SKKN The appropriateness of focus on form instruction in the light of CLT to 11th grade students at To Hien Thanh high school

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

TO HIEN THANH HIGH SCHOOL

EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE

THE APPROPRIATENESS OF FOCUS ON FORM
INSTRUCTION IN THE LIGHT OF CLT TO 11TH GRADE
STUDENTS AT TO HIEN THANH HIGH SCHOOL

Teacher: Hoang Thi Tan
Position: Teacher - Chief Specialist
Field of research: English

THANH HOA YEAR 2019


CONTENT
PART 1:
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................1
1.1. Rationale.........................................................................................................1
1.2. Aim and objectives of study...........................................................................1
1.3. The participants..............................................................................................1
1.4. Research method............................................................................................2
PART 2: CONTENT.............................................................................................2
2.1. Theoretical background..................................................................................2
2.2. The reality before applying this method.........................................................4
2.3. The servey instruments...................................................................................4
2.4. Findings and discussions................................................................................5
PART 3: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION..................................13
3.1. Conclusion....................................................................................................13

3.2. Recommendation for further study...............................................................15
References
Appendix I
Appendix II
Appendix III
Appendix IV


CLT
ELT
GCSE
L1
L2

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Communicative Language Teaching
English Language Teaching
General Certificate of Secondary Education
First Language
Second Language


PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
Together with the growing demand for learning English, there has been an
innovation in English teaching and learning methods everywhere in Vietnam.
Nowadays, teacher not only transfers knowledge but also guides, organizes
students’ learning activities. The aim of language teaching is to help students
understand language as well as use it actively in real life; after a language
lesson, students can communicate in English. In fact, at To Hien Thanh high

school, teaching English grammar in the light of communication has some
problems, such as students’ levels, teachers’ methods, facilities, textbooks, etc.
Further more, students are not hard-working.They spend little time on learning
English. In addition, they have no chance to practice English in real life or listen
to English from native speakers.
In English lessons of high school, teacher almost starts from basic structures
and the simplest knowledge. With the experience of 26 years working as a
teacher of English and of 23 years teaching English at To Hien Thanh high
school, the author always concerns with how to help students learn English
better, how to motivate them in learning English and how to reach the aim of
teaching English in the light of communication are the questions the author
always thinks of. The question of how to equip students with grammatical
competence so that they can use the language to communicate in any situation
has become a matter of teachers of English in general and teachers of English at
To Hien Thanh high school in particular.
For the above reasons, the author intends to investigate the appropriateness
of focus on form instruction in the light of CLT to 11th grade students at To
Hien Thanh high school then to give some suggestions to make English
teaching and learning activities here more communicative. The author hopes that
this study will have some contribution to improving the application of CLT in
ELT in general, English grammar teaching in particular at To Hien Thanh high
school.
1.2. Aim and objectives of study
The aim of the study is to find out the appropriateness of focus on form
instruction in the light of CLT to 11th grade students at To Hien Thanh high
school.
The objectives of study are:
First, to investigate contextual factors affecting the application of focus on
form approach.
Second, to evaluate contextual appropriateness of the focus on form approach.

Last, to give some suggestions and some solutions of teaching method so that
applying CLT in teaching and learning English at To Hien Thanh high school
has good results and effectiveness.
1.3. The participants: 90 students of grades 11B6 and 11B7.
They are at the age of 17 or18. They have studied English for 6 years.

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1.4. Research methods
The main methods utilized in this study are Survey questionnaire for students,
Classroom observation, Post-observation interviews with two teachers. To carry
out the study, many references were selected, read and filtered for information.
The following instruments are used:
+ Questionnaire for students: to investigate students’ real situation of learning
English and to explore their expectation in learning English.
+ Classroom observation: to clarify and test the validity of information about
teaching grammar in the light of communication, the author observed two of 5
teachers who are on behalf of two teaching styles.
+ Post-observation interviews with two teachers: to get better insights into
teachers’ perceptions and attitudes toward teaching grammar in the light of CLT.
PART 2: CONTENT
2.1. Theoretical background
This chapter provides definitions and concepts of the terms: Focus on Form vs
Focus on Forms, Contextual appropriateness of teaching methods, EFL contexts.
*Definitions of focus on forms
“Focus on forms is equated with the traditional teaching of discrete points of
grammar in separate lessons.” (Ron Sheen – ELT Journal Volume 56/3 July
2002).
Long (2000) described Focus on Forms as a traditional teaching approach in

which teachers present the learners with preselected and sequenced linguistic
items. (Teachers College, Columbia University Working Papers in TESOL &
Applied Linguistics, 2007, Vol. 7, No.1The Forum).
*Advantages of focus on forms
Focus on forms provides understanding of the grammar by a variety of
means: explanation in the L1, pointing out differences between the L1 and
the L2, and aural comprehension activities intended to focus students’
attention on the forms being used; it provides written and oral exercises that
entail using the grammar in both non-communicative and communicative
activities;frequent opportunities for communicative use of the grammar to
promote automatic and accurate use.
*Disadvantages of focus on forms
Focus on forms makes students not pay attention to develop their spoken
language, not have self-confidence in communicating in English with other
people. Teacher introduces knowledge,presents grammatical structures; students
listen to the teacher and write down what the teacher introduces. This approach
is teacher-centered.
According to Long (1997), focus on forms does not identify students’
communicative needs, does not ascertain their learning styles and preferences. It
is an one-size-fit-all approach.
*Definitions of focus on form:
According to Fotos (1998) focus on form is a context based presentation of
grammatical forms, rather than overt teacher-led instruction.
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Doughty & Williams (1998) mentioned that focus on form integrates attention
to form, meaning and use.
According to Long (1991) Focus on form refers to drawing students’ attention
to linguistic elements as they arise incidentally in lessons whose overriding

