Using storytelling to teach english grammar in communicative approach for students at viet tri industrial high school, phu tho province

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HUNG VUONG UNIVERSITY
FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT

NGUYEN TIEN PHUONG

USING STORYTELLING TO TEACH ENGLISH GRAMMAR
IN COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH FOR STUDENTS AT VIET TRI
INDUSTRIAL HIGH SCHOOL, PHU THO PROVINCE

GRADUATION PAPER PROPOSAL
Field: English Linguistics

SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN THI THU HANG, M.A

Phu Tho, 2017


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My sincere thanks go to the many people who gave so generously of
their time and expertise in support of this research project.
First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to express my
sincerest gratitude to my supervisor Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Hang for her
dedication, professional support and guidance as well as valuable comments
during the research. Her patience and knowledge whilst showing me an
academic researcher‟s pathway went beyond the mainstream studies to see the
best in me. Thank you so much for simply being there. You have been a
constant source of motivation throughout this thesis. I could not have asked

for a better supervisor.
I would be grateful all the lecturers who have been teaching in Foreign
Language Department, Hung Vuong University, contributed to the success of
the course.
I would also like to thank all the teachers and the students at Viet Tri
Industrial High School, who willingly participated in the study. I thank them
for their time, patience and willingness in completing the questionnaires,
answering the questions and sharing their classrooms with me.
Last but not less importantly, I owe my parents and friends whose
unconditional love, understanding, encouragement, and support are valuable
during my whole study.
Phu Tho, May 2016

Nguyen Tien Phuong


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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Communicative Language Teaching

CLT

English as a Foreign Language

EFL


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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Table 3.1: The students‟ opinions about learning grammar ........................ 37
Table 3.2: How students learn English grammar structures ....................... 39
Table 3.3: The way students like to study grammar rules........................... 42
Table 4.1: Students‟ evaluation on learning grammar with storytelling .... 50
Figure 3.1: Marks students got on grammar sections ................................ 41


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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART A: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1
1. Rationale........................................................................................................ 1
2. Previous researches ....................................................................................... 2
3. Research purpose .......................................................................................... 3
4. Research questions ........................................................................................ 4
5. Hypothesis ..................................................................................................... 4
6. Research methods.......................................................................................... 4
7. The significance of the research .................................................................... 5
8. The scope of the research .............................................................................. 5
9. Design of the research ................................................................................... 5
PART B: CONTENT ........................................................................................ 7
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................... 7
1.1. Teaching approaches .................................................................................. 7
1.1.1. The Grammar - Translation .................................................................... 7
1.1.2. The Direct method ................................................................................... 8
1.1.3. The Audio - Lingual method.................................................................. 10
1.1.4. Communicative Language Teaching ..................................................... 10

1.2. Teaching grammar in communicative approach ...................................... 15
1.2.1. Definition of grammar .......................................................................... 15
1.2.2. The role of grammar ............................................................................. 16
1.2.3. Requirements in a grammar lesson ....................................................... 17
1.2.4. The stages of a grammar lesson ............................................................ 18


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1.2.5. The role of teacher and students in a grammar lesson ......................... 21
1.3. Storytelling ............................................................................................... 21
1.3.1. Definitions of storytelling...................................................................... 21
1.3.2. Trends of storytelling in language teaching ......................................... 23
1.3.3. Storytelling models ................................................................................ 24
1.3.4. The roles of storytelling in language classroom ................................... 26
1.3.5. Communicative Language Teaching and Storytelling .......................... 28
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY .................................................................. 30
2.1. Research setting ....................................................................................... 30
2.2. Subject of the study .................................................................................. 31
2.3. Participants of the study ........................................................................... 31
2.4. Data collection instruments ...................................................................... 32
2.4.1. Survey questionnaires ........................................................................... 32
2.4.2. Interview ................................................................................................ 34
2.5. Research procedure .................................................................................. 35
CHAPTER 3: THE CURRENT SITUATION IN TEACHING AND
LEARNING ENGLISH GRAMMAR .... AT VIET TRI INDUSTRIAL HIGH
SCHOOL ......................................................................................................... 37
3.1. Results from questionnaire....................................................................... 37
3.2. Results from interview ............................................................................. 43
CHAPTER 4: EXPERIMENT AND RESULTS ............................................ 46

