Grammar learning strategies of non english majored students at ho chi minh city university oftechnology

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOG Y

---------------

LE THI THU YEN

GRAMMAR LEARNING STRATEGIES OF
NON- ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT HO
CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF
TECHNOLOGY

Major: English Language
Course code: 80220201

HO CHI MINH CITY, SEPTEMBER 2020


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOG Y

---------------

LE THI THU YEN

GRAMMAR LEARNING STRATEGIES OF
NON- ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT HO
CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF
TECHNOLOGY
Submitted to the
Faculty of English Language

in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in English Language
Course code: 80220201
By

LE THI THU YEN
Supervised by

LE VAN TUYEN, Ph.D.
HO CHI MINH CITY, SEPTEMBER 2020


The thesis entitled GRAMMAR LEARNING STRATEGIES OF NONENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY
OF TECHNOLOGY was successfully defended and approved on ……….…. at
Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH).

Academic supervisor: Dr. LE VAN TUYEN

Examination Committee

1. .................................................................................................................... Chair
2. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reader 1
3. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reader 2
4. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Member
5. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Secretary
Member

On behalf of the Examination Committee
Chair
(full name, title, signature)

HCMC UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOG Y
POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE
HCMC, September 2020
MASTER’S THESIS REPORT
Student name: Le Thi Thu Yen

Sex: Female

Date of birth: 06/07/1987

Place of birth: Vung Tau Province

Major: English Language

Student code: 1941900023

I- Thesis title:
GRAMMAR LEARNING STRATEGIES OF NON-ENGLISH MAJORED
STUDENTS AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

II-Objectives and contents
Due to the importance of learning grammar strategies and the influence of
those strategies on students’ grammar learning, this study aims to investigate the use
of strategies in learning English grammar by non-English majored students at
HUTECH. More specifically, it will attempt to
(a) discover which strategies are most frequently used;
(b) find out if there are any differences in the use of grammar learning
strategies between students of low and high English proficiency levels and between
male and female students.

III- Starting date: (as stated in the Decision issued by the University )
IV- Completing date:
..........................................................................................................
V- Academic supervisor: (full name, title) LE VAN TUYEN, Ph.D.

ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR
(full name, signature)

FACULTY DEAN
(full name, signature)


i
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled:
GRAMMAR LEARNING STRATEGIES OF NON- ENGLISH MAJORED
STUDENTS AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOG Y
In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs issued by
the Higher Degree Committee of Faculty of English Language, Ho Chi Minh City
University of Technology.

Ho Chi Minh City, September 2020

LE THI THU YEN


ii
RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS
I hereby state that I, LE THI THU YEN, being a candidate for the degree of Master
of Arts (English Language) accept the requirements of the University relating to the

retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis
deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in
accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care,
loan, and reproduction for theses.

Ho Chi Minh City, September 2020
Signature …………………………….

LE THI THU YEN


iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would first like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Le Van Tuyen, my
supervisor, of his patience, guidance, insightful advice, and constant encouragement
throughout the whole research process. Under any circumstances, he always gives
me his warm support and dedication. He has been a wonderful mentor and I feel
grateful for having such a wonderful teacher. Without his support and guidance, this
thesis would never have been completed.
Second, I would also like to show my profound gratitude to all the lecturers
of the Institute for Postgraduate and the Department of English Language in
HUTECH for their tirelessly devoting time and efforts to enrich, broaden and
deepen my knowledge over the past two years.
Finally, yet importantly, my deepest and sincerest gratitude goes to my
family, including my mother, my husband, my daughter, my son and my parents-inlaw with their unconditional love, understanding and help. I would like to dedicate
this dissertation to my beloved mother who has provided me strong spiritual and
material support.

iv
ABSTRACT
Grammar learning strategies (GLSs) play an important role in the acquisition
of a foreign language. Investigating these strategies certainly has brought many
benefits to both instructors and students in the EFL contexts around the world.
Thus, this study attempted to explore the extent to which GLSs are used by firstyear non-English majored students and to discover whether there are differences in
the use of GLSs between students with low and high English proficiency levels and
between male and female students. The study was conducted at Ho Chi Minh City
University of Technology (HUTECH) with the participation of 130 first-year nonEnglish majored students.

