(Luận văn thạc sĩ) difficulties of the 10th form students at canh tan high school in learning grammar and some possible solutions001

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************************

LƯU THANH HUYỀN

Difficulties of the 10th form Students at Canh Tan high school in
Learning Grammar
and Some Possible Solutions
( Những khó khăn của học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Canh Tân
trong việc học ngữ pháp và một số giải pháp khả thi )

M.A MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLODY
CODE: 601410

HANOI - 2011

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI


UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

LƯU THANH HUYỀN

Difficulties of the 10th form Students at Canh Tan high school in

Learning Grammar
and Some POSSIBLE Solutions
( Những khó khăn của học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Canh Tân
trong việc học ngữ pháp và một số giải pháp)

M.A MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLODY
CODE: 601410
SUPERVISOR: D.R DƯƠNG THỊ NỤ

HANOI - 2011


ABSTRACT
The important role of English grammar is apparent for any students in general and for
high school students in particular because grammar is the basic of their English learning. For
students at Canh Tan High School, grammar has been more paid attentions to as in the
national examinations to get the Certificate of High School Graduation, grammar is the main
part. However, they have encountered a lot of difficulties in learning grammar.
This study aimed to investigate the difficulties in grammar learning perceived by the 10th
form students at Canh Tan High School. The results of this study show that the students have
specific problems in learning grammar, such as lack of fundamental knowledge, ineffective
learning strategies, lack of intrinsic motivation and unsuitable materials. This study also find
out the factors affecting language acquisition and suggests some solutions to reduce their
grammar difficulties and help students to obtain desirable results in learning grammar.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION……………………………………………………………………...…..…….i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS….……………………………………………………...………….ii
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………...………...………….iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………………….…...….….iv
LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS…………………………………………………...…..…viii
PART A : INTRODUCTION……………………………………………...…………………1
1. Rationale of the study………………………………………………..…….……..…….1
2. Aims of the study………….……………………...………………...……….…….……2
3. Research questions…….……………………………………………...………….….….2
4. Significance of the study …..…………………………………………...…….….….….2
5. Method of the study …………...….…………………………………...……………….2
6. Scope of the study ……….……………………………………………...……….…..…3
7. Design of the study………….…………………………………………...…….……….3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT ………………………….………………………………..…….4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ……………………………………….………….4
1.1. Definitions of grammar…………………………...…………….………….……..….4
1.2. Role of grammar in foreign language teaching and learning……..………...….….…5
1.3. Explicit or implicit knowledge…………….. ………..…….…..………………….…6
1.3.1. Explicit knowledge……...…………………………………….………..6
1.3.2. Implicit knowledge……...……………………………………….…..…7
1.4. Two core approaches in grammar presentation…………………..….………….…...7
1.4.1. Deductive approach ………………………………………………..……8
1.4.2. Inductive approach ……………………………………………….....…...8
1.5. Factors affecting language acquisition……………..……………….…...…….……9
1.5.1. Internal factors…………………………………………….............……10
1.5.1.1. Students’ anxiety………………………………………..…….10

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1.5.1.2. Learning styles…………………………………….............….10
1.5.1.3. Motivation……………………………………………….…....11
1.5.2. External factors…………………………………………………….…...11
1.5.2.1. Learning context………………………………………………..11
1.5.2.2. Teacher’s methodology…………………………………………11
1.5.2.3. Classroom atmosphere……………………………………….....12
1.5.2.4. Materials…………………………………………………..……13
1.6. Summary……………………………………………………………………………..13
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY…………………………………….….…14
2.1. Research setting………………..……………………………….…..……………..….14
2.1.1. An overview of Canh Tan High School……………………………………....14
2.1.2.The teachers’ background and their teaching conditions…………..……….....14
2.1.3. The students’ background………………………………………….………....14
2.1.3.1. The students’ living and learning condition...………………………..14
2.1.3.2. The students’ language competence…………………………..…......15
2.2. Methodology………………………………...………………………………...…...…15
2.2.1. Research questions…………………………………...……………..……....…15
2.2.2. Subjects of the study ………………………………………………...…..……16
2.2.3. Data collection methods………………………………...........………........… .16
2.2.3.1. The questionnaire……………..………………………..............… …16
2.2.3.2. Classroom observation …………………...…….…………..…… ….17
2.2.4. Data collection procedures…………………………………………...…… ….17
2.2.5. Data analysis …………………………………………………………...… … 17
2.3. Summary... ……………………………………………………………………...……17
CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS...…………………………..……18
3.1. Results from the questionnaire……………………………….…………….…....…..18
3.1.1. The students’ awareness of the importance of grammar in learning
English...…………………………………………………………………………..…..18

