Đề tài A study on how oral practice can change TNH 10th graders' attitudes towards grammar learning

DECLARATION I certify that this minor thesis entitled “A study on how oral practice can change TNH 10th graders' attitudes towards grammar learning ” is submited in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts is the results of my own work, except where otherwise acknowledge and that this minor thesis or any part of the same has not been submitted for higher degree to any other University or Institution. Hanoi, 3/2009 Signature Nguyen Thi Chuc Ha ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am, first of all, particularly indebted to my supervisor, Ms. Nguyen Bach Thao, MA for her invaluable advice, instructions and correction, excellent suggestions and constant encouragement during the research period. Without her guidance and help, this work would not have been accomplished. Secondly, my sincere thanks also go to all lecturers and staff of the department of Post- Graduate studies for their valuable lessons and precious helps. Thanks to their lessons as well as needed helps, I could overcome enormous obstacles when doing the study. Besides, I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to my colleagues and my students at Tran Nguyen Han High School who have participated in this research and many others who helped me during my study at Tran Nguyen Han High School. Last but not least, I would like to convey my deepest gratitude to my husband, my children, and my parents for their constant support and thorough understanding.Their great encouragement and love have helped me to overcome the difficulties during my study. ABSTRACT As far as I’m concerned, grammar is central to the teaching and learning of languages . It is also one of the most difficult aspects of language to teach students perfectly.At Tran Nguyen Han High School where many English teachers prefer traditional approaches in teaching grammar, students seem not to pay attention to their study and show negative attitudes towards learning. This study is therefore conducted with the hope to find out whether communicative approach helps students change their attitudes towards grammar learning. So as to reach this aim, the study sets out to test the hypothesis that oral grammar practice can change students’ attitudes towards grammar learning. The study is applied to 200 students at 10 C1, 10 C2, 10 C3, 10 C4-Tran Nguyen Han High School, Hai Phong City.The data is collected through interviews , questionnaires . By doing this, we can compare the changes of students’ attitudes towards grammar learning. Findings show that students have positive attitudes towards the use of oral grammar practice in grammar lessons. Moreover, students can absorb grammar rules as they hear and use the language through oral communicative activities. And they remark that the use of communicative activities in grammar lessons helps them acquire grammar more efficiently. This way of teaching grammar may be a good solution for the 10th grade students in particular and other graders in general. Based on the findings of the study, some practical recommendations are derived for the application of communicative activitives so that it can help teachers teach grammar better. It is also hoped that this study will provide an effective way of teaching grammar and thanks to it, students at Tran Nguyen Han High School will be more interested in learning grammar to gain a better result. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF GRAPHS Graph 1: Students’ opinions of the importance of English grammar for language learning. Graph 2 : The reasons why English grammar is important in language learning. Graph 3: Students’ opinions of learning English grammar. Graph 4: Students’ impression of learning English grammar at school. Graph 5 : Factors influence students’ attitudes towards grammar learning. Graph 6 : Students’ opinions of English grammar teaching at school. Graph 7 : Teaching techniques to present a new English grammar structure. Graph 8 : Activities students get involved in class to practise new grammar structures. Graph 9 : Students’ expectations Graph 10 : Oral English grammar practice makes English grammar lessons more lively, interesting and stimulate students to learn English. Graph 11: Oral grammar activities students got involved in. Graph 12 : Ranking oral grammar activities according to students’ preference. Graph 13 : Frequency of students’ involvement in oral grammar activities. Graph 14 : Students’ preference with regard to oral grammar activities organization. Graph 15: Students’ difficulties when doing grammar practice orally. Graph 16: Students’ opinions of oral grammar activities. Graph 17: The usefulness of oral grammar practice in students’ language learning. Graph 18: Students’ preference in oral grammar practice in the coming time. Graph 19: Reasons for continuing oral grammar practice in the coming time. Graph 20: Reasons for not continuing oral grammar practice in the coming time. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS A : Answer B.C : Before Christ CA : Communicative Approach CLT : Communicative Language Teaching E : English M.A : Master of Art Q : Question Q&A : Questions and Answers TNH : Trần Nguyên Hãn T : Teacher Ss : Students CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION 1.1. Rationale It has widely been accepted in language teaching and learning that grammar structures are very important because they make up the skeleton of a language. Without grammar, words hang together with no real meaning or sense. So as to be able to use a language to some degree of proficiency, we need to master some grammatical knowledge. Grammar is an important and necessary part in students’ learning because it forms the basis for the development of four skills: reading skill, speaking skill, listening skill and writing skill. Students, with good grammar mastery, not only produce sentences grammatically but also acquire the ability to apply grammatical knowledge in certain contexts to express their thoughts and feelings as well as to receive feedback. By teaching grammar, teachers not only give students the means to express themselves, but also fulfill students’ expectations of what learning a foreign language involves. However, how to teach grammar effectively is not very easy and it is of constant concern of high school teachers. So far, a great number of studies have been conducted to assist teachers and students in teaching and acquiring English grammar. Research and teaching practice have revealed that there’s a close relation between teaching methods and learners’ attitudes towards learning, which in turn have great influence on the learning results. This study, therefore, is carried out to investigate how the shift from traditional methods to communicative ones affect the attitudes towards English grammar at Tran Nguyen Han High school. When teaching grammar, teachers of English at Tran Nguyen Han High School seem to prefer traditional teaching methods in which grammar rules are taught deductively because of the great influence on teaching habit caused by Haiphong environment and the former objectives of teaching. The common practice of some senior teachers is just giving the explanation of new words and grammar structures, asking students to learn by heart and make sentences, reading the structures, texts or conversations aloud, asking students to repeat and in general making students passive. Even younger teachers rarely organize communicative activities in their lessons because they are afraid of making noise which may influence the neighbouring classes and also they find it difficult to control the class then. That’s why teachers seem to be interested in giving students a lot of written exercises to do in class. This makes students have no interests in learning grammar at all. Students often do their grammar exercises reluctantly and passively. The fact is that the 10th grade students at Tran Nguyen Han 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 memorize the rules . Lasen- Freeman (2005) points out that such activities in class are boring and not effective. Further more, many teachers approach grammar far too seriously, with unsmiling faces, particularly during the first phases of a new lesson when students are trying to grasp an initial understanding of the form and meaning of the grammar structure. The shortage of useful materials and high technology equipment also makes students’ learning slower and uninteresting. According to Beatty(2003: 248), if a language learner can make use of high technology equipment such as a computer, his language will be improved much more and faster. In terms of teaching schedule, the 10th grade students are currently required to attend only one period (45 minutes) of grammar per week. The students depend on the textbooks . In class, students do not have a chance to use grammar in communicative activities. They are just asked to do grammar exercises in the textbooks after the teacher’s presentation and explanation of a new grammar point and at home they have to do grammar exercises in the workbooks without having them corrected because the teachers have no time for it. It’s difficult for teachers to finish their teaching successfully because of the time constraint, the large class size, and the students’ mixed level. As the result, the students can produce correct forms when doing exercises and taking tests, but consistently make errors while trying to produce their own free writing or speech. It’s obvious that the students do not master grammar structures thoroughly. And of course, this way of teaching and learning may result in the students’ negative attitudes towards English grammar acquisition which surely hinders their language learning conduct. This situation also provides another good reason for the study to be conducted with the hope to identify whether oral practice can change positively Tran Nguyen Han High school students’ attitudes towards English grammar learning . 1.2. Aims of the study The purpose of this study is to investigate Tran Nguyen Han 10th grade students’ attitudes towards grammar learning when grammar is practiced orally instead of through written exercises 1.3. Research questions What are Tran Nguyen Han 10th graders’ attitudes towards grammar learning when traditional teaching methods are used? How can oral practice change positively Tran Nguyen Han 10th graders’ attitudes towards English grammar learning ? 1.4. Scope of the study Due to the time limit and financial constraint, 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 learning English grammar at Tran Nguyen Han High School, restricted to the 10th graders only. 1.5. Significance of the study The study was conducted with the expectation that its results would be useful for teachers of English at TNH High School. Based on the finding, conclusion could be made on whether oral grammar practice should be applied or not. Hence, it could be a considerable contribution to teaching and learning English grammar effectively and enjoyablely at TNH High School. 1.6. Outline of the study I . Introduction This gives an overview of the study including the study background. This provides a brief description of the thesis topic and information related to English grammar teaching and learning atTNH Upper Secondary School. The aims, the research questions, the scope of the study and the outline of the minor thesis are also included in this .  