Microsoft Word - Seyoum Haile
Transcript of Microsoft Word - Seyoum Haile
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ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITYINSTITUTE OF LANGUAGE STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE(GRADUATE PROGRAMME)
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF GRAMMAR TEACHING METHODSEMPLOYED BY TELEVISED TEACHER AND NON-PLASMA
SCHOOL TEACHERS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCETO GRADE NINE STUDENTS OF JIMMA
TOWN HIGH SCHOOLS
SEYOUM HAILE
FEBRUARY 2008
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COMPARATIVE STUDY OF GRAMMAR TEACHING METHODS
EMPLOYED BY TELEVISED TEACHER AND NON-PLASMASCHOOL TEACHERS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE
TO GRADE NINE STUDENTS OF JIMMATOWN HIGH SCHOOLS
SEYOUM HAILE
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGNLANGUAGES AND LITERATURE (GRADUATE PROGRAM) INPARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS (MA) IN TEACHINGENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (TEFL)
FEBRUARY 2008
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ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITYINSTITUTE OF LANGUAGE STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF GRAMMAR TEACHING METHODSEMPLOYED BY TELEVISED TEACHER AND NON-PLASMA
SCHOOL TEACHERS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCETO GRADE NINE STUDENTS OF JIMMA
TOWN HIGH SCHOOLS
SEYOUM HAILE
APPROVED BY EXAMINING BOARD:
Advisor Signature
________________________________ _______________
Examiner
________________________________ ________________
Examiner
________________________________ ________________
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful to my advisor Dr. Hailom Banteyirga for his constructive advices
and critical comments from the beginning to the end of the research work. His
valuable advice and logical comments helped me a great deal to shape the
paper in its present form. His fatherly approach also played a key role for the
successful accomplishment of the paper. Without his help, this paper could
have not taken its present form.
Equally, my heartfelt gratitude goes to Addis Ababa University for covering the
expense of the research work.
I would alsolike to extend my sincere thanks to Ato Miftah Abdu vice director
of Jireen high school and Ato Fuad Abafita director of Setto Semero high school
for their permission to conduct the research in their schools. Moreover, my
thanksgo to English language teachers Ato Jemal, Ato Takele, Ato Belay, Ato
Kemal and W/ro Nigist of Jireen high school and Ato Wondimu Sedeka, Ato
Alemu and W/ro Belyu from Setto Semero high school for their willingness to
be observed, for willing to be interviewed and for encouraging their students to
fill the questionnaire.
I am also thankful to my colleagues Ato Negash Getachew and Ato Teshome
Bekele for their proof reading the paper.
My indebted thank also goes to Hayemanot Tekalegn and Rahel Tekalegn for
typing and editing the paper time and again.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Acknowledgements --------------------------------------------------------------------- i
Table of Contents ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ii
List of Tables----------------------------------------------------------------------------- vi
Acronyms -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- vii
Abstract ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- viii
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction------------------------------------------------------------------------------1
1.1. Statement of the Problem ---------------------------------------------------- 1
1.2. Purpose of the Study ----------------------------------------------------------3
1.3. Significance of the Study ----------------------------------------------------- 4
1.4. Scope of the Study------------------------------------------------------------- 4
1.5. Limitation of the Study ------------------------------------------------------- 5
1.6. Operational Definition -------------------------------------------------------- 5
CHAPTER TWO
Review of Related Literature----------------------------------------------------------- 7
2.1. Basic Concepts of Grammar ------------------------------------------------- 7
2.2. Historical Overview of Grammar -------------------------------------------- 9
2.3. The Communicative Approach to Grammar Teaching -------------------10
2.3.1. Integration of Language Skills -------------------------------------10
2.3.2. Authenticity and Variety of Contexts -----------------------------11
2.3.3. Creative use of Language ------------------------------------------- 12
2.4. Deductive and Inductive Grammar Teaching Approaches -------------- 13
2.5. Stages of Communicative Grammar Teaching ----------------------------16
2.5.1. Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------16
2.5.2. Presentation ----------------------------------------------------------17
2.5.3. Practice --------------------------------------------------------------- 17
2.5.4. Production ------------------------------------------------------------ 17
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2.6 Tasks for Teaching Grammar Communicatively--------------------------- 19
2.7. The Role of Teachers and Learners in Foreign Language Class --------20
2.8. Techniques of Communicative Grammar Teaching ---------------------- 22
2.8.1. Role Play -----------------------------------------------------------------22
2.8.2. Pictures -------------------------------------------------------------------23
2.8.3. Graphs -------------------------------------------------------------------- 23
2.8.4. Songs --------------------------------------------------------------------- 23
2.8.5. Poetry --------------------------------------------------------------------- 24
2.8.6. Telling Stories ----------------------------------------------------------- 24
2.9. Classroom Organization for Teaching Grammar Communicatively
and Feedback -------------------------------------------------------------------25
2.9.1. Pair Work -----------------------------------------------------------------25
2.9.2. Group Work -------------------------------------------------------------- 25
2.9.3. Giving Feedback ---------------------------------------------------------26
2.10. Instructional Television: What is Instructional Television?------------ 26
2.10.1. Types of Instructional Television Programs ----------------------- 27
2.10.2. Role of Instructional Television --------------------------------------27
2.10.3. Stages in Teaching Language through Instructional
Television ---------------------------------------------------------------- 29
2.10.3.1. Before the Program (Pre-teaching) ----------------------- 29
2.10.3.2. During the Program (while-teaching)-------------------- 30
2.10.3.3. After the Program (post-teaching)------------------------ 31
2.10.4. Instructional Television in Ethiopia --------------------------------- 32
2.11. Comparative Research Evidences from Researchers on
Instructional Television and the Classroom Teacher in the
Teaching-Learning Process -------------------------------------------------- 342.12. Research Findings on Grammar Teaching ------------------------------- 35
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CHAPTER THREE
Research Methodology -----------------------------------------------------------------36
3.1. Context -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 36
3.2. Determining Target Population and Sample Size ------------------------- 36
3.3. Method of Data Collection and Sampling Technique -------------------- 37
3.4. Instruments for Data Collection---------------------------------------------38
3.4.1. Classroom Observation------------------------------------------------- 38
3.4.2. Interview ------------------------------------------------------------------40
3.4.3. Questionnaire ------------------------------------------------------------ 41
3.5. Data Collection Procedure----------------------------------------------------42
3.6. Techniques of Data Analysis ------------------------------------------------ 43
CHAPTER FOUR
Presentation and Data Analysis ----------------------------------------------------- 44
4.1. Analysis of Observed Data --------------------------------------------------- 44
4.1.1. Introducing the Grammar Lessons --------------------------------- 44
4.1.2. Grammar Presentation in the two Schools ------------------------ 46
4.1.3. Techniques and Activities of Grammar Teaching-----------------49
4.1.4. Classroom Organization ----------------------------------------------52
4.1.5. Medium of Instruction ------------------------------------------------53
4.1.6. Time Allocation to Grammar Tasks --------------------------------- 55
4.1.7. Integration of Grammar with Other Skills ------------------------- 56
4.1.8. Access to Class and Home Take Tasks-----------------------------58
4.1.9. Feedback and Correction--------------------------------------------- 59
4.2. Analysis of the Interview------------------------------------------------------ 60
4.2.1. Teachers Response about their Attitude towards theGrammar Lessons ----------------------------------------------------- 61
4.2.2. Teachers Response about Participation and Classroom
Organization------------------------------------------------------------- 63
