Vinh university Foreign Languages Department - Phan Thi Quynh Mai Applying communicative activities for 10th form students to practise grammatical structures orally at free practice stage (Sử dụng hoạt động giao tiếp cho häc sinh líp 10 lun tËp cÊu tróc ng÷ pháp bớc thực hành tự do) Graduation thesis Field: Methodology Vinh, 2005 Vinh university Foreign Languages Department - Applying communicative activities for 10th form students to practise grammatical structures orally at free practice stage (Sử dụng hoạt động giao tiếp cho häc sinh líp 10 lun tËp cÊu tróc ng÷ pháp bớc thực hành tự do) Graduation thesis Field: Methodology Supervisor : Cao Thi Phuong, M.A Student Vinh 2005 Phan ThÞ Quúnh Mai - 42A2- Foreign Language Department : Phan Thi Quynh Mai Table of content Acknowledgements Table of content Part I: Introduction Reasons for choosing the subject Aims of the study Scope of study Methods of study Design of study Part II: Content Chapter I: Theoretical background 1.1 The Communicative Approach in language teaching 1.1.1.The nature of Communicative Approach 1.1.2 The implications of the Communicative Approach for language learning 1.2 Grammar and the importance of free practice stage in teaching and learning grammar 1.2.1 Definitions of grammar 1.2.2 The place of grammar teaching according to the Communicative Approach 2.3 Stages in grammar teaching according to the Communicative Approach 1.2.4 The roles of the free practice stage 1.3 The role of the teacher at free practice stage of teaching grammar 1.4 Characteristics of effective grammar practice 1.5 Characteristics of a good speaking activity 1.6 Advantages and problems of free oral communicative activity 1.6.1 Advantages 1.6.2 Problems and solutions Chapter II: Suggested oral communicative activities 2.1 Communicative activity 11 12 16 20 22 22 24 28 28 2.2 Types of communicative activities for students to practise grammatical structures orally at free practice stage 2.2.1 Information exchanges 2.2.1.1 Information gap activity 2.2.1.2 Personal information exchange 2.2.2 Oral interactions 28 28 28 29 30 Phan ThÞ Quúnh Mai - 42A2- Foreign Language Department 1 2 3 4 4 5 2.2.2.1 Find someone who 2.2.2.2 Questionnaire 2.2.3 Communicative games 2.2.3.1 Find the differences 2.2.3.2 Describing and arranging 2.2.3.3 Story construction 2.2.3.4 Guessing games 2.2.3.5 Quizzes 2.2.4 Relaying instructions 2.2.5 Reaching a consensus 2.2.6 Role play 2.2.6.1 Simulation 2.2.6.2 Role play 2.2.7 Free talk 2.3 The organization of oral communicative activity Chapter III: Application 3.1 The state of using communicative activities for students to practise grammatical structures orally at free practice stage in secondary school 3.2 Some suggested communicative activities to motivate 10th students to practise grammatical structures orally at free practice stage 3.3 Requirements of using visual aids Part C: Conclusion References Appendix 30 31 31 32 33 34 34 36 36 36 37 37 38 38 38 46 46 47 49 50 PART A: Introduction Reasons for choosing the subject: It is common knowledge that English has become an international language that plays a vital part in any aspects of life Therefore, teaching and learning English have become a necessity However, how to teach English in general and grammatical structures in particular aiming at communication is still a discussing matter Teaching grammar is one of important components of language course It is said that learners who master English grammar can perform four skills well and therefore can communicate in English successfully For this reason, Phan ThÞ Quúnh Mai - 42A2- Foreign Language Department to be successful in learning English, learners need to learn grammar and lot of practice However, many students find grammar lesson boring because they are most asked to written exercises that not motivate them any more Using communicative activities at free grammar practice stage can solve these problems Moreover, getting students to speak is a vital part of a teacher’s job “OfOf the four skills, speaking seems intuitively the most important: people who know a language are referred to as “Ofspeakers” of that language” [12:120] of that language” of that language” [12:120] [12:120] Therefore, oral practice of language, especially oral communicative activities should be focused so that students can develop speaking skill There are, of course, many ways to motivate students to practice grammatical structures and to develop learners’ speaking skill, however, it is discussing to choose an appropriate way and type of practice to teach As a matter of fact, English nowadays, is mainly used for communicative purposes Accordingly, English should be taught for secondary students in general and 10th form students in particular according to Communicative Approach or “Oflearner-centered” of that language” [12:120] approach This approach, however, are still strange to many teachers, they still teach grammar by traditional method Therefore, we found it interesting and useful to have specific research into the problems above and decide to choose the topic: “OfApplying communicative activities for 10th form students to practise grammatical structures orally at free practice stage” of that language” [12:120] as the study of our graduation thesis Aims of the study: The aims of our study are: -To discuss the importance of grammar and the benefits of free oral grammar practice stage in teaching English according to Communicative Approach -To analyze the roles of teacher at that stage and find out the way to organize an oral communicative activity at free grammar practice stage effectively -To analyze the characteristics of an effective oral grammar practice activity -To point out the advantages and disadvantages of oral communicative activities used at free grammar practice and techniques to solve these problems Phan ThÞ Quúnh Mai - 42A2- Foreign Language Department -To systematize oral communicative activities for students to