4.1. Description of the experimental teaching ................................................ 46
4.2. Experiment procedure .............................................................................. 46
4.2.1. The first week ........................................................................................ 46


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4.2.2. The second week .................................................................................... 47
4.2.3. The third week ....................................................................................... 48
4.3. Results from questionnaire....................................................................... 50
4.4. Implications .............................................................................................. 52
4.4.1. For teachers .......................................................................................... 52
4.4.2. For students ........................................................................................... 54
PART C: CONCLUSION ............................................................................... 55
1. Summary ..................................................................................................... 55
2. Limitations of the study .............................................................................. 56
3. Suggestions for further study ...................................................................... 57
REFERENCES ................................................................................................ 58
APPENDIX 1 .................................................................................................. 61
APPENDIX 2 .................................................................................................. 64
APPENDIX 3 .................................................................................................. 65
APPENDIX 4 .................................................................................................. 66
APPENDIX 5 .................................................................................................. 71
APPENDIX 6 .................................................................................................. 76
APPENDIX 7 .................................................................................................. 77


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PART A: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale
The role of English as an international language in this globalization era is
undeniable. On its way of integration into the global community, Vietnam gives
prominence to English acquisition in order to adapt itself to the current trend.
Together with the growing demand for learning English, there has been an innovation
in English teaching and learning methods everywhere in Vietnam.
For a long time, language teaching in Vietnam was strongly influenced by the
traditional structure. Emphasis was placed on mastery of language structures.
Students have been taught how to form correct utterances and to understand the
structures of the language without any consideration of language use. Students have
been asked to learn every single word by heart, and translate or analyze
grammatically every sentence in the text. The teacher has often taken up almost all
the time in class explaining the form of language to students who were passive
recipients.
With the first teaching internship at Viet Tri Industrial High school, I found
that grammar was taught in traditional way. At the end of each semester, the students
had to take a written test, not an oral one. Therefore, most of the time were spent on
grammar points because many of the students have never learnt English before and
the teachers has to try to keep to the syllabus. In addition, many students were too shy
to speak in class whereas most of the grammar lessons were carried out in traditional
methods. That is, the teachers presented new grammar verbally, and then students
took turn to turn, exercises in workbooks. Consequently, the students found it hard to
speak out as well as to communicate in the real life naturally. They could not speak
English since most of tests were in written forms. It may surprise me that many
students cannot use English as a means of communication after several years of
learning it at school. For these reasons, the researcher decided to conduct “Using


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storytelling to teach English grammar in communicative approach for students at
Viet Tri Industrial High school, Phu Tho province.”
2. Previous researches
2.1. In the world
Brian Ellis (1997) in his article “Why Tell Stories” believed that
storytelling is the perfect embodiment of whole language pedagogy. In
addition, it teaches higher level of thinking skills, addresses the needs of
students with different learning styles, and provides opportunity for
cooperative learning; building social skills and most importantly storytelling
have been shown to build intrinsic motivation and self-esteem, even in the
students who are labeled hard to reach.
Mello (2001) conducted her research by exposing her subjects to bimonthly storytelling sessions over the course of a full nine month school year.
Data was gathered through in-depth interviews with each of the participants
after each of the storytelling sessions. The stories presented were varied
including old folk tales, hero-based stories, conformist and nonconformist
character stories, and other stories selected for their ethical content as it
related to specific course lessons.
Martin and Power‟s (1983) studied on storytelling reveal the enormous
power that stories have in organizations with respect to employee
commitment and trust. Stories alone prove to produce an audience who is
more likely to believe a message and/or commit to the values inherent in the
story. This also speaks well to using storytelling as a learning tool to
emphasize various academic theories and other factual information and to
possibly improve student motivation to learn new information and practice
new skills. Furthermore, the results of these experiments reveal the
transformative nature of storytelling as previously discussed by Rossiter
(2002), Heo (2003) and McDrury and Alterio (2003). However, Martin and
Powers considers the use of storytelling as a leadership tool in organizations