focus is on meaning or communication. In short, focus on form instruction is
teaching grammar in the light of communication.
*Advantages of focus on form
Focus on form helps learners “to recognize the properties of target structures
in context and develop their accuracy in their use” (Fotos 1998:32).
Focus on form instruction helps students learn how to use language in a way
that emulates realistic communicative scenarios. More to the point, teacherstudent/student-student classroom interaction, via both oral and written modes,
should consume the majority of class time. Likewise, evaluation centers on
students’ abilities to actively engage in authentic communication, using the
forms they have learned during interaction.
As Poole (2003b) has pointed out, in many settings, the students and the
teacher often share a common first (or second, or third) language and culture,
and thus can easily code-switch in order to overcome communicative difficulties
or fill communicative gaps.
Focus on form instruction encourages students to use language not only in
order to practice and automate structures, but also so that the teacher, as well as
other learners, may be able to identify learners’ errors and form-based
difficulties in order to help learners overcome them. It also encourages students
to take responsibility for their own language skill development and helps them
gain confidence in their ability to learn and use the language.
*Disadvantages of focus on form
Focus on form approach refers to activities that capture learners’ attention to
form while maintaining meaningful communication.Thus, meaningful
communication, crystallized through pedagogical tasks, was the basis of the
Focus on Form treatment.
Focus on form “ is also assumed that there are significant differences in
the two processes: that exposure is insufficient to enable learners to acquire
much of the second-language grammar, and that this lack needs to be
compensated for by focusing learners’ attention on grammar features” Focus
on form instruction, in Long (1991) and Long and Robinson’s (1998)

conception, seems optimally suited to classrooms that are small enough to
enable instructors to verbally address their students’ problematic forms,
presumably via classroom discussion, Q/A sessions, and impromptu and
planned public speaking events. Likewise, small classes would be needed
for students to have significant amounts of peer interaction both orally and
in written form.
Focus on form instruction ignores the role of negative evidence in second
language teaching, and depends too much on positive evidence.
Learners who learn a second language through communicative classes do not
gain high levels of language proficiency (Higgs and Clifford 1982).
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2.2. The reality before applying this method
The author chose students of two classes: 11B6 and 11B7 to
test because the English teachers of these classes have two
different methods in teaching grammar. The one teaching at
11B6 usually uses Focus on Forms. She mainly starts from basic
structures and the simplest knowledge. Students listen to the teacher and write
down what the teacher introduces. They learn English passively. On the
contrary, the one teaching at 11B7 usually uses Focus on Form.
Students learn English actively.
* The following is the result the writer got from students’ 15 minute-test (Test1)
Clas Mark 9-10
Mark 7-8
Mark 5-6
Mark 3-4
Mark 0-2
s
11B6 3/45 – 7 % 5 /45 – 11%

18 /45 – 40 % 13/45- 29% 6/45 – 13%
11B7 8/45– 18 % 15 /45 – 33 % 18 /45 – 40 % 2 /45- 4,5% 2/45– 4,5%
It can be seen in the table that the results are different: most students get
mark 5 and mark 6; few students get marks 9 and 10; students getting bad marks
(from 0 to 4) account for 4% -24%
2.3. The survey instruments
This study employed the quantitative method which helped to provide
background data for finding out appropriateness of focus on form instruction to
11th grade students at To Hien Thanh high school. In order to obtain in-depth and
rich data, the writer used: questionnaire for students, classroom observation and
post-observation interviews with two teachers.
2.3.1. The questionnaire for students
According to Selinger and Shohamy (1989) a questionnaire is widely used in
second language acquisition research to solicit information about certain
conditions and practices, in particular to collect data on phenomena which are
not easily observed, such as perceptions and attitudes. It is also used to obtain
background information about the research subjects (Koul 1984).A number of
techniques are used to collect data through questionnaires. The kinds of
questions are various, consisting of Yes/No question, Multiple choice, Ranked
question, question in Liker scale.
The questionnaire was designed for 90 students of grade 11 at To Hien Thanh
high school (see Appendix I). It contains four multiple-choice questions.
Students had four weeks to complete the questionnaire.
The aim of the questionnaire is to investigate students’ ways of learning
English and their attitudes to learning English grammar lessons. It consists of
four questions
The questions for students focus on the following categories: the students’
evaluation of their English grammar lessons (Question1); students’ opinions
about the levels of effectiveness of the ways of learning grammar (Question2);
the activities students like in learning grammar (Question3) and the students’

opinions about grammatical mistake correction (Question4).
2.3.2. Classroom observation
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Classroom observation was employed to clarify and test the validity of
information about teaching grammar in the light of communication. The two
lessons the author observed were carried out in two 11 classes: 11B6 and
11B7 by two teachers being on behalf of two teaching styles. Teacher A
always tries to apply CLT in teaching grammar while teacher B always
applies two approaches: focus on form and focus on forms in teaching
grammar. The purpose of the classroom observation is to evaluate whether
the teachers would give the lessons carefully; the ways teachers motivated
as many students as possible into the learning activities; the ways those
teachers monitored their classes; the ways they used to evolve compulsory
knowledge in 45 minutes.
2.3.3. The post-observation interviews with two teachers
Selinger and Shohamy (1989) point out that the use of interview as data
collection instrument permits a level of in-depth information, free response
and flexibility that cannot be obtained by other procedures. In this study,
post-observation interviews consisting of four specific and defined questions
were used. The post-observation interviews were conducted with two teachers
who teach grammar in two styles. The interviews took place in a face-to-face
situations with the subjects. The purpose of the interviews is to discuss for
further information to have in-depth understanding of their evaluation on the
appropriateness of focus on form instruction to students at To Hien Thanh
high school.
2.4. Findings and discussions
*Questionnaire for students
The aim of using Questionnaire for students is to investigate students’ real

situation of learning English and to explore their expectation in learning English.
Question1: What is your opinion about grammar lessons at school?
Students’ opinions
Boring, difficult to understand and to
remember
Understanding grammar structures but
the classroom is deep
Interesting, effervescent, lively and easy
to understand

