Using oral practice in teaching grammar lessons to 11th graders = Việc sử dụng hoạt động luyện tập nói trong việc dạy các bài học ngữ pháp cho học sinh khối 11

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
VINH UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN THI KIM THUY

USING ORAL PRACTICE IN TEACHING
GRAMMAR LESSONS TO 11TH GRADERS

MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION

VINH - 2013


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
VINH UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN THI KIM THUY

USING ORAL PRACTICE IN TEACHING
GRAMMAR LESSONS TO 11TH GRADERS

Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching
Code: 60.14.10

MASTER THESIS IN EDUCATION

Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Dinh Phuong


VINH - 2013

3


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I here acknowledge that this study is mine. The data and findings discussed
in the thesis are true, used with the permission from associates, and have not been
published elsewhere.
Author

Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Firstly, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my
supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ngo Dinh Phuong for his excellent
guidance during the completion of this research. I would like
to acknowledge humbly that his friendly comments and
enthusiastic encouragement offer me the inspiration all
through the study. Without his help, this thesis would not have
been possible.
Secondly, I would like to send my thanks to all the
teachers and students at Cua Lo upper secondary school where
my study was conducted for their valuable advice, cooperation
and willingness to participate in the investigation.
Also, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the director
of Nghe An continuing education center number 2 for providing
me opportunity to fulfill the study.
I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to some of my friends

for their friendly advice and support when this work was done.
Last but not least, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my
beloved husband who is always beside me and encourages me to
overcome difficulties during my work.

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ABSTRACT
This research was conducted to investigate the teaching grammar at Cua Lo
upper secondary school. The study focuses on the frequency of using oral practice
in learning and teaching grammar to 11 th graders as well as discovers students’
attitude towards the application of oral practice in grammar lesson. Also, some
suggestions are recommended to promote the application of oral practice teaching
grammar.
In order to reach the aims of the study, a combination of both qualitative and
quantitative approaches was used. Data collection instruments consisted of
questionnaires, interviews and class observations.
The findings of the study displays a fact that the frequency of using oral
practice in learning and teaching grammar to 11th graders at Cua Lo upper
secondary school was at low level. Noticeably, written activities tended to dominant
in grammar practice in compare with oral activities. Due to some reasons, teachers
preferred using written activities in practicing grammar structures. The data also
reveals that this trend of teaching grammar did not meet the students demand of
using language structures for communicative purpose. In addition, the survey
improves that students had high appreciation towards the benefits oral practice
brought them in practicing language items. They also expressed their much interest
in grammar lessons using oral practice. From the findings, some suggestions and
implication were worked out to promote the use of oral practice as well as to
increase the effectiveness of using oral practice in teaching grammar to 11th graders.

It is suggested that oral practice should be used more frequently in practicing
grammar structures. Some communicative activities such as drills, games can be
exploited in order to create more comfortable and enjoyable language environment
in grammar learning.

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TABLE OF CONTENT
Page
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP.........................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT.........................................................................................................iii
TABLE OF CONTENT........................................................................................iv
APPENDICES......................................................................................................vi
LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS...........................................................................viii
LIST OF FIGURES..............................................................................................ix
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................1
1.1. Rationale.....................................................................................................1
1.2. Aims of the Study .......................................................................................3
1.3. Research Questions.....................................................................................3
1.4. Scope of the Study......................................................................................3
1.5. Organization of the Study...........................................................................4
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW......................................................................................5
2.1. Definitions of Grammar..............................................................................5
2.2. Grammar Teaching.....................................................................................6
2.2.1. Methods in Teaching Grammar............................................................6
2.2.2. Teaching English Grammar through Communicative Language

Teaching Approach........................................................................................8
2.2.3. Basic Principles for Grammar Teaching............................................10
2.2.4. Models of a Grammar Lesson ...........................................................12
2.3. Grammar Practice.................................................................................15
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2.4. Oral Practice.........................................................................................18
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY...............................................................................................24
3.1. Overview..................................................................................................24
3.2. Settings.....................................................................................................24
3.3. Participants................................................................................................24
3.4. Data Collection.........................................................................................25
3.4.1. The questionnaires.............................................................................25
3.4.2. Class observation ..............................................................................26
3.4.3. Interviews...........................................................................................26
3.5. Data Analysis............................................................................................27
3.6. Research Procedures.................................................................................28
CHAPTER 4
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION..........................................................................29
4.1. Overview..................................................................................................29
4.2. Finding......................................................................................................29
4.2.1. Students’s Opinions towards the Necessarity of English Grammar. . .29
4.2.2. Students’ Interest in Grammar Lessons.............................................31
4.2.3. Students’ Attitude towards Oral Practice...........................................33
4.2.4. Students’ Feedback about Benefits of Oral Practice..........................36
4.2.5. Students’ Difficulties in Practicing Grammar Orally .........................37
4.2.6. Students’ Learning Circumstance in Grammar Lessons....................38
4.2.7. Teacher’s Opinion about Grammar Teaching....................................40