To collect data for the study, two instruments were

employed including the questionnaire and interview. Both qualitative and
quantitative data were analyzed through the employment of content analysis,
descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The results revealed that all the GLSs
were used at the medium level. Affective strategies were the most frequently
selected while metacognitive strategies were the least employed by the students.
The study also revealed that there was no difference in the use of most GLSs in
terms of the students’ English proficiency levels and gender.
The study also made several recommendations for teachers, students, and
administrators. It is expected that the results of the study will partly contribute to the
existing knowledge of the field of the study.
Key words: grammar, learning strategies, non-English majors, English proficiency
level, gender


v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE OF ORIG INALITY ............................................................................ i
RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ............................................................... ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................................... iii
ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................. v
LIST OF ABREVIATIONS ........................................................................................ viii
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... ix
LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................................... x
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................1
1.1.

Background to the study ..........................................................................................1

1.2.

Statement of the problem .........................................................................................2

1.3.

Aims of the study......................................................................................................3

1.4.

Research questions ...................................................................................................4

1.5.

Scope of the study ....................................................................................................4

1.6.

Significance of the study .........................................................................................4

1.7.

Definitions of key terms ..........................................................................................5

1.8.

Organization of the thesis ........................................................................................5

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................7
2.1.

Teaching and Learning English Grammar .............................................................7
2.1.1.

Teaching English grammar .......................................................................7

2.1.2.

Learning English grammar .......................................................................8

2.2.

The role of grammar in language acquisition .....................................................11

2.3.

Language learning strategies (LLS) .....................................................................11

2.4.

2.3.1.

Definitions of learning strategies ...........................................................11

2.3.2.

Categories of language learning strategies .......................................... 14

2.3.3.

Importance of language learning strategies ......................................... 16

Grammar learning strategies (GLSs) .................................................................. 17
2.4.1.

Definitions ............................................................................................... 17


vi
2.4.2.

Categories of grammar learning strategies .......................................... 18

2.5.

Previous studies on language learning strategies .............................................. 20

2.6.

Conceptual framework of the study .................................................................... 26

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOG Y ............................................................................... 28
3.1.

Research design ..................................................................................................... 28

3.2.

Research site........................................................................................................... 28

3.3.

Sample and Sampling............................................................................................ 29

3.4.

Research instruments ............................................................................................ 31
3.4.1.

Questionnaire........................................................................................... 31

3.4.2.

Interview .................................................................................................. 35

3.5.

Data collection procedure ..................................................................................... 36

3.6.

Data analysis procedure ........................................................................................ 36

3.7.

Reliability and validity.......................................................................................... 37

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ......................................................... 39
4.1.

Introduction ............................................................................................................ 39

4.2.

Results of the study ............................................................................................... 39
4.2.1.

Students’ use of strategies in learning grammar ................................. 39

4.2.1.1.

Frequency of individual memory strategy use................................. 39

4.2.1.2.

Frequency of individual cognitive strategy use ............................... 41

4.2.1.3.

Frequency of individual compensation strategy use ....................... 42

4.2.1.4.

Frequency of individual metacognitive strategy use ...................... 43

4.2.1.5.

Frequency of individual affective strategy use ................................ 44

4.2.1.6.

Frequency of individual social strategy use ..................................... 45

4.2.2.

GLSs used at a high level of frequency ............................................... 46

4.2.3.

The use of the six categories of GLSs .................................................. 47

4.2.4.

Differences of Grammar Learning Strategy Use in Terms of

Proficiency Levels and Gender .............................................................................. 48
4.2.4.1.

Low and high English proficiency groups’ use of grammar learning

strategies 48


vii
4.2.4.2.
4.3.

4.4.

Male and female groups’ use of grammar learning strategies ....... 50

Discussion............................................................................................................... 55
4.3.1.

Frequency of students’ use of grammar learning strategy categories55

4.3.2.

Differences in the use of grammar learning strategies ....................... 60

Summary of the chapter ........................................................................................ 61

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION...................................................................................... 62
5.1.

5.2.

Summary of findings ............................................................................................. 62
5.1.1.

Strategies students use in learning English grammar ......................... 62

5.1.2.

Differences in the use of strategies ....................................................... 63

Implications and recommendations ..................................................................... 63
5.2.1.

Recommendations for the English teachers ........................................ 64

5.2.2.

Recommendations for the students ....................................................... 65

5.2.3.

Recommendations for the administrators ............................................ 65

5.3.

Limitations of the study ........................................................................................ 65

5.4.

