, which is not much supported by the students. The study also pointed out some difficulties that the teachers encounter in teaching grammar in the Language Focus lessons. The paper concludes with several recommendations by the researcher for improving practice
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LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS ………………………..……………….……....viii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS…………………………………………………....,,,,ix
PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study ……………………………………………………….... 1
2. Aims of the study …………………………………………………………...... 2
3. Research questions …………………………………………………………. ...2
4. Scope of the study ………………………………………………………….. ...2
5. Significance of the study ……………………………………………………... 3
6. Method of the study …………………………………………………………....3
7. Design of he study …………………………………………………………. ....3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Definitions of grammar ………………………………………………….. ...5
1.2. Role of grammar in foreign language teaching and learning …………….... 6
1.3. Explicit and implicit knowledge ………………………………………….....8
1.3.1. Explicit knowledge ……………………...……………………....8
1.3.2. Implicit knowledge …………………...………………………....9
1.4. Three approaches in grammar presentation ……………………………....10
1.4.1. Deductive approach …………………………………………. ...10
1.4.2. Inductive approach ………………………...……………….…...11
1.4.3. Communicative approach ……………...……………………......12
1.5. Factors affecting language acquisition ………………………………....….13
1.5.1. Internal factors ……………………...………………………......13
1.5.1.1. Students‘ anxiety ……...…………………………….....13
1.5.1.2. Motivation ………………………………….…….…....14
1.5.2. External factors ……………………………...……………….....14
1.5.2.1. Learning context …………………………………….....14
1.5.2.2. Teacher‘s methodology ……………………………......15
1.5.2.3. Classroom atmosphere …………………………….......15
1.5.2.4. Materials ………….……………….………………......16
1.6. Summary ……………………………….….…...……………………….......17
CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY
2.1. Research setting ………………………….………………………………......18
2.1.1. An overview of Ngo Quyen Secondary School ………………...........18
2.1.2. The teachers‘ background and their teaching conditions …………...18
2.1.3. The students of English ………………..…………………………. ...19
2.2. Methodology ………………………………...…………………………….....20
2.2.1. Research questions ………………..…………….………………….....20
2.2.2. Subjects of the study ……………………………….……….…….......20
2.2.3. Data collection instruments …………………………..…………….....21
2.2.3.1. The questionnaire ……………………………..………...........21
2.2.3.2. The classroom observation ……………….……………….….22
2.2.4. Data collection procedures ………………………………………...... 22
2.2.5. Data analysis ……………………………….………………………....23
2.3. Summary... ……………………………….………………………………......23
CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
3.1. Results from the questionnaire for students …..…………………………....24
3.1.1. The students‘ awareness of the importance of grammar in learning
English……………………………………………………………………………24 3.1.2. Students‘ evaluation on difficulties in learning English grammar ….. 24
3.1.3. The students‘ frequency in learning English grammar after the lessons at
school …………………………………………………………… …....25
3.1.4. Time for learning English compared with other subjects ……………. 26
3.1.5. Students‘ evaluations of the grammar teaching in the Language Focu
Lessons ……………………………….……………………………... 26
3.1.6. The students‘ learning styles ………………………………………. ...27
3.1.7. The students‘ assessment of the grammar exercises in the textbook......28
3.1.8. The students‘ difficulties and the causes for those difficulties in learning
English gramma………………………………..……………….…….....29
3.1.9. Students‘ preference for the teachers‘ grammar presentation
approaches………………………………………………………………………...........31
3.1.10. Students‘ favourite practice activities …………………..…………....32
3.1.11. Student‘s expectation for a better and more effective grammar
lesson……………………………………………………………………………….....33
3.2. Results from the questionnaire for teachers ………..……………………......34
3.2.1. The teachers‘ awareness of the performance of grammar in teaching
English ………………………………...…………………………………........34
3.2.2. The teachers‘ methods of teaching grammar …………………….... .....34
3.2.2.1. Teachers‘ methods of presenting grammar ……………...…………...34