practise grammatical structures at free practice stage and suggest some activities used for 10th form students with some specific examples Scope of the study: The study covers the focus on free practice of teaching grammatical structures with the main purpose that is to provide some techniques for motivating 10th form students to practise grammar orally according to Communicative Approach Method of the study: A lot of methods were used while we were doing this research but the main ones are descriptive method, collecting method, analytic method, synthetic method, observing, doing survey questionnaires, etc… Design of the study The study includes: Part A: Introduction Part B: Content Chapter I: Theoretical background Chapter II: Types of oral communicative activities used at free grammar practice stage Chapter III: Application Part C: Conclusion References Phan ThÞ Quúnh Mai - 42A2- Foreign Language Department PART B: CONTENT Chapter I: THEORETICAL background 1.1 The Communicative Approach in language teaching 1.1.1 Nature of the Communicative Approach: The communicative approach in language teaching starts from the theory of language as communication The goal of language teaching is to develop students’ communicative competence That means that after learning a foreign language (English, for example), students can know how to use English or foreign language appropriately in daily communication One of main effects of the communicative approach has been the realization that just getting students to perform drills or engage in controlled practice may not be enough to help them to stand on their own feet as users of English As the sociolinguist Dell Hymes has said: “OfA person who acquires communicative competence acquires both knowledge and ability for language uses.” of that language” [12:120] 1.1.2 The implications of the communicative approach for language teaching and learning: For these reasons above, in teaching language in general and English in particular following this approach, we should teach it by using real-life situations, i.e “Ofauthentic language” of that language” [12:120] should be used The syllabus is designed according to function of the language Moreover, as the aim of language teaching is at the students’ ability to communicate, or in other words, communicative competence, it puts more stress on appropriateness than correction, on fluency than accuracy Students are the center of the classroom activities They are expected to speak as much as possible and interact primarily with each other rather than the teacher basing on what they have learnt and their own experience about language For the teacher, he acts as an organizer, a motivator, an observer, a counselor, a diagnoser, and a corrector during the lesson, however, the correction of errors is rare, sometimes ignored unless there is a communicative failure 1.2 Grammar and the importance of free practice stage in teaching and learning grammar 1.2.1 Definitions of grammar: According to Penny Ur, grammar is roughly defined as “Ofthe way a language manipulates and combines words or bits of words in order to form longer units of meaning” of that language” [12:120] [13: 4] For example, in English, the present form of Phan ThÞ Quúnh Mai - 42A2- Foreign Language Department the verb “Ofto be” of that language” [12:120] in the third person has two distinct forms, one is “Ofis” of that language” [12:120] being used with a singular subject, and the other “Ofare” of that language” [12:120] with a plural Thus, a sentence like “OfThis is a pen” of that language” [12:120] is grammatical whereas “OfThis are a pen” of that language” [12:120] is not There is a set of rules which govern how units of meaning may be constructed in any language: we may say that a learner who knows grammar is one who has mastered and can apply these rules to express himself in what would be considered “Ofacceptable” of that language” [12:120] language forms Penny Ur also provides another definition of grammar That is: “OfGrammar is a set of rules that defines how words (or parts of words) are combined and changed to form acceptable units of meaning within a language” of that language” [12:120] [12: 87] For example, English words (or parts of words) can be combined and changed in number of ways, by suffixes, prefixes, etc The suffix “Ofed” of that language” [12:120] indicates the past tense if a regular verb, and the “Ofs” of that language” [12:120] tells us the plural form of nouns By mastering grammatical rules, learners can produce a correct sentence like “OfThere are three oranges on the table” of that language” [12:120] Another definition is from the Longman dictionary of Contempory English in which grammar is defined as follows: “OfGrammar is the study and practice of the rules by which words are changed their forms and combined into sentences” of that language” [12:120] [8: 245] From this definition we can see two basic elements: the rules of grammar and the practice of the rules What are the rules of grammar? As the dictionary suggests, the rules of grammar are about how words are altered and how they are put together into sentences For instance, “Ofran” of that language” [12:120] is used for the past tense of the verb “Ofto run” of that language” [12:120] instead of “Ofrunned” of that language” [12:120] because only “Ofran” of that language” [12:120] sounds right Also, when making a full sentence we say “Ofwe ran very fast” of that language” [12:120] instead of saying “Ofwe runned very fast” of that language” [12:120] In addition, there are several authors who seem to have the same definition of grammar That is the author of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary who defined grammar as “Ofrules in a language for changing the form of words and combining them into sentences” of that language” [12:120] That is Jeremy Harmer, grammar as his definition is “Ofthe way in which words change themselves and group together to