Number of students
28

percentages
31 %

26

51 %

16

18 %

Table 1: Students’ opinions about grammar lessons at school
As can be seen in the table 1, students have different attitudes to grammar
lessons at school. Most students (51 %) said that they understand grammar
structures but classroom is deep. A lower percentage of the students (31 %) said
that the grammar lessons are boring, difficult to understand and to remember.
Only 18 % of the students said that grammar lessons are interesting,

effervescent, lively and it is easy to understand.

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Question2: Please tick the level(s) of effectiveness of the following ways of
learning English (in your opinions)
The level of effectiveness
The ways of learning
Learning grammar through conversations and texts
Listening to the teacher’s explanation of
grammar forms and uses then doing exercises in
the textbook
Writing down and learning by heart examples on
the board then making sentences using structures
having been learned.
Learning by heart sentences having new
structures in concrete situations then applying
them to communicate with classmates
Learning grammar through exercises in the forms of
games, quiz games, songs, working in pairs / groups
Learning by heart grammar structures, rules then
doing exercises in the textbook
Learning grammar through listening, speaking,
reading, writing skills
The teacher spends much time training skills.
The teacher only teaches grammar when you
make mistakes

Very Not very

effective effective
(%)
(%)

Not
effective
(%)

28

48

24

54

33

13

42

46

12

56

34

10

60

31

9

47

43

10

34

55

10

27

59

14

Table2: Students’ opinions about the effectiveness of the ways of learning grammar
28 % of students said that learning grammar through conversations and texts
is very effective while a larger proportion (48 %) say that this way is not very
effective and only 24 % say that it is not effective to learn grammar through

conversations and texts. The majority of the students think that listening to the
teacher’s explanation of grammar forms and uses then doing exercises in the
textbook is very effective (54 %), 33 % think that it is not very effective and 13
% think that it is totally ineffective. In the way of writing down and learning by
heart examples on the board then making sentences using learned structures, 42
% of the students consider that it is very effective, 46 % consider it not very
effective, only 12 % of the students consider that it is ineffective. Learning by
heart sentences containing new structures in specific situations then applying
them into communication with classmates also makes students be interested in.
It is shown in the following results: 56 % of the students say that they like this
way of learning grammar. For them it is very effective; 34 % say that it is not
very effective and 10 % of them say that it is ineffective. Besides learning
grammar by writing down and learning by heart grammar structures and rules,
almost students (60 %) likes learning grammar through exercises in the forms of
games, quiz games, songs, working in pairs / groups. They believe that it is very
effective way for them to learn and remember grammar structures. However,
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there are students (31 %) who do not like this way very much because for them
it is not very effective. Only a small number of the students (9 %) consider this
way ineffective. Almost students like learning by heart grammar structures, rules
then doing exercises in the textbook. 47 % of students find this way very
effective; 43 % say that it is not very effective; the rest (10 %) are not satisfied
with this way, for them it is ineffective. As we know, listening, speaking, reading
and writing are four skills every learner has to practice regularly while learning
foreign language, but it is very surprisingly that the way of learning grammar
through listening, speaking, reading, writing skills does not make students be
satisfied. Over half of students (55 %) consider that this way is ineffective. Only
34 % think that it is very effective and 10 % say that it is effective. When being

asked about the time of training skills and teaching grammar, only 27 % of
students say that they like their teacher to spend much time training skills, little
time teaching grammar, grammar should be trained only when they make
mistakes. They believe that it is very effective way. Contrary to those students,
59 % consider that it is not very effective and 14 % say that it is ineffective.
Question3: Which of the following activities do you enjoy taking part in when
learning grammar?
Number
Activities
Percentages
of students
Work in pairs
15
15 %
Work in groups
54
54 %
Play
- Information filling
15
15 %
games:
- Combining sentences
40
40 %
- Rearranging words with the
same place of stress; the same
43 %
43
pronunciation(at phonetic lessons)

-Rearranging words into correct
55
55 %
sentences(using pieces)
Table 3: The activities do you enjoy taking part in when learning grammar
The data in the table 3 show that most students (54 %) enjoy working in
groups. They say that when they work in groups, they feel self-confident, they
are not afraid of being tested by teacher, they can express their opinions, their
points of view freely, especially when working in groups they can get more
different opinions about the same problems. Contrary to this, only 15 % of the
students enjoy working in pairs. On being asked about playing games, many
students like taking part in playing games. One of the games they enjoy most is
rearranging words into correct sentences (using pieces) (55 % of students). The
game rearranging words with the same place of stress and the same
pronunciation (during phonetic lessons) ranks second of the four given games
(43 % of students enjoy it). The game combining sentences ranks third among
four given games (40 %). The game they do not enjoy most is information filling
(only 15% of students).They say that it is very difficult for them to find suitable
information because they lack of vocabulary.
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Question4: In what way do you want your teacher correct your mistakes?
Number
Percentages
of students
Have a detailed correction of all grammar mistakes
62
62 %
you make