Suggestions for further research .......................................................................... 66

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 68

viii
LIST OF ABREVIATIONS
CLT: Communicative Language Teaching
EFL: English as a Foreign Language
ESL: English as a Second Language
GLS: Grammar Learning Strategies
HUTECH: Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology
LLS: Language Learning Strategies
METU: Middle East Technical University
SILL: Strategy Inventory for Language Learning
min. : Minute(s)
Q(s) : Question(s)
RQ : Research question
S(s) : Student(s)


ix
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 Summary of the results of the studies investigating LLSs use .................. 23
Table 3.1 Demographic information of respondents .................................................... 30
Table 3.2. Frequency of strategy use and corresponding scores in SILL .................. 34
Table 3.3. Reliability and validity of questionnaire ..................................................... 37
Table 4.1. Descriptive Statistics of the use of individual memory strategies ........... 39
Table 4.2. Descriptive Statistics of the use of individual cogniti ve strategies .......... 41
Table 4.3. Descriptive Statistics of the use of individual compensation strategies .. 42
Table 4.4. Descriptive Statistics of the use of individual metacognitive strategies . 43
Table 4.5. Descriptive Statistics of the use of individual affective strategies ........... 45
Table 4.6. Descriptive Statistics of the use of individual social strategies.............. 46
Table 4.7. Most frequently-used strategies.................................................................... 47

Table 4.8. Descriptive Statistics of the whole strategy use and the 6 strategy
categories ........................................................................................................................... 47
Table 4.11. T-test values were larger than the tabulated value.................................... 49
Table 4.13. Descriptive Statistics of use of GLS for male and female groups ......... 50
Table 4.14. T-test value of use of GLS for male and female groups .......................... 53
Table 4.15. T-test values were larger than the tabulated value ................................... 54
APPENDIX
Table 4.9
Table 4.10
Table 4.12


x
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1: Diagram of the Strategy System (Oxford, 1990, p. 21) ........................... 14
Figure 2.2. Conceptual Framework of the study (Oxford, 1990) .............................. 27


1

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter consists of eight sections. Firstly, the background to the study and
the problems are presented. Next, the aims and objectives of the study and the
research questions are provided. Subsequently, the scope and significance of the
study are mentioned. Finally, definitions of terms and the organization of the thesis
are given.
1.1.

Background to the study

Language learning strategies (LLSs) have been proven to be effective in

learning process and valuable tools to facilitate language learners’ learning (Rubin,
1987; Chamot, 1987; Oxford, 1990). Language learning strategies (LLSs) can help
language learners who are aware of and make effective use of learning strategies
tended to better perform than those who could not (O’Malley, 1985; Griffiths,
2003). Besides, language learners can develop their autonomy when they adopt
learning strategies (Oxford, 1990). It is obvious that LLSs could be applied to the
four language skills and the language areas (Oxford, 1990, p. 5). From this
perspective, LLSs are also applied to grammar teaching and learning, namely
grammar learning strategies (GLSs). In a sense, grammar learning strategies (GLSs)
are steps used by students to improve their own grammar learning. Besides, LLSs
are tools that help learners to be self-directed and actively involved in their
grammar learning, which is very important for gaining grammar mastery. When
learners had their own right GLSs, it is very likely that their grammar mastery
would be improved and they would gain greater self-confidence in their grammar
learning (Oxford, 1990, pp. 4-5).
Moreover, Oxford (1990) mentioned that one of the factors influencing
strategy choice was gender (p. 13). Supporting this perspective, Brown (2007, p.
136) considered gender to be a significant variable in strategy use, both in the case
of teaching and learning grammar in English language teaching.


2
Specifically, the study was conducted at HUTECH with the aims of exploring
how HUTECH students consciously strive to learn English grammar more
effectively. The lecturers at the university are facing problems in finding suitable
strategies in teaching grammar. They are also beginning to establish assessment
system for the English grammar course. Therefore, there should be a niche to
conduct this study.

1.2.

Statement of the problem
With the expectation of becoming fluent in using English grammar for

English skills, however, it is a fact that students have different English levels. It is
because they come from different rural parts of Vietnam and have different
learning strategies( Ellis, Rod. 2006).Therefore, they have problems with learning
English grammar if they do not have suitable grammar learning strategies.
Furthermore, there are many reasons why non-major English students get
difficulties in studying grammar in class. Firstly, they understand the importance of
learning grammar strategies but they do not know how to apply strategies in their
studying effectively. Moreover, there are different types of learning strategies;
however, not all students understand and know which ones are easily to use, which
ones are more helpful. Secondly, differences of gender may have differences in
learning styles so students should also know about this aspect (Larsen-Freeman, D.
2001).
Regarding previous studies on grammar learning strategies in other contexts,
it can be confirmed that many studies have been conducted; however, very little
literature related to grammar learning strategies has been found in Vietnam, and no
literature has been found in the research site, HUTECH.
Another point that concerns the researcher is that if there are any differences
among students in using grammar-learning strategies between successful and
unsuccessful students in the use of LLSs because according to Oxford (1990 et. al),
learning strategy use was a criterion that differentiate students’ level of proficiency.


