A case study at a Hanoi-based university = Điển cứu về nhận thức và thực tế giảng dạy của giáo viên đối với đường hướng dạy ngữ pháp quy nạp tại một trường đại

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES



NGUYỄN THỊ ĐIỆP


TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES REGARDING
TO TEACHING THE INDUCTIVE APPROACH TO TEACHING
GRAMMAR – A CASE STUDY AT A HANOI- BASED
UNIVERSITY

(ĐIỂN CỨU VỀ NHẬN THỨC VÀ THỰC TẾ GIẢNG DẠY CỦA
GIÁO VIÊN ĐỐI VỚI ĐƯỜNG HƯỚNG DẠY NGỮ PHÁP QUI
NẠP TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC Ở HÀ NỘI )

M.A Minor Programme Thesis


FIELD : ENGLISH METHODOLOGY
CODE : 60.14.10




Hanoi, 2013

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES




NGUYỄN THỊ ĐIỆP


TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES REGARDING
TO TEACHING THE INDUCTIVE APPROACH TO TEACHING
GRAMMAR – A CASE STUDY AT A HANOI- BASED
UNIVERSITY

(ĐIỂN CỨU VỀ NHẬN THỨC VÀ THỰC TẾ GIẢNG DẠY CỦA
GIÁO VIÊN ĐỐI VỚI ĐƯỜNG HƯỚNG DẠY NGỮ PHÁP QUI
NẠP TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC Ở HÀ NỘI )

M.A Minor Programme Thesis


FIELD : ENGLISH METHODOLOGY
CODE : 60.14.10
SUPERVISOR : Dr. LE VAN CANH


Hanoi, 2013
i

DECLARATION

I hereby certify that the thesis entitled
“Teachers’ perceptions and practices regarding the inductive approach to
teaching grammar – A case study at a Hanoi-based university”
is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty of
Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam
National University, Hanoi, and that this thesis has not, wholly or partially, been
submitted for any degree at any other universities or institutions.

Ha noi, 2013
Student’s signature

Nguyen Thi Diep















ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to specially dedicate my thanks to Dr. Le
Van Canh, who has supervised my work and given me constructive comments
through the process of conducting the study. Also, I would like to express my
gratitude to him for his lectures in language teaching methodology course which
gave me a lot of ideas to choose the topic for my research.
There are many people who have helped me complete this thesis. I am
greatly indebted to my colleagues who are willing to share their opinions and
provide me with their lectures in the process of collecting the data.
I am also deeply grateful to my loving family and friends who has
continuously given me their supports and encouragement and also for their patience
and understanding.
Finally, I would like to thank all the people who are involved directly or
indirectly in this particular study. Without their help and cooperation, I would not
have been able to complete this thesis.













iii

ABSTRACT

This study was aimed to investigate teachers’ perceptions and practices in
regarding grammar teaching at Hanoi University of Industry (HAUI). The data for
the study were collected through class observations and interviews with ten English
teachers at the Faculty of English, HAUI. The aim of the interviews was to gain
insight into the factors which influenced teachers’ instructional decisions in
teaching grammar, and in order to point out differences and similarities between
their perceptions and their practices to English grammar teaching in the classroom.
The data were first analyzed qualitatively and then discussed to find out answers to
the research questions. The results of the study revealed that the teachers laid a great
emphasis on grammar and grammar teaching with the belief that grammar teaching
would help to develop the students’ linguistic skills such as listening, speaking,
reading and writing. They were also in favour of teaching grammar deductively.
The reasons they gave for this pedagogical preference were the students’limited
proficiency. Basically, their classroom practices reflected their favour of a
deductive approach to grammar.











iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration i
Acknowledgements ii
Abstract .iii
Table of contents .iv
List of abbreviation…………………………………………………………… vi
List of tables vii
PART A: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale 1
2. Aims and objectives of the study 2
3. Research questions 2
4. Scope of the study 2
5. Methods of they study 3
6. Significance of the study….… ……………… …………………….… ….3
7. Design of the study……………………………………………………… ….3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 5
1.1. Definition of terminology 5
1.1.1. Teachers’ perceptions 5
1.1.2. Grammar 5
1.2. Approaches to grammar teaching 6
1.2.1. The deductive approach 6
1.2.2. The inductive approach 8
1.3. The need of understanding teachers’ perceptions……………………… 11
1.4. Previous studies of teachers’ perception of grammar teaching……………11
CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY 14
2.1. The fitness of the case study to the research purpose 14
2.2. Restatement of research questions 14
2.3. Case description and context of the study 14

v

2.3.1. The setting of the study 14
2.3.2. Participants 16
2.4. The instruments 17
2.4.1. Interviews 17
2.4.2. Observations 18
2.5. The procedures 18
2.5.1. Interviews 18
2.5.2. Class observations 19
2.6. Methods of data analysis 20
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 21
3.1. Findings from the interviews 21
3.1.1. Teachers’ perceptions of grammar teaching 21
3.1.2. Teachers’ perceptions of their own ways of grammar teaching 22
3.1.3. Teachers’ perceptions of giving grammatical rules 24
3.1.4. Teachers’ perceptions of integrating grammar into skills lessons… 25
3.1.5 Teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of their own grammar
teaching approaches………………………………………………………… 26
3.1.6 Teachers’ perceptions of the inductive approach……………………27
3.2. Findings from class observations 28
3.3. Discussion of the findings…………….……………………………… 34
PART C: CONCLUSION 36
1. Summary of the study 36
2. Limitations 37
3. Suggestions for further study………………………… …………… …… 37
REFERENCES 39
APPENDIX 1 (Interview Questions) I
APPENDIX 2 (A Sample of Observed Lessons) .II

vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
EFL: English as Foreign Language
PPP: Presentation- Practice – Production
HAUI: Hanoi University of Industry

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1: .Advantages and disadvantages of the deductive approach to teaching
grammar
Table 1.2: Advantages and disadvantages of the inductive approach to teaching
grammar
Table 1.3: Relationship of deductive and inductive approaches to Krashen’s theory

1

PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Throughout the history of second language and foreign language, grammar
and grammar teaching have always been at the center of any methodological
discussion in teaching English. Many people have been doing research on the
importance of the teaching and learning of grammar. It is the fact that most of them
admit that the role of grammar and teaching grammar are crucial parts in language
learning. As Brown (1994) stressed that the teaching of grammar besides
vocabulary has always been a central aspect of foreign language teaching.
With the rise of communicative methodology in the late 1970s, the role of
grammar instruction was downplayed, and it was even suggested that teaching
grammar was not only helpless but actually detrimental. However, recent research
has demonstrated the need for formal instructions for learners to attain high levels
of accuracy, which is one important component of language proficiency. This has
led to a resurgence of grammar teaching, and its role in second or foreign language
learning has become the focus of much current investigation.
While consensus on the need of grammar teaching has been reached, how
grammar should be taught remains debatable. In the broadest sense, there are two
approaches to grammar teaching: deductive and inductive. As suggested in the
literature, scholars and researchers are still divided in their opinions about the
superiority of each approach. Meanwhile, in Vietnam, it is claimed that English
language teaching and learning are grammar-centered. Despite such a claim, very
little research has been done regarding teachers’ perceptions and actual practices
regarding grammar, especially at the universities where English is a compulsory
subject.
Therefore, it is necessary to research this issue. However, this study focuses
just on university teachers’ perceptions and practices regarding the inductive

approach to grammar teaching. The reason I chose the inductive as the focus for this
2