Correct some mistakes you often make in writing
25
25 %
Correct some mistakes you often make in speaking
19
19 %
Table 4: The ways students want their teacher to correct their mistakes
In question 4 of the questionnaire, respondents are asked to say the way they
want their teacher to correct their mistakes. In this question, the author gives
students only three ways to choose. From the data and findings in the table 4, we
can see that most students (62 %) want their teacher to correct all grammar
mistakes they make concretely. When being asked why, they say that because
they do not want to make mistakes again. To the second way of correcting
mistakes given above (correct some mistakes you often make in writing), only
25 % of students preferred. They explain that it is very important because all the
tests for them are written and they almost do not have to take oral tests. Contrary
to this, 19 % of students want their teacher to correct some mistakes they often
make during their speaking. They say that they learn English to communicate
and they want to use English to talk with friends everywhere in the World.
2.4.2. The findings from classroom observation and discussions.
Unlike the results obtained from the questionnaire, classroom observation
gives a clearer picture about the appropriateness of focus on form instruction to
11th grade students at To Hien Thanh school. The author took the observation at
two classes 11. The grammar lesson observed was part 5: language focus –
Unit1-Textbook Tieng Anh 11.The author chose one unit conducted at two
classes 11 by two teachers using two styles of teaching grammar in order to
compare and to evaluate classroom teachers about their instructional practices
and to identify examples of best practices in accordance with teaching standards.
The following is the lesson observed by the author:
Unit 1: Friendship – Lesson 5: Language focus (Textbook: Tieng Anh 11)

Subjects: + Pronunciation: / dʒ/, / tʃ/
+ Grammar: Infinitive with and without to
Class size: 45 students
Time:
45 minutes
There are two parts in this lesson: Pronunciation and Grammar.
* Classroom observation 1: The leson is conducted by the teacher applying
Focus on Forms. Implemented procedures.
Part 1: Pronunciation
Activity1: Before the lesson, the teacher wrote two words: Jump – Cheese on
the board and asked students to read. The teacher asked each student to read
aloud those words. She underlined the letters J & Ch and lead into the new
lesson: the pronunciation of / dʒ /, / tʃ /.
Ways of correcting mistakes

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Activity2: The teacher read the given words first → students listened to the
teacher then read in chorus after the teacher → each students stood up and read
→ the teacher listened to them and corrected their pronunciation mistakes.
Activity3:The teacher divided the class into small groups and asked students
to practice reading aloud the given sentences → the teacher asked students to
point out the words with the sounds /dʒ / , / tʃ / (two sentences for each group)
→ the volunteer of each groups stood up and pointed out, other groups listened
& checked.
Part 2: Grammar
(1) Infinitive with to
Activity 1: Presentation
The teacher wrote two sentences on the board and underlined the infinitive

with to.
(Examples: I have some letters to write ; Does she get anything to eat ?) →
the teacher asked students to comment on the use of to-infinitive through the
given examples → the teacher listened and fed back.
Activity 2: Practice
The teacher asked students to do exercise1 (textbook Tieng Anh 11–page 20)
→ students work in pairs then each student did one sentence in front of the class
(in speaking) → the teacher listened and fed back.
(2) Infinitive without to
Activity 1: Presentation
The teacher called on some students to give out some verbs followed by
infinitive without to → students listed : the verbs of perceptions such as hear,
see, watch, feel, notice…., modal verbs such as can, may, must……, make, let
→ the teacher fed back.
Activity 2: Practice
The teacher asked students to do exercise 2 (textbook Tieng Anh 11–page 21)
in pairs → each student did one sentence in front of the class (in speaking) →
the teacher listened and fed back.
Homework
The teacher asked students to learn grammar by heart and do exercises in the
workbook.
* Comment on lesson 1
During 45 minute-classroom observation, the author had the following
remarks:
Firstly, the teacher implemented what she had prepared in the lesson plan.
Secondly, the teacher let students time brainstorm in both presentation and
practice parts. It helped students to pay more attention to the lesson.
Thirdly, the classroom atmosphere was deep, especially in the part 2
“grammar” students worked more actively in part1 than in part 2.In general,
students were not active in speaking English. The teacher almost had to asked

and assigned students to answer her questions or to do exercises.
Lastly, the author wants to mention the methods and the activities used in this
lesson: it was okay in the part 1 “pronunciation”, in part 2 “grammar”, the
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teacher spent time introducing the use of infinitives and bare infinitive before
asking students to do exercises in the textbook. It means that she used Focus on
forms to introduce grammar. It could be seen from the classroom observation
that students were interested in doing exercises but only in writing, not in
speaking. The teacher asked students to work in pairs, in groups. She corrected
all students’ spoken and written mistakes.
* Classroom observation 2: The leson is conducted by the teacher applying
Focus on Form.Implemented procedures.
Part 1: Pronunciation
Activity1: Before the lesson, the teacher showed a picture of a village and a
picture of a chair → the teacher asked students to name the things they saw in those
pictures → each student stood up and read the name of one thing → the teacher
wrote those words on the board with their phonetic symbols (1. village / vilidʒ / 2. chair / tʃeə /) and underlined the sounds /dʒ/& / tʃ/ → the teacher led into the
new lesson.
Activity2: The teacher describe how to pronounce those sounds then asked
students to practice reading the given words and given sentences in part
“pronunciation” → students listened to the teacher first then read in chorus after
the teacher → each students stood up and read → the teacher listened to them
and corrected their pronunciation mistakes.
Activity3: The teacher divided the class into small groups then asked them to
point out the words with the sounds /dʒ /, / tʃ / from three third sentences → the
teacher asked each student to stand up and do, other students listened &
checked. →the teacher listened to them and corrected their pronunciation
mistakes.