4.2.3. Language of Instruction ---------------------------------------------- 65
4.2.4. Teachers Response about Home Take Tasks and Feedback---- 66
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4.2.5. Teachers Response about Weak and Strong Sides of the
Televised teacher ------------------------------------------------------ 66
4.3. Analysis of Questionnaire Results ------------------------------------------ 68
CHAPTER FIVE
Conclusions and Recommendations ------------------------------------------------- 78
5.1. Conclusions -------------------------------------------------------------------- 78
5.2. Recommendations ------------------------------------------------------------- 79
Bibliography -------------------------------------------------------------------82
Appendix A --------------------------------------------------------------------- 87
Appendix B --------------------------------------------------------------------- 107
Appendix C --------------------------------------------------------------------- 132
Appendix D --------------------------------------------------------------------- 138
Appendix E --------------------------------------------------------------------- 142
Appendix F---------------------------------------------------------------------- 144
Appendix G --------------------------------------------------------------------- 146
Appendix H --------------------------------------------------------------------- 148
Appendix I ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 150
Appendix J---------------------------------------------------------------------- 152
Appendix K --------------------------------------------------------------------- 154
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LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 4.1: Students Response about their Attitude towards Grammar-------- 68
Table 4.2: Students Response about their Attitude towards the Nature of
Grammar Lessons and Exercises they Learn---------------------------- 69
Table 4.3A: Students Response about Homework and Class work------------- 71
Table 4.3B: Students Response about how often their Teachers give them
Class and take Home Tasks ---------------------------------------------- 71
Table 4.4: Students Response about Group and pair Activities----------------- 72
Table 4.5: Students Response about the Adequacy of the Time given by
their Teachers when doing Grammar Tasks ------------------------------ 73
Table 4.6: Students Response about their Problem in Grammar --------------- 74
Table 4.7: Students Response about their Attitude towards the Continuity
of Grammar Instruction through Plasma Television --------------------75
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ACRONYMS
CGT: Communicative Grammar Teaching
CLT: Communicative Language Teaching
ETV: Educational Television
ITV: Instructional Television
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ABSTRACT
The main objective of the study is to compare the grammar teaching methodsused by the televised teacher (plasma television) and the non-plasma school
teachers in relation to the theory of communicative language teaching.
To achieve the objective, Jireen and Setto Semero high schools were selected as a
study area both from Jimma town. The former uses plasma television and thelatter does not. For this study, 410 students (i.e. 210 from the plasma school and
200 from the non-plasma school) and 6 interested teachers (3 from each school)were taken as sample subjects. To select the subjects from students, systematicrandom sampling technique was used. As to the teachers, the interested oneswere included in the study. To gather valuable information from the subjects,three instruments (observation, student questionnaire and teachers interview)were used. The main instrument for the data collection was observation.
The result of the study indicated that the televised teacher was teachinggrammar inductively at first and then deductively to explain the rules in the formof summary. The data obtained from the three instruments also showed that thetelevised teacher was frequently incorporating techniques such as pictures, realimages of people doing variety of activities (hunting, fishing, playing football),insects, geographical sights (like desert areas) to contextualize grammar lessons.It was also found that she was providing students with activities such as
problem solving and information gap. However, speed of the televised teacher,her failure to understand students' background and the learning environment,large class size and limited role of the classroom teachers were found the majorhindering factors in implementing communicative grammar teaching effectively.
On the other hand, the information obtained from the non-plasma school showedthat the teachers were teaching grammar deductively (by explaining the rulesexplicitly) using the isolated sentences found in the textbook. In this school, thedecontextualized and isolated nature of the tasks, absence of supportivematerials such as reference books indicating how to teach grammar, lack of skill
in some teachers, absence of workshop and training programs, and large classsize were found the major hindering factors in implementing communicativegrammar teaching.
Finally, based on the result of the three instruments, it is concluded that the televised
teacher teaches grammar relatively better than the non-plasma school teachers. However,
the study also approved that there are areas which are difficult for the televised teacher
but easy for the local classroom teachers and vice versa when teaching grammar. Hence,
it is recommended that grammar should be taught by plasma television with active
involvement of classroom teachers.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Statement of the Problem
It is important to have the knowledge and skill of grammar for meaningful
communication. People may not pass the intended message meaningfully
unless they arrange words in at least their minimum acceptable order. For this
reason, grammar is viewed as the central area of a language around which
skills like reading, writing, speaking, vocabulary and other components of a
language such as meaning and function revolve (Ur, 1988). Of course, grammar
by itself as an end product of a language may not be as such important, but it
plays a key role in communication. For example, when we request, invite, or
order people to do something, we use grammar as a means of passing the
intended message. In relation to this, Cook (2001: 20) says "Grammar is
sometimes called the computational system that relates sound and meaning
trivial in itself but impossible to manage without". Again, Batstone (1994: 3) on
his part argues that "Language without grammar would certainly leave us
seriously handicapped". The reason for this is that language is broad and we
manage it because there are a set of rules that govern how units of meaning are
constructed. Hence, teaching foreign language grammar has a paramount
importance for good command of the foreign language where there is no natural
way of acquiring the language (Ibid).
In spite of the fact that teaching English grammar is essential, the teaching
methods and techniques employed in a classroom can have either negative or
positive effect on the development of communicative competence of the learner.More specifically, if the method becomes effective and enjoyable, the form and
meaning can be understood easily. On the other hand, if the methods are not
effective and enjoyable, students may fail to understand and use the structure.
In short, the types of grammar teaching methods and techniques used by
language teachers can affect not only grammar skill but also the development of
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other language skills (speaking, reading, listening etc) and the overall language
performance of learners (Cunningsworth, 1984). It is because of this reason
that the researcher wanted to conduct research on grammar teaching methods.
In the past, experience showed that Ethiopian students were being taught
grammar using the traditional approach. Teachers were teaching the rules of
the language through explicit explanation using examples. After the
explanation, students most of the time were told to construct their own
sentences similar to the example. The researcher himself is the product of that
method. But, scholars such as Cunningsworth (1984) and McDonough and
Shaw (1993) criticize this kind of instruction for it brings fragmented and
unrealistic language items besides discouraging classroom interaction.
Believing that the main purpose of language is communication, the present
Ministry of Education has changed the old method to a new method by
introducing instructional television (ITV) as a main means of achieving the
objective. The program designers believed that teaching English language by
ITV would enhance learner participation. It is with this assumption that the
English programs through ITV have been designed based on the revised English
syllabus (Ethiopia today, 2004). This is also in line with what Dale (1969)
claims when he writes that instructional television is one of the instructional
media that plays a significant role in facilitating the teaching of a foreign
language. In other words, Dale says ITV can create contextualized situation in
which language items are presented.