study is that this approach seems to be more aligned with the communicative task-
based approach, which has been promoted in Vietnam. It is also the case of the goal
of the teaching and learning English at HAUI.
2. Aims and objectives of the study
The main purpose of the study is to investigate teachers’ perceptions of
teaching grammar and the ways they teach grammar. It also finds out the
differences and similarities between their perceptions and practices in the
approaches they use to teach English grammar at HAUI.
With the above aims, the objectives of this study were as follows:
a. To gain understanding about teachers’ perceptions of grammar
teaching in general and the inductive approach to teaching grammar in particular.
b. To examine whether their actual teaching is more inclined toward the
inductive approach or the deductive approach so as to identity the convergence and
divergence between their perceptions and their actual practices.
3. Research questions
This study is carried out to answer the following questions:
1. What perceptions do EFL teachers at HAUI held about the role of
grammar in teaching and learning English?
2. What are their understandings of the inductive approach to teaching
grammar?
3. How did they actually teach grammar in their classrooms: deductively
or inductively?
4. To what extent are their perceptions and actual practices convergent?
4. Scope of the study
The study is limited to the investigation of the perceptions held by the EFL
teachers at the Faculty of English, Hanoi University of Industry and their classroom
practices regarding grammar teaching with a focus on teaching grammar

inductively. Therefore, there is no intention measure the effectiveness of teachers’
3

approaches to grammar. Neither is the study indented to find out whether one
approach to grammar teaching is better than the other. The study, therefore, is a
survey in nature.
5. Methods of the study
As a survey, this study used qualitative methods. In order to identify
teachers’ perceptions of the role of grammar in teaching and learning English,
teachers’ perceptions of teaching English grammar inductively and the convergence
between their perceptions and their actual practices, two research instruments were
employed. These are interviews and class observations.
6. Significance of the study
The study highlights teachers’ perceptions of teaching English grammar at
Ha Noi University of Industry. The findings of the study are believed to be useful
for English teachers at HAUI and to be aware of the essential role of approaches to
grammar in language teaching. Furthermore, the implications for grammar teaching
and learning, which are based on the theoretical background and the current
teaching at HAUI, hopefully can help the teachers upgrade approaches to grammar
to make the grammar lessons more interesting and motivate students to learn
English effectively.
7. Design of the study
This thesis is composed of three main parts:
Part A- Introduction presents the rationale, aims and objectives, research
questions, research methods, scopes, significance and design of the study.
Part B- Development, which is the main part of the study, consists of three
chapters:
 Chapter 1 : Literature review, aims at presenting the theoretical
background for the thesis
 Chapter 2: The methodology, the methodology underlying the

research is presented. This chapter provides the background information of the
4

subjects of the study, the instruments used to collect the data, and the procedure
of data collection.
 Chapter 3: Findings and discussions, presenting findings and
discussions on the study and some suggestions techniques for grammar teaching
at HAUI.
Part C- Conclusion offers a summary of the study, limitations and
suggestions for further study.

5

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter reviews the literature on various perspectives on grammar
instruction.
1.1. Definition of terminology
1.1.1 Teachers’ perceptions
Perception is defined by Lindsay & Norman (1977) as “the process by which
organisms interpret and organize sensation to produce a meaningful experience of
the world”. Sensation usually refers to the immediate, relatively unprocessed result
of stimulation of sensory receptors in the eyes, ears, tongue, or skin. Perception, on
the other hand, better describes one’s ultimate experience of the world and typical
involves further processing of sensory input. In practice, sensation and perception
are virtually impossible to separate, because they are part of one continuous
process. Thus, perception in humans describes the process whereby sensory
stimulation translated into organized experience. In this thesis, teachers’ perception
means the process of determining the meaning of what are sensed. Perception
occurs when teachers interpret a given meaning to stimulate in the classroom
environment or in the students’ classroom behavior. In other words, teachers’
classroom practices are influenced by their perceptions.
1.1.2 Grammar
According to Ellis (2006) and Purpura (2004) the term “grammar” has been
defined in a number of ways by language teachers and grammarians which have
influenced and been influenced by different approaches to teaching grammar. For
many language learners, learning grammar often means learning the rules of
grammar and having an intellectual knowledge of grammar. Teachers often believe
that this will provide the generative basis on which learners can build their

knowledge and will be able to use the language eventually.
Celce-Murcia and Hilles (1988) defines grammar as: “we can think of
language as a type of rule-governed behavior. Grammar, then, is a subset of those
6