II. Literature review This reviews the relevant literature related to the communicative language teaching methods especially oral practice in English grammar teaching. Particularly, the focuses on the attitude change and the application of grammar oral practice to change students’ attitudes in learning grammar. III. Methodology The actual procedures of the study are presented in this :Study design, subjects of the study, the data collection method, instruments as well as process of data collection and data analysis. IV. Data analysis and discussion This focuses on presenting, analyzing and discussing the results obtained from the study. V. Conclusion This provides the summary of the findings, some recommendations on how to teach English grammar through oral practice at Tran Nguyen Han High School. The conclusion and limitation of the study will also be presented in this . CHAPTER II- LITERATURE REVIEW This focuses on some theoretical grounds of attitude and grammar teaching and learning. It consists of two parts. The first part is concerned with major issues regarding attitudes, the roles of attitudes in language learning and factors that affect the attitudes change. The second one discusses communication approach in teaching grammar as well as oral grammar practice. 2.1. Attitudes 2.1.1. Definition of attitude According to Hallorah (1967) , attitude represents an individual’s like or dislike for an item. Attitudes are positive, negative or neutral views of an “attitude object” i.e. a teaching style, person, situation or event. People can also be “ambivalent” towards a target, meaning that they simultaneously possesses a positive and a negative bias towards the attitude in question. In Gibb’s opinion (1988) attitude is generally defined as a state of mind, which is influenced by feelings, experiences of the world and belief. Fazio (1986) states that attitude comprises of three components: “an affective component involving feelings about and evaluation of the object, a cognitive component involving belief about the object and a behavioral intentions component” . The above definitions show people’s attitude towards certain referent object, a behavioral intentions component and a cognitive component involving belief about the object. In language learning, we can see students’ attitudes in their feelings and belief about the way of acting towards the lessons,learning style, teachers and the course books. Briefly, attitudes have three main components : affective, behavioral and cognitive. The affective components are easily assessed by monitoring physiological signs such as heart rate whereas the behavioral aspects may be assessed by direct observation. On the other hand, the cognitive aspects of attitude are generally measured by interviews, survey and other reporting methods. This study concentrates on affective and cognitive components. It relates to students’ feelings and belief about communicative teaching as well as evaluation of grammar learning. 2.1.2. Attitude change According to Hovland (1973), attitude change is a response to communication. Listeners will keep positive attitudes if the communication is successful and interesting. Otherwise, negative attitudes of the listeners will be formed if the communication is unccessful and unattractive. The success of communication depends on several factors. The first of these is the interest of the communicator of a message. To get interest, the tasks and topic are very important. A frequent change of topic not only makes every student get something that interests him or her sooner or later, but also helps to maintain students’ attention and motivation. Further more, teachers should make sure that maximum language use in fact takes place in every task. To be effective, a communicator must have credibility based on his or her perceived knowledge of the topic, and also be considered trustworthy. The greater the students have perceived similarly between the audience and the communicator, the greater the communicator’s effectiveness becomes. Hallorah (1967:60-61) states that formation and change of attitude are not two separate things , but they are interwoven. People always adopt, relinquish and modify attitudes to fit the ever- changing needs and interests. Simple education can’t change attitudes. Acceptance of new attitudes depends on who presents the knowledge, how it is presented, how the person is perceived, the credibility of the communicator, and the conditions by which the knowledge is received. In Sherif’s view (1975: 16) , we can understand that attitude will be changed based on how a person sees the communication and the communicator. Less commited people will change ideas more frequently. According to Hallorah (1967:60-61) ,attitude change also has to do with other personality characteristics such as susceptibility to persuasion, intelligence, readiness to accept change, ect. We are more likely to accept information if we feel the communicator has no intent to change our attitudes and opinions. Attitudes are expected to change as a function of experience. Hereditary variables may affect attitudes- but believes that they may do so indirectly. For example, if one inherits the disposition to become an extrovert, this may affect one’s attitude to learning a foreign language ( Tesser, 1993) . Abelson (1968) argues that there are numerous theories of attitude formation and attitude change such as Consistency theories, which imply that we must be consistent in our beliefs and values. Heider (1959) states that when beliefs are unbalanced, stress is created and there is pressure to change attitudes. Attitudes can be changed by a number of sources including other people, media, family or other subject itself. In 1968, McGuire developed steps to change an attitude.The steps are attention, comprehension, retention, yielding, and action. Traindis (1971:144-146 ) agrees that in analyzing the attitude –change process, we must consider the effect of who says what, how to whom, with what effect.According to him, attitudes change : - When a person receives new information from others or media - Cognitive change. - When a person is forced to behave in a way different from normal - Behavioral change. - Through direct experience with the attitude object - Affective change. ( Traindis, 1971 :142 ) Students may become bored and inattentive in class, do badly on tests and get discouraged from the courses if students keep poor attitudes in learning. In some cases, they can dropt out of University. But by applying a new technique or providing practical useful information , teachers can change students’ attitude. Learners’ attitudes will be more favorable if they are learning new information that they can apply to the needs they have. Therefore, depending on some theories of attitude change, the author decided to follow the Hovland’s view (1973) “Attitudes change as a response to communication’’ with the fully hope that the findings of the study will be the certain application of oral grammar practice in teaching and learning at TNH High School. As the result, students’ attitudes can be changed from negative to positive because oral grammar practice not only meets the demands of communication but also supports students’ needs as well. 2.2. The role of attitudes in language learning Attitudes and learning go hand in hand. Garder and Lamber (1972) all agree that “ success in mastering a foreign language would depend not only on intellectual capacity and language aptitude , but on one’s attitudes towards representatives of that language as well” . In fact, attitudes play an important role in students’ learning. If they maintain a positive attitude, they will carry out their learning to the best of their ability and vice versa. Students’ attitudes have an effect on their classroom behaviour, learning style and learning results. Lightbrown and Spada (1999) state that attitude is fundamental to the success or failure that we experience in learning. Depending on the learners’ attitudes, learning language can be a source of enrichment or a sourse of resentment. Agreeing with the role of attitudes, Brown (1994) says that language learners benefit from positive attitudes while negative attitudes may lead to unsuccessful attainment of proficiency. Moreover, Gardener (1985: 41) emphasized that favourable attitudes would be expected to result in better performance than negative attitudes. If the students hold positive attitudes to learning, they will be willing to participate in it. This attitude will be helpful for them in their learning. Marzano et all (1994) mentioned the importance of positive attitude in learning that “without positive attitudes and perceptions or holding negative attitudes towards the learning, students have little chance of learning proficiently, if at all”. In brief, it is clear that attitudes play an important role in learning so students will see themselves achieving greater and greater result in language learning in general and in grammar learning in particular whereas negative attitudes will hinder their learning. 2.3. Ways that help to change students’ attitudes 2.3.1. Oral grammar practice creating teaching techniques Eagly and Chaiken (1993) all claimed that students’ attitude in language learning in general and grammar in particular may be influenced by oral practice because oral practice not only brings students favourable feeling but also the belief in learning. As mentioned in 2.1.1 attitudes relate to cognitive and affective components. A cognitive component involves belief in the object; an affective component involves feeling towards the object.So we can state that attitudes will be affected by oral practice. Attitude reflects an individual’s like or dislike for an item (see 2.1.1)- (Hallorah, 1967) . Meanwhile, oral practice provides students positive attitudes in learning. In other words, the relationship between interests and positive attitudes is claimed. Nunan (2007) emphasized that students’ interests may derive from oral grammar practice because when involving in oral practice activites, students may change the emphasis or intonation of their sentences as they wish, use their facial expression, physical movement ect…This makes the lesson not only more lively but also more interesting , and it also makes students more interested in learning. Besides, personalization will increase students’ interest if students provide responses that are true for them. In Ur’s view (1998) we can understand that when learners discuss issues with each other, they will use the target language in a realistic manner. This transmission of new ideas encourages students to express their personal experiences, opinions and feelings which improve learners interests. Pennington (1995) states that as learners increase their interests and their need to communicate with different individuals for different purposes, they require additional communicative resources. In summary, when grammar is taught and practiced as a means of communication rather than as a means for correcting the mechanics and accuracy of sentences, it becomes more purposeful so there is a more motivating focus for classroom learning. Students are more interested in learning. Therefore, they will acquire more knowledge of grammar. This means that oral grammar practice brings positive attitudes towards grammar learning. 