However, Dale says that introducing a program using new technology may faceproblems of implementation. Supporting this idea, local research finding by
Tatek (1994) indicates that schools who have been teaching English using the
ITV are not effective. The reason for this according to Tatek is that the ITV is
very fast and as a result students could not follow it attentively.
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In Ethiopia, since the coming of ITV, experience shows that there is controversy
about the language teaching methods of the ITV and the conventional classroom
teacher. Some people say that the conventional way of teaching (non-plasma) is
better while others believe that the ITV teaches better. Apart from such
controversy, there is no local research that tried to solve the problem as far as the
knowledge of the researcher is concerned. Thus, the inspiration for this study
mainly arose from the researchers interest to address this problem and to put a
ground base for further work on this area.
This study, therefore, attempts to compare the grammar teaching methods and
techniques applied by ITV and the classroom teachers (non-plasma instruction) in
relation to the theory of communicative grammar teaching.
1.2. Purpose of the Study
The main objective of this study is to compare the grammar teaching methods
and techniques employed by televised teacher and non-plasma school teachers
in relation to CLT. Specifically, the study has tried to answer the following
questions:
1. What methods and techniques do the televised teacher and the non-plasma school teachers use to teach grammar lessons?
2. What procedures do they follow to teach grammar lesson?3. Are there differences in methods? If there are differences, what are they?4. Whose teaching method is established based on the theory of
communicative grammar teaching?
5. Are there factors that hinder the creation of interactive grammar class?6. What are the nature of tasks they prepare and what class organization
they use to teach grammar?
7. Does the textbook contain interactive tasks? And how do the teachersand students see the grammar lessons?
8. What role do the teachers play?
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1.3. Significance of the Study
The results of the study could serve as source for the Ministry of Education and
for any concerned body who wants to modify the English language teaching
through instructional television and the classroom teachers. Furthermore,classroom teachers could benefit from it by way of evaluating their method of
grammar teaching in relation to the theory of Communicative Grammar
Teaching (CGT) methods and techniques. Again, for the textbook designers, it
could help them to revise the grammar lessons and tasks they prepared. The
results of the study could also initiate others who are interested in carrying out
further research in the area in wider scope.
1.4. Scope of the Study
This study focuses on grammar teaching. It was conducted on two
governmental high schools at Jimma town. The schools are Jireen and Setto
Semero high schools. The former teaches using plasma television and the latter
without it. Both schools teach grade 9 and 10 students. But this study is
limited to only grade 9 grammar teaching-learning. To collect data, therefore,
12 sections (6 from plasma and 6 from non-plasma school) were taken. That
means, the observation, video recording and distribution of questionnaire was
made in 6 sections of the plasma school; and the interview was also conducted
with the teachers who were teaching these sections.Likewise, 6 sections were
taken from the non-plasma school. And the observation, video recording and
questionnaire distribution was made in these sections. The interview in this
school was also conducted only with teachers who were teaching these
sections.
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1.5. Limitation of the Study
Basically, this study is new and untouched area, i.e. no local study has been
conducted on this particular area. Therefore, there was shortage of source
materials.
The researcher also faced problem during the data collection. He wanted to
observe more teachers. But, some of them were not interested to be observed.
As a result, the researcher was forced to observe only those who were
interested. There was also electrical problem in the plasma school. The
researcher first wanted to record three grammar lessons from this school, but
because of the electrical problem, he recorded only two lessons.
Furthermore, the research finding could have been more reliable if the
researcher had included other schools from other areas. But there was time
constraint to do so.
1.6. Operational Definition
Method: In this study, method refers to what Richards and Rodgers (2001)
describe. It contains detailed specifications of the content (i.e. lessons
and tasks), roles of teachers and students and the teaching
techniques and procedures. It refers to the over all plan used for the
orderly presentation of the grammar lessons.
Technique: Refers to the classroom implementation used to achieve the
objective of the instruction. Here, it refers to the pictures, the real
images, poem etc and the classroom organizations used to accomplish
or carry out the lessons and tasks.
Televised teacher (Plasma teacher): The teacher who teaches the English
lessons on the screen from the main station. Televised teacher has
also equal meaning with the word 'she' because the teacher is female.
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Assistants: In some parts of the discussion the word assistants is used
alternative to the phrase classroom teachers of plasma school
because their role is limited to assisting the televised teacher when
she needs them.
Classroom teachers: Refers to the English teachers of the non-plasma school.
Here, classroom teachers has equal meaning with the phrase non-
plasma school teachers.
Home-take Tasks: Tasks to be done at home by students.
Modern Grammar Teaching: Refers to Communicative Grammar Teaching.
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CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1. Basic Concepts of Grammar
Linguists have been studying grammar for centuries and it remains an object of
learning for many school children all over the world (Batstone, 1994). If this is
the case, what is grammar? What does it involve? Why do we concern ourselves
with it? This topic attempts to answer these questions.
Different scholars define grammar in different ways. But, the general content of
the definitions is similar. For example, Ur (1988: 4) relates grammar with the
arrangement of words in a language and defines it as "The way a language
manipulates and combines words or bits of words in order to form longer
meaning". Harmer (1987: 1) on his part defines it as "The study and practice of
the rules by which words change their forms and are combined in to
sentences". Stevic (1982: 187) also defines it as "A way of telling as accurately
and clearly as possible just how a particular language arranges its smaller
forms, its word stress, prefixes, suffixes, intonations and the like with in its
larger constructions such as words, clauses and sentences". The scholars'
definition about grammar can be made clear using the following cluster of
words taken from Batstone (1994: 3-4).
Up and he that the in Bills Jane stand announce spring marry. Now, can
we say that these clusters of words convey meaning? In their present situation,
neither a reader nor a listener can understand the meaning they convey as
such combination of words is not acceptable by the native speakers of thelanguage. However, if we combine these clusters of words using the rule of
subject + verb + object/complementas Bill stood up and announced that
he and Jane would be marrying in the spring, our perception of things
becomes clear. This sentence indicates that the announcement of Bill about the
marriage is in the past and at the same time his marriage to Jane is an
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intention than a fact. He did not, for example, announce that he had surely
married Jane. The point is that the clusters of words are rearranged in some
order and at the same time a number of modifications have been made to make
the meaning clear and to be easily understood by audience. For example, stand
has been changed into stoodand marryhas been expanded into would be
marrying. Furthermore, it is possible to have other kinds of modifications
based on the type of message one has intended to pass and based on the
occurrence of the event (present, past, future).For example, stand can be
changed to standsor standingand if we add the auxiliary verbs we can have
mightbestanding, has stoodand a number of other options.