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because it has the potential to be abused if applied only for organizational
propaganda or other unethical motives due to its influential strengths.
2.2. In Vietnam
Nguyen (2005) conducted a survey on the teachers and students of the
University of Agriculture and Forestry in Ho Chi Minh City to identify the
real situation of English grammar teaching and learning. The results showed
that communicative language teaching approach was rarely used and, thus,
her suggestions afterwards were several communicative activities that might
bring positive changes to grammar teaching and learning.
Vuong (2008) studied about teachers‟ difficulties in teaching grammar
communicatively for ethnic minority students at Ha Giang Medical
Secondary School to find out difficulties faced by the teachers, the students
in teaching and learning grammar and their expectations and suggestions for
overcoming the difficulties in teaching grammar communicatively.
So far, a number of studies have been conducted to assist teachers in
teaching English grammar communicatively in the Vietnamese context.
However, not many of them have been made in the scope of 11th students at
high schools. The rare study on this subject (Vu, 1998) was conducted 18
years ago, and therefore, may not provide up-to-date information to other
educators and researchers who share the same interest. Moreover, the studies
on using storytelling in teaching grammar in Vietnam are also very rare;
mainly used in teaching speaking. This has offered the researcher a chance to
conduct “Using storytelling to teach English grammar in communicative
approach for students at Viet Tri Industrial High school, Phu Tho province.”
3. Research purpose
The research aims to find out current situation in teaching and learning
English grammar at Viet Tri Industrial High school, apply storytelling to
teach English grammar in communicative approach for students and then

basing on the results, evaluate the effectiveness of suggested activity as well


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as student‟s attitudes towards teaching and learning English grammar in
communicative approach with storytelling.
4. Research questions
Question 1: What is the real situation of grammar learning and teaching
for students at Viet Tri Industrial High school?
Question 2: What is the significance of storytelling in teaching
grammar in communicative approach for students at Viet Tri Industrial High
school?
Question 3: How is the application of storytelling to teach grammar
suitable for students at Viet Tri Industrial High school?
5. Hypothesis
If the research is successful, this will help the teachers of English teach
grammar more effectively and communicatively. Moreover, students can use
English fluently as a means of communication after learning at school.
6. Research methods
In order to accomplish this thesis systematically and adequately, the
following methods have been used:
- Theoretical method: study the literature review in order to give background
of storytelling, help to know the importance of teaching grammar in
communicative approach.
- Investigating method: this method was used with the aim to investigate the
real situations of teaching English grammar in communicative approach for
students at Viet Tri Industrial High school.
- Experimental method: this method was employed an applying storytelling
to teach English grammar in communicative approach to assess the

significance of using this technique.
- Analysis method: this helped to process data collected for the researcher
analyze to draw out the conclusion.


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7. The significance of the research
Once completed, the researcher hopes that the study would bring
certain plus points to teachers and students at Viet Tri Industrial High school,
which could be a considerable contribution to teaching and English grammar
effectively and enjoyably at Viet Tri Industrial High school.
Theoretical significance of the study: the study supplied the English
teachers with the understanding of language in term of types, advantages
when employing them. The study also suggested some ways to exploit
language focus successfully during all stages in teaching grammar.
Practical significance of the study: the study helped the teacher of
English teach grammar more effectively, which made language focus lessons
more communicative and meaningful.
8. The scope of the research
This research focuses on using storytelling to teach English grammar in
communicative approach to 41 students of grade 11D1 at Viet Tri Industrial
High school, Phu Tho province.
9. Design of the research
PART A: INTRODUCTION
Part A presents the overview of the thesis including the rationale for the
research, research purpose, research questions, significance of the research,
methodology as well as design of the study
PART B: CONTENT
Chapter 1: Literature review

This part presents theoretical background of Communicative Language
Teaching, teaching grammar and storytelling.
Chapter 2: Methodology


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In this chapter, the researcher wants to clarify the participants, research
methods, instruments used, and descriptions about how to collect information
with those methods.
Chapter 3: The current situation of teaching English grammar for
students at Viet Tri Industrial High school
Chapter 3 analyzes statistics collected from chapter 2 in order to
discuss in details and propose the major finding. From the current situations,
the researcher suggests the solution.
Chapter 4: Experiment and results
This chapter describes experiment on using storytelling to teach
grammar in communicative approach, as well as it also presents the
significance of using storytelling in teaching grammar under the light of
communicative approach.
PART C: CONCLUSION
This part includes the summary of the study findings, limitations of the
study and suggestions for further study.