3
Most students who are successful seemed to employ learning strategies more
frequently and effectively and thereby got better performance in language learning

than their unsuccessful partners. Therefore, the researcher decided to carry out the
investigation of the differences between successful and unsuccessful students and
gender when they learn English grammar through the present research.
In reality, HUTECH students have different ways of learning English due to
different English background and competence. Due to these reasons, students
cannot adapt to learning environment at university. Properly speaking, they have to
master English in a short time in order that they can pass the requirements of
university. As a result, they are facing many problems in using grammar points to
apply to each English skill. Therefore, the researcher decided to conduct this study
to find out the what problems non-English majored students face in learning English
grammar.
The above problems led to the researcher’s decision to conduct the current
study to explore how non-English students at HUTECH employ strategies in
learning English grammar.
1.3.

Aims of the study
Due to the importance of learning grammar strategies and the influence of

those strategies on students’ grammar learning, this study aimed to investigate the
use of strategies in learning English grammar by non-English majored students at
HUTECH. More specifically, it attempted:
+ to discover which strategies are most frequently used, and
+ to find out if the use of grammar learning strategies varies in terms of
English proficiency levels and gender among non-English majored students.
Moreover, the research findings will contribute to teaching and learning
English grammar at HUTECH.


4

1.4.

Research questions
To achieve the above objectives, this study attempted to address two research

questions as follows:
1. How strategies do non-English majored students at HUTECH mostly
employ in learning English grammar?
2. Does the use of grammar learning strategies vary in terms of English
proficiency levels and gender?
If yes, how?
1.5.

Scope of the study

English grammar is a broad field of study for educators, researchers and lecturers .
Various issues related to English grammar have been investigated worldwide.
Nonetheless, this study was narrowed down to grammar learning, especially,
grammar learning strategies. Regarding the research site, the current study was only
conducted at Ho Chi Minh University of Technology instead of other universities
because of convenience reasons. In addition, this study only concentrated on the
investigation of non-English majored students’ use of grammar learning strategies
in their EFL learning. Those students were from three faculties at HUTECH such as
Hospitality and culinary, Information technology, and Business administration;
those students have different backgrounds of English although most of them studied
English in their secondary and high school education. It is expected that the results
of the study reflect the current situation of English grammar learning among nonEnglish majored students at HUTECH.
1.6.

Significance of the study

The aim of this study is to investigate the use of strategies in learning English
grammar among non-English majored students. It is certain that it has significance
at both practical and theoretical levels. Practically, this study when finished is a
meaningful source of information for teachers at HUTECH. It is expected to


5
provide English teachers with the insights regarding teaching grammar strategies.
As a result, the teachers will become more professional in designing learning
activities. In addition, the results of study will be a helpful guide for those who are
in charge of developing the syllabus at the university. Moreover, the administrator
of general English courses will have better solutions in designing the syllabus
suitably. Another contribution of this study is that students will recognize their
obstacles in learning grammar. It also helps students reinforce their interests in
learning grammar. Obviously, students will have meaningful and appropriate
grammar strategies to improve their skills in learning English. Finally, yet
importantly, the study can enlarge the researcher’s knowledge and experience for
doing educational research.
Theoretically, this study is hoped to be a useful reference for future studies which
focus on the same issue. Finally, yet importantly, the findings of the study will shed
light on the existing knowledge.
1.7.

Definitions of key terms
Language learning strategies are activities, steps, plans or routines used by

the learners, which affect this process with the goal to improve the learning of
language for the use of it and they are also the techniques or devices that learners
used to acquire the knowledge of second language.

Grammar learning strategies are the activities or ways which the students use
to learn English grammar.
Non-English majored students are students who are majored in other
disciplines such as IT, Business administration, Civil engineering, Banking and
finance...; and they learn English as a compulsory subject at HUTECH.
1.8.