4.2.8. Teachers’ Sources of Activities in Grammar Teaching......................43
4.2.9. Teachers’ Assessments on the Contribution of Oral Practice............47
4.3. Discussion.................................................................................................49
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4.4. Summary...................................................................................................58
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS..............................................................59
5.1. Conclusion................................................................................................59
5.2. Teaching Implications...............................................................................60
5.2.1. Implication for Oral Practice Application...........................................60
5.2.2. Suggested Oral Activities in Grammar Lessons.................................62
5.3. Limitation..................................................................................................65
5.4. Suggested further research.......................................................................66
REFERENCES....................................................................................................67
Appendix 1: Questions for Teacher.....................................................................70
Appendix 2: Questions for Students....................................................................73
Appendix 3: Questions for Students....................................................................77
Appendix 4: Questions for Teachers Interview...................................................81
Appendix 5: Questions for students’ interview....................................................82
1st question: What would you like to change to have more interesting grammar
lessons?................................................................................................................82
2nd question: Do you enjoy grammar lessons? Why(not)?..................................82
3rd question: What are your difficulties in learning grammar lessons?...............82
4th question: Are the grammar structures in you textbook difficult to you?........82
5th question: What do you expect from your teachers to improve grammar
lessons?................................................................................................................82
APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Questionnaire for Teachers

Appendix 2: Questionnaire for Students (English version)
Appendix 3: Questionnaire for Students (Vietnamese version)

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Appendix 4: Questions for Teachers’ Interview
Appendix 5: Questions for Students’ interview

vii


LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS
CLT
N
PPP
TTT
%

:
:
:
:
:

Communicative Language Teaching
Number of Informants
Presentation, Practice and Production
Test - Teach - Test
Percent

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 4.1: Students’ Opinion on the Necessarity of English Grammar..............30
Figure 4.2: Students’ Aims in Learning English Grammar..................................30
Figure 4.3: Students’ Interest in Grammar Lessons.............................................31
Figure 4.4: Students’ Opinion about Teacher’s Methods....................................32
Figure 4.5: Students’ Attitude toward Practicing Activities.................................33
Table 4.1: Frequency of Using Oral Activities in Teaching Grammar................34
Figure 4.6: Students’ Preference toward Practicing Activities............................35
Figure 4.7: Students’ Response toward Interaction Pattern.................................36
Table 4.2: Benefits of Oral Activities in Learning Grammar..............................37
Figure 4.8: Students’ Difficulties in Practicing Grammar Orally ........................38
Figure 4.9: Students’ Activity at Post Stage ........................................................38
Table 4.3: Students’ Learning Circumstance.......................................................39
Figure 4.10: Teachers’ Opinion about the Role of Teaching Grammar...............40
Figure 4.11: Teachers’ Opinion about Grammar Teaching................................41
Figure 4.12: Teachers’ Most Concern in Grammar Teaching.............................41
Figure 4.13: Teachers’ Opinion about Context in Grammar Teaching................42
Figure 4.14: Teachers’ Focus in Grammar Practice............................................43
Figure 4.15: The Frequency of Activities Adapted in Grammar Teaching..........44
Figure 4.16: Teachers’ Agreement about Grammar Exercises in Textbook.......45
Figure 4.17: Teachers’ Favorite Type of Practice...............................................45
Table 4.4: The Frequency of Practice Activities Teachers Used........................46
Figure 4.18: Teachers’ Frequency of Adapting Communicative Activities.........47
Figure 4.19: Teachers’ Comments on the Lessons without Oral Practice...........48
Table 4.5: Teachers’ Opinions about the Benefits of Oral Practice ...................49