Part 2: Grammar
(1) Infinitive with to
Activity 1: Presentation
The teacher wrote two sentences on the board and underlined the infinitive
with to (Examples: We go to school to learn; There is a lot of homework to do).
The teacher explained the use and the meaning of to-infinitive through the
examples → students listened to the teacher and noted down → teacher asked
students to give examples with to-infinitive → students worked in pairs then
each student stood up and read out one sentence → others listened and checked
→ the teacher fed back.
Activity 2: Practice
Exercise1(textbook Tieng Anh 11–page 20): The teacher checked if students
understood the requirement of the exercise → the teacher asked student to do
exercise 1in pairs (only 4 0f 8 sentences) → each student stood up and read out
one sentence → the teacher called on another student to repeat the sentence done
by his/her partner → the teacher fed back.
(2) Infinitive without to
Activity 1: Presentation
The teacher wrote 3 sentences on the board and underlined the pair of verbs in
each sentence (Examples: (1) I can speak English; (2) I saw them arrive home
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late; (3) They made her stay there for the weekend) → the teacher asked
students to say the use of bare-infinitive through the examples → students
discuss in pairs or in groups then answered the teacher’s question→ the teacher
listened and fed back then listed the verbs followed by bare-infinitive.
Activity 2: Practice
Exercise2 (textbook Tieng Anh 11–page 21): The teacher checked if students
understood the requirement of the exercise → the teacher asked student to do

exercise 2 in pairs (only 4 0f 8 sentences) → each student stood up and read out
one sentence after discussing with a partner → the teacher called on another
student to repeat the sentence done by his/her partner → the teacher fed back.
Further practice: The teacher asked student to make correct sentences using
the given words:
(1) She / want/ buy some stamps ; (2) I / hear someone / talk there → students
discuss in pairs or in groups → the teacher called on two students to go to the
board and write → the teacher fed back.
Homework: The teacher asked students to complete exercises 1, 2 in the
textbook.
* Comment on lesson 2
From the stages the second teacher used in teaching grammar lesson above,
the author had the following remarks.
Firstly, she implemented what she had prepared in the lesson plan and guided
students to do exercises given in the textbook.
Secondly, the teacher used brainstorming to attract students’ attention to the
lesson. She introduced concretely the pronunciation of the sounds /dʒ /, /tʃ / in
the part pronunciation. In the part grammar, she spent time introducing the use
of infinitives with to and infinitive without to before asking students to do
exercises in the textbook but mainly in speaking. It means that she used Focus
on form and Focus on forms to introduce grammar. The teacher asked students
to work in pairs, in groups then corrected all students’ spoken and written
mistakes.
Thirdly, the classroom atmosphere was effervescently. It could be seen from
the classroom observation that students took part in doing exercises actively.
Fourthly, after presentation and practice parts, the teacher checked up
students’ comprehension through further practice. It gives students more chance
to practice what they have learned and teacher can evaluate how and what
students gain after the lesson.
Lastly, from the beginning to the end of the lesson, the teacher tried to use

communicative language teaching in teaching grammar, however it was not very
successful because of students’ limitation, such as, ability of communicating in
English, poor vocabulary and grammar, there were still students only sitting,
listening and writing not participating in speaking English because they did not
know how to do those exercises, how to express in English.
2.4.3. The findings from post-observation interviews and discussion.
Selinger and Shohamy (1989) point out that the use of interview as data
collection instrument permits a level of in-depth information, free response and
11


flexibility that cannot be obtained by other procedures. Interview is an effective
tool to supplement the questionnaires. The aim of the interviews is to seek for
insight into the matter through face to face situation, to get deeper ideas into
their understanding of the role of teaching grammar in teaching English, their
attitudes to teaching grammar and the ways they teach grammar lessons. To
conduct interviews, the author used the same four questions to interview two
teachers whose lessons had been observed by the author. From the information
of the interviews, the author can get clearer and deeper ideas about the
appropriateness of focus on form instruction to high school students at To Hien
Thanh school.
The post-observation interviews were conducted with two teachers who teach
grammar in two styles .The interviews took place in a face-to-face situations
with the subjects. The purpose of the interviews is to discuss for further
information to have in-depth understanding of their evaluation on the
appropriateness of focus on form instruction to students at To Hien Thanh high
school.
The author gave four questions to two teachers whose lessons had been
observed. The questions focus on the following categories: the teachers’
attitudes towards teaching grammar (Question 1); the teachers’ opinions about

teaching grammar structures and rules in teaching grammar (Question 2); the
teachers’ points of view to the opinion “the best way to learn grammar is drilling
English frequently.” (Question 3); the teachers’ opinions about the best way to
teach grammar lessons to students at To Hien Thanh high school in general and
students of grade 11 in particular (Question 4).
The interviews showed that those two teachers had different opinions about
teaching grammar lessons, but they had the same idea about the role of drilling
grammar in learning English.
To the first question “Do you like teaching grammar lessons? Why?”, teacher
A said that she did not like teaching grammar lessons because those lessons are
boring, and there are too many grammar structures in each lesson. Contrary to
the teacher A, teacher B likes teaching grammar lessons, because for her
grammar plays an important role in learning English.
To the second question “Is it necessary to teach grammar structures and rules
when teaching English? Why do you think so ?”, teacher A believes that
teaching grammar structures and rules when teaching English is necessary,
because it helps students remember easily and quickly, but the teacher B did not
agree with this opinion. She explained that learning English is not to be sure to
pay attention only to learning grammar.
To the third question “Someone says that the best way to learn grammar is
drilling English frequently. Do you agree? Why (not)?”, both teacher A and
teacher B agree that drilling English frequently is the best way to learn grammar.
It helps students remember grammar structures better, enlarge their English
vocabulary, improve their knowledge of English and become fluent in other
skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
12