Any language is governed by a certain rule developed by the agreement of native
speakers. This rule helps us to use the language for different purposes by
modifying and arranging words in different positions. Grammar, as a rule of a
language, is a system of creating meaning and function to any kind of
communication and a means of creating smooth relationship of the form,
meaning and function of a language. Grammar, therefore, helps us to be
creative in our spoken and written communication and for our message to be
understood by the interlocutor (Batstone, 1994). Saying it differently, grammar
is a systematizing force that allows human being to be endlessly creative with
finite set of resources. It is for this reason that we concern ourselves with
grammar. Describing it further, Batstone has to say the following about
grammar:
The question how words can or can not be combined in
sentences is one important part of grammar where it is theconcern of syntax. Through grammar we can specify the ways
in which words can be systematically modified throughalterations and additions. These modifications are part ofmorphology and they help us to convey functional concepts like
time, number and gender. At its heart, then, grammar consistsof two fundamental ingredients-syntax and morphology, whichtogether serve to enhance and sharpen the expression ofmeaning (Bastone, 1994: 3-4).
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2.2. Historical Overview of Grammar
Language teaching, particularly grammar teaching, has a long history.
According to Stern (1983: 131), grammar was taught beginning from the
classical era. It was also taught during the middle ages in the 12th
- 15th
centuries. During that time the traditional language school, which was
dominated by Latin and Greek language learning philosophy, was considered
primarily as the study of its grammar.
In the grammar translation method, grammar was given due attention and was
considered both as an end by itself and also as a means to enable the learner to
read and write. In the first half of the 20th century, structural linguists gave
attention to grammar teaching. The structural view to language teaching placed
grammar in the center of language learning and teaching. It viewed language
mainly as a system of structurally related elements for the coding of meaning.
In other words, structural linguists emphasize the idea that language learning
should be seen in terms of the mastery of the elements in the grammar system
(that is, phonological units, grammar units, and lexical items). According to the
structural view, the mastery of the elements of grammar provides the learner an
opportunity to effective preparation for the realization of communication
(Widdowson, 1978; Richards and Rodgers, 2001).
In the late 1950s, grammar was considered as unscientific and unworthy while
linguistics was given a higher consideration. In other words, the coming of
communicative approach to language teaching brought a negative reaction
against explicit grammar teaching in schools. As a result, in the first half of the
20th century teaching grammar knowledge as a focus and translation as a
means was overlooked by those scholars who began to see grammar teaching
as the transmission of the grammatical system in context (Martin, 1994).
Harmer's expression about the changing status of grammar in the history of
language teaching is evidence to this:
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If grammar were a person it might be actor whose popularityfluctuated widely over the decades as he or she got good roles,
then made some bad movies, then was rediscovered, thendisappeared for a bit only to be suddenly cast in leading rolesagain. If grammar were a style of clothing, it would probably be
flared trousers, popular in the 19 20s and 30s, then abandonedthen popular again in the 60s and 70s, then abandoned
conclusively and completely but now a modest comeback.Grammar, in other words, is a fashion victim (Harmer, 1998 inEnglish teaching professional, V6, p. 38).
2.3. The Communicative Approach to Grammar Teaching
In this approach, grammar is viewed as a means by which we organize
messages in any communicative activity. Language structures are seen as a
means to an end, not an end by themselves. The focus of this approach is not
mainly on form but on meaning in context (Atkins, Hailom and Nuru, 1995). In
other words, this approach says that the main function of a language is
communication and hence grammar should be seen as a subservient to the
communication system (Krashen, 1985).
Scholars such as Cunningsworth (1995), Fortune (1992), Freeman (1986) and
Nuttal (1989) claim that effective grammar teaching in a communicative
approach to second language teaching/learning need to have natural features
such as integration of language skills, authenticity and variety of contexts and
creative use of language.
2.3.1. Integration of Language Skills
In a real-life communication situation, one who listens to the information
usually gives feedback through speaking or writing. For example, a student wholistens to a lecture takes notes and also asks questions if there is something
which is not clear. Then, the student reads his/her notes. In all these
processes, the student is expected to note the linguistic forms, meaning and
functions of the language (Freeman, 1986: 131). Similar to Freemans idea, Ur
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(1988: 6) has summarized integration of grammar with other skills in the
following table:
Skills Form Meaning
Listening Perception and recognition of
the spoken form of the
structure
Comprehension of what the
spoken structure mean in
context
Speaking Production of well formed
examples in speech
Use of the structure to convey
meanings in speech
Reading Perception and recognition of
the written form
Comprehension of what the
written structure means in
context
Writing Production of well formed
examples in writing
Use of the structure to convey
meanings in writing
According to Ur, since a real-life communication is the integration of language
skills, grammar activities designed for students should lead towards developing
various language skills. Integration of grammar with other skills, however, does
not mean that one should not have area of grammar focus on a particular task
to the exclusion of other skills (Nunan, 1989).
2.3.2. Authenticity and Variety of Contexts
In the real world communication, the aim of the encoder is to impart his/her
intended meaning. That is, he/she does not strictly follow the so-called
grammar rule as the language is authentic. Similarly, communicative approach
to second language teaching/learning calls for authentic materials that create
favorable environment for students to exercise the target language items in a
real situation. Lee (1995: 323) explains authentic material as "A text which is
not written for teaching purpose, but for real-life communicative purpose where
the writer has a certain message to pass on to the reader."
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Once again, Lee says authentic texts are useful for students to develop their
communicative competence and make them aware of the conventions of
communication. It enables students to transfer what they learn in the
classroom to the real-life situation. This scholar further says that if teachers
want to teach real English just as it functions in contextually appropriate ways
other than a collection of linguistic forms, they have to refer to how the native
speakers of the target language actually put it into communicative use.
In spite of the importance of authentic materials for the improvement of second
language teaching/learning, there seems to have a problem with the authentic
materials themselves. For one thing, the way they are written and the
structures that are used to produce such materials may remain beyond the
level of students' understanding. For another thing, the context they use to
clarify the message may not be appropriate to the students current level of
understanding. For these reasons, authentic materials may not be always
suitable for teaching foreign language. In short, there can be a gap between
what is theoretically said about the use of authentic materials and when they
are practically applied in foreign language classroom. So, teachers should be
careful enough when they use such materials in foreign language class
(Peackok, 1987).
2.3.3. Creative use of Language
In a natural communication situation, different forms may be employed to
mean the same thing and also a particular thing may be said in different forms.
According to Freeman (1986), a natural system of communication should be
reflected in a second language classroom activity. What and how a student says
something should not be predetermined by his/her interlocutor. Freeman also
says "If the exercise is tightly controlled so that students can only say
something in one way, the speaker has no choice and the exchange, therefore,
is not communicative" (Freeman, 1986: 733).
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Once again, Cunningsworth (1995) and Ur (1996) say that classroom activities
should be productive and must lead towards free use of the target language in
expressing one's feelings, beliefs, views, attitude etc. Cunningsworth further
claims that classroom activities should allow language use creatively and
should be personalized if possible. In order to realize this, Cunnigsworth says
that learning should be carried out "... in a non-judgmental atmosphere, where
there is a positive attitude towards error" (pp: 99). Generally, the author
suggests that grammar tasks have to be designed in a way that helps learners
use the target language spontaneously.