2.3.2. Narrowing the gap between teaching style and learning style Zhenhui (2001) emphasized that narrowing the gap between teaching style and learning style is also necessary in attitude change because it plays an important role in enabling students to maximize their classroom experiences in favourable psychological state. Nunan (1989) agrees that students will have positive attitudes if their subjective needs and perception related to the learning process are recognized by teachers. This is echoed by Kumaravadivelu (1991:98), who claims “ the narrower the gap between teacher intention and the learners interpretation, the greater the chances of achieving desired learning outcomes”. In order to narrow the gap between teaching style and learning style, there should be a compromise between teachers and students. For teachers , they should find the suitable teaching style for the students.When teachers apply suitable teaching style, students will keep positive attitudes towards their learning. Kirkegaard (quoted in Larsen- Freeman,1997) proclaims that “ Real education begins when the teacher learns from a student”. This idea is also shared by Larsen- Freeman (1997), who stresses that “…the extent to which you (a teacher) are open to learning your students is the extent to which you are likely to meet with success in the classroom- because learning your students will inform how you respond at a particular moments in the lessons”. Things that teachers usually learn from the students may include the following: students’ attitudes, motivation and preferences in a particular situation. In the part of students, they need to cooperate with teachers in matching teaching and learning styles. Also they should be open- minded to move from one learning style to another in order to become more autonomous learners. To sum up, the author has discussed the major factors affecting students’ attitude change in grammar learning. Among these factors the researcher chooses oral practice to put in experiment. The next point will be the discussion on the communicative approach as well as oral grammar practice in teaching English grammar . 2.4. Grammar teaching from a CLT perspective As we know, communicative language teaching (CLT) has greatly influenced foreign languages teaching and learning for at least two decades now.The very term ‘communicative’ carries an obvious ring of truth : we ‘ learn to communicate by communicating’ (Larsen – Freeman, 1986:131). Of course the fundamental intution behind this approach is far from new. In the fourth century B.C Aristotle wrote : “ What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing” (Nicomachean Ethics, Bk. II) . As for Karavas- Doukas 1996) , most teachers now claim to use a communicative approach in some way or other, and it is hardly surprising that no-one wishes to be called a non- communicative teacher. Communicative practice encourages students to connect form, use and maening because multiple correct responses are possible. In Nunan’s view (1989) , its purpose is to establish and maintain interpersonal relations, and through this to exchange information ,ideas, attitudes, opinions, and feelings, and to get things done. Communicative activities can be classified into two main categories, which are called ‘ functional communication activities’ and ‘social interaction activities’ by Nunan (1989). Communicative activities can be devised for the classroom which emphasizes the functional aspect of communication. For example, there may be a problem which learners must solve, or information which they must exchange, with whatever language they have at their disposal.The main target of this activity is that learners should use the language they know in order to get meaning across as effectively as possible. For the second type of communicative activities, the activity can be devised in such a way that they place emphasis on social as well as functional aspects of communication. Students must still aim to convey meaning effectively, but must also pay greater attention to the social context in which the interaction takes place. Simulation and role playing are examples of important techniques for creating a wider variety of social situations and relationships than would otherwise occur. Communicative practice has many advantages, as discussed by Harmer (1987), they are usually enjoyable; they give students a chance to use their language; they allow both students and teachers to see how well the students are doing in their language learning; and they give a break from the normal teacher and students’ arrangements in a classroom. In the modern time, the world is changing very quickly, the tendency towards internationalization and globalization is developing very fast. So everyone needs to use a common language. So far, many people have learnt and used English as an international language.Vietnam is a developing country that is trying to catch up with the growth rate of the world. Learning English has become the most highlighted task. English study , however, is still far from being satisfactory. Learners often get embarrassed in English communication. Therefore, nowadays communication is emphasized world widely. We study a foreign language not only to understand it but also use it in different contexts and for different purposes, that is, we use it as a means of communication. Similarly, in grammar teaching and learning, on the one hand, students need to know the rules. On the other, with more opportunities to work with foreigners and the increasing number of foreign visitors, or oversea study, there is a good need for communication in a second language. That is why grammar should be taught with communicative practice. In other words, there must be occasions when students in the classroom use language to communicate ideas, not just to practice language. To conclude, from the principles of CLT, the goal of teaching grammar is to help the learners to speak with organized sentence structures in order to make themselves understood. Teaching grammar therefore doesn’t mean we do grammar drills. Grammar teaching can have fun through communicative activities. 2.5. The role of oral grammar practice in grammar teaching 2.5.1. Definition of oral grammar pracice A grammar lesson consists of different stages, which are suggested differently by different methodologists. Ur (1988) organizes grammar teaching into four stages: presentation, isolation and explanation, practice, and test, whereas according to Celce- Murcia and Hilles, a grammar lesson goes through four following phases : presentation, focused practice, communicative practice, teacher- feedback and correction. Harmer (1987) discusses the question of how to teach grammar in three aspects: presentation, practice and testing. Thus, however different such suggestions are, practice as a stage is always present, it comes after the initial presentation and explanation when learners have taken knowledge into short term memory but have not really mastered it yet. Practice may be defined as any kind of engaging with the language on the part of the learners, usually under the teachers’ supervision, whose primary objective is to consolidate learning. Practice involves both spoken and written practice. (Ur, 1988:11) 2.5.2 Oral practice in grammar teaching and learning. Nunan (2007) agees that oral grammar practice gives learners increasing opportunities and motivation to interact with other communicators, to raise their awareness of the forms and functions of English grammar. Grammatical patterns are matched to particular communicative meanings so learners can see connection between form and function. Learners learn how to choose the right pattern to expess different communicative meanings. They will incorporate various grammatical structures in their performance. Students, for successful language use, need not only to be exposed to the structures and functions of communication but also to practise applying grammatical knowledge in real contexts. To reach the goals, the application of grammar in the classroom should be more creative and open-ended .Creative language activities provide more opportunities for the learners to use language more flexibly than receptive language tasks. Creative language use involves learners in recombining familiar words, phrases and structures in new and unfamilar ways. When students have enough time and enough opportunities to communicate and to receive feedback on attempts at producing meaningful language, the errors will gradually diminish (Corder, 1981; Selinker,1972, 1992). Thanks to that students will learn grammar better . Teaching grammar communicatively or using communicative activities means teaching grammar effectively. In other words, oral grammar practice provides for effective grammar acquisition.But how to organize oral practice successfully is a hard question. According to Ur (1988: 15) , “Interest is an essential feature of successful oral practice”. Without properly getting involved in practising grammar orally and communicatively, students feel bored and find it difficult to concentrate , their attention wanders, and they may spend much of the lesson time thinking or dreaming of other things. So the poor quality of effort and attention will reduce their learning results. Besides, because of bordom, students may start out -of- focus talks often talk or produce unruly behaviour, therefore more valuable learning time may be wasted on coping with discipline problems. On the contrary, if students are interested in what is done, they will not only learn effeciently, they are also likely to enjoy the process and want to continue learning. Nunan (2007) emphasized that oral practice activities ,in grammar learning and teaching, not only maintain learners’ interests but also sustain their attention in the long term process of acquiring grammatical knowledge and skills in English. Oral practice will offer students opportunities to practice and use grammar realistically and meaningfully so as to activate learners’ knowledge of grammar. Oral grammar practice also increase the realism and usefulness of grammar lessons. Moreover, for many teachers, correcting grammar errors in students’ written work is quite a time consuming task. In brief, grammar should be taught through oral practice activities to increase students’ interests which results in more effective grammar acquisition. 2.5.2. Classification of oral practice activities in teaching and learning grammar 2.5.2.1. Drills In Harmer’s view (1999), drills are “fairly mechanical ways of getting students to demonstrate and practice their ability to use specific language items in a controlled manner”. Usually oral grammar practice is done with the whole class rather than with students in pairs and the teachers are able to get students to ask and answer questions quickly and efficiently. The advantage of this technique is that teachers can correct any mistakes that students make and can encourage them to concentrate on difficulties at the same time. However, the problem with drills is that they are often not very creative , to which a solution initiated by Harmer (1999) is that teachers should make sure not to overuse them and that they do not go on for too long. As soon as students show that they are able to make correct sentences with the new item, the teachers should move on to more creative activities. Riverers and Temperley (1991) classified oral drills into six types : a.Repetition presentation drills : In this part, the teacher gives a model sentence containing a particular structure or form to be manipulated and the students repeat the sentence with correct intonation and stress. Repetation drills are not , in one sense, a special category of exercises which will be used for practicing certain type of structures; they represent, rather, a commonly used technique for familarizing students with a specific structure. For this reason, they are sometimes called presentation drills. This oral exercise can be illustrated as below: MODEL :Where is the bank ? Oh, I see it. STUDENT:Where is the bank? Oh, I see it. MODEL: Where are the banks? Oh, I see them. STUDENT:Where are the banks ? Oh, I see them. This activity is judged as unreality and lack of application to the students’ situation. In such above example, unless the students are looking at a picture showing a scene in a city, it could become completely mechanical, with students attending