To the last question “What is the best way to teach grammar lessons to
students at our school in general and 11 th grade students in particular (in your

opinion)? Why do you think so?”, two teachers have different points of view in
teaching grammar. For teacher A, giving grammar structures and rules, sentence
patterns then drilling many types of exercises is the best way to teach grammar.
The reason she gave for this is because of students’ levels of English.
Furthermore after three years at high school, they have to take a General
Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and English is one of the six
optional subjects at this examination. There are only written tests, not oral tests.
Whereas teacher B consideres that teaching grammar in the light of
communication is an effective way in teaching grammar. She says that she
always asks students to apply the sentence patterns, grammar structures they
have learned in real situations. To help students practice English more easily, she
gives them contexts or situations, encourages them to speak English as much as
possible. Thanks to applying the method above, the grammar lessons conducted
by her are less boring and students especially 11 th grade students usually pay
attention to learn grammar.
The information collected above is only the teachers’ opinions. To evaluate
the appropriateness of focus on form instruction to 11th grade students at To Hien
Thanh high school, the author combined all the data and the information
collected from questionnaire for students, classroom observation, postclassroom observation interviews with two teachers.
* The following is the result of 15 minute-test 2 conducted after applying focus
on form instruction in the light of CLT to students of classes 11B6 and 11B7
Clas Mark 9-10
Mark 7-8
Mark 5-6
Mark 3-4
Mark 0-2
s
11B6 9 /45 – 7 % 10/45 – 11% 21 /45 – 40 % 4/45- 29% 1/45 – 13%
11B7 15/45–18 % 18 /45 – 33 % 12 /45 – 40 % 0 /45- 4,5% 0/45– 4,5%
The ststistics above show that applying focus on form instruction in the light

of CLT is suitable and effective.
PART 3: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
3.1. Conclusion.
In short, due to the economic open-door policy by the Government of
Vietnam, the demand for studying English has increased. Many people are
expected to be competent to communicate verbally with the outside world and to
access modern technology.
Communicative competence in English language is widely recognized as an
advantage of any intellectuals in this competitive era of regional and global
integration. Besides the aim of passing exams, getting some further studies for
future life, all students have a desire to be integrated into the culture, the
civilization and the people of English speaking countries. They expect to have
good knowledge of English to read books and magazines, to see films or sing
English songs, etc. As a result, learning English now is not only an interest but
also a practical need for many people. Therefore, it requires teachers of English
to find out suitable methods of teaching English in general, and teaching English
13


grammar in particular, to teach students of different levels and to get the aims
above.
As Celica-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999) asserted, talking about
focusing on form without also examining the meaningfulness and appropriate
use of the form is an over implication. Gaining grammatical knowledge is
only one side of the issue, the other side is to be able to use your grammatical
knowledge in appropriate context. In contrast to Focus on Form, Focus on
Forms entails the well-known pitfall that too much attention to form results in
knowledge about language rather than the knowledge of language use. Fotos
(1998) stated that Focus on Form helps learners” to recognize properties of
target structures in context and develop their accuracy in their use” (Fotos

1998: 302).
In conclusion, the teaching of grammar in the light of CLT is by far, the most
challenging task any Vietnamese teacher may face in his/her daily classroom,
especially at To Hien Thanh high school. The study has been completed with the
great efforts to investigate to what extent focus on form instruction is used at To
Hien Thanh high school; the appropriateness of focus on form in the light of
CLT instruction to 11th grade students then to find out the things the English
teachers here should do to make applying CLT in teaching and learning English
have good results and effectiveness.
To have those results, the writer used survey questionnaire for students; took
classroom observation at two 11th classes. After classroom observation, the
writer conducted two post-observation interviews with two teachers whose
lessons had been observed. With each instrument of the study, the writer had
analysis and discussion to make the data collected clearer. The aims of those
activities are to find out the answers to three research questions of the study: (1)
To what extent is focus on form instruction used at To Hien Thanh high school?
(2). How appropriate is focus on form instruction to students at To Hien Thanh
high school? (3).What should teachers do to make applying CLT in teaching and
learning English at To Hien Thanh high school have good results and
effectiveness, in addition, to evaluate contextual appropriateness of teaching
methods then to give some suggestions, some solutions of teaching method so
that applying CLT in teaching and learning English at To Hien Thanh high
school has good results and effectiveness.
The findings reveal that both teachers and students at To Hien Thanh high
school have positive attitude toward grammar teaching and learning. They also
point out that the biggest aim of teaching and learning grammar is for good
results at examination. The combination of both focus on form and focus on
forms is the teachers’ common teaching method as well as the students’ favorite
way of learning English grammar.
The data collected from questionnaires, classroom observations and postobservation interviews with two teachers were consolidated and categorized.