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3.1.2. Students’ evaluation on difficulties in learning English grammar................…18
3.1.3. The students’ frequency in learning English grammar after the lessons at
school………………………………………..………………...………………19
3.1.4. Time for learning English compared with other subjects ………………….…..19
3.1.5. Students’ evaluations of the grammar teaching in the Language Focus
Lessons………………………………………………………………………...20
3.1.6. The student’ learning styles …..………………………………...………… …...21
3.1.7. The students’ assessment of the grammar exercises in the textbook…….….…..23
3.1.8. The students’ difficulties and the reasons caused difficulties in learning
English grammar………………………………………………………………..24
3.1.9. Students’ preference for the teachers’ grammar presentation approaches ...…..25
3.1.10. Students’ favourite grammar practice activities……………….…….…..…….26
3.1.11. Expectation for a better and more effective grammar lesson…………..…...…26
3.2. Results from class observations ……………...……………...…..……………...……28
3.3. Summary………...…………….………………….…………………………………..29
CHAPTER 4: MAJOR FINDINGS, DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS….30
4.1. Major findings and discussions………………………………………...............……..30
4.1.1. Students’ difficulties………………………………………..………………………30
4.1.1.1. Lack of grammar knowledge………………………………………...……….30
4.1.1.2. Lack of motivation……………………………………………………………30
4.1.1.3. Ineffective learning strategies………………………………………………...31
4.1.2. Factors affecting students’ learning………………………………………………...31
4.1.2.1. Teachers’ factors…………………………………………..…………………31
4.1.2.2. Students’ factors…………………………………...………...………………31
4.1.2.3. Classroom factors………………………………..………………………….32
4.1.2.4. Materials factors………………………………………………..…...………32
4.2. Recommendations…………………………………………………………………….32

4.2.1. For teachers………………………………………………………………...….33
4.2.1.1. Adapting and improving grammar materials………………………….33

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4.2.1.2. Improving teachers’ methods………………………………………….33
4.2.1.3. Helping students to be confident………………………………...……33
4.2.1.4. Giving homework and checking the previous lesson frequently…..…34
4.2.1.5. Guiding students’ home revision……………………………………...34
4.2.2. For students……………………………………………………………………..34
4.2.2.1.

Being aware of grammar……………….……………………..… 34

4.2.2.2.

Cooperating with teacher and students ………………………….34

4.2.2.3.

Working meticulously……………………………………….…..35

4.2.2.4.

Practising and revising……………………………………………35

4.2.2.5.

Learning from mistakes…………………….………….…….…...35

4.3. Summary………...………………………………………..…………………………..36
PART C: CONCLUSION ………………………………………...………………...………37
1. Summary of the study ……………..…………….…………………………...…..…….37
2. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study …………………..…….….39
REFERENCES …………………………………………………...……………………..…...40
APPENDICES………………………………………………………...………...……………..I
Appendix 1: Survey questionnaire for students ……………………………………….……..I
Appendix 2: Classroom observation checklists ………………………………………....…VI
Appendix 3: Classroom observation checklists ……………………………...……..…....VIII
Appendix 4: Classroom observation checklists ……………………………...………….….X