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PART B: CONTENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Teaching approaches

The past century has witnessed the appearance, the development and
the changes in methods of teaching foreign language. Naturally, each method
has its distinctive features. As a result, there are different viewpoints on the
teaching grammar of the target language.
1.1.1. The Grammar - Translation
The Grammar - Translation method was popular in foreign language
teaching from the 1840s to the 1940s. It was a dominant method until the end
of the twentieth century and in its modified forms, it has continued to be used
in some places nowadays. Grammar - Translation is a way of studying a
language that approaches the language first through detailed analysis of its
grammar rules, followed by the application of this knowledge to the task of
translating sentences and texts into and out of the target language. Hence, it
views language learning as consisting of little more than memorizing rules
and facts in order to understand and manipulate the morphology and syntax of
the foreign language (Richard and Rogers, 1986).
In this method, the teaching of grammar possesses the following
features:
• Grammar is taught deductively, that is in a typical grammar –
translation text, and the grammatical rules of the target language are presented
in the mother tongue and illustrated through translation activities.
• Teacher‟s role is to explain grammar rules and the meaning of the
words in the students‟ native language.
• Students‟ role is to pay close attention to teacher‟s explanations and
corrections, memorize rules and vocabulary lists, and carefully do the
translation tasks.


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The strong points of this method can be drawn from its above features.

First, students taught in this method are usually good at grammar because of
their great attention to it. Second, this method does not require much effort
from the teacher as he often overuses the mother tongue as the main means to
explain the grammatical points. Third, translation exercises can rule out the
ambiguity or misunderstanding between the students in learning a new
grammatical structure as everything is translated clearly into their mother
tongue.
However, this method has some shortcomings, the biggest of which is
that students are considered to be passive recipients of the given knowledge.
They learn by absorbing the teacher‟s explanation in the mother tongue,
memorizing grammar rules and vocabulary list. They do not have many
chances to think, learn and carry out meaningful communicative activities in
the target language.
Due to its weak points and inefficient outcome, this method is rarely
used in learning and leaching foreign language in schools in the world
nowadays. Even in our country, although grammar translation method used to
be popular for a long time, the use of this method in schools has proved many
drawbacks and hence needs to be changed.
1.1.2. The Direct method
The direct method was a method of teaching that developed at the turn
of the 20th century. This method developed as a revolution against the
grammar - translation method. Therefore, grammar was also taught in
different ways. This method stresses that the second language learning should
be more like the fist language learning with a lot of oral interactions and
spontaneous responses. The direct method was characterized, above all, by
the use of the target language as a means of instruction and communication in
the language classroom, and by the avoidance of the use of the first language.
(Stern, 1983).

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Then, it could be seen that the teaching of grammar in this method also
carries its distinctive features. While prioritizing oral skills, it rejects explicit
grammar teaching. The students are supposed to pick up the grammar of the
target language in much the same way as children do that in their mother
tongue, simply by being immersed in it. As a result, this method has some
advantages. First, it provides students more chances to speak the target
language and creates a good foreign language - learning environment. It also
enables students to think and the language easily.
Nevertheless, this method has to cope with many challenges. It requires
teachers who were native speakers or who had native like fluency in the
foreign language. It was largely dependent on the teachers‟ skill, rather than
on a text book and not all teachers were proficient enough in foreign language
to adhere to the principle of this method. (Bolton, D. Goodey, N. 1999). This
method requires the teacher to be very fluent in the target language and all the
foreign language classes to be small - sized. This does not prove practical and
useful in the financially poor situation, as it is difficult and costly to hire all
native or native like speaking teachers and to run small – sized classes in all
schools. In addition, as this method forces student to express himself too soon
in the target language, they can speak fast and fluently but not accurately due
to the lack of the systematic practice of the structures. More importantly, as
oral interaction and spontaneous reaction are given prior stress, slow –minded
students will be discouraged because they often find it difficult to catch up
with the fast pace of the learning process.
Being the contradiction to the grammar –translation method, this has
not been seen as a better one. The use of this method in the situation of
Vietnam schools could encounter such numerous difficulties as students‟
inability to perform the language accurately and school financial matters.