3.2. Recommendation for further study
The study sets out to investigate the appropriateness of focus on form
instruction to 11th grade students at To Hien Thanh high school. On the basis of
14


the findings and the limitations of the study, future studies can concentrate on
whether focus on form instruction is applied properly as what teachers think. In
addition, how to apply focus on form instruction in teaching grammar
effectively. We should pay more attention to find out factors making teaching
grammar in the light of communication less effective. These recommendations
should be accomplished with the purpose of improving English teaching at the
school.
Finally, it is hoped that this study will provide a basis for further attempts
to investigate the appropriateness of focus on form instruction to high school
students.
Thanh Hoa, May 2019
Confirmation of the Principal

I assure that the above initiative is
legally done by myself. I am fully
responsible for any dishonesty
Author

Hoang Thi Tan

.

15

REFFERENCES
1. By the free dictionary on line
2. Canh, L.V.(2004) Understanding Foreign Language Teaching Methodology.
Hanoi National University Press
3. Celce - Murcia, M. (1988), Techniques and Resources in teaching grammar,
Oxford- Oxford University Press
4. C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second
language acquisition Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
5. Fotos, S. (1998). Shifting the focus from forms to form in the EFL classroom.
ELTJournal.
6. Higgs, T., & Clifford, R. (1982). The push toward communication. In T. Higgs
(ed.), Curriculum, competence and the foreign language teacher. Skokie, IL:
National Textbook.
7. Koul, L. (1984). Methodology of Education Research 3rd ed. NewDeli. Vikas
Publishing Lmt
8. Long, M.H.1991. “Focus on form: a design feature in language teaching
methodology”
9. Long, M. H. (1997). Focus on Form in Task-based language teaching
10.Long, M., & Robinson, P. (1998). Focus on form: Theory, research and
practice.
C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom language
acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
11. Long, M. (2000). Focus on form in task-based language teaching. In R. D.
Lambert
& E. Shohamy (Eds.), Language policy and pedagogy: Essays in honor of A.
Ronald Walton. Philadelphia: Benjamins.
12. McElroy, Howard (1934). Selecting a basic textbook. The Modern Language
Journal
13. Poole, A. (2003b).

New Labels for Old Problems: Grammar in
Communicative Language Teaching. Profile.
14. Richards, J. 1995. Easier said than done. In Getting started: Materials writers
on materials writing
15 Ron Sheen – ELT Journal “Focus on form and Focus on forms” Volume 56/3
July 2002 Oxford University Press)
16. Ron Sheen – ELT Journal “Focus on form- a myth in the making” Volume
57/3 July 2003 Oxford University Press)
17. Selinger,H.W.,& E.Shohamy (1989) Second Language Research Methods.
Oxford: Oxford University Press
18. Teachers College, Columbia University Working Papers in TESOL &
Applied Linguistics, 2007, Vol. 7, No.1The Forum)
19. The reading Matrix – Vol.5.No.1, April 2005.
20. The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary – quoted in Harmer; 1987).
21. Ur, P. (1988). Grammar Practice Activities. Cambridge University Press
22. Webster’s Dictionary
23. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


APPENDIX I
15 MINUTE-TEST 1
I. Choose the word that has the underlined part pronounced differently
1. A. machine
B. change
C. teacher
D. choose
2. A. condition
B. option
C. suggestion
D. relation

II. Choose the one word or phrase that best completes the sentences
3. It was so relaxing to be ________ close friends.
A. in
B. between
C. among
D. around
4. She's made friends ________ a little girl who lives next door.
A. to
B. of
C. by
D. with
5. The children seem to be totally capable ________ working by themselves.
A. on
B. of
C. in
D. for
6. Your friendship should be based on ________ trust.
A. basic
B. fragile
C. mutual
D. blind
7. The company expects ________ from its employees.
A. constancy
B. quality
C. interest
D. loyalty
8. I've got lots of ________, but only a few are really good friends
A. close friends B. acquaintances C. neighbors
D. partners
9. Friendship is a two-sided ________, it lives by give-and-take.

A. affair
B. event
C. aspect
D. feature
10. Unselfishness is the very essence of friendship.
A. romantic part B. important part C. difficult part
D. interesting part
III. Complete each of these sentences with a suitable preposition
11. She pointed ____ the dog when it ran toward her.
12. Are you interested ____ practicing speaking English?
13. You should have more confidence ____ your own abilities.
14. The fire started in the kitchen because he forgot to turn the light ___ .
15. My parents gave me a bicycle ___ my birthday.
KEY:
1A 2C 3C 4D 5B 6C 7D 8B 9A 10B
11. to
12. in
13. in
14. off
15. On
15 MINUTE-TEST 2
I. Choose the word that has the underlined part pronounced differently.
1. A. good
B. gossip
C. game
D. geometry
2. A. money
B. notice
C. glance
D. ankle

II. Choose the one word or phrase that best completes the sentences.
3. Many people find it ________ lasting friendships.
A. difficult to make
B. difficulty in making
C. is difficult to make
D. difficult making
4. You ________ any friends if you ________ talking like that.
A. will win/ carry on
B. won't win/ carry on
C. wouldn't win/ carried on
D. would have won/ had carried on
5. The aim of the culture festival is ____ friendship between the two countries.
A. promote
B. promoting
C. to promote
D. being promoted
6. People he ________ turned out to be only fair-weather friends.