rules which govern the configurations that the morphology and syntax of a
language”. It can be inferred from this definition that grammar prescribes how
words can be combined to make sentences.
Fromkin et al (1990: 12) defines grammar in a similar way. According to
them, grammar includes “the sound and sound patterns, the basic units of meaning
such as words and the rules to combine them to form new sentences constitute the
grammar of a language. These rules are internalized and subconsciously by native
speakers”. Grammar in this definition, also refer to the knowledge of how words are
arranged to form sentences.
According to Thornbury (1999), grammar is a process for making a
speaker’s or writer’s meaning clear when there is a lack of textual information.
Moreover, grammar means the relationship between three things: grammar, words
and contexts. It means that Grammar provides language learners the basic
knowledge in communication. Therefore, it is necessary for students to learn basic
and fixed form of particular forms so that they can express particular meanings.
In this study, I adopt the following definition by Penny Ur (1988: 4),
“grammar can be defined as the way of the manipulation of a language. It combines
a bit of words to form longer units of meaning and along with other parts makes up
the rules of language”. This definition is chosen because it is more related to
pedagogical grammar teaching and learning in the classroom, which is related to the
current study.
1.2 Approaches to grammar teaching
In general, there are two major approaches to grammar teaching: inductively
and deductively. These two approaches are described briefly in the following
sections.

1.2.1The deductive approach
A deductive approach can be described by the teacher’s explicit explanation
of rules followed by student practices. In other words, a deductive approach goes
7

from the general principles to practice. According to Widodo (2006) the deductive
approach maintains that a teacher teaches grammar by presenting grammatical rules,
and then examples of sentences are presented. This is followed by students’
application of rules to produce various sentences of their own. This approach has
been using of language teaching around the world and still enjoys a monopoly in
many course books and self-study grammar books (Fortune, 1992). With the
deductive approach, learners are in control during practice and they have less fear of
drawing an incorrect conclusion related to the target language is functioning
(Eisenstein, 1987). Thornburry (1999:32) provides the following guidelines for
explaining rules within a deductive approach to grammar teaching.
1. The rules should be true;
2. The rules should show clearly what limits are on the use of a given
form;
3. The rules need to be clear;
4. The rules ought to be simple;
5. The rules needs to make use of concepts already familiar to the
learners;
6. The rules ought to be relevant.
In addition, Thornburry (1999:32) also emphasizes when the rules are
presented in the deductive approach, the presentation should be illustrated with
examples, be short, involve students’ comprehension and allow learners to have a
chance to personalize the rule. Widodo (2006:127) presents advantages and
disadvantages in the following table.
Table 1.1

Advantages and disadvantages of the deductive approach to teaching
grammar
Advantages
1. The deductive approach goes straightforwardly to the point and
can, therefore, be time-saving.
2. A number of rule aspects (for example, form) can be more simply
8

and clearly explained than elicited from examples.
3. A number of direct practice/ application examples are
immediately given.
4. The deductive approach respects the intelligence and maturity of
many adult learners in particular and acknowledges the role of
cognitive processes in language acquisition.
5. It confirms many learners’ expectations about classroom learning
particularly for those who have an analytical style.
Disadvantages
1. Beginning the lesson with a grammar presentation may be off-
putting for some learners, especially younger ones.
2. Younger learners may not be able to understand the concepts or
encounter grammar terminology given.
3. Grammar explanation encourages a teacher-fronted, transmission-
style classroom, so it will hinder learner involvement and
interaction immediately.
4. The explanation is seldom as memorable as other forms of
presentation (for example, demonstration).
5. The deductive approach encourages the belief that learning a
language is simply a case of knowing the rule.