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1.1.3. The Audio - Lingual method
According to Stern (1983), the immergence of the audio - lingual
method resulted from the increased attentions given to foreign language
teaching in the United States at the end of the 1950s. Then Audio lingual
reached the period of most widespread use in the 1960s and it was applied
both to the teaching of foreign languages in the United States and to the
teaching of English as a second language in many other places.
The teaching of grammar in this method has some features as follows:
- The use of dialogues as the chief means of presenting the language
- Emphasis on dialogues as the chief means of presenting the language,
mimicry, memorization, and pattern drills
- The use of the language laboratory
The prevailing point of this method is that it gives good attention to
students‟ pronunciation and promotes their successful responses, which can
better their ability to communicate. Moreover, much use of tapes, language
labs and visual aids can facilitate the learning process of the students as this
can add a lively and interesting atmosphere to foreign language classes.
Nonetheless, this method also proves some drawbacks. First, students
vocabulary is simple and limited because most of the words are learned in a
dialogue context. Second, students are turned into a kind of machine through
repetitive drills, mimicry and memorization of set phrases, which do not help
to promote their creativity.
1.1.4. Communicative Language Teaching
1.1.4.1. Definitions
Different researchers have presented their understandings in relation to
communicative language teaching. Ying (2010) argued that CLT is an
approach to the teaching of second languages that emphasizes interaction as

both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language. It is also referred
to as a “communicative approach to the teaching of foreign languages” or


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simply as the “communicative approach”. In relation to this, Larsen-Freeman
(2000) argued that CLT aims broadly at the theoretical perspective of a
communicative approach by enabling communication. Communicative
competence is the goal of language teaching by acknowledging the
interdependence of language and communication.
It is clear to see that CLT here means that the language teacher uses
communication as a teaching approach to enhance students‟ communicative
competence. In relation to this, Ellis (1997) also supported that the
pedagogical rationale for the use of communicative approach in a language
teaching class depends in part on the claim that they will help develop
learners‟ communicative skills and in part on a claim that they will contribute
incidentally to their linguistic development. Here, it becomes clear that in
relation to being able to communicate, language teaching not only needs the
mastering of linguistic knowledge, but also communicative competence.
It also states that communicative competence is the ability to
understand the logical basis of linguistic competence (Finch, 2003).
According to Finch, there were three kinds of logic: the first one is formal
logic, which is connected with the rules which govern valid argument and
gets us so far in understanding the basis of communication. Then to be fully
competent, we need knowledge of natural logic, which means understanding
what people are trying to do through language. In addition to these two logics,
we also need to understand the force of our utterance, which requires us to
understand the meaning of our utterances according to its social context or
particular situational settings.

Therefore, when it is deliberately taught to students, the language
teaching will create language appropriate for such language-use situations as
ordering in restaurants, giving directions or applying for a job. To summarize,
communicative competence not only includes good mastery of linguistic
knowledge, but also the ability to understand the logic to handle realistic


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situations. Furthermore, the other researchers also argue that there is
considerable debate as to appropriate ways of defining CLT, and no single
model of CLT is universally accepted as authoritative.

1.1.4.2. Characteristic features
At the time when the previous foreign language teaching method all
proved their drawbacks, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has been
put forth around the world as the “new” or “innovative” approach to teach
English as a second language. Teaching materials, course descriptions,
guidelines proclaim a goal of communicative competence.
Littlewood (1981) stated that one of the most characteristic features of
communicative language teaching is that it pays systematic attention to
functional as well as structural aspect of language. David Nunan (1989) also
offered five features to characterize CLT:
1. An emphasis on learning to communicative through interaction in the
target language.
2. The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation.
3. The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on the
language but also on the learning process itself.
4. An enhancement of the learner‟s own personal experiences as an
important contributing element to classroom learning.