2.4. Deductive and Inductive Grammar Teaching
Approaches
Deductive grammar teaching refers to the presentation of grammar rules
explicitly. In other words, the teacher explains how a particular sentence or
phrase is formed by stating the rules. For example, to teach present perfect
tense a teacher may explain the rule subject + has/have + V3 +
object/complement by writing exemplary sentences. Based on the rules,
students are expected to construct sentences of their own (Thornbury, 1997).
Inductive grammar teaching, on the other hand, refers to the teaching of
grammar instruction without stating the grammar rules explicitly. In other
words, if we make the students to arrive at the rule of the language by
themselves from the presented tasks or texts, it is an inductive teaching. The
inductive approach is also called the discovery approach to grammar teaching.
Proponents of inductive grammar teaching believe that making students to
work out grammar items by themselves gives greater benefit in terms of
accuracy and fluency than explaining the rules explicitly (Thornbury, 1997).
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In spite of the agreement on the distinction of deductive and inductive
approaches, there seems no agreement among scholars about how to teach
grammar.
Some scholars such as Widdowson (1978) and Shahidullah (1995) indicate that
deductive way of grammar teaching is not appropriate as it enhances the
development of usage rather than the use. They say that the deductive
presentation is very much similar to the grammar translation method in which
the teacher explains the rules. According to these scholars, this kind of
teaching does not foster the development of learners communicative
competence. For example, Widdowson (1978: 19) says:
The evidence seems to be that learners who haveacquired a good deal of knowledge of the usage of aparticular language find themselves at a loss when theyare confronted with actual instances of use. The teaching ofusage does not appear to guarantee knowledge of use. Theteaching of use, however, does seem to guarantee thelearning of usage. This being so, it would seem to besensible to design language teaching courses withreference to use.
As there are supporters of the inductive approach to grammar teaching, there
are also supporters of the deductive approach. For example, Ellis (1994) claims
that explicit attention to grammar forms helps learners notice those forms
when they occur in natural contexts. She says if students are taught the
grammar rules explicitly, it helps them to monitor or edit their mistakes during
communication. Harmer (1987) on his part says that many modern courses
often teach structure explicitly and then make learners to use that structure as
part of functional conversation. He further says that explicit grammar
instruction does not distort the natural order of acquisition, but speeds up the
progress along it.
Again, in his topic about shortcomings of CLT, Tsai-Yu Chen (1995) indicates
that the assumption that grammatical accuracy can be developed in the
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classroom after communication using the language is proved ineffective by
immersion research findings. For example, Harmerly (1987) cited in Tsai- Yu
Chen (1995) reviewed six studies to evaluate the effect of the immersion
approach based on acquisition/ natural approaches. Then, he concluded that
the grammatical competence of immersed students is characterized by
fossilization or classroom pidgin while communicating freely. He criticized for
any method failing to emphasize structure before communication asputting the
cart before the horse. The result, according to him, is that successful but
grammatically inaccurate communicators. Likewise, Nunan (1989) indicates the
close interrelation of form and meaning. The author points out that knowledge
of grammar plays a decisive role for effective communication. So, which one
should we teach first? Should we teach the usage (knowledge of the grammar
rules) deductively at first and then the use (communication) or the reverse?
It is undeniable fact that the main function of a language is communication
and the main purpose of teaching grammar is to help students develop their
communicative competence. However, becoming totally dependent on inductive
or deductive approaches is not an appropriate way of grammar teaching. The
reason for this is that neither we have homogeneous classroom setting nor the
same learning styles and strategies among our students. More specifically,
some students can learn better if they are taught grammar rules deductively
followed by contextualized communicative exercises to enhance the actual use
of the structure they have learned. Others may learn grammar better
subconsciously if they are motivated to discuss using the language to arrive at
the rule (through the inductive approach), which is similar to what Widdowson
and Shahidullah are saying. In relation to this, Celce-Murcia (1991) says thatteachers should not ignore one at the expense of the other as both of them are
mutually interdependent. She has put the idea as follows:
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Communicative competence should be seen to subsumelinguistic competence, not to replace it. We claim that
linguistic accuracy is as much a part of communicativecompetence as being able to get ones meaning across or tocommunicate in a socio-linguistically appropriate manner.
Thus, teaching grammar means enabling languagestudents to use linguistic forms accurately, meaningfully
and appropriately (pp. 288).
Good grammar instruction, therefore, should employ both approaches wherever
possible; sometimes explicit attention of form and other times letting students
work out the meanings and forms by themselves from communicative tasks.
Corder (1973) in Celce Murcia (1991; 292) summarized the idea in the following
way:
What little we know about the psychological processof second language learning, either from theory orfrom practical experience suggests that the
combination of induction and deduction produces thebest result
2.5. Stages of Grammar Teaching in CLT
The modern grammar teaching approach says that students learn better when
they are provided with tasks that resemble real-life. Hence, Communicativelessons for teaching grammar according to Sysoyev (1999) and Harmer (1991)
should integrate the form and the meaning consisting of four equally important
stages namely introduction, presentation, practice and production.
2.5.1. Introduction
It usually begins with warm-up activities and with active motivation. A teacher
can ask what students know about the topic and encourage them to write
sentences of their own.Here, the teacher can organize the students into pair or
group or he/she can make it independent work.
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2.5.2. Presentation
Following the introduction, students can be given discussion tasks illustrating
a certain grammar rule and the teacher could tell them to discover the hidden
rules of the language. Here again, the teacher can organize the class into pair
or group.
After the students tried their best, the teacher tells his/her students the
grammar rules explicitly. This means, depending on the level of difficulty of the
particular grammatical construction, a good teacher is expected to explain or
summarize what was previously discovered, focusing on form.
Explanation is important because students feel safer when they know the rules
and when they have some sources to go back to in case of confusion. Besides, it
serves as a bridge between what students consider theory or what is usually
given in textbooks and the practical use, what students have discovered
(Sysoyeve, 1999).
2.5.3. Practice
The third one is practice stage. During this time, the teacher can provide some
practice exercises from the material introduced or input provided in the
presentation stage. Sometimes, activities similar to the presentation stage can be
given to make students practice the structure. This is the stage where accuracy is
given emphasis (Shahidullah, 1995).
2.5.4. Production
This is the final stage in grammar teaching. If we stop at the practice stage and do
not encourage production, students may not be able to use language. It is
important to understand that learning or mastering a language does not only
mean internalizing or in taking the grammar rules but also developing the skills or
abilities to use the rules. In other words, grammar is taught mainly not to store
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in students mind as knowledge but to be applied in real-life. Shahidulah
(1995) stresses that the main purpose of teaching grammar is not to
accumulate knowledge of rules, but to enable students apply the learned rules
in actual communication. In this stage, the teacher can prepare pair or group
discussion to share ideas and experiences. After this, he/she can give them
paragraph writing task about what they discussed, just to see whether they
could use the structure in writing (Ibid). But, it does not mean that the
language teacher must follow these steps all the time. It depends on the nature
of the lesson and tasks and on the objective of the instruction. All the stages
may not be conducted in one class period (Celce Murcia, 1991).