make sentences” of that language” [12:120] [6: 76] In conclusion, grammar of English language is a set of rules that determines how words or a bit of words are changed and combined to make correct sentences When teaching grammar, the teacher often teaches it based on particular grammatical structure And he should also teach grammatical meaning and uses of the structure so that students can know how and when to Phan ThÞ Quúnh Mai - 42A2- Foreign Language Department use the structure appropriately and accurately for daily communication or other purposes 1.2.2 The place of grammar in foreign language teaching and learning Most people agree that knowledge of a language means, among other things, knowing its grammar There is no doubt that knowledge of grammar, either implicit or explicit, is essential for the mastery of a language: one can not use words unless he knows how they should be put together Similarly, one cannot make the others understand what he is speaking if he does not know how to arrange separate words in the right orders according to a certain grammatical rules of the language Learning the grammar of a language helps us overcome the problems above in using it Hence, this plays an important role in achieving successful communication However, in recent years, there has been some discussion of the question: “Ofdo we have to have ‘grammar exercises’?” of that language” [12:120] Isn’t it better for learners to absorb grammatical rules intuitively through communicative activities than to be taught through special exercises explicitly aimed at teaching grammar? Obviously, it is difficult to answer this question accurately since success in learning grammatical rules not only depends on how to learn but also on different learner’s ability and the objective of language learning For example, if learners’ ability to communicate naturally and appropriately in daily life is the main aim of language teaching and learning, then learning grammatical rules through communicative activities is better, more practical and effective than through exercises Whether teaching grammar by this or that way, it is advisable to see the learning of grammar in the long term as one of the means of acquiring a thorough mastery of the language as a whole, not an end in itself Thus, at an early stage, the teacher may ask her students to learn a certain grammatical structure through exercises that concentrate on virtually meaningless manipulations of language, and then she should quickly progress to communicative activities that use language meaningfully or move to fluency practice that aims at successful communication In short, learning grammar is very important and essential to students This enables them to comprehend and use language appropriately and accurately Moreover, communicative activities used for practising grammatical structures orally, can create interest and provoke motivation of Phan ThÞ Quúnh Mai - 42A2- Foreign Language Department the students, particularly students in large heterogeneous classes Therefore, the importance of grammar is great for both teachers and students 1.2.3 Stages in grammar teaching according to Communicative Approach: In order to teach grammar successfully, teaching procedures should be carefully selected and arranged in certain logical orders The teacher should follow the four stages in grammar teaching as suggested here: 1.2.3.1 Presentation stage: This stage comes initially in grammar teaching process In this stage, teacher usually begins by presenting the class with a text in which the grammatical structure appears The aim of this is to get students to perceive the structure –its forms and meanings- in both speech and writing and to take it into short-term memory As follow-up, students may be asked to read aloud, repeat, reproduce from memory or copy out instance of the use of the structure within the text At this stage, teacher usually acts as an informant He is doing most the talking and controlling students’ talk The presentation should not last for long time, so that students have more time to practice language themselves 1.2.3.2 Isolation and explanation stage: At this stage, the teacher moves away from the context and focuses temporarily on the grammatical items themselves This includes what they sound and look like, what they mean, how they function – in short, what rules govern them Its aim is that learners should understand these various aspects of the structure In some classes, to make the grammatical items clearer and understandable to the students, the teacher may need to make extensive use of the students’ native language to explain, translate and so on In more academic classes or where the structure is particularly difficult for students to comprehend or grasp, this stage may take some time However, where the structure is very simple or close to a parallel in native language, it may take only a minute or be entirely omitted 1.2.3.3 Practice stage: The practice stage comes after the initial presentation and explanation when learner is assumed to have perceived the material and taken it into shortterm memory, but they can not be said to have really mastered it yet Practice may be defined as any kind of engaging with language on the part of the students under the teacher’s supervision, whose primary objective Phan ThÞ Quúnh Mai - 42A2- Foreign Language Department ... grammatical structures orally at free practice stage in secondary school 3.2 Some suggested communicative activities to motivate 10th students to practise grammatical structures orally at free practice. .. topic: “OfApplying communicative activities for 10th form students to practise grammatical structures orally at free practice stage? ?? of that language” [12:120] as the study of our graduation thesis... Vinh university Foreign Languages Department - Applying communicative activities for 10th form students to practise grammatical structures orally at free practice stage (Sử dụng