1.2.2 The inductive approach

In contrast with the deductive approach, the inductive approach is defined as
an approach to language teaching in which learners are not taught grammatical or
other types of rules directly but are left to discover or induce rules from their
experience of using the language (Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching &
Applied Linguistics, 1997: 98-99). Also, according to Brown (2000) in the
inductive approach, teachers presents grammatical rules by asking students to learn
with some exercises or examples, and then students must infer certain rules and
meanings from all the data around them. Winter (1989) stated that the inductive
9

approach is compared as the Audio-Lingual Method where learning is defined as
habit information. Students learned by rote of numerous examples of a structure
until the use of that structure became automatic. Also, they are not consciously
aware of what structures they are learning unless at the end of the lesson the teacher
gives them the appropriate rule to describe what they had already supposedly
learned. Obviously, in the process of learning inductively, the position of learners
are changes, they become more centered, and more deeply involved in the language
they are writing and offering potential for reflection (Paradowski,2007). It means
that students become more active and feel more interesting during the time of the
lesson. The role of the teachers is also changeable; they are not still teachers-
centered any more. They are instructor really. Their main tasks are to provide
meaningful contexts to encourage demonstration of the rules ( Rivers & Temperley,
1978), or help students to formulate the grammar rules from the given model
sentences and texts, or ask students questions to help induce or prompt the target
rules in order to write complete sentences (Fischer, 1979).
Similar to the deductive approach, Widodo (2006:128) presents advantages
and disadvantages of the inductive approach that can be shown in the table below.
Table 1.2
Advantages and disadvantages of the inductive approach to teaching grammar

Advantages
1. Learners are trained to be familiar with the rule discovery;
this could enhance learning autonomy and self-reliance.
2. Learners’ greater degree of cognitive depth is “ exploited”
3. The learners are more active in the learning process, rather than
being simply passive recipients. In this activity, they will be
motivated.
4. The approach involves learners’ pattern-recognition and problem-
solving abilities in which particular learners are interested in this
challenge.
10

5. If the problem-solving activity is done collaboratively, learners
get an opportunity for extra language practice.
Disadvantages
1. The approach is time and energy-consuming as it leads learners to
have the appropriate concept of the rule.
2. The concepts given implicitly may lead the learners to have the
wrong concepts of the rule taught.
3. The approach can place emphasis on teachers in planning a lesson.
4. It encourages the teacher to design data or materials taught
carefully and systematically.
5. The approach may frustrate the learners with their personal
learning style, or their past learning experience (Or both) would
prefer simply to be told the rule.

The deductive and inductive approaches relate to learning and acquisition in
SLA theory. According to Krashen (2002), the deductive approach is related to the
conscious learning process in which this approach tries to place a great emphasis on
error correction and the presentation of explicit rules. In while, as Widodo (2006),

the inductive approach relates to subconscious learning processes similar to the
concept of language acquisition. Learners are taught the system of language in the
same way as children acquire their first or second language. In other words, when
the inductive approach is applied, the learners learn the rule unconsciously.
Therefore, the emphasis of error correction and explicit teaching of the rule should
be left out. Adapted from Krashen’s acquisition/learning hypothesis (1987, 2002),
Widodo (2006:129) draws some conclusions in respect of the two approaches in the
table as followed:
Table 1.3
Relationship of deductive and inductive approaches to Krashen’s theory (1987,
2002)
Deductive
Inductive
11

Learn the rule in the context of formal
instruction
Learn the rule as a child acquires her/his
first or second language
Know about the rule
“pick up” the rule
Learn the rule consciously
Learn the rule subconsciously
Learn the rule explicitly
Learn the rule implicitly

1.3 The need to understanding teachers’ perceptions
It is a vitally important thing to teachers’ perception as it directly affects the
way the teachers teach, the methods they choose and the techniques they apply. In
other words, perceptions are the magnetic needle that controls the whole teaching