only to the cue words ‘it’, ‘them’ ,or merely repeating them absentmindedly with the rest of what is fed to them. This activity can be made real and applicable by introducing some reality like referring to objects the students can see and having them point to things as they reply. b. Substitution drills. Each substitution requires correlative changes to be made elsewhere in the model sentence: MODEL : She likes her book CUE : You… RESPONSE : You like your book CUE : Smith and Tom RESPONSE : Smith and Tom like their books This drill is termed correlative substitution and methodologists discuss it as useful for studying such things as reflexives, possessives, the –s ending of the third person singular verb in the present tense, the changing forms of the verb be , irregular verbs, the inflection of the verb after relative pronouns, the forms of the plural and possessive morphemes, and certain sequences of tenses in related clauses. To some extent, this activity is still mechanical and it’s suggested that the cue be designed with a natural sounding tag which elicits a response that completes a conversational interchange to make it more realistic. Another subdivision of substitution drills is called multiple substitution drills in which , to make the substitutions in the appropriate slots, students have to think of the meaning of the whole sentence . For this reason, students need to be very alert to perform this exercise successfully. MODEL : Nam brings many dics to class. CUE: Jane and Mary RESPONSE : Jane and Mary bring many dics to class. CUE : books RESPONSE : Jane and Mary bring many books to class. CUE: The lecturer RESPONSE : the lecturer brings many books to class. This activity can be a testing tool to see if students can continue to make a certain grammartical adjustment they have been learning while they are distracted by other preoccupations. c. Conversions This term is used for exercises in changing sentence type , in combining two sentences into one , in moving from one mood or tense to another, in changing word class (e.g., replacing nouns by pronouns), substituting phrases for clauses or clauses for phrases (e.g., adverbial phrases for adverbial clauses, infinitive phrases for clauses), or substituting single words for phrases or phrases for single words (e.g.,adverbs for adverbial phrases, adjectives for adjectival phrases). Conversions can be classified into three subdivisions : general conversions, combinitions and restatement. - General conversions: Example: Change the following sentences into questions: CUE: a. Smith and Tom are reading books in the library now. RESPONSE : -> Are they reading books in the library now? CUE : b. The actor lives in The USA. RESPONSE : -> Does the actor live in the USA? This traditional type of elementary conversion exercise requires the student to attend to a number of different aspects of the formation of general questions in a very few items. Students are required to use subject-inversion with ‘be’, doperiphrasis with single and with popular subjects, and with main verbs including ‘have’ and ‘do’ and ‘a modal’ . This is a formidable task for an elemetary-level student. Conversion exercises like the following are also used: Example : Listen carefully to each of the following sentences and replaced the words which are repeated by pronouns in the appropriate form and position the words which are repeated. You may need to add a preposition: MODEL: Tom gave his mother a pen. His mother RESPONSE: Tom gave her a pen. CUE: Mary calls her friends a pig.Her friends RESPONSE: Mary calls them a pig. As far as I’m concerned, those conversion exercises should be made more vivid by associating structure with action. Students may be asked to reply to instructions and questions by making statements of their own invention. *Combinations “Combinations” is a form of conversion exercise which has also been used for ages. It involves a process which reflects certain features of transformational grammatical analysis and can be very illuminating in differentiating some aspects of the rules. For example, students usually have difficulties in understanding whether the relative pronoun must be retained or it can be omitted. For example: Combining each of the following pairs of sentences into one acceptable sentence, using or omitting that where it is possible to do so. Make the first sentence the main clause : a. Give me the books CUE: I left you the books RESPONSE: -> Give me the books which/ that I left you. b. Don’t touch the window. CUE: The window has just been painted RESPONSE: ->……………………………………. This type of exercise can also be used for creating dependent phrases beginning with present participles (She came home; She went straight to the toilet. -> Coming home, she went straight to the toilet.), or with prepositions such as ‘ before’ and ‘after’ *Restatement Restatement is another kind of conversion exercises. One frequently used type of directed dialogue is a restatement exercise. Example : CUE: Tell Jane your name is Tom. RESPONSE : Jane, my name is Tom . CUE : Ask Nam where he is going RESPONSE : Where are you going , Nam ? All kinds of restatements can be intended to practice different grammatical features. A realistic note is added if one student pretends to be giving directions to a third party by telephone , while a second student is supplying the necessary information. Another type of replacement (sometimes called a contraction) consists of replacing a longer expression with a shorter one (eg: a clause with prepositional phrase, a prepositional phrase with a noun phrase …). Example : Restate each of the following sentences by replacing the relative clause with an infinitive construction , the words italicized with a noun phrase a.I need a backpack that I can put my picnic- food in. RESPONSE: I need a backpack to put my picnic- food in. b.The man who owns the villa is a famous doctor. RESPONSE: The owner of the villa is a famous doctor. d. Sentence modification According to Rivers and Temperley, we can subdivide sentence modification into three kinds : completions , expansions and deletions *Completions In completions, part of the sentence is given as a cue and the students finish the sentence either with semantically constant segment in which some syntactic or morphological change must be made according to the cue , or with a suitable segment which is to some extent semantically governed by the cue , or with a segment of their own invention. Example: You will hear the model sentence : If I see her, I’ll tell her. Throughout the exercise, you will retain the same concluding notion, varying the segment from future tense to conditional as the introductory segment changes. MODEL : If I see her, I’ll tell her about that . CUE : If I saw her… RESPONSE: If I saw her, I’d tell her about that. CUE : If You took it… RESPONSE : IF you took it, I’d tell her about that. For vocabulary learning, this kind of exercise is also useful. Example: Complete the following statements with the appropriate occupation- term, considering the following model : MODEL : A person who does the gardening is a gardener CUE :A person who gives lectures … RESPONSE : A person who gives lectures is a lecturer Moreover, completion exercises allow students to make their personal semantic contribution within a syntactically fixed framework. It is useful for practising such things as restrictive and non- restrictive relative clauses. Example : Invent a completion containing an infinitive construction for each sentence you hear , according to the model : He was the second man … He was the second man to ask her that question. CUE : Mr Smith has decided… RESPONSE: Mr Smith has decided to go to Ha Long Bay this summer. Or : Mr Smith has decided not to go to Ha Long Bay this summer Or : Mr Smith has decided to give a birthday party next Sunday. * Expansions In expansions, they require strictly grammatical manipulation and are useful for learning such things as the position of adverbs. It can be a student or teacher directed. BASIC SENTENCE : He leaves home for work. CUE : early RESPONSE: He leaves home for work early CUE: rarely RESPONSE: He rarely leaves home for work early. Students can practise many other grammartical features in this way such as position of adjectives in modifying nouns. Further more, expansions also give students the opportunity to create new and original sentences from a basic one ,often in a competitive atmosphere. CUE: The lady is crossing the street now. STUDENT A : The tired old lady is crossing the quiet street now. STUDENT B : The boy is crossing the main busy street at the moment. * Deletions Deletions are the reverse of expansions. Example : Delete the negative elements in the following sentences, making any necessary changes. CUE : We don’t like coffee. RESPONSE: We like coffee. CUE : He didn’t leave. RESPONSE : He left. e.Response practice: We all know that all oral exercises are forms of response practice . In the particular types referred to here, question- answer or answer- question procedures are used. Response practice can be devided into three sub- classes: * Question- answer practice : Students can practise the structure of questions through conversion exercises. This type of exercise is useful for such things as forms and uses of tenses, pronouns and cleft sentences, which make clear information focus. It’s usually associated with a picture, slide, or film reading material, film, some project or activity, or a game. Example : Students have been reading about or viewing a film of the adventures of a group of young people in Boston. Through this conversation, a lot of situations can be created in the classroom for both asking questions and obtaining answers. Q. Why didn’t they come home before midnight? A . They didn’t come home because there were fireworks over the river. It was the Fourth of July. Q. Do you often stay out late at night ? A. No, I go home early because I’m always hungry. * Answer- question practice: Answer- question practice takes place when the teacher, or a student, has the answer and the others have to find out what it is. This kind of exercise happens naturally and excitingly in such games as Twenty Questions, Who and What. In this game, a student thinks of someone or something . The players, by asking questions to which A may reply only yes or no, narrow the field of possibilities until they are able to guess the person or object in questions .Before the game is lost , twenty questions may be asked only. * Rejoinders : In English and in other languages, there are conventional ways of responding to the utterances of others which ease social relations and make communication less effortful : ways of agreeing, disagreeing, expressing surprise, astonishment, pleasure,…These responses are often not taught in any systematic way to students of English . Some rejoinders will be learned incidentally because teachers will use them very often , others can be practised in an oral exercise from time to time . Example : Listen to the following sentences and respond to each with an appropriate rejoinder or exclamation. CUE: Good bye and see you at the cafe’ near the school. RESPONSE : ok f. Translation exercises : River and Temperly indicate that translation exercises have slipped into disfavor lately. This is not because translation itself is reprehensible. In fact, it is a natural process with many practical uses. Oral translation drills can be useful where the students learning English share the same first- language background. A series of sentences in the native language is given to elicit rapid formulation of the English equivalents. We may design the series in order to elicit a series of utterances in a tense being practised. (e.g., she’s leaving, we are reading, they are singing, etc.. ). Briefly, such kinds of oral practice are very structured way to introduce students to a new grammatical item. However, most of the oral drills tend to be mechanical and less communicative as requires little free communication from students. 