ix


x


CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
Of the many issues in language learning and teaching, grammar seems to get
much attention from linguistists and language teachers. The arguments of having an
effective method to teach grammar have gone through a long history.
It has been undeniable that grammar structures are very important in teaching and
learning a language because they are the backbone of a language. However, how to teach
grammar effectively is absolutely a challenge and it is also of constant concern of upper
secondary school teachers.
Traditionally, many teachers approach grammar teaching seriously. The aim
of teaching grammar here is to develop learners’ grammar competence. According
to Richards (2006) grammar competence refers to the knowledge we have of a
language that accounts for our ability to produce sentences in a language. It refers to
knowledge of the building blocks of sentences and how sentences are formed. The
focus in teaching grammar, therefore, is to teach specific sequences of grammar
forms and rules, then students are asked to complete a series of written exercises.
As a result, the students are good at doing written work but they can not develope
communicative competence. Students also are not motivated to learn when teachers
resort to traditional methods of teaching in which grammar rules are taught
deductively because of the great influence on teaching habit caused by Nghe An
environment and the former objectives of teaching. Normally, the explanation of
new words and grammar structures are given and students are asked to learn by

heart and make sentences, to read the structures, texts or conversations aloud and to
repeat and students have to do a lot of written exercises in class which makes
students passive. It is the fact that the 11th grade students at Cua Lo High School
have lots of difficulties in learning grammar. They are taught grammar through
repetition and written exercises. Students are required to repeat the models and

1


memorize the rules. Lasen- Freeman (2005) points out such activities in class are
boring and not effective.
So far, a great number of studies have been conducted to assist teachers
and students in teaching and acquiring English grammar. In order to
communicate effectively in English, students need to have a good foundation in
grammar (McKay, 1987). Ur (1988) states that a person who knows grammar is
one who can express himself or herself in what would be considered as
acceptable language forms.
In addition, Richard (2006, p.3) claims that “While grammatical competence
is an important dimension of language learning, it is clearly not all that is involved
in learning a language since one can master the rules of sentence formation in a
language and still not be very successful at being able to use the language for
meaningful communication”.
A variety of methods and techniques have been implemented in order to
improve not only the learners’ grammar competence but also their communicative
competence. This requires the learners the ability of “knowing how to use language
for a range of different purposes and functions; knowing how to vary our use of
language according to the setting and the participants (e.g., knowing when to use
formal and informal speech or when to use language appropriately for written as
opposed to spoken communication); knowing how to produce and understand
different types of texts(e.g., narratives, reports, interviews, conversations); knowing

how to maintain communication despite having limitations in one’s language
knowledge”. Richard (2006, p.3)
Consequently, teachers’ work is to help students carry out the grammar point
that they are teaching for communicative purposes. It is believed that grammar
should be taught in the light of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) method.
The fact is that using oral practice activities has shown its enormous advantages in
teaching and learning grammar to develop students’ communicative competence.
They, therefore, will be discussed in this research in order to improve the quality of

2


teaching grammar for students at upper secondary schools in general and at Cua Lo
upper secondary school in particular.
Being a teacher of English at an upper secondary school, the researcher finds
it necessary to make an investigation of the reality in using oral practice in teaching
and learning grammar and to work out an effective way to enhance the teaching and
learning grammar process.
The idea of doing something useful for my colleagues and students has urged
me to conduct the research with the hope to identify whether oral grammar practice
is a good way for teachers in teaching application.
1.2. Aims of the Study
The aims of this study are as follows:
- To investigate the reality of using oral practice in grammar lessons to 11 th
graders at Cua Lo upper secondary school.
- To explore students’ attitude towards the application of oral practice in
grammar lessons.
- To offer some suggestions to promote the application of oral practice in
grammar lessons to 11th graders?
1.3. Research Questions

In order to meet the aim of the study, the following research questions are
generated:
1. To what extent is oral practice used in learning and teaching grammar to
11th graders at Cua Lo upper secondary school?
2. What is students’ attitude towards the application of oral practice in
grammar lessons?
3. What suggestions could be made to promote the application of oral
practice in grammar lessons to 11th graders?
1.4. Scope of the Study
Due to the time limit, the author was unable to carry out the investigation on
a large scale. The researcher, therefore, would like to focus on the real teaching and