process. Therefore, teachers’ perception received much attention in the literature
during the early 1950’s and 1970’s and, more recently; they have resurfaced as key
to understanding what motivates teachers’ actions (Borg, 2006). Many researchers
has interest in teacher cognition (e.g. Woods 1996), there has been little attempt to
explore the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of their knowledge about
grammar and their instructional decisions. The study about the relationship between
teachers’ metal-linguistic knowledge and grammatical explanations, for example,
was not grounded in the explanations teachers actually gave during real classroom
interaction (Andrews, 1997). Kennedy (1988) points out that the change in teachers’
beliefs and understandings is an essential part of any educational innovation.
To sum up, investigating teachers’ perceptions is really necessary as it helps
to identify what teachers are aware of an approach, what their attitudes are, and the
difficulties they face when implementing curriculum innovations in the classroom
and it can help to give the support or recommendations for better application.
1.4 Previous studies on teachers’ perceptions of grammar teaching
Fox (1995) showed how the attitudes teachers take into their classroom can
affect instruction and, in his two case studies of ESL teachers, he found that
teachers’ perceptions of their own knowledge of grammar affected their teaching
practices (both cited in McClure, 2006).
12

The role and type of grammar instruction in foreign language learning with
particular reference to English as Foreign Language has been the subject of Second
Language Acquisition research and discussion for decades (Ellis 2001). In recent
times, however, grammar instruction has been recognized as an essential and
unavoidable component of language learning and use (Doughty & Williams 1998;
Thornburry 1997.1998). It is seen as valuable, if not indispensable, within the
context of EFL teaching and learning.
Several studies have been conducted on explicit and implicit grammar
instruction, and teachers’ and students’ preferences in relation to the two

approaches. For instance, Doughty’s study (1991, cited in Ellis, 1995) provides
empirical evidence of the positive effect of grammar instruction. The value of
meaning-based instruction with explicit grammatical explanation was also
evidenced by Ellis (1993) and DeKeyser (1995). Scarcella (1996) emphasizes the
role of form-focused instruction and corrective feedback in order to provide
students with a structured setting of Standard English instruction.
According to a study by Ebsworth and Schweers (1997: 252), one of the
teachers interviewed in the study observed, “It would seem that many practitioners
have come to believe that individuals whose goal is to develop excellent English for
use in academic or business environments can achieve greater accuracy and control
though some measure of grammar instruction”. Schneider (1993) and Hunter (1996)
showed that learners who received explicit grammar instruction performed well on
both discrete-point grammar tests and tasks which draw learners’ attention to
grammatical features.
Wang (1999), in his research into student and teacher attitudes towards
grammar instruction in Taiwan, found that students preferred the explicit method of
instruction and that most participating teachers also favored and used the explicit
method in their classes. Borg (2006) investigated the beliefs and practices of 176
English language teachers from 18 countries about the integration of grammar and
skills teaching. The teachers expressed strong views about the value of inductive
13

grammar learning and strong beliefs in the need to avoid teaching grammar in
isolation.
In a study surveying the perceptions of preparatory and secondary school
EFL teachers ( about 220) and students ( about 1,050) from three different
geographical regions in Oman, Al-Kalbani (2004) found that students showed a
more favorable attitude towards grammar instruction than teachers and that students
favored explicit instruction, while teachers favored implicit instruction.
In a qualitative research project investigating six middle school English

language arts teachers’ beliefs and practices related to grammar and grammar
teaching (McClure, 2006), the participants believed that grammar instruction is
necessary to increase students’ performance on standardized tests and both
traditional and innovative methods of grammar instruction are valuable. In a study
on teachers’ opinion and attitudes towards grammar teaching and their current
practices, Petraki and Hill (2010) have reported that teachers use a combination of
grammatical theories in giving explanations of grammar rules, because they believe
that a variety of grammatical theories should be part of teachers’ pedagogical
content knowledge”.












14

CHAPTER II: METHODOGY
This chapter is to present the research methodology that I choose to achieve
the aims and objectives of the study. It gives out thorough explanations of reasons
for the choosing the research instruments and clarifies specific ways of get
information through these instruments.
2.1 The fitness of case study to the research purpose
Case study is a study of one case. It is defined in terms of the unit analysis