The following sample lesson is taken from Shahidulah (1995: 1) to illustrate
how a particular grammar lesson (article) is taught.
Step 1 Warm up activities (Exploration)
Motivate students to learn, check what the students already know about article.
Ask them to discuss the following in pairs.
a. What is article?b. How many articles are there?c. What are the articles in English?d. When are they used?e. Ask students to write few sentences using articles. When they finish
writing, ask them to underline the articles.
Step 2 Presentation
Ask students to read the following passage, underline the articles in thepassage and tell them to explain why each of the articles has been used.
A human chain was formed in front ofa Budhist temple in the city yesterday
demanding an immediate arrest and trial of the killers of Buddhist monk
Ganojyoti Mohastobir. Ganojyoti Assassination Trial Movement Committee
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organized the human chain as part of its series of agitation programs. A rally
was also held on the temple premises where the speakers demanded
immediate arrest and trial ofthe killers of Ganojyoti.
Step 3 Explanation
Explain the different rules of articles and their use. Then, ask some questions
about the rules to check if they have learned about the rules and to explain
again if they have not learned the rules well.
Step 4 Practice Stage
Ask students to work individually and fill in the gaps in the following passage
with appropriate articles
My uncle is _____________ shopkeeper. He has __________ shop in ______ small
village by ______ river Thames near Oxford. _________ shop sells almost every
thing from bread to newspapers. My uncle does not often leave _________ village.
He does not have a car. Once a month we eat lunch at _______ extensive hotel.
He is one of _______ happiest men I know.
Step 5 Production Stage
Ask students to write a short passage on a given topic
e.g. 1. Your feeling in summer
2. Known footballer
3. An interesting/sad experience.
Finally, ask students to underline the articles in their writing and see whether
they have used them correctly or not. Again, ask them to check each others
work in pairs; Check some of the students work and give feedback.
2.6 Tasks for Teaching Grammar Communicatively
Task based language teaching has become an important addition to the
conceptual and empirical repertoire of the second and foreign language teacher.
It also influenced syllabus design and language teaching methodology (Nunan,
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1991). In addition to this, Rivers (1983) asserts that an interactive task-based
grammar exercise stresses the teaching of grammar through mutual
anticipation usually small group. She further says it is active rather than
passive, student-centered rather than teacher-centered, cognitive rather than
behaviorist and in direct rather than direct. In line with this, Hornbury (2001:
203 - 204) says that everybody still agrees that mechanical structure drilling
what the behaviorists used to do is a very bad thing in deed.
Task based grammar teaching provides the learners with wide range of
classroom activities, involve the learners in comprehending, producing or
interacting in the target language while their attention is on meaning rather
than form (Nunan, 1989, Candlin and Murphy 1987). Some of the major tasks
suggested by scholars for teaching grammar communicatively are:
1. Information gap activities- Doff (1988), Cook (2001) and Prabhu (1987)point out that information gap activities are important to communicative
grammar classroom. According to Prabhu, as information gap activities
involve a transfer of certain information from one person to another or
from one form to another, it is important for communicative classroom.
2. Problem-solving activities- students can be given a problem in whichthe language items are included. The purpose of problem-solving
activities is to enable students interact and there by to exploit the hidden
grammar points indirectly (Richards and Rodgers, 2001). In addition to
this, opinion exchange and decision making tasks can be used for
teaching grammar communicatively (Ibid).
2.7. The Role of Teachers and Learners in Foreign Language Class
The types of classroom language in different methods are characterized by
different patterns of interaction. This is so because of the variation in teacher
and student roles in line with the expectations in the teaching- learning
process. In CLT context, for example, the learner is seen as processor,
performer, initiator and problem solver. In the traditional teaching practice,
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however, the role of the learner is to receive and accumulate in his/her mind
what has been told by the teacher (Richards and Rodgers, 1986).
The role that should be played by the English language teacher in the context of
classroom teaching-learning process might be affected by the kind of approach
the teacher employs. For example, Richards and Lockhart (1994: 97) indicate
that the main role of the teacher in CLT is facilitating learning. They say:
The teacher has two roles; the first is to facilitate
communication process between all participants in theclass and between those participants and the variousactivities and texts. The second role is to act as independent participant with in the teaching learninggroup. Those roles imply a set of secondary roles for
the teacher; first as an organizer of resources and as asource himself, second as a guide with in the classroomprocedures.
In the traditional language classroom, the teacher is considered as an authority
who emphasizes the memorization of grammar rules through mechanical
procedure such as repetition and rote learning, organizes the classroom
activities, overtly control the students activities and evaluate their
performance. Teachers were considered as experts who teach their studentswhat they know (Rudder, 1999: 115). Rudder further points out that language
teachers were considered as the sole responsible individuals that they had to
think of the methods that could best help in teaching. A teacher was supposed
to follow one best methodology and one best textbook.
Today, however, this assumption is changed. It is believed that learners have
varying needs, interest, cognitive and learning styles. The teacher accordingly is
expected to eclectically use as many methods and techniques as possible.
Furthermore, teacher dominated activities have been replaced by learner-
centered classes, where learners become active participants in their own
learning (Ibid).
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In general, the teacher nowadays should be a manager/planner, counselor/
social worker, supporter, motivator/ stimulator, and promoter of students
thinking skills. Furthermore, he/she is supervisor on how students should do
specific tasks, monitor, co-communicator by working with students as a
partner, feedback provider and evaluator of the students performance and the
teaching materials he/she used (Rudder, 1999).
2.8. Techniques of Communicative Grammar Teaching
According to Celce-Murcia (1988), modern (communicative) grammar teaching
uses different techniques to make grammar lessons clear. She says the modern
grammar teaching advises teachers to use techniques such as role play,
pictures, tables, graphs, songs, poetry, story telling etc in context.
2.8.1. Role Play
Role play is one of the important techniques for teaching grammar in context.
Celce-Murcia (1988) says that role play brings real-life situations to the
classroom. The author points out that role plays are one of the effective
techniques for communicative practice of structures sensitive to social factors.
She advises second language teachers to use role play as a technique for
teaching grammar by using certain procedures. The general procedures she
suggests are:
1. Handout the problem to students and then introduce and explain thevocabulary and structures necessary for the task.
2. Divide students into groups if necessary in which they discuss and playthe role. During this step, the teacher should allow students to
communicate and should not interrupt at the middle of the discussion for
any correction. However, the teacher has to take notes on grammatical
errors for later correction. After each group has performed the role play,
the entire class discusses the questions raised in connection with the
situation.
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3.The last step can be assigning a writing exercise based on the role play orrelated question. Furthermore, subsequent grammar lessons based on
the errors observed during the exercise could be presented for further
internalization of the structure.
2.8.2. Pictures
Scholars such as Celce-Murcia (1988), Harmer (1987) and Batstone (1994)
Claim that pictures are one of the techniques which are useful for grammar
presentation. Specially, Celce-Murcia argues that pictures are interesting
techniques for teaching grammar lesson in all phases (i.e. in presentation,
focused practice, communicative practice and for feedback and correction).