5. An attempt to link classroom language learning with language
activation outside the classroom.
According to Harmer, J. (1987), language was more than simply a
system or rules; rather it is seen as a dynamic resource for the creation of
meaning. In terms of learning, it is generally accepted that we need to
distinguish between “learning what” and “knowing how”. To some extent,
that is to say, students do not simply learn the language structures and
grammar rules, rather they should take part in activities such as problem


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solving, writing for a purpose, and discussion on topics of genuine interest,
ect. Students in communicative classrooms are seen as active recipients of
information provided by teachers or the textbooks. Teachers are no longer
viewed as the authority of the knowledge, playing a dominant role. They are
just in the roles of a facilitator, a participant, and a counselor to create more
fascinating experiences for the students. In general, the CLT helps students
learn a language through authentic and meaningful communication, which
involves a process of creative construction, in order to achieve fluency.
Canale, M. & Swain, M. (1980) distinguished between the weak and
the strong versions of Communicative Language Teaching. The weak version
stresses the importance of providing learners with opportunities to use English
for

communicative

purposes

and

therefore

attempts

to

integrate

communicative activities into the program of language teaching. As different
from this, the strong version of communicative language teaching claims that
language can be acquired only through communication. This would mean that
teaching involves not just activating an existing knowledge of the language,
but stimulating the development of the language system itself. It is worth
noticing that while the strong version of the communicative movement pays
no attention to grammar learning in the classroom, the weak version attempts
to integrate a communicative component into a traditional setting. However,
whether it is the weak or the strong version, the proponents of
Communicative Language Teaching have always viewed learning a second/
foreign language as acquiring the linguistic means to perform different
functions.
Likewise, Brown (1994) said that in CLT, grammatical structure is
immersed under various categories and therefore, less attention is paid to the
overt presentation and discussion over the grammatical rules. In other words,
CLT does not encourage the overt teaching of grammar, which provides
explicit explanation of the rules of certain grammatical items when teaching,


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and learning process of grammar occurs in the classroom. Communicative
Language Teaching principle is in accordance with the principle of
meaningful learning under the cognitive school, who believes that learning
becomes effective when input provided is interrelated or connected to the
prior knowledge possessed by a language learner. This is different from the
rote learning which introduces language as discrete and separate entities.
Hence, in order for meaningful learning to be achieved, in CLT, input
presented to the students is extracted from authentic language samples.
Richards & Rodgers (1986) provided an explanation over the goal of
the CLT approach as to achieve the communicative competence before
arriving at the knowledge of grammatical competence. A language user is
perceived as communicatively competent when he or she has the knowledge
on how to use a particular language in an appropriate context by referring to
the setting, participants and purpose of the communication. In addition, a
competent user of a language should also be able to maintain communication
by applying various communication strategies if there is any sign of
communication breakdown to appear. In CLT, grammatical competence is not
the major concern as someone who masters the rules of certain grammatical
items may not necessarily be a competent user of the language especially
when engaged in meaningful communication.
From the above features, we can see that this approach promotes and
encourages students to communicate and interact in the target language with
the orders because its uttermost goal is to help them achieve communicative
competence. Moreover, this approach sees authentic texts as a basic premise
in teaching and learning language aspects or skills. The students do not have
to memorize all the complicated grammar rules, rather they have chance to
practice the structures in meaningful situations. In addition, the students in
this approach are the center of the whole learning process. The teacher can act

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as a facilitator, an organizer, a supervisor and can help their students gain the
knowledge in a more active and independent way.
1.2. Teaching grammar in communicative approach
1.2.1. Definition of grammar
Grammar seems to be a very familiar term in language teaching and
learning. However, it is difficult to define exactly what grammar is. Up to
now, many attempts have been made for this.
Harmer (1987) gave another definition of grammar: Grammar is the
way in which words change themselves and group together to make
sentences. The grammar of a language is what happens to words when they
become plural or negative, or what word order is used when we make
questions or join two clauses to make one sentence. It can be seen that the
ideas of two definitions are much similar in that they both see grammar as a
system consisting of the change of word forms and the combination of words
into sentences.
Ur (1996) gave a broader definition to grammar, which is clear and
easy to understand: Grammar may be roughly defined as the way a language
manipulates and combines words (or bits of words) in order to form longer
units of meaning. For example, in English, the present form of the verb be in
the third person has two distinct forms, one (is) being used with a singular
subject and the other (are) with a plural; and if the plural are is combined with
a singular subject, the result is usually unacceptable or “ungrammatical”.
Thus, a sentence like: This is a book is grammatical, whereas This are a book
is not. There is a set of rules, which govern how units of meaning may be
constructed in any language”.
In short, whatever grammar may be defined, it involves the set of rules
that defines how words or words are combined together to make up
meaningful units of language. Moreover, it cannot be denied that students