2.5.2.2. Personalized activities This activity is made in a way that students practise grammar while being required to talk about themselves in an involved way at the same time. Teachers ask students to discuss things that affect their personality and to use this subject matter as focus for their grammar practice . In order to make practice drill more involving , teachers can get students to contribute something of their own with teachers’ instructions and encouragement. Example : Students are practising the present progressive tense . They work in groups and one after the other has to say something which is happening at the moment of speaking -> This is Kim Anh. She is talking in class now. -> This is Minh Quan. He isn’t talking now. He is drawing. This activity is named chain drill, it is not very mechanical. For this activity, students can practise the form of a grammatical item they have just learned. 2.5.2.3. Interactive activities One of the problems, as mentioned earlier, about drills is that they are fairly monotonous. Some ways must be found to make controlled language practice more enjoyable and more meaningful , one of which is by using interactive activities . These are designed in such a way that students work together , exchanging information in a purposeful and interesting way . The following example of using charts can illustrate an interactive activity : Example : Students have to write down one of their classmate’s name. Then they ask that student the following questions: What’s your favourite T V programme ? When did you last see your favourite T Vprogramme ? How often do you see your favourite T V programme ? Students can move round the classroom asking as many classmates as possible these questions and fill in the chart with their answers. After finishing the survey, students can report the findings. 2.5.2.4. Games Without games in class , lessons can’t be attractive to students. Games can be an integrated part of the teaching syllabus. At any stage of language teaching process –when teaching new language items (presentation, controlled practice, communicative practice, or consolidation) or when revising previously presented language items ,teachers can use games ,provided that they are suitable to each stage’s purposes. Students can gradually realize the English grammar structures by doing games- like activities. During the lesson, students can explore the context and discover the new language rules themselves. Students have many chances to play games- to practise communicating through oral activities. If the topics of the game chosen are suitable and interesting , students can take part in the lesson more actively and enthusiastically and thus find the grammar lesson very useful to them. For example: In Unit one- A DAY IN A LIFE OF…- Writing period (sgk lớp 10 –ban cơ bản). Teacher (T) warms students (Ss) up by having them play a game called Noughts and Crosses . T divides the whole class into 2 groups : Noughts and Crosses. T puts the poster on the table. Ss look at the poster : At first before then in the end since then after that after as soon as until till while at that time one day when finally therefore T asks Ss to choose word by word in the cells and make sentences with each word. The 2 groups take turns to choose word by word to make sentences. A correct sentence gets one O or X . The group with 3 O or X vertically, horizontally, or diagonally first will be the winner. Of course, the sentences they make must be grammatically correct and make sense. After finding out the winner, T stops the activity and gives feedback. The game not only helps Ss to practise a grammatical item but also creates a relaxing environment and motivation for them to do the practice effectively. In summary, when grammar is taught with oral practice activities and used as a means of communication rather than as a means for correcting the mechanics and accuracy of sentences, it becomes more purposeful so there is a more motivating focus for classroom learning. Students are more interested in learning English. As the result, they will acquire more knowledge of English grammar .It means that oral English grammar practice brings positive attitudes towards learning English grammar. 2.6. Conclusion Briefly, this presents the literature related to the study. Not only the definition, the role of attitudes as well as the factors influencing students’ attitudes towards English grammar learning, but also Communicative Language Teaching and oral grammar practice are also viewed to figure out the most suitable techniques for effective English grammar teaching. Applying these techniques, the researcher wishes to discover how they can change Tran Nguyen Han High School students’ attitudes towards grammar learning. The following will focus on the research methodology . CHAPTER III : METHODOLOGY In the preceding , the literature on the research topic was briefly reviewed to form the theoretical basis for the whole study. Turning to the practice side, this study was carried out with strict adherence to justified methods of data collection and analysis in order to maximize its vavidity and reliability. This claim would be subtaintiated in this as the participants, the instruments as well as the data analysis are discussed in detail. 3.1. Study design This study aims at measuring the effect of oral grammar practice on students’ attitudes. The researcher gives pre- questionnaire and post-questionnaire . The following design is applied to carry out this study. Pre-treatment questionnaire :O Treatment : X compare Post- treatment questionnaire :O O is dependent variable (attitude) and X is independent variable (oral English grammar practice). X is the treatment administered to the subjects. The difference between the pre- and post- questionnaire scores is taken as an index of the effectiveness of the treatment condition. 3.2. Research questions a. What are the 10th grade students’ attitudes towards grammar learning when traditional teaching methods are used? b. How can oral practice change positively Tran Nguyen Han 10th graders’ attitudes towards English grammar learning ? 3.3. Subjects of the study The subjects of the study were 200 students from class 10 C1,C2,C3,C4 at Tran Nguyen Han High School. All of them were born in 1993 in Hai Phong and they are both male and female. Many of them come from comparatively poor families so their learning condition is not good enough. Their parents can hardly afford to pay even small amount of money for their children’s schooling. A dictionary, a cassette player or even some English books are beyond their reach. Their tools are “Grade 10 English books” only. In addition to this, their lack of awareness of the importance of English as well as their teachers’ teaching method leads to their negative attitudes towards learning English. Although most of them already learnt English for at least four years at lower secondary school, their knowledge of English is still poor and limited. Hardly can they say a correct sentence in the target language. 3.4. Data collection instruments The data was obtained with different instruments : experiment questionnaires and interviews . 3.4.1. Questionnaires As for Gillham (2000), questionnaire is considered the most appropriate research instrument for gathering information concerning the attitudes of the respondents. There are three reasons. Firstly, as the respondents want to remain anonymous, information from questionnaire can be confidential. It is hoped that people will undoubtedly fell freer in an anonymous style of responding. Secondly, a questionnaire is easy to administer enabling the researcher to survey a large number of respondents. Thirdly, the respondents can complete the questionnaire whenever it suits them. Moreover, this is a confirmatory research study. To gather data for the research, two questionnaires were administered : the pre- questionnaire focused on students’ conventional attitudes towards grammar learning; the post- treatment questionnaire was given to measure possible changes in students attitudes as the result of actual use of oral grammar practice in class. * Pre- treatment questionnaire There are10 items in the pre-questionnaire. The purpose of this research is to investigate the students’ conventional attitudes towards English grammar learning. Students have to choose the best option which best describles their opinions . * Post- treatment questionnaire The 10 items of an attitude scale were used to find out changes in students’ attitudes towards English grammar learning in the post- treatment phrase. 3.4.2. Interviews This study aims at finding out the students’ attitude towards grammar acquisition when it’s taught either in traditional way or through oral grammar practice. It is not of naturalistic inquiry by nature, therefore the researcher choses the structured interview so as to achieve consistence. In the pre- treatment interview, students are asked 5 questions. The questions focus on students’ awareness of the importance of grammar, students’ interests in grammar learning as well as their comment on grammar teaching. Students are asked 5 other questions in the post- treatment interview after oral grammar practice was applied in teaching. 3.5. Study procedures The experiment was conducted in 15 weeks from the beginning of October. The subjects are students from 4 grade 10 classes.The procedures to carry out the study are as followed: Week 1 and week 2 : Pre- treatment questionnaire and interview Pre- treatment questionnaire and pre- treatment interview were conducted with the involvement of 200 students in week 1 and week 2 to identify the students’ current attitudes towards English grammar learning. Week 3 -14: Experimental lessons The time for experimental teaching was 12 weeks. Each week had 1 period of grammar (45 minutes). The researcher herself was in charge of teaching 12 lessons to these four experimental classes with the application of oral grammar practice. Three or four oral communicative activities were used in each lesson and the students were encouraged to participate in. These oral English grammar practice activities were taken from different sources such as textbooks, reference books, and magazines. Week 15 : Post- treatment questionnaire and post- treatment interview After the application of oral grammar practice, the post – treatment questionnaire and interview were given to the same 200 students of the 4 experimental classes to identify changes in the students’ attitudes towards English grammar learning 3.6. Data analysis Data were collected from different sources : questionnaires , interviews . Pre- treatment questionnaire and interview were used to find out students’ conventional attitudes towards English grammar learning. After that the results of post – treatment questionnaire and interview were compared to find out whether there were changes in students’ attitudes towards grammar learning after the application of oral English grammar practice. The interviews data served to support the data obtained from the survey questionnaires. CHAPTER IV- DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 4.1.Questionnaires 4.1.1. Data analysis of the students’ experiment questionnaires 4.1.1.1. Data analysis of pre- questionnaires The data obtained from the students’ questionnaires will be discussed to find out the students’ conventional attitudes towards English grammar before the application of oral English grammar practice. Graph 1: Students’ opinion of the importance of English grammar for language learning. Source: Question 1, pre- experiment questionnaire. As can be seen in graph 1, most students (97.5%) state English grammar is necessary for their language learning. Only 2.5% of the students have opposite ideas with that point of view. Thus, the majority of the students realizes the importance of English grammar in their language learning. Graph 2: The reasons why English grammar is important in language learning. Source : Question 2, pre- experiment questionnaire. With regard to the reasons why they think English grammar is necessary, all of the students believe that English grammar helps combine words into sentences to express ideas and feelings…, 96% of the students report English grammar assists the learners in memorizing and using the language appropriately in communication, 93.5% of the students agree that English grammar is essential in developing various language skills to reach the aim of communication, 90% of them say English grammar helps develop the learner’s self- confidence in using language. 