According to Celce-Murcia, entertaining and carefully designed pictures have
the potential to motivate students and to respond more than a textbook. The
reason for this is that pictures are more contextualized than textbooks as they
involve different cultural entities of the students outside world (Ibid).
2.8.3. Graphs
It is possible to teach grammar points communicatively by using different kinds
of graphs. This is because graphs by their very nature are free to different
interpretations and are able to invite learners to variety of language use.
Graphs are especially important techniques for visualizing change overtime
(Celce-Murcia, 1988).
2.8.4. Songs
Songs are means of cultural expression for society. They reflect the status, belief,
attitude and moral value of a given society. In favor of this idea, Celci-Murcia
(1988) says that songs have the capacity of expressing cultural practices and
historical events of a community. At the same time, most songs are authentic
materials and are rich in context. Hence, they enable students to see how a
particular structure is applied in real-life situations. For those reasons, the author
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says that they are invaluable techniques for teaching grammar. She has
summarized her idea in the following way:
Contextualization is essential to any grammarpresentation and meaningful practice of structure, and
certainly one of the most delightful and culturally richresources for contextualization is song. Songs can be
utilized as presentation contexts, as reinforcementmaterial, vichles through which to teach all languageskills, and as a medium through which to present someof the most important cultural themes which pervademodern life (Celce-Murcia, 1988: 116).
2.8.5. Poetry
Poetry is also one of the effective techniques used for contextualizing any
grammar lesson and even for other skills. Poems like songs create image about
cultural practice and reflect moral feelings of society (Celce-Murcia 1988).
Again, the author (Ibid) says that poems have the nature of repeating
particular grammar item and this repetition fosters the structure to be easily
internalized. She says:
Poetry is particularly effective tool for practicing aparticular grammatical structure because its very naturedemands that it be spoken, repeated, wrestled with, and
considered with each repetition and consideration, thestructure becomes more deeply internalized. Therefore,poetry is an excellent resource for structured practice ofgrammar and an appropriate basis for review. If a poemthat exemplifies a particular structure is also good poem,
it engages the eyes, ears and tongue simultaneouslywhile also stimulating and moving us. This polymorphiceffect makes poetry easier to memorize than other thingsfor many students (Celce-Murcia 1988: 122).
2.8.6. Telling Stories
It is a fact that most people love story. Human being by nature is attracted by
story for historical, cultural, economical and entertainment reasons. If students
are taught grammar points using the cultural practices and life experiences of
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their own community and others experiences as well, they can invest their
mind deeply in learning the language (Celce-Murcia, 1988).
2.9. Classroom Organization for Teaching Grammar
Communicatively and Feedback
The use of different kinds of tasks in grammar teaching can be more
communicative if we apply the appropriate types of classroom organization
through which the learners practice the language meaningfully. This enables
learners to use the language in order to accomplish some functions like
arguing, persuading, or promising (Freeman, 1986). The main kinds of
classroom organization in CLT teaching are pair work and group work.
2.9.1. Pair Work
McDonough and Shaw (1993) and Harmer (1991) explain that pair work helps
learners to exchange and share information about the given task. Doff (1988)
also added that the language teacher can divide the whole class into pairs, and
every student can work with his/her partner and all pairs work at the same
time. Apart from this, in grammar exercises the students can carry out the task
orally or through writing in pairs which is more interesting and productive than
students doing exercises alone. Atkins, Hailom, and Nuru (1995) and Brumfit
(1984) indicate that pair work provides students opportunity to use English
meaningfully and naturally.
2.9.2. Group Work
A number of studies have compared the interaction in teacher-centered lessons
with group work. For instance, Long, Adams, McLean, and Castanos (1976)
cited in Ellis (1994) report that students working in small groups produced a
greater quantity of language and also better quality language than students in a
teacher-fronted, lockstep classroom setting (p. 598). In other words, small
group work provides more opportunity for language production and variety of
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language use in initiating discussion, asking for clarification, interrupting, and
joking (Ibid). Celce-Murcia (1991) also supplements this point by saying that
group activities encourage total participation by making each student
responsible for facts and ideas to be contributed and discussed. Moreover,
since the students attention is on what they wish to say rather than on how to
say it, they can learn how to use grammar effectively for communication.
2.9.3. Giving Feedback
Teaching grammar communicatively encourages the development of the
reflective learner and accommodates a wide range of learning styles. According
to Ur (1981: 23),in feedback session, What the groups have done must then be
displayed and related to some way by teacher and class: assessed, criticized,
admired, argued with, or even simply listened to with interest. Celce-Murcia
(1988) also underlines the importance of giving feedback on global mistakes
that violate the over all structure of a sentence instead of local mistakes which
cause only little problem in understanding the idea. Ur (1996), Prabhu (1987)
and Seedhouse (1999) also advise giving feedback (oral or written) on a friendly
atmosphere so as to assist learners use language for meaningful
communication. Having diagnosed that a certain structure is particularly
problematic for the students, the teacher may give a review and extra practice
about the structure. A crucial function of giving feedback is to preserve and
promote a positive self-image of the learner as a person and language learner.
2.10. Instructional Television: What is Instructional
Television?
Instructional television (ITV) generally refers to television designed for specific
instructional task. In other words, ITV is a term used to describe formal school,
college, or university instruction via television. Here, it is important to
differentiate the term ITV and Educational Television (ETV). ETV is generally
used to denote any television which is used for improving education. It includes
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ITV and non-commercialized television programs for educational enhancement
that favors large number of audience. ITV, which is categorized under the
educational television, is used for teaching formal courses (Behera, 1995).
2.10.1. Types of Instructional Television Programs
Reeves (1998) suggests that there are three major forms of utilization of
instructional television. These are:
Instances where the total instructional program is delivered via televisedteacher.
Instances where television is to supplement teacher-centered instructioneither for enrichment or remedial purpose. That is almost the entire
instruction is done by the classroom teacher and ITV is used to supply
some special and helpful techniques such as demonstration and
dramatization.
Instances where there is an integration of teacher directed instructionwith television program.
The total instructional television programs in countries like El Salvador have
met with initial enthusiasm. But, it declined in popularity after the novelty were
off. That is, both students and teachers demanded non- televised instruction
and returned to regular classroom activities because of problems in utilizing
programs effectively (Cuban, 1986). However, some studies indicate that
students in rural schools, where quality teachers were less likely available,
benefited a lot from televised instruction, Reeves (1998).
2.10.2. Role of Instructional Television
The primary role of ITV is to facilitate and enhance students learning by
providing teaching aids to the classroom (Johnes, 1999). Johnes further
remarks that the basic function of ITV is enabling learners see and hear look
and listen more attentively and discriminatingly with greater comprehension.
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Brinton (1991) also points out that ITV is helpful since it gives opportunities to
learners to apply their sense. In short, ITV helps learners develop the ability of
recalling information learned as it teaches using contextualized elements such
as pictures, songs, role play (Ibid). Furthermore, John (1999) says that ITV
helps to increase retention capacity. The following table is taken from Jones
(1999: 6) to show the ability of ITV in enabling students to recall information in
comparison with the lecture method.