3


learning English grammar using oral practice at Cua Lo High School, restricted to
the 11th graders only.
1.5. Organization of the Study
Beside the abstract, bibliography and appendices, the study will include 5
chapters as follows.
Chapter 1, The Introduction introduces the rationales for the research,
defines the specific focuses, objectives, research questions and organization of the
study.
Chapter 2, “Literature review” is a brief summary of previous studies
relating to the research as a basis for the study. The main theoretical background of
this paper is based on the views of researchers like Ur, Harmer, Nunan, Thornbury,
dealing with grammar teaching such as the definitions of grammar, grammar
teaching, models of a grammar lesson
“Literature review” also presents the relevant studies, articles, books and
other resources relating to the oral practice in English grammar teaching. This part

will also provide description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work quoted.
In Chapter 3, the detailed procedure of the study: the methodology,
population selection, data collection and analysis will be shown.
Chapter 4, “Finding and Discussion” focuses on presenting, analyzing and
discussing the results obtained from the study. From this, research questions are
discussed in detail to discover the reality that the teachers and students had in
teaching and learning grammar as well as the difficulties they faced. Hence, some
suggestions and implications can be summed up for the success and effectiveness of
teaching and learning grammar to oral practice at upper secondary schools.
Last but not least, main points and contents of the study will be concluded
based on the results of the study in chapter 5, “Conclusion and Implication”. The
implication of the study and the recommendation for further research will also be
presented.

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CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter will focus on the theoretical grounds of grammar teaching and
oral practice in grammar teaching. They were laid on the views of Scott Thornbury,
Ur, K.Lynn Savage with Gretchen Bitterlin and Donna Price, Nunan, Anne Burns,
etc. Their theories were used as the basis for the investigation relating to grammar
teaching and oral practice in grammar teaching.
2.1. Definitions of Grammar
It is obvious that with the development of applying communicative
approaches to language teaching, grammar has a central and fundalmental place.
The view of grammar has been developed in a long period from the traditional way
to communicative approach. Nowadays, grammar is seen as a tool for

communication rather than as a body of content to be memorized.
Many famous researchers have given different ideas about grammar. In term
of traditional view, Ur (1998, p.4) defines grammar as the way language
manipulates and combines words in order to form longer units of meaning. In the
same view Richards, Platt and Weber (2003) states that “grammar is a description
of the structure of a language and the way in which units such as words and
phrases are combined to produce sentences in the language”. Another famous
writer, Jeremy Harmer (1987) considers grammar as the way in which words
change themselves and group together to make sentences.
However, some other authors see grammar beyond the label of communicative
approach. According to Nunan, grammar is a resourse that enables us to get things done,
to make choices, to express ourselves as individuals and to articulate our feelings and
attitudes. Besides, many educators suggest that teaching grammar should be integrate
with other skills in order to reach communicative purpose.
In short, the place of grammar is uncertain in teaching curriculum. Teaching
grammar, therefore, should not be in boring way. It, on the other hand, supplies the
leaners the tool to communicate accurately, meaningfully and appropriately.

5


2.2. Grammar Teaching
It is undeniable that grammar is central to the teaching and learning of
language. However, how to teach grammar effectively and how grammar is helpful to
learners in developing communicative competence is a challenge to many teachers.
Traditionally, grammar teaching is considered as the presentation and practice of
discrete grammar patterns. Many people as well as language teachers see grammar as
a fixed set of word forms and rules of usage to teach. Grammar is taught by
explaining the forms and rules and then drilling students on them. As a result, this
gets students in boring and uneffective learning situation. The students, therefore, can

produre correct forms on written exercises and tests, but consistently make errors
when they try to use the language in context or to communicate in real life.
Some other language teachers believe that students can absorb grammar
structures when they hear, read, and use the language in communicative activities
without overt grammar instruction. However, this prevents students from their
active understanding of what grammar is and how it works in the language they
already know.
To balance these trends, language teacher should exploit the communicative
competence model. This model considers that overt grammar instruction helps students
acquire the language more efficiently. Also, this model teaches students the grammar they
need to know to accomplish communication tasks. This requires teachers to pay more
concern to create effective grammar learning to students and reach their aim of using
language in communication.
From the aforementioned views, some trends of teaching grammar have been
discussed. In addition, some methods of teaching grammar will be mentioned in the
next part to create a clear view to the readers the fact of teaching grammar.
2.2.1. Methods in Teaching Grammar
For a long time, there have been various methods widely used in teaching
grammar by language teachers all over the world. They will be discussed in this paper to
create deeper understanding of teaching grammar effectively. In Approaches and