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LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS
Tables:
Table 1: The use of students’ language
Table 2: Language mainly used in English lessons
Table 3: Students’ awareness of the importance of grammar in learning English
Table 4: Ways of learning English grammar
Table 5: the students’ evaluation of the grammar lessons at school
Table 6: Students’ level of difficulties in learning English grammar
Table 7: Reasons for difficulties in learning English grammar
Table 8: Students’ favourite grammar practice activities
Table 9: Suggestions for learning grammar better and more effective
Charts:
Chart 1: The students’ frequency in learning grammar after the lessons at school
Chart 2: Time for learning English compared with other subjects
Chart 3: Students’ level of understanding of grammar structures presented in the Language

Focus lessons
Chart 4: The students’ assessment of the grammar exercises in the textbook
Chart 5: Students’ preference for the teachers’ grammar presentation approaches

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PART A: INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the methodology of the study was presented. The research questions,
subjects of the study, procedures and data collection will be described in detail.
1. Rationale of the study
[

Caobang is a mountainous province in the North –East of Vietnam. The province of
Caobang is home to many people belonging to Vietnam's ethnic minority groups. There are 28
ethnic minority groups living there and the most notable of these are the Tay, Nung, Dao, and
Hmong. Canh Tan High School is situated in the West of Caobang town; most students here
are ethnic minority of Tay, Nung and Dao groups. There have been many difficulties in life as
well as in education development, especially in the development of teaching and learning a
foreign language like English. The students here considered the language of their groups their
mother tongue, Vietnamese is the second language and English is a foreign language.
For students at Canh Tan High School, learning grammar is an important task. The
students at Canh Tan High School are ethnic minority so they find learning grammar the most
challenging to them in acquiring English. Therefore, they often raise many questions about
how to learn grammar in an effective way.
Facing these situations, the teachers at Canh Tan High School want to do something to
change the ways of teaching and learning grammar. Therefore, a research has been conducted
to find out the current situation of learning English grammar and the difficulties of students in
learning English grammar at Canh Tan High School. The researcher wishes to help students
successfully improve their knowledge and feel more interested in grammar lessons.

2. Aims of the study
With the rationale above, my study was conducted with the aims:
- To investigate the difficulties of 10th form students in learning English grammar.
- To investigate factors affecting the grammar acquisition
- To recommend some solutions for students to overcome these difficulties.
3. Research questions

1


The research was carried out with an attempt to find out the answers to the following
questions:
1.

What are the main difficulties in learning English grammar?

2.

What are the causes of these difficulties?

3.

What are the suggested solutions to overcome the difficulties?

4. Significance of the study
It is hoped that the findings and recommendations of this study will be helpful to the
improvement of learning English grammar of Vietnamese students in general and of Canh Tan
High School students in particular. The study also gives some guidelines for teachers to help
their students overcome their grammar learning problems. The results of this study may also
be useful for those who are interested in this field.

5. Methods of the study
The research is done by both quantitative and qualitative methods. The instruments were
used to collect data from the teachers and students at Canh Tan high school with the intention
of addressing the aims of the study.
Questionnaire instrument was used to investigate the current situation of learning English
grammar of students, their difficulties, the causes for the difficulties.
Class observation was employed to get information about the teacher’s methods and the
students’ ways of learning English grammar. The researcher observed three lessons at
different classes but with only one teacher.
6. Scope of the study
The study focuses on the learning English grammar of 10th form students in Language
Focus lessons in the new standard textbook 10 at Canh Tan High School.
7. Design of the study
This study is divided into three parts:
The first part is “Introduction”. In this part the rationale, the aims, research questions,
scope, methods, significance and design of the study are presented.
The second part is “Development”, which consists of four chapters:

2


*Chapter one, “Literature Review”, provides concepts relevant to the study such as the
definition of grammar and its role in language teaching and learning, methods of teaching
English grammar and factors affecting grammar acquisition.
*Chapter two, “Methodology”, gives an insight into the research methods to find out the
answers to the research questions. This chapter also gives brief information on the subjects,
the instruments to collect data employed to seek for the answers to the research questions.
*Chapter three, “Data presentation and Discussion”, presents the data collected from the
survey questionnaire, classroom observations and the discussion of these data.
*Chapter four, “Major findings, discussion and recommendations” – proposes major

findings, discussion and some solutions to help students to overcome the difficulties they face
when learning English grammar. The third part is “Conclusion”, which rounds up the main
results of the study, the conclusions, limitation of the study and some suggestions for further
study.