6.5% of the students have the other ideas. Graph 3: Students’ opinions of learning English grammar. Source: Question 3, pre- experiment questionnaire. Graph 3 illustrates that the largest number of students (91%) say they don’t enjoy learning English grammar, only 9 % of them enjoy learning it. Graph 4 : Students’ impression of learning English grammar at school. Source : Question 4, pre- experiment questionnaire. According to the data in graph 4, students’ feedbacks on learning English grammar at school sound very dull. 97.5% of the students asked say that English grammar learning at school is boring and 95.5% of the students consider learning English grammar at school stressful. No student thinks English is interesting, relaxing, and enjoyable. Basing on graph 4, we know that the students don’t like learning English grammar. c b a e d Graph 5: Factors influence students’ attitudes towards grammar learning. Source : Question 5, pre-experiment questionnaire. On defining the factors that influence students’ attitudes towards grammar learning, their opinions vary. It is no surprise that all students agree the good teaching method has great influence on students’ attitudes towards grammar learning. 90% of the students state that English teachers’ proficiency and rich knowledge also influence the students’ attitudes towards grammar learning. Only 10% of the students disagree with this idea. The majority of the students (85%) report the suitability of the syllabus for English grammar is one of the factors which influence students’ attitudes towards grammar learning . In contrast, the minority of the students (15%) disagree with this point. More than half of the students (55%) disagree that difficult English grammar may influence their attitudes towards grammar learning. Nearly half of them (45%) agree with this idea. d c b a Graph 6: Students’ opinions of English grammar teaching at school. Source : Question 6, pre-experiment questionnaire. When asked about their opinions of English grammar teaching at school, 70% of the students disagree that the teaching English grammar at school is suitable, only 30% of them agree with that idea. 72.5% of them don’t think that the teaching English grammar at their school is motivating, 70% of them don’t think it is suitable, 77.5% of them don’t think it is effective. Only 27.5% of the students agree that it is motivating, 22.5% of them think it is effective. None of them has any other opinions. f a e d c b Graph 7: Teaching techniques to present new English grammar structures . Source : Question 7, pre- experiment questionnaire. Findings from graph 7 indicate that a large number of students (98.5%) report that their teachers often give meaning and explained the rules of new grammar structures in Vietnamese, and 1.5% of the students say they sometimes use this technique when teachers present a new grammar structure. 100% of the students report their teachers explain the rules of new English grammar structures in English.75% of the students reveal that they are rarely given examples of new structures, 25% of them say they never use this technique. It’s no surprise to know that 100% of the students say their teachers never apply the two techniques “give situations in which the structure is used” and “use structure to talk about the real situation in the classroom or Ss’ life”. e d c b a Graph 8 : Activities students get involved in class to practise new grammar structures. Source : Question 8, pre- experiment questionnaire. Data in graph 8 reveals the activities the students get involved in class to practise new grammar structures and the frequency of doing them. All students (100%) say they often do written grammar exercises in textbook. 93.5% of the students report they often do written grammar exercises in textbook or workbook. Only 6.5% of the students report they sometimes do written grammar exercises in textbook and workbook. 88.5% of the students state they sometimes do written grammar exercises outside textbook and workbook. 11.5% of them reveal that they often do written grammar exercises outside textbook and workbook. None of them say they rarely or never do. It’s quite surprising to see that 100% of the students report they never do grammar practice orally. Graph 9: Students’ expectations. Source : Question 9, pre- experiment questionnaire. Graph 9 illustrates that 100% of the students would feel happy if the teachers change the teaching methods and techniques in presenting and practising new grammar structures. It indicates that the current grammar teaching methods and techniques in presenting and practising new grammar structures of the teachers are very boring and not suitable. Graph 10: Students’ suggestions of changes in teaching methods and techniques. Source: Question 10, Pre- questionnaire. 90% of the students think games should be introduced in the grammar lessons. 80% of them think pair- works. 20% of them think group- works. And 10% of them reveal that they like videos. From these figures, we realize that the students want their grammar lessons more exciting and relaxing. 4.1.1.2. Data analysis of post - questionnaires Graph 11: Oral grammar activities students got involved in. Source: Question 1, post- experiment questionnaire. Indicating the activities they got involved in to practise grammar structures over the experiment period, students don’t vary in their opinions. 100% of them choose “Questions and Answer” (Q & A) and “Role playing”, 95% of them choose “Language games”, 91% of them choose “Drillings with word cues, pictures as prompts”, 90% of them choose “Free discussions”, 87.5% of them choose “Problem solving tasks”. None of the students has other ideas. Graph 12: Ranking oral grammar activities according to students’ preference. Source: Question 2, post- experiment questionnaire. When asked to rank the activities (Drillings with word cues, pictures as prompts; Language games; Problem solving tasks; Questions and Answers; Role playing; Free discussions; Others..), according to their interest and usefulness, all the students (100%) choose “ Language games” and “Q and A”, 95% of the students choose “Free discussions”, 92.5% choose “Role playing”, 85% of the students choose “Problem solving tasks” and no students have other ideas. From the graph 12, we realize that the students like “Language games” and “Q and A” most of all. Graph 13: Frequency of students’ involvement in oral grammar activities. Source: Question 3, post- experiment questionnaire. The survey results in the questionnaire indicate that 95% of the students got involved in practising oral grammar very often, only 5% of them say they often did this. This could reflect that oral grammar practice was used very often over the experiment period. Graph 14: Students’ preference with regard to oral grammar activities organization. Source: Question 4, post- experiment questionnaire. According to the data in graph 14, students’ preference with regard to oral grammar activities organization also sounds very encouraging. 88% of the students asked say that they they don’t like grammar practice to be organized individually at all in their lessons, 12% of them say “not very much”. 87% of them state they don’t like it to be organized in the whole class at all, 13% of them say “not very much”. Of those students, 90% think pair- works are OK, 10% rank them at the degree of very much . 82% of the students like it to be organized in groups very much, 16% of them choose “OK” column, only 1% rank “not very much” and 1% also rank at the degree of “ not at all”. Graph 15: Students’ difficulties when doing grammar practice orally. Source: Question 5, post- experiment questionnaire. When asked if the students have any difficulties when doing grammar practice orally, 90% of the students answer “no”, only 10% of the students find doing grammar practice orally difficult. 10% of them think it makes the class noisy, 7.5% of the students feel embarrassed, 5% of them feel scared. It’s very glad to know that no student is under much pressure when doing grammar practice orally. Graph 16: Students’ opinions of oral grammar activities. Source: Question 6, post- experiment questionnaire. With the new way of teaching English grammar applied in grammar lessons over the last 12 weeks, 100% of the students agree that oral grammar practice is interesting and relaxing, 95% of the students think it is motivating, 90% of them think it is useful. Through these figures, we have right to say that in general oral grammar pracice is useful, interesting and motivating. It is suitable for students to learn grammar at school. Graph 17: The usefulness of oral grammar practice in students’ language learning. Source: Question 7, post- questionnaire. Concerning the usefulness of oral grammar practice in students’ language learning, the overall remark is quite positive. Specifically, 100% of the students say that it helps them understand and memorize grammar structures very much, 90% appreciate its enjoyableness very much, 7% find it OK. However, 3% admit that it doesn’t make grammar lessons more enjoyable at all. Of those students, 90% think it makes them like learning English grammar very much, 10% think OK. The largest number of the students (87%) rank the option “d” at “very much”, 10% choose “OK” column, only 3% choose “not at all”. 85% think it encourages them to co-operate in learning very much, only 15% find it OK. Graph 18: Students’ preference in oral grammar practice. Source: Question 8, post-experiment questionnaire. Showing reference in oral grammar practice, 99% of the students wish to continue getting involved in oral grammar practice in their grammar lessons in the coming time, only 1% of the students have opposite ideas. This proves that there has been an attitudinal changes among students. They have positively attitudinal changes towards grammar learning. Graph 19: Reasons for continuing oral grammar practice in the coming time. Source: Question 9, post- experiment questionnaire. When asked about the reasons why they would prefer to continue getting involved in oral English grammar practice, 99% of the students think because oral grammar practice helps them make progress in learning English structures and feel confident in using them, 90% of the students state that because it makes English grammar lessons more lively, interesting and stimulates them to learn English, 87.5% of the students think because it assists them in improving language knowledge, language skills and working skills. Graph 20: Reasons for not continuing oral grammar practice in the coming time. Source: Question 10, post- experiment questionnaire. There’s no surprise when we know that no student thinks oral grammar practice is difficult for them to use or it doesn’t help them much in memorizing the structures. They want to continue using oral grammar practice in their grammar lessons in the coming time. Only small amount of the students (9%) think they wouldn’t prefer to continue getting involved in oral grammar practice in their grammar lessons in the coming time just because they don’t have to take final oral grammar test. 4.1.2.Comparison of students’ attitudes towards grammar learning between pre- experiment questionnaire and post- experiment questionnaire. According to the results from pre- questionnaire and post questionnaire, we can see that after the treatment, students’ tension reduced due to the effects of oral practice activities. In other words, students’ attitudes have changed positively thanks to oral grammar practice. In pre- experiment questionnaire, 97.5% of the students report that English grammar is necessary for their language learning, and the same amount of students admit that learning grammar at their school is boring. 