A. trusted
B. has trusted
C. was trusting
D. had trusted
7. I believe that everyone has had ________ experiences in their life.
A. memorable
B. observable
C. acceptable
D. reflexible
8. He rose from his chair and ________ her warmly.
A. protected

B. replaced
C. embraced
D. appreciated
9. She showed her ________ by asking lots of trivial questions.
A. experience
B. experienced
C. inexperienced D. inexperience
10. They ________ a close friendship at university.
A. created
B. became
C. promoted
D. formed
III. Choose the sentence which is closest in meaning to the sentence above
11. At the factory he likes people to let him have his own way.
A. He doesn't like it when people tell him what to do.
B. He often needs the help of other people in his work.
C. He doesn't accept help from people he dislikes.
D. He likes people to think all good ideas are his own.
12. I would rather have an egg for breakfast.
A. I would eat an egg for my breakfast.
B. I don't want an egg for breakfast.
C. I prefer to have an egg for breakfast.
D. I'll have an egg if there, is nothing else for my breakfast.
13. I couldn’t help laughing when he told me that story.
A. I couldn't resist laughing when he told me that story.
B. I couldn't help him tell that story.
C. I did not laugh when hearing that story.
D. The story he told me not help at all.
14. We think he was in London last year.
A. He was thought to be in London last year.

B. He was thought to have been in London last year.
C. He is thought to be in London last year.
D. He is thought to have been in London last year.
15. David seems really ill at case in front of all those people.
A. David feels uncomfortable in front of all those people.
B. David is easy to be ill because of all those people.
C. David is ill because he stands in front of all those people.
D. David fells comfortable in front of all those people.
KEY
1D 2D 3A 4B 5C 6D 7A 8C 9D 10D
11A 12C 13A 14D 15A


APPENDIX II
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS
Question1: What is your opinion about grammar lessons at school?
□ Boring, difficult to understand and to remember
□ Understanding grammar structures but the classroom is deep
□ Interesting, effervescent, lively and easy to understand
Question2: Please tick the level(s) of effectiveness of the following ways of
learning English (in your opinions)
The ways of learning

The level of effectiveness
Very
Not very
Not
effective
effective
effective

Learning grammar through conversations
and texts
Listening to the teacher’s explanation of
grammar forms and uses then doing
exercises in the textbook
Writing down and learning by heart
examples on the board then making
sentences using structures having been
learned.
Learning by heart sentences having new
structures in concrete situations then
applying them to communicate with
classmates
Learning grammar through exercises in
the forms of games, quiz games, songs,
working in pairs / groups
Learning by heart grammar structures,
rules then doing exercises in the textbook
Learning grammar through listening,
speaking, reading, writing skills
The teacher spends much time training
skills. The teacher only teaches grammar
when you make mistakes
Question3: Which of the following activities do you enjoy taking part in when
learning grammar?
□ Work in pairs
□ Work in groups
□ Play games:
□ Information filling

□ Combining sentences
□ Rearranging words with the same place of stress; the same


pronunciation(at phonetic lessons)
□ Rearranging words into correct sentences(using pieces)
Question4: In what way do you want your teacher correct your mistakes?
□ Have a detailed correction of all grammar mistakes you make
□ Correct some mistakes you often make in writing
□ Correct some mistakes you often make in speaking


APPENDIX III
TWO LESSON PLANS
Unit 1: Friendship ( Textbook Tieng Anh 11 )
Lesson 5: Language focus
Period 6
Time: 45 minutes
Class size: 50 students
Objectives
1, Knowledge: Help students pronounce sounds / dʒ / & / tʃ/ and correctly use
infinitives and bare-infinitives.
2, Skills: Pronunciation
3, Attitudes: Students actively participate in pairwork, groupwork while doing
exercises (phonetics, pronunciation, grammar).
Method:
Integrated, mainly communicative.
LESSON PLAN 1
Procedure
Teacher's activities

Students' activities
Warm up
- Activity1:
Write down
T writes on the board 2 words.
Jump – Cheese
T reads those words.
Read in chorus after the T
T underlines the letters J & Ch and leads
into the new lesson: the pronunciation of
/ dʒ / , / tʃ /.
1, pronunciation / dʒ / , / tʃ /
a. listen & repeat
- Activity2:
T reads the given words in the part
"listen & repeat".
T asks each students to read.
T listens & corrects
-Activity3:
b. practise these sentences
T asks students to practise reading aloud
the given sentences in this part.
T asks students to point out the words
with the sounds /dʒ /, /tʃ / (two sentences
for each group).
T listens & checks , corrects.
2,Grammar
(1) Infinitive with “to”
- Activity 1: Presentation
T writes two sentences on the board and

Read after the T in chorus
Each student stands up & reads
Work in small groups
A volunteer of each group stands
up & points out

Write down


Teacher's activities
underlined the infinitive with to
Examples: - I have some letters to write
- Does she get anything to eat ?
T asked students to comment on the use
of to- infinitive through the given
examples
T listens & feeds back then leads into
new lesson
- Activity 2: Practice
Exercise1 ( Textbook – Page20 )
T asks students to put the words in
correct order then make sentences using
to +Vinf
T asks each student to do one sentence.
T checks & correct ( if it has)
(2) Infinitive without “ to”
- Activity 1: Presentation
T asks students to give out some verbs
followed by infinitive without to

Students' activities
T's answers
Listen to the T
Do exercise ( work in pairs)
Each st goes to the board & does
Others look & check
Students list:
+ the verbs of perceptions: hear,
see, watch, feel, notice….,
+ modal verbs: can, may,
must……,
+ make, let .
Work in pairs
Each students stands up and says
one sentence
Write down

- Activity 2: Practice
Exercise2 ( Textbook – Page21 )
T asks students to rewrite the sentences
using the words given in brackets.
T asks each student to do one sentence.
T checks & correct ( if it has)
Homework
- Learn new words by heart
-Do exercise of language focus of unit 1
in workbook