Organization of the thesis

The current thesis includes 5 chapters as follows:


6
Chapter 1. Introduction: This chapter presents an initial overview of the thesis
defining the general context for the study. The content in this chapter is well and
clearly developed in terms of background to the study, statement of the problem,
aims and objectives of the study, research questions, scope of the study, significance
of the study, definitions of key terms and organization of the thesis.
Chapter 2. Literature Review: This chapter intentionally presents theoretical
foundation of learning strategies and aspects related to learning strategies and
grammar learning strategies, previous studies related to the problems investigated
and the conceptual framework of the study.
Chapter 3. Methodology: This chapter presents the research methods employed in
this study. More specifically, this chapter informatively provides the site where this
study was conducted, the population of the study, and stages of data collection of
the study. Two main instruments in this study including questionnaire and
interviews are clearly identified as well.
Chapter 4. Results and Discussions: This chapter presents data collected from the
questionnaire, interview and discussion based on the findings of the study. The
findings are displayed to answers to the two research questions in order. Fo llowing

up the findings is discussion which scientifically analyze the results of the study.
Chapter 5. Conclusion: This last chapter summarizes the main findings of the study
and provides the implications, limitations and recommendations for further
research.


7

CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
The first part of this chapter describes the definitions and categories of
learning strategies. The following section states the definitions and categories of
GLSs. Then, the third section reveals the strategies-based instruction. Lastly, the
fourth part presents previous studies on LLSs, and GLSs.
2.1.

Teaching and Learning English Grammar

2.1.1. Teaching English grammar
Teaching English grammar requires knowledge of different learning styles and
ability of levels of students. Teaching method of grammar helps learners improve
comprehension and self-confidence by finding their strengths. Teaching grammar is
not easy because it is tough (Al-Mekhlafi, 2011). If the teachers follow the
traditional method, leaners will feel bored in studying. There are teachers who do
not handle grammar; they make their learners read enough and write enough and
this extremely helps them to pass their test and grow up with a basic knowledge of
the concepts.
Grammar is fundamental to language. Without grammar, language does not
exist. Grammar may be roughly defined as the way a language manipulates and
combines words in order to form longer units of meaning. Teaching English

grammar is very important for learners to produce language. Grammatical rules are
essential for the mastery of a language. It is unable to use words if learners do not
know how they should be put together.
Moreover, teaching grammar has always been one of the most controversial
and least understood aspects of language teaching. Few teachers remain indifferent
to grammar and many teachers become obsessed by it. Teaching English grammar
to a group of students is a job that should give super-human status to any teacher
who does it successfully. Each method of teaching grammar depends on who is


8
doing the teaching, what kind of students occupy the classroom, and the demands of
the school system, and each method has plenty to smile about and sneer upon.
However, recent research on the acquisition of a second language has led to
rethink the importance of grammar. Many researchers now believe that teaching
grammar cannot be ignored in a second language class (Utari, 2017; Ji, 2018).
Language teaching professionals are also increasingly aware that grammar teaching
plays an important role in teaching and learning languages. There are several
student-related variables that influence the choice of teaching strategies, such as
motivation, attitude, educational background and student experience, as well as their
style and strategy (Ezzi, 2012; Adhikari, 2017; Liu & Shi, 2007)
Grammar cannot be taught as a stand-alone activity. Some teachers actively
combine grammar to other classroom activities. It makes classroom environment
more effective and learners feel interested in studying every grammar lesson. In
addition, there is sufficient empirical evidence that pedagogical approaches focus
primarily on meaning without focusing on inadequate grammar (Harly & Swain,
1984; Lapkin, Hart & Swain, 1985). The book "Teaching Grammar in the Second
Language Room" has been reviewed in the field of grammar education in
communication. Traditional grammar-based approaches that still dominate the
foreign language situation has been challenged by the extraordinary demand for

superior communication skills in the target language.
2.1.2. Learning English grammar
Concerning learning English grammar strategies in particular, a few
researchers in the world have tried to determine the frequency of the use of
grammar learning strategies; find out the relationship between grammar learning
strategy use and proficiency, and the relationship between grammar learning
strategy use and sex; and measure the effect of using GLSs. However, in Vietnam,
there is scarcity of studies on GLSs.