95.5% of the students say it is stressful. All the students agree that the good teaching method may influence students’ attitudes towards grammar learning. When thinking of the teaching English grammar at their school, 70% of the students reveal that it is not suitable. 98.5% of them report that their teachers present a new English grammar structrure by giving meaning and explain the rules of new grammar structrures in Vietnamese. 100% of them say their teachers never give situations in which the structrure is used and their teachers never use the structure to talk about the real situation in the classroom or students’ life. And all of the students state that they often do written grammar exercises in textbook. 100% of them say they never do grammar practice orally. There’s no surprise when the students all feel happy if their teachers change the teaching methods and techniques in presenting and practising new grammar structrures. In contrast, in pre- experiment questionnaire, 100% of the students say they find pair works or group works, communicative games the most interesting and useful. All the students say oral English grammar is interesting and relaxing and they all agree that it both makes grammar lessons more enjoyable and makes the students like learning English grammar more. 99% of the students would prefer to continue getting involved in oral English grammar practice in their grammar lessons in the coming time.In conclusion, thanks to oral grammar practice, students’ attitudes changed positively. They like to learn English grammar in particular and English in general more. 4.2. Interviews 4.2.1. Pre- treatment interview Fifteen volunteer respondents were selected. The students were asked and answered in three groups in Vietnamese. This was to guarantee the truthfulness of the information in case the students were not confident enough in answering in English or they may get confused in understanding the interview questions. All the interview were audio- taped and transcribed. The full transript of the interview was given in Appendix. 4.2.1.1. Students’ awareness of the importance of grammar All the respondents (100%) emphasize the importance of grammar in their learning. All of them think that English grammar is necessary for their language learning because it is the most basic to help them understand the input and develop different language skills to reach the aim of communication. Without grammar, students can’t understand texts. They agree that making ungrammatical sentences may cause misunderstanding and lead to communication breakdown. 4.2.1.2. Students’ attitudes towards grammar learning Nearly 88% of the respondents strongly agree that grammar learning in class was boring. 33.3% of the students report that “Grammar lessons go on in the same way. The activities are repeated day by day so the lessons are very boring”. On the whole, most students do not like learning grammar. They show negative attitudes towards lessons because grammar teaching doesn’t attract them enough. 4.2.1.3. Students’ opinion of the syllabus. Most students (86%) have negative opinions about the syllabus. They want to leave grammar lessons out of the course although they are all aware of the importance of grammar. As for them, grammar lessons are too theoretical. They want fewer grammar lessons in the syllabus.And grammar lessons should be taught separately. 4.2.1.4. Students’ expectations. The majority of the respondents (93.3%) report that “One way to help students enjoy learning is the proper of teaching style and supporting facilities”. Grammar should be taught more interestingly with different teaching methods. Oral activities such as games, role-plays and high technology in teaching would reduce the tension of learning (Beatty,2003). One student says “Communitive activities should be used in class and written exercises for homework”. All the students (100%) state that the teacher’s teaching methods influence their grammar learning attitudes. All of them also agree that the difficulties they have in English grammar learning are : the teaching methods and their current learning conditions . And they all share the common idea that teachers should change the teaching methods when teaching grammar. 4.2.2. Post- treatment interview After the application of twelve grammar lessons, the post- treatment interviews were given to some students in 4 classes: 10c1, 10c2, 10c3, 10c4. 4.2.2.1. Students’ assessment of oral grammar practice It is interesting to find out that most of the students (89%) have positive attitudes towards English oral grammar practice applied in English grammar lessons. They think it is very useful to them. They like the new teaching method. Grammar teaching is effective because it helped students not only know the rules but also the usage. “It is wonderful. I don’t have to suffer from boring written exercises. I feel pleasant with communitive activities in the lessons. I like learning English more.” Most students have positive assessment of the effects of using communicative activities in grammar lessons. 4.2.2.2. Advantages and disadvantages of oral grammar practice From the result obtained from the post- interview, lots of advantages of oral grammar practice could be found.One concluded that “In comparison with traditional written practice,oral grammar practice has many good points. It helps students study and practise not only grammar but also communicative skills:such as speaking and listening”. All the students agree that oral grammar practice helps students remember easily grammar rules. Students had more chance to take their share of responsibility for their learning, to negotiate and co-operate with each other. Practising grammar through communicative activities, students could get higher achievement in learning. On the other hand, there are also some disadvantages : one interviewee said that “I find it difficult to remember complicated structures such as the present perfect passive. In class, I know the usage but at home I get confused”. It indicates that oral grammar practice doesn’t seem suitable for difficult structures especially for weak students. As they may fail to absorb these difficult structures right in class and may have the feeling of insecurity when not being corrected by the teacher. 4.2.2.3. Changes in students’ attitudes towards grammar learning as the result of oral grammar practice. Oral grammar practice has changed positively students’ attitudes towards grammar. Most students do not find traditional practice exercises interesting at all. They often feel bored and sleepy while doing a lot of written exercises.90% of the students say that they dislike sitting in silence to do exercises. With oral grammar practice, it is quite different. “Learning with pictures, images and games is much more joyful”. 100% of the students preffer the new way of teaching. 4.2.2.4. Students’ favourite grammar practice activities Among the communicative activities, games are considered the most favourable. 100% of the students asked like communicative games in class. Students claim that a best grammar lesson should include games because games require competion. It makes some positive contribution to the students’ motivation. “I like learning through games most.” most students confirmed. And they also like pair works or group works.For students, working in pairs or groups is the second favourable activity because they have more chance to practise grammar structrures in real situations. 4.3. Discussion Based on the result of the data collection and analysis in the previous section, this discussion focuses on the students’ initial attitudes and students’ attitude change towards grammar learning. The discussion reveals the connection between theory and reality to answer two research questions. Question 1: What are the 10th grade students’ attitudes towards grammar learning when traditional teaching methods are used? Question 2: How can oral practice change positively Tran Nguyen Han 10th graders’ attitudes towards English grammar learning ? The answers are: Students have negative attitudes towards grammar learning with traditional methods of teaching. Oral grammar practice has changed positively students’ attitudes towards grammar learning. Firstly, in pre- questionnaire, 70% of the students think that the teacher’s current teaching method is not suitable to the students and 77.5% of the students report that the teacher’s current teaching method is not effective. When talked about their learning English grammar at school, they don’t find it enjoyable and relaxing. Students found grammar lessons boring because they had no opportunities to learn from partner’s strength in a free manner. Therefore, students were often under pressure of fulliling their work.Secondly, after the application of oral grammar practice, students’ attitudes have changed.In post-experiment questionnaire, 100% of the students strongly agree that oral grammar practice in English grammar lessons is very interesting and useful to students. 90% of the students confirm that oral grammar practice makes English grammar lessons more lively, interesting and stimulates them to learn English. Thirdly,the major findings of the pre- interview are coincided with the pre-questionnaire with the idea that students kept initial negative attitudes towards grammar learning. The percentage number of the students in the pre-interview from 83% to 90% agree that they have to suffer from boring and stressful lessons and they think that it is necessary to have a change in grammar learning in the classroom. In pre- experiment interview, we also understand in detail that 86% of the students have negative feelings about grammar learning. At last, most of the students share the same ideas that it is necessary to have a change to turn negative attitudes into positive ones. Lastly, students’ opinions in post-experiment interview also support post-experiment questionnaire. Students emphasize prominent advantages of oral grammar practice. Oral practice facilitates the students in understanding and memorizing grammar structures as well as the usage so their mastery of English grammar in particular and the English language in general can be revealed a fact that for complicated structures, traditional written exercises seem more relevant especially for weak students. All things considered, it’s true that all of the students expect to have grammar learning with oral practice activities in the practice stage in the coming time. In the light of these findings, I would recommend that teachers try to apply oral practice activities in grammar learning, as they increase students’ interests in learning. 