6


Methods in Language Teaching Jack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers have given a
number of methods which are used by educators and language teachers.
a. The Grammar-Translation Method
This method dominated European language from 1840s to 1940s. The goal
of this method is to learn language in order to reach the target language literature. It
is characterized by analyzing grammar rules followed by translating exercises. It

pays more attention on reading and writing rather than speaking and listening.
Accuracy is emphasized, grammar is taught deductively, little or no attention is
given to pronunciation. Especially, mother tongue is mainly used to teach in class.
In this method there is an absence of communicative practice and it bases on
translation exercises.
b. The Direct Method
This method was widely used in the first part of twentieth century. In
this method, meaning is conveyed directly through demonstration and action.
The emphasis is on speaking skills. Lessons usually begin with dialog or a
story in the target language. Visuals are used to conveyed meaning. Grammar is
taught inductively. Attention is paid on correct grammar and pronunciation and
new teaching items are introduced orally. Beside the advantages, this method
also shows some limitations. It is dependent on the teacher’s skills rather than
on the textbook and it required native speaker teachers which is difficult to
apply in public secondary school education.
c. The Audiolingual Method
In the years from 1950s to 1970s the Audiolingual method paid its emphasis
on oral production. Teacher often models pronunciation and uses drills to reinforce
grammatical patterns. Yet, in this method rote exercises reduce cognitive
engagement and activities are designed to prevent learner errors which reduces the
need for students to negotiate meaning.
d. The Cognitive Approach
Cognitive Approach was popular in 1970s. Grammar is taught deductively
and inductively. It emphasizes on analyzing structure at the expense of
communicative practice and pronunciation is de-emphasized.

7


e. The Natural Approach

In 1980s many teachers applied this method in their teaching. Language is
presented in a natural sequence: listening, speaking, reading, writing. In this method
grammar is not overtly taught, yet many adult learners need and want grammar
instruction. On the other hand, the focus is on listening may delay speaking that
learners need immediately.
f. The Communicative Language Teaching
Appearing the first time in 1970s, this method seems to show its power in
teaching. Up to now it has been mainly used by most teachers all over the world.
With this method, communication is the goal of instruction, emphasis is on
meaningful interaction, course syllabus includes language functions. In addition, it
displays the use of authentic texts and contexts.
In short, some popular methods in teaching grammar have been given. Each
of them has both advantages and disadvantages. However, the CLT has shown its
superiority. Patel & Praveen (2008, p.94) state about this approach : “The
communicative approach is a learner centred approach. This approach gives the
learner not only grammatical competence but also a social skill as to what to say,
how to say, when to say and where, in order to satisfy his daily needs as larger aim.
In this approach, apart from fluency, accuracy and appropriateness are equally
important”.This explains the reason why it is the favorite method of many language
teachers in teaching grammar.
2.2.2. Teaching English Grammar through Communicative Language
Teaching Approach
In last few decades, CLT approach is the most discussed of all language
teaching-learning approaches. The mention here is how grammar fits in CLT
approach. To reach the aim of teaching grammar through CLT approach, teachers
should forget their traditional role of active educators, instead the student role has to
be emphasized in the classroom. Finocchiaro and Brumfit (1983) state about the
CLT syllabus:

8

- Meaning(function) is emphasized
- Contextualization is important
- Language learning is learning to communicate
- Language is created through repeated trials and errors
- Fluency is primary whereas accuracy is secondary
To say about grammar and CLT, Anne Burns (2009) suggests that grammar
must be a part of communicative language teaching. Teachers should put focus on
communication related to realistic use of language in context. It emphasizes
authentic language use and realia in the cultural context of the language studied. It
also places focus on student-centred teaching and learner autonomy.
Some critics say that there seems to be a conflict between CLT and Grammar
because they have different ultimate goals in terms of results such as fluency and
accuracy. In fact, they have close-knit relationship. It is believed that “the more
thoroughly a learner masters the grammar system of the language, the more effectively
he or she can use this language for communication” (Sayeedur Rahman, 2005).
Newby, D. (1998) suggests a communicative model in teaching grammar as
follow
speaker
Context

role

meaning

form

purpose
According to him in the communicative approach, it was recognized that the

forms of grammar represent the final stage of an interaction process, in which
speakers communicate messages to other human beings in a context. This author
also draws up a figure to illustrate the relationship between grammar and
communication (p6) in his writing :
Previous discourse
+ Context