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
MAJOR FINDINGS, DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Major findings and discussions
From the data collection and analysis, the researcher found out that there are some
difficulties in learning English grammar to ethnic students at Canh Tan High School: the
students’ difficulties, and the factors that caused these difficulties.
1.1. Students’ difficulties
From the data analysis, the students’ difficulties can be categorized into the three main
problems which are lack of grammar knowledge, lack of motivation and ineffective learning
strategies.
1.1.1. Lack of grammar knowledge
Language knowledge is the foundation of learning English. If students’ knowledge of
grammar is insufficient, it is probable that their English will be negatively affected by lack of
language knowledge. We know that fundamental knowledge is one of the essential conditions
to a learner to master a new language, but for ethnic minority students, the fundamental
knowledge is really a problem. Many 10th form students at Canh Tan High School get in
trouble with low level of grammar knowledge. They often confuse the structures and their
uses, such as preposition, tenses of verbs, etc. Sometimes they can’t distinguish between
English structures and Vietnamese structures. Thus lack of fundamental knowledge can reduce
English grammar level.
1.1.2. Lack of motivation
Motivation is related to success in second language learning. It plays an important role in

any language learning. However, the students at Canh Tan High School lack of motivation.
They have realized the importance of learning English, but they are not motivated in learning
it. Also, they often feel troublesome, nervous and less concentrative on the grammar lessons.
In fact, lack of success in doing grammar exercises or get bad marks can cause dispiritedness,
and lead to a spiral of expecting failure. Consequently, results in their self- confidence in

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showing off their real ability in practice. They learn English because it is a compulsory subject
in the curriculum as well as the high school final examminations and not many of them really
love English and learn it as a hobby.
1.1.3. Ineffective learning strategies
Grammar strategies in learning that the students have experienced do not meet the demand.
Because of their low living standard together with poor learning condition at school, students
do not have any choice of what strategies they should follow to improve their grammar. They
just passively acquire it like the way they use with other subjects. From the classroom
observation, the researcher has found that students’ learning strategies are looking at the board
or screen, taking note and practising under the teacher’s control. They only do or react when
they are called or requested. This means they are passive in learning. Although they learnt
structures by heart and some of them redo exercises, they do not have reference grammar
books to do at home to understand the structures deeply.
1.2. Factors affecting students’ learning
The findings showed that the factors came from the teachers, the students, the materials
and the classroom itself.
1.2.1. Teachers’ factors
Although teacher had generally good understandings of new teaching method, the
application of this method at Canh Tan High School was still limited due to mixed levels,
students’ passive learning styles. Firstly, teachers’ boring teaching techniques and activities
couldn’t inspire students’ motivation to study. Secondly, the overuse of teachers’ talking time

certainly decreased chances for students to practise. The teachers should bear in mind that in
new teaching methods learners are the centre of the class, so the speaking time should be spent
more for students, not teachers.
1.2.2. Students’ factors
Students’ factors consist of their low English grammar knowledge, lack of motivation and
passive learning styles. Most students agreed that they lacked grammar knowledge from the

5


under classes. Motivation is related to success in second language learning. In other words,
students lacked intrinsic motivation which played an important role in students’ language
learning. More importantly, from the observation, students were anxious during grammar
lessons. They were afraid of losing face when making mistakes in front of the teacher and
other friends and worried about being called suddenly by the teacher without getting carefully
prepared. Finally, students’ passive learning styles prevented students from gaining success in
learning grammar.
1.2.3. Classroom factors
Classroom factors played an additional role in students’ learning success. Most students
preferred a cooperative learning environment to a competitive and stressful one. A pleasant
and supportive atmosphere could help students feel safe and comfortable to share ideas with
friends. On the contrary, a tense classroom climate would increase students’ shyness and
anxiety. Moreover, in classes with students of different levels, lower students were often
anxious and even scared of negative judgment by other friends.
1.2.4. Materials factors
In Vietnamese school systems, all of the students have to use one syllabus. To ethnic
minority students, this is a factor with two sides, the good side is that students have chance to
get the same knowledge, the opposite side is that many structures are learnt in one lesson and
most of the structures in English are not similar to those in