3.2.2.2. Teachers‘ ways of giving grammar instructions ……………………..35
3.2.1.3. Teachers‘ grammar practice activities ……………...………………...35
3.2.1.4. Teachers‘ techniques of dealing with the students‘ errors …..……...36
3.2.1.5. Factors affecting the way teachers teach grammar ……...……….. ....37
3.2.2. Difficulties in teaching grammar as perceived by the teachers ...…......38
3.3. Results from class observation ………………...……..…………………........39
3.4. Summary ……………………………...………………………………….......40
CHAPTER 4: MAJOR FINDINGS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS 4.1. Major findings …………………………………………...……………….......42
4.1.1. Teacher‘s and students‘ attitude towards the teaching of grammar…...42
4.1.2. Teacher‘s performance in Language Focus lessons …………..…….....42
4.1.3. Difficulties the teacher face when teaching grammar ………………....42
4.2. Recommendations ………………...……………………………………….....43
4.2.1. For teachers………….……………………………………………….......43
4.2.1.1. Adapting and improving grammar materials ……………....…43
4.2.1.2. Improving teachers‘ methods ………………………..……......43
4.2.1.3. Helping students to be confident …………………………......44
4.2.1.4. Guiding students‘ home revision …………………………......45
4.2.1.5. Building a rapport with the class …………………………......45
4.2.2. For students ………………...………………………………………......45
4.2.2.1. Being aware of grammar ……..………………………....…45
4.2.2.2. Cooperating with teacher and students ………..……….....45
4.2.2.3. Practising and revising……..…………………………….....46
4.2.2.4. Learning from mistakes ……………..………………….......46
4.3. Summary ……………………………………………..…………………........46
PART C: CONCLUSION .
1. Summary of the study ……………………………………….……………….....48
2. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study ……….……….......48
REFERENCES …………………………………………..…...………………...........50
APPENDICES……………………..……………………………………………….......I
Appendix 1: Survey questionnaire for the teachers ..……………..………….……...I
Appendix 2: Survey questionnaire for the students ………………..….…..…........VI
Appendix 3: Class observation checklist 1-4 ………………….………………..…X methods, helping students to be confident, giving homework and checking the previous
lessons frequently; teacher should encourage their students to cooperate with teachers
and other students, practise and revise, learn from mistakes. These suggestions are
given with the hope of overcoming the difficulties in teaching grammar of teachers at
Ngo Quyen Secondary School.
In conclusion, the study was carried out to investigate the teaching English
grammar at Ngo Quyen Secondary School. It helped the researcher to find out not only
the problems but also some main causes of these problems so that we could find out the
ways to Giúp teachers to overcome these problems. The study was expected to be a
very useful indication for the teachers here to think about the methodology they are
applying to the teaching of English grammar. Also, it is with great hope that the study
will be of great value to those who are concerned with this issue.
2. Limitations and suggestions for further study
Although the study is clearly and carefully designed and based on reliable data, it
has some major limitations. Due to the limited time, lack of resources and researcher‘s
ability weaknesses are unavoidable. First, it is the small sample of respondents, i.e. the
subjects of the questionnaire are 100 students, which may not well represent the whole
population of students of the school. Second, the questionnaire does not cover all the
aspects of teaching grammar so the results do not provide reflection of the teaching
situation at Ngo Quyen Secondary school.
The study has only mentioned a very small part of the issues related to the teaching
grammar so he suggestions for further researches include other aspects in teaching
Grammar or the teaching of four language skills: Reading/ Listening/ Speaking or
Writing of the minority students at Ngo Quyen Secondary School School;. The author
hopes that the further studies will overcome all the existing limitation of this study and
Giúp to improve the quality of teaching and learning English at Ngo Quyen Secondary
School in particular and at other schools in Hai Phong in general.

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