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know how to put the isolated words into meaningful sentences to serve the
communicative purposes.
1.2.2. The role of grammar
Teaching grammar has been a longstanding tradition in teaching a
foreign language. In recent years, the role of grammar in language teaching
ang learning has received different interpretations. Traditional method like the
grammar translation one stressed the need to master grammar as the
centerpiece in learning a foreign language whereas some expressed different
views against the teaching grammar. The study of grammar was neither
necessary nor sufficient for learning a language (Brumfit and Johnson, 1979).
Therefore, there has been a great controversy relating to the raised question:
“Whether should we teach grammar or not? Do we have to have grammar
exercises? Isn‟t it better for students to absorb the rules intuitively through
communicative activities than to be taught through special exercises?” (Ur,
1988). Some linguists have given their answer to these big questions.
According to Richards, Platt, and Weber in Nunan (2005) grammar was
a description of a language and the way in which units such as words and
phrases are combined to produce sentences in the language. From this
definition, it seems that grammar plays an importance role in combining units
of language to form sentences. The sentences are acceptable or grammatically
if they follow the rules of grammar. Since a communicative purpose and
function of language and reflected in grammar, it is a must the language
students to acquire good grammar. It should be admitted, good mastery in
grammar will enable people easily to express information, feeling, and ideas
in their thought to others. In other words, it can be said that communication
failure will happen if people do not master the grammar because the purpose

of communication cannot be reached. From that statement, it is clear that
grammar is important to be mastered by the students in order to be able to
express their feelings, emotions, and to be able to use English appropriately.


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Ur (1988) stressed the role of grammar in language learning and
teaching. He stated knowledge - implicit or explicit - of grammatical rules is
essential for the mastery of a language: you cannot use words unless you
know how they should be put together. However, he also claims the learning
of grammar should be seen in the long term as a whole, not as an end in itself.
Harmer (1987) also admitted that there is now a general feeling that
students do need lo learn how to perform the functions of language, but they
need a grammatical base as well. Modern courses often teach a grammatical
structure and then get students to use it as part of a functional conversation.
In conclusion, there still exist controversies about the role of grammar
in language teaching and learning. However, it can be seen that the above –
mentioned linguists share the same view in valuing the crucial role of
grammar in language learning and teaching. However, they assert that the sole
mastery of grammar is not the goal of language learning. The students‟
ultimate goal in learning grammar is to use it to perform communicative
functions accurately, effectively and successfully. Indeed, grammar offers
students one of the most effective means of extending students‟ knowledge of
language items in which they can use to communicate in real life and to
understand what is said written in English.
1.2.3. Requirements in a grammar lesson
Any teacher who teachers a grammatical item has to define his
objectives by asking himself what his students have to learn. According to
Hubbard (1989), there were three main things that students have to acquire in

a grammar lesson. First thing was the form of a grammatical structure which
is the actual words (written) of sounds (spoken) used to express something in
the language, the form is often synonymous with the structure. The second
was the meaning of the structure. It was the conventional and literal meaning
of a particular form. The use of form may be described in terms of its function
or communicative purpose.


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While the grammar translation method and some other structural
approach focus on the accuracy of the form, the communicative approach has
turned its attention to the use of the language in situation. Littlewood (1981)
claimed the goal of foreign language teaching is to extend the range of
communication situations in which the learners can perform with focus on
meaning without being hindered by the attention he must pay to linguistic
form. Therefore, after a grammar lesson, students achieve this; two main
kinds of activities need to be carried out in a grammar lesson. The first on is
pre- communicative activities including the presentation, then the controlled
and guided practice. The second is communicative activities which are
considered as the free practice.
In brief, the requirement for a successful grammar lesson is that after
learning a certain grammatical structure, the students are able to use it in real
life communication.
1.2.4. The stages of a grammar lesson
The most common procedure for teaching grammar is as follow:
- The presentation stage
- The practice stage
- The production stage (Free practice)
1.2.4.1. The presentation stage

According to Harmer (1987), presentation is the stage, at which
students are introduced to the form, meaning and use of a new piece of
language, suggested that the presentation should include the following points:
- Build up a situational context. This can be done through the use of
pictures, a dialogue, a story, ect.
- Elicit the new language form the students. Elicitation evolves trying to
encourage students to produce language that they have never been taught.