Vietnamese. Furthermore, the

students are overwhelmed by many structures they have to learn in one period.
There seemed to have a big gap between teachers’ and students’ evaluation on tasks.
Teachers often used activities such as questions and answers and discussion in pair work and
group work but students preferred interesting games or funny quizzes. Thus, teachers’
activities in the class couldn’t match students’ interests and low participation was an
unavoidable problem. The tasks in the textbook are not various and motivating enough to
attract the students’ interest. It is highly expected that teachers should adapt the textbook by
adding more interesting activities.
2. Recommendations

6


To take advantages of learning grammar in the new textbook, greater efforts should be
made on the parts of the teachers and students. The following recommendations are listed to
be taken to improve the quality of Canh Tan High School students in grammar learning.
2.1. For teachers
2.1.1. Adapting and improving grammar materials
It is obvious that students differ in their learning styles and ability, therefore, teachers
should adopt and adapt grammar materials that match their students’ interest and background
since the grammar materials only become stimulating and motivating to the students when
they are slightly challenging to what they have already known and suit their interest.
2.1.2. Improving teachers’ methods
The teachers at Canh Tan High School in general have tried to apply new methods in their
English teaching. Nevertheless, their insight of new methods is not sufficient, because they
have not been trained in new methods sufficiently. Seminars, workshops and training courses
should be regularly held for the teachers to improve their knowledge on new methods.
Besides, teachers should make effort to do their self-study to gain knowledge. In addition, peer

observations or even informal talks that allow colleagues from the same working contexts to
have the opportunities to exchange ideas, share experiences and innovations is considered to
be one of the effective approaches to teachers’ professional development. Moreover, teachers
should use suitable methods in teaching grammar, such as teaching grammar in context, using
funny games, ect; and the students will be more willing.
2.1.3. Helping students to be confident
The students feel reluctant to show their answers in front of the class due to the lack of
confidence, which is also a big obstacle for teaching grammar. In order to help students to be
effective and confident, first of all teachers need to provide students with as much practice as
possible because of the fact that practice will help students feel better prepared and thus more
confident. The teachers should point out students’ ability; give immediate praise and
encouragement so that they will have no fear but enough bravery to stand up and show their

7


answers. Moreover, possible feedback from teachers or classmates might be of great help in
encouraging and relaxing shy students to be more confident. Additionally, teachers should
help them by organizing extra learning classes every week. In these lessons, teachers teach
grammar items which students missed from under classes.
2.1.4. Giving homework and checking the previous lesson frequently
The researcher has found that one of the causes of difficulties in students’ grammar
learning is that the teacher rarely checked the previous lesson, therefore, the students became
lazier and their knowledge of grammar get worse. Thus, teachers should help students to form
a habit of frequent study by giving them a variety of exercises with different levels of
difficulty. The given exercises must be checked as warm- up activities in the next lesson. In
this way, students would become more responsible for and interested in their learning.
2.1.5. Guiding students’ home revision
One of the problems students have is their method of learning at home. Most of students
under survey revise grammar structures at home by learning by heart. Some of them are asked

to do by their teachers. In fact, this way of learning has been proved to be ineffective. Students
are just able to remember structures for a few days, then they forget many of them. Therefore,
teachers should instruct them how to revise grammar structures at home. Teachers can give
students more grammar exercises of different types, such as sentence building, matching, gap
– filling, etc. This is very necessary because home revision plays an important role in deciding
students’ learning result.
2.2.For students
2.2.1.Being aware of grammar
Students should think about grammar and notice the aspects of English grammar that are
the same as or very similar to or different from those in Vietnamese language. If students
notice grammar similarities and differences, they will probably learn the rules more quickly.
2.2.2.Cooperating with teacher and students
Students should work well with the teacher in joining discussion, answering questions or
giving comments on other students’ answers. More importantly, students can take advantage