9
O’Malley and Chamot (1990) provided a definition of language learning
English grammar as “ learning English strategies may include focusing on the
selection of new information, analyzing information during the encoding process,
evaluating the learning, or assuring oneself that the learning will be successful”.
This definition reveals that language learning strategies could be defined as specific
actions that are taken by the learners to facilitate their language learning task.
Oxford (1990) also contributed the definition about learning strategies as followed,
“learning strategies are operations employed the learner to aid the acquisition,
storage, retrieval, and use of information” and “learning strategies are specific
actions taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable , more
self-directed, more effective, and more transferrable to new situations”.
T raditional

methods of grammar teaching are still very popular among

teachers and experienced teachers who have been practicing their professions for
some time. Effective grammar is not something that is usually done in language
lessons, or by many students. Therefore, although much is known about what
enables effective language learning, these insights and skills cannot be found in

teacher training institutions or in many schools. Instead, "a lot of time is spent
repeating what has been done before, with minor adjustments.
Learning and acquiring grammar improves students' skills and accuracy and
facilitates internationalization and their syntactic system, thus improving fluenc y
(Ellis,1996). Therefore, there are many ways to learning English grammar
effectively such as accuracy, fluency, restructuring, practicing tenses. Learning
English requires the following four basic skills: reading, writing, speaking and
listening. Receptive reading and listening are skills because learning only absorbs
information and tries to understand it.
Putting learners in a cooperative group or using peer guidance is particularly
useful in ELF classes where they are or may be a mix of English language learning
levels. Besides that, learners can read stories, discuss stories, and then find


10
examples of grammatical concepts in the story. This method relies heavily on the
creativity of teachers and their ability to integrate grammar into all other areas o f
the English language classroom.
In the light of such mixed empirical evidence, it would appear that we should
be cautious in making claims about the existence of a positive relationship between
strategy use and achievement. McDonough (1999) argued that the relationship
between strategy use and proficiency was very complicated. Issues such as
frequency and quality of strategy use did not have a simple linear relationship to
achievement in a language (p13). Therefore, there is a need to have more studies to
identify positive correlations between the use of strategies and achievement in
various contexts.
The relationship between gender and language learning has drawn a lot of
researcher’s attention. The following part of the study aims at reviewing some
recent research on GLSs related to gender perspective in order to meet this study’s
demand.

Oxford (1990) mentioned that one of the factors influencing strategy choice
was gender (p. 13). In the same view, Brown (2007, p. 136) agreed with these
perspectives, considered gender to be a significant variable in strategy use, both in
the case of learning and in communication strategies. In his study, Bacon (1992)
showed that men and women used listening strategies differently.
In the same vein, Fard (2010) found that grammar learning strategy instruction
was essential because it improved learners’ grammar strategy use, and accordingly
affected learners’ development of structural knowledge. In his view, teachers could
lighten the problem of learners in learning grammar by adding some practices
relevant to taught strategies. Therefore, Fard (2010) stressed the need to include
GLSs in the EFL educational system. Besides, the grammar learning strategy
training should be embedded in regular classroom teaching, and GLSs should be
taught explicitly for EFL learners .


11
In a word, various studies have detected gender differences in learning
strategy use. In most of the studies in which gender differences emerged, the results
demonstrated that females reported using LLSs more often than males. However,
some studies demonstrated that there was no statistically significant difference
between genders in the use of LLS. Still others showed that male learners use more
LLS than female learners do in certain taxonomy. Since the results are inconclusive,
further studies in different setting and learning conditions are deemed necessary.
2.2.

The role of grammar in language acquisition
Till now, grammar has played an important role in English language teaching

and learning. The Grammar Translation Method gives prominence to the role of
grammar teaching and learning (Brown, 2001; Richards & Rodgers, 2001). In

regards of Direct Method, grammar was still taught inductively to develop learners’
language competence (Thornbury, 1999). Following the Direct Method, the Audiolingual Method stressed the importance of grammar teaching and learning by paying
much attention to the drilling of basic patterns and the memorization of the
structures in the dialogues (Brown, 2001; Richards & Rodgers, 2001). Grammar
still holds an important position in the currently widespread method, the
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Long (1991) suggested the focus-onform approach and proved its necessity of grammar teaching and learning. Until
now, the status of the grammar teaching and learning is still importantly discussed:
explicit versus implicit and deductive versus inductive. In short, the review of
English teaching and learning reveals that methods, and grammar instruction is still
considered to be an important part.
2.3.

Language learning strategies (LLS)

2.3.1. Definitions of learning strategies
So far, many researchers have defined the term “language learning strategies”
in their own ways (Brown, 2007, p. 133). Rubin (1975) stated that “language
learning strategies are the techniques or devices which a learner may use in a