(John.D.M, 1992: 75). The unit analysis might be a teacher, a classroom, a school…
or a community. The important feature that case study is hired to do research is its
purpose to describe the case in its context. It means that people or event cannot be
fully understood if they are removed from the environmental circumstances.
Moreover, their data analysis focuses on the one phenomenon, which the researcher
selects to understand in depth regardless of the number of sites, participants or
documents for a study (Yin, 2003).
This study aims to get teachers’ perception of grammar teaching and their
practices. It is the purpose of the study that stimulates the researcher to conduct the
case study as it will help to answer the research questions.
2.2 Restatement of research questions
1. What perceptions do EFL teachers at HAUI held about the role of
grammar in teaching and learning English?
2. What are their understandings of the inductive approach to teaching
grammar?
3. How did they actually teach grammar in their classrooms: deductively or
inductively?
4. To what extent are their perceptions and actual practices convergent?
2.3 Case description and context of the study
2.3.1 The setting of the study
Ha Noi University of Industry is a university that leading one of the top
positions in Vietnam about the numbers of training fields, training system. It also
15

leads that position about the large numbers of teachers and students with 1450
teachers and more than 60, 000 students. English is a compulsory subject that taught
for all training systems at university. With the aims of teaching and learning English
can help students communicate in daily life. English is taught for students in 4
terms. In the three first terms, students learn Basic English and in the last term, they
study English for specific purposes.

The numbers of teachers at the Faculty of English are quite large, 126, but 80
of them are teaching non-major students who I’m doing the research at HAUI. Half
of them had finished their M.A course in English. Moreover, they are quite young
so they are willing to change the approaches to teaching English very often. Every
year, many of them have taken part in a “Teach well” contest to learn and share
their teaching experience together. Also, we often have conferences to estimate and
improve the quality of English teaching and learning. However, the quality of
English teaching and learning are not high enough, this is from many different
reasons, mainly students’ ability and teaching approaches.
There are more than 60,000 students. However, the English level of students
here are not high. It comes from different reasons. They may come from rural areas
where teaching and learning English is not frequent. They may not have a chance to
learn English at secondary or high school. More particularly, the number of each
English class here is very big, about 50 or 55 students. It is difficult for teachers to
monitor the whole class and students do not have enough time to practice.
Furthermore, they do not have many opportunities to communicate with
foreigners, especially with native speakers. Their average age is from 18 to 24 and
their English level is of mixed ability. They are afraid of learning English so they
often keep silent or are reluctant to participate in class activities. Most of the
students are not interested in learning English; their goal in learning English is just
to get enough marks to pass the exam. Furthermore, the majority of the students
does not have appropriate learning strategies and have passive learning styles. They
rarely prepare for the lesson at home or do homework.
16

The series of the textbooks “New Headway Elementary and Pre-
intermediate” have been using for teaching English at HAUI. These textbooks are
useful for both teachers and students because of some reasons. They have many
activities to follow. Skill work is integrated and balanced to present new items for
each level. It all comes from authentic sources but has been simplified and adopted

to suit the level. They are full of activities and various subjects which cover main
grammar items appropriate to each level.
Grammar items are presented in a small sufficient unit for easy learning.
Firstly, these items are introduced with “Starter” part to provide real atmosphere
and students meet new grammatical items. Nearly, every unit has three or more
grammatical items to be taught, and these items are summarized at the end of the
page. These items are presented through dialogues, listening, speaking, writing,
reading, pronunciation and vocabulary activities. The series of books are flexible
enough to make some changes or development to adopt grammar items into
different activities if they are not appropriate to the learners’ need.
The method is used for teaching grammar here is PPP, however the book
claims to combine the best of traditional methods with more recent approaches to
help students use English accurately and fluently, and provides a fully
comprehensible language teaching.
2.3.2 Participants
The study investigates the perceptions and actual practices to grammar
teaching of ten teachers at the Faculty of English of Hanoi University of Industry.
They are both male and female and all of them major in English teaching. The
youngest is twenty four years old while the oldest is forty five. Their teaching
experience is varies in term of teaching years. Among those interviewed, five
teachers have from one to five years of teaching experience, two have from six to
ten years, three have been teaching English from ten to twenty years. The varieties
of age and teaching experience are hoped to increase the reliability and the value of