8


of the teacher’s help in case of meeting new words, pronunciation problems in order to carry
out the tasks effectively. In addition, students should cooperate and have good relationship
with each other such as working together to prepare for the tasks, exchanging the ideas, doing
peer correction and giving comments on others’ performance during the lesson.
2.2.3.Working meticulously
Work on one specific grammar challenge at the time. Although students should
continually learn different aspects of English grammar, one of the best ways to overcome
challenges is to focus on one challenge at a time.
2.2.4.Practising and revising
Practice and review are ways to help students remember what they have learned. Firstly,
trying to get an overview of English grammar from the textbook, taking notes the important
grammatical points and planning to learn and practising each part of them. Secondly, students

should plan how to use the grammatical structures they have learned in a day, within one or
two weeks. Thirdly, students need to practise a grammar point until they can use it easily and
fluently, and then find out the next grammar point. Besides, they can practise doing grammar
exercises.
2.2.5.Learning from mistakes
Nobody likes making mistakes but it is inevitable when learning a language. Identifying
and paying attention to common grammar mistakes is a good way in learning grammar. If
students learn from mistakes correctly, the mistakes can help them improve their learning.
They must also realize that mistakes are an essential part of self improvement. Don’t be
overwhelmed with guilt and regret, analyze how they can learn from the mistakes. People who
speak the same language often make the same mistakes in English grammar. For example,
many Vietnamese learners have trouble using “hard” and “hardly”.

9


PART C: CONCLUSION
This chapter comprises the conclusions of the research results. After the conclusions have
been made, some suggestions for further studies will be made.
[

1. Summary of the study
Vietnam is a developing country, the teaching and learning situation is improving day by
day. There are various opportunities for people to improve their knowledge, even though, the
difficulties still exist in many places in our country, especially, in mountainous and remote
areas like Caobang.
The study aims to find out difficulties in learning English grammar and the sources of
these difficulties as perceived by the 10th grade students at Canh Tan High School. This is
done with the purpose of helping teachers to foresee the problems and find out ways to solve
them.

The findings show that students have difficulties in learning English grammar. From the
questionnaire and classroom observation, the researcher found out the main problems that
students come up with are students lack fundamental knowledge from under classes, which
make them difficult in learning new structures. Also, lack of motivation is a core problem for
students at Canh Tan High School. Most of them are shy and afraid of loosing face when
giving wrong answers and they do not have a passion for learning English. The final problem
is that they have not found the effective learning strategies, their ways of learning are passive
which make them difficult in remember the structures for a long time
In conclusion, the study was carried out to investigate the difficulties in learning grammar
at Canh Tan High School. It helped the researcher to find out not only the problems but also
some main causes of these problems so that we could find out the ways to help students to
overcome these problems. The study was expected to be a very useful indication for the
teachers here to think about the methodology they are applying to teaching English grammar.
It is hoped that what has been discussed in this study might be beneficial to both teachers and
students at Canh Tan High School. Also, it is with great hope that the study will be value to
those who are concerned with this problem.
2. Limitations and suggestions for further study

10


Although the study is clearly and carefully designed and based on reliable data, it has some
major limitations. Due to the limited time, lack of resources and researcher’s ability
weaknesses are unavoidable. First, it is the small sample of respondents, i.e. the subjects of the
questionnaire are 100 students, which may not well represent the whole population of students
of the school. Second, the questionnaire does not cover all the difficulties in learning
grammar. Students are given a list of items based on the writer’s own experiences so the
results do not reflect all the challenges faced by students.
The study has only mentioned a very small part of the issues related to the learning
grammar. The suggestions for further researches include the problems in learning Reading/

Listening/ Speaking or Writing of the minority students at Canh Tan High School; the
techniques and activities for the minority students which help them improve their English
grammar. The author hopes that the further studies will overcome all the existing limitation of
this study and help to improve the quality of teaching and learning English at Canh Tan High
School in particular and at other schools in Caobang in general.

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