Functions
SPEAKER

Meanings
Appropriacy

9

Forms

MESSAGE


He concludes that “grammatical competence means not only knowing how to
form a sentence or knowing the rules for using, but the ability to choose meaningful
grammar in real contexts, which might be referred to as part of a more general
communicative competence” (p4).
From the above point of view, the concern here is grammar should be taught in
the light of CLT. There is a fact that without a balance between grammar and
communication learners may remain stuck of using correct grammar in four skill areasreading and writing as well as listening and speaking.
2.2.3. Basic Principles for Grammar Teaching
Some main methods have been discussed to show their advantages as well as
disadvantages in learning and teaching English grammar. This part will explore how

grammar can be taught in classroom. It will be useful to draw up some basis
principles for grammar teaching which will be seen as the criteria for evaluating the
pratical approaches. Thornbury (1999) in “How to teach grammar” states some
principles as follows
• The E-Factor: Efficiency = economy, ease, and efficacy
According to him, grammar teaching should be done as efficiently as
possible. Efficiency is divided into three factors: economy, ease, and efficacy. He
compares economy as the key factor in the training of technical skills. Then when
teachers present grammar, the rule is the shorter the better. He, therefore, suggests
that be economical in terms of planning and resources. With the ease factor
Thornbury claims that the easier an activity is to set up, the better it is. In his
opinion, the efficiency of learning requires the learners’ attention, understanding
and memory. However, none of them will be sufficient if there is a lack of
motivation.
In short, Thornbury defines efficiency as the optimal setting of three related
factors: economy, ease, and efficacy. Simply speaking, he sets out the question:
“are the time and resources spent on preparing and executing a grammar task
justified in terms of its probable learning outcome?”.

10


• The A-factor: Appropriacy
Due to the different characteristics of class and learners such as their needs,
interests, level and goals as well as their beliefs, attitudes and values an activity that
works for one group of learners may not work well for another group. He concludes
that any classroom activity must be evaluated not only according to criteria of
efficiency, but also of appropriacy. Thornbury considers these factors in
determining appropriacy:
- the age of the learners

- their level
- the size of the group
- the constitution of the group, eg. monolingual or multilingual
- what their needs are, eg. to pass a public examination
- the learners’ previous learning experience and hence present expectations
- any cultural factors that might affect attitudes, eg. their perception of the
role and status of the teacher
- the educational context, eg. private school or state school, at home or
abroad
Some other principles are also addressed in Methodology Handbook for
English Teachers in Vietnam by Ron Forseth, Carol Forseth, Ta Tien Hung and
Nguyen Van Do (1994, p120)
1. Most often, teach structures implicitly. In other words, present examples
of the structure and allow students to focus on the meaning without teaching
grammar.
2. Present a structure orally before presenting a written form and an
explanation. When listening, it is easier to focus on meaning. When reading, it is
easier to focus on the form. Listening first will help the learner understand the
meaning communicated by the structure.
3. Use visual aids to help students see the structure and the grammatical
meaning.

11


4. Connect the form to meaning. Students should understand the meaning of
the structures they are studying.
5. De-emphasize the use of special terms. Use common words but not a lot of
fancy ones like “aspect”, “subject”, “gerund”, “agent” or “transformation” to
describe language.

6. Along with correction, give positive feedback and emphasize
communication rather than just grammatical accuracy.
7. After practicing a structure in a controlled exercise, give students
opportunites to use the structure in more free communication.
2.2.4. Models of a Grammar Lesson
Typically, a grammar lesson often follow the portion of presentation and
practice. The most popular model of a grammar lesson that many language teachers
exploit is the PPP model which is known as presentation, practice and production
stages. This model has improved its logic in learning and teaching. According to
Scott Thornbury (1999, p128) “this model allows the teacher to control the content
and pace of the lesson” and “it provides a convenient template onto which any
number of lessons can be mapped”.
a. Presentation stage
Normally in this stage, the teacher introduces the target grammar in a
meaningful context; explains the form, meaning, and use; and provide activities to
check that students have understood what has been presented. According to K. Lynn
Savage with Gretchen Bitterlin and Donna Price, teachers may decide to present a
new language item either explicitly or emplicitly. In an explicit presentation, the
teacher begins by stating the grammar focus and and explaining it, possibly using
grammatical terms to do so. In contrast, when grammar is presented implicitly, the
teacher may begin with an example that embeds the target grammar and avoid an
overt explanation of the grammar. Ur (1996) calls them inductive method and
deductive method. Teacher has to decide which method is more effective for their
learner situation. He also states that a good presentation should include both oral
and written forms, and both form and meaning. Especially, most writers of grammar

12