4.4. Summary Chapter 4 presents the findings from the questionnaires and interviews. Answers to each question are analyzed and categorized and later compared with or contrasted to findings from the interviews. The discussion on the findings in the last section of this gives answers to the two research questions of the study. CHAPTER V : CONCLUSION 5.1. Summary and conclusion: This research was presented with the aims to investigate the change in students’ attitudes towards grammar learning when grammar was practised orally instead of through written exercises. The research was based on experimental method which the researcher uses to find out the attitude change toward grammar learning during a 12- lesson experiment. The results of the experiment have made it possible to come to the following conclusion: Firstly,oral grammar practice reduces tension and bordom. Students can take part in various activities actively. Also, working in pairs or groups provides an encouraging environment for natural language use. Further more, mistakes can be detected and corrected naturally by students themselves, which surely boosts their cooperation skills as well. Secondly, oral grammar practice increases students’ motivation. Through communicative activities, students are eager to learn. Therefore, they will make progress with higher result. Thirdly, oral grammar practice creates contexts for real and meaningful language use. Students use the language naturally through communicative practice activities in class. These activities not only make the atmosphere of learning more exciting but also provide the students opportunities to use grammar structures in real contexts rather than simply practice them . In addition to this, it seems more effective and better at helping the students remember and use grammar rules than traditional written exercises. All things considered, oral grammar practice is suitable for the 10th form students. Most of the students are more interested in and more attentive to learning grammar because they have comfortable and exciting learning environment. It is hoped that the study may be useful for teachers in teaching grammar to the 10th form students at Tran Nguyen Han High School in particular and to any groups of students of English in general. 5.2. Limitations of the study: Due to the lack of time, the data was only collected through one main instrument, the questionnaire, supported by opinions gathered from short informal interviews with the students. Therefore, the result of this study may only reflect a part of situation of using oral grammar practice in teaching English grammar at the studied school. There are many things that need considering and investigating thoroughly. Mistakes and shortcomings are unavoidable so any comments or extra contributions are welcome. 5.3. Suggestions for further study: Using oral practice in teaching grammar still remains a wide room to study. Further research may focus on other subjects like grade 11 and grade 12 students. As for a field of exploiting oral grammar practice in learning and teaching grammar, the researcher would suggest that research on building an item bank of oral practice exercises for particular course book would contribute to deal with the shortage of applicable materials for teachers. REFERENCES 1.Abelson, R. (1968). Theories of Cognitive Consistency Theory. Chicago: Rand McNally 2. Anderson, R.C.& Pearson, P. D.(1984). Handbook of Reading Research. New York: Longman. 3.Baker, C. (1992). Attitudes and Language. Bristol, PA:Multilingual Matters 4.Beatty, K.(2003).Computer Assisted Language Teaching. In D.Nunan(ed.) Practical English Language Teaching. NewYork: Mc Graw-Hill. 5.Brown, H. Douglas (1994). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. Prentince Hall. 6.Doukas, E.K.(1996).Using Attitudes Scale to Investigate Teachers’ Attitudes to the Communicative Approach.ELT Journal, 50, 3, 187-198. 7.Eagly, A.H.,& Chaiken, S. (1993). 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How languages are learnt. Oxford : Oxford University Press. 27. Littlewood, W. (1981). “Language teaching. An introduction.” Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. 28. Marzano, R. J.et al (1994). Assessing Student Outcome: Performance Assessement Using the Dimentions of Learning. Virginia, Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. 29. Nunan, D. (1989). APPENDICES Appendix 1: Pre - Experiment questionnaire on English grammar learning The purpose of this research is to investigate students' attitudes towards English grammar learning. All information will be confidential. You do not have to provide your name on this survey. Your response is greatly appreciated. Please tick the option that best describes your opinion. Do you think English grammar is necessary for your language learning? Yes c No c - Why do/ don't you think English grammar is necessary for your language learning ? Agree Disagree English grammar helps combine words into sentences to express ideas, feelings... English grammar assists the learners in memorizing and using the language appropriately in communication. English grammar is essential in developing various language skills to reach the aim of communication. English grammar helps develop the learner's self- confidence in using language. Others, please specify............................................................................... .............................................................................................................................. .............................................................................................................................. .............................................................................................................................. Do you enjoy learning English grammar? Yes c No c If you talk about your learning English grammar at your school, which of the following words most reflect your impression: boring c interesting c stressful c relaxing c enjoyable c Others, please specify... .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 5. What factors do you think may influence your attitudes towards grammar learning? Agree Disagree The difficulty of the English grammar. The suitability of the syllabus. Teachers’ knowledge and proficiency Teaching method Others , please specify............................................................................. ............................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................... 6. What do you think about the teaching English grammar at your school ? Agree Disagree Suitable Motivating Effective Others, please specify.............................................................................. ............................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................... 7. How do your teachers present a new English grammar structure and how frequently do they use these techniques ? often sometimes rarely never Give meaning and explain the rules of new grammar structures in Vietnamese . Explain the rules of new English grammar structures in English. Give examples of new structures Give situations in which the structure is used Use the structure to talk about the real situation in the classroom or Ss' life. Others , please specify................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. 8. What activities do you get involved in class to practice new grammar structures and how frequently do you do them? Often Sometimes Rarely never Do written grammar exercises in textbook. Do written grammar exercises in textbook and workbook. Do written grammar exercises outside textbook and workbook. Do grammar practice orally. Others , please specify.................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. 9. Would you feel happy if your teacher change the teaching methods and techniques in presenting and practicing new grammar structures? Yes c No c 10.What changes in teaching methods and techniques do you expect from your teacher in grammar lessons? Please, specify................................................................................................... ............................................................................................. ……………………... ................................................................................................................................. ................................................................................................................................. ................................................................................................................................. Appendix 2: PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA TIỀN THỬ NGHIỆM VIỆC HỌC NGỮ PHÁP TIẾNG ANH Mục đích của nghiên cứu này nhằm điều tra thái độ của học sinh đối với việc học ngữ pháp tiếng Anh. Toàn bộ thông tin sẽ được bảo mật. Em không cần phải nêu tên mình trong khảo sát này. Câu trả lời của em được đánh giá rất cao. Xin vui lòng tích vào lựa chọn mô tả tốt nhất ý kiến của em. Em có nghĩ rằng Ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh cần thiết cho việc học ngoại ngữ của mình không? Có o Không o - Tại sao em nghĩ/ không nghĩ rằng Ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh cần thiết đối với việc học ngoại ngữ của mình ? Đồng ý Không đồng ý Ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh giúp kết hợp các từ thành một câu nhằm diễn tả những ý kiến, cảm xúc... Ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh trợ giúp người học trong việc ghi nhớ và sử dụng ngôn ngữ một cách thích hợp trong giao tiếp. Ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh rất thiết yếu trong việc phát triển các kỹ năng ngôn ngữ trong giao tiếp. Ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh giúp hình thành sự tự tin của người học trong việc sử dụng ngôn ngữ. Ý kiến khác, xin mời em nêu rõ.............................................................. .............................................................................................................................. .............................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. Em có thích học Ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh không? Có o Không o Về việc học Ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh tại trường mình, em muốn dùng từ nào sau đây để mô tả ấn tượng của mình: Buồn tẻ c Thú vị c Căng thẳng c Thoải mái c Thích thú c Những cảm xúc khác, xin mời em nêu rõ... .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 5. Những yếu tố nào theo em có thể ảnh hưởng đến thái độ của em trong việc học ngữ pháp? Đồng ý Không đồng ý a. Độ khó dễ của ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh b. Sự phù hợp của chương trình học Kiến thức và sự thành thạo ngôn ngữ của giáo viên Phương pháp giảng dạy Ý kiến khác, xin mời em nêu rõ.............................................................. ............................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................... 6. Em nghĩ gì về việc dạy Ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh tại trường mình ? Đồng ý Không đồng ý Phù hợp Có động cơ thúc đẩy Hiệu quả Ý kiến khác, xin mời em nêu rõ.............................................................. ............................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................... 7. Giáo viên của em giới thiệu cấu trúc ngữ pháp tiếng Anh mới như thế nào và họ có làm như thế thường xuyên không ? thường xuyên thỉnh thoảng hiếm khi không bao giờ Giải nghĩa và giải thích quy tắc của các cấu trúc ngữ pháp mới bằng tiếng Việt. Giải thích quy tắc của các cấu trúc Ngữ pháp mới bằng tiếng Anh. Đưa ra ví dụ về các cấu trúc mới Đưa ra tình huống có sử dụng cấu trúc mới Sử dụng cấu trúc để nói về tình huống thật sự trong lớp hoặc trong đời sống c