Method Retention in 3hours
Retention in 3days
Lecture only 70% 10%
Using instructional aids 72% 20%
From the table above one can deduce that learning and retention capacity of
learners increase when they are taught by ITV. It is also recommended that ITV
is useful to create communicative L2 learning environment (Ibid).
Besides, Skinner and Austin (1999) state that recent ITV have noticeable effects
on students' motivation for language learning. In their research, they found
that ITV is effective for teaching any language skill. It is motivating because it
gives sounds and colorful pictures which are very much helpful to catch the
attention of learners. The usual and routine teacher and textbook-based
learning may result in misunderstanding of abstract concepts and
inappropriate language use. However, it is possible to avoid misunderstanding
and to visualize abstract concepts by animation through ITV. In addition to
this, ITV helps learners to avoid some hazardous situations as it uses different
contexts to make the lessons clear. In other words, its capability to apply wide
range of audio-visual materials like graphs, pictures, and tables during the
transmission makes it suitable medium for instruction that meets learners'
needs and their learning strategies (Tomalin, 1988).
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Passy et al. (2004) also indicates the effects of ITV on pupils' motivation. The study
took 17 sample schools from across England. Finally, this study found that ITV
has positive impact on motivation. The research says ITV enhanced the country's
teaching-learning process, improved classroom communication and widened the
access of getting more information.
Instructional television also helps to introduce the culture of the target language
speakers to classroom. Saying it differently, learners can sense the life situation of
the native speakers as they see different contextualized language presentations.
The way native speakers speak, act, dress, the gesture and the clue they use for
negotiation of meaning can be reflected through ITV. In short, ITV provides
learners with natural situations such as intonation, pronunciation, dialect and theday to day life experience of the target language society (Sherrington, 1975).
2.10.3. Stages in Teaching Language through Instructional
Television
Like the classroom teacher, televised instruction has stages in teaching
language. This means, whether language instruction is televised or non-
televised the methods and procedures of modern language teaching supposedto be applied are the same. So, communicative grammar and other skills
instruction through television involves three stages namely, pre-teaching,
while- teaching and post -teaching.
2.10.3.1. Before the Program (Pre-teaching)
Here, the televised teacher has to start by introducing the lesson and by stating
specific objectives. In this stage, he/she can specify the type of information to
be emphasized and the activities to be done.
The televised teacher could tell students the main topic of the program and
could ask them what they know about the topic. Sometimes, the teacher may
supply funny things so as to catch the attention of students. The main purpose
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of carrying out before-viewing activities is to stimulate the students' interest
and to provide background information so that they can learn with interest
(Tomalin, 1986). In short, Tomalin indicates that the pre-teaching should aim
at three things.
Preparing students for the program as a whole Encouraging students to understand specific language items supposed to
be learned
Generating tasks for the students that would be done as a result ofwatching the program.
2.10.3.2. During the Program (while- teaching)
Here, the televised teacher should set some tasks to be performed while viewing
the program. For example, the ITV can give a chance for the classroom teacher
to write some expressions that are used in the language lesson. Furthermore,
the ITV can provide other contextualized tasks to be done by the students. But
to have better understanding, negotiation of meaning and to accomplish the
given tasks successfully, ITV should be controlled by the classroom teacher
rather than the classroom teacher is to be ordered by the ITV (Tomalin, 1986).
The author has put the idea in the following way:
If the broadcast of TV program is made available on a videocassette and if the video recorder is under the direct controlof the teacher, then the TV program immediately becomeshighly effective teaching medium (Tomalin, 1986: 4).
If the ITV is controlled by the classroom teacher, Tomalin (Ibid) says the
program can be repeated as many times as the learner wishes. Furthermore, a
short sequence from the program can be selected for intensive study and
worked on by the teacher in the classroom; the learner can interpret what has
been said, practice and repeat it and predict and so on. The learner can also
concentrate in detail on visual clues to meaning such as facial expression,
dress and gesture to understand the meaning. Tomalin (1986) again claims
that segmenting the lesson can be taken as a valuable technique to widen
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classroom participation and interaction. The scholar further says segmenting
could give access to the classroom teacher for adapting the program according
to his/her students' interest and learning style. Segmenting a given lesson can
be done through showing only portion of the program at a time and the
remaining portion at another time or through pausing the program (Ibid).
2.10.3.3. After the Program (post- teaching)
This stage is important to students as it gives them the chance to react about
the program. Here, the televised teacher should give chance to the classroom
teacher and to the students for discussion. In this stage, the classroom teacher
is expected to encourage students to speak what attracted their attention most
in the program or he/she may prepare questions from the program relating to
their life experience (Tamalin, 1986).In doing this, a good teacher usually seeks
feedback from his/her students so as to know the level of their understanding
about the matter.
Once again, Tomalin says that teachers should prepare follow through activities
to reinforce or integrate the lesson presented with other skills. These follow-
through activities may include, group work, pair work, role play, activities and
so on. For example, in groups or in pairs students can talk what they have seen
in the program by taking their turn. Creating such condition is to mean making
students to communicate in the classroom in favor of communicative language
teaching (Ibid).Here, all the group and pair works, the classroom interaction
and students feedback are expected to be handled by the classroom teacher.
This is because the classroom teacher is in a good position to know the
students difficulty, level of understanding, their need and the learningenvironment better than the televised teacher who teaches from afar.
Finally, evaluation about the success of the lesson presented is an important
part of the ITV program utilization as it helps to see the degree of achievement.
In other words, considering such questions as was the program utilized as
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effectively as possible? What additional activities might be integrated next
time? and "What techniques worked well and what could be incorporated in to
future lessons? is an important means for the effective implementation of ITV
in language classroom (Schramm, 1977).
2.10.4. Instructional Television in Ethiopia
Ethiopia is one of the developing countries which have shown promising change
in the expansion of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
utilization for multi-purposes. Specially, in educational sector, the country is
using ITV to sustain qualified human power. In addition to expanding the range
of instructional techniques, ITV presents new options for teaching-learning
process (Amina, 2004). One of the various new options offered by ITV is a one
way presentation which is now being employed in Ethiopian high schools (Ibid).
Currently, the government of Ethiopia has employed ITV for teaching some
subjects. However, there is a long-term plan to use the entire potentials of ITV
for all subjects. It was stated that the future task of the government focuses on
the sustainability and integration of ITV. This could be made phase by phase.
First, by expanding the ITV from priority subjects to all subjects; and then to
computer based teaching and internet including many programs to primary
level education (Ethiopia today, 2004). The governments report on the
Development of Education in Ethiopia to the UNESCO (2004) is evidence for
this:
Information and communications technology (ICT) isintroduced in the education system to strengthen the
expansion of quality education. The introduction of ICT is
done phase by phase starting at the secondary level (9-12). Multi-faceted programs and major preparations havebeen underway to reach the goal of implementing ICT inthe Education sector and improve the quality ofeducation.
Currently, the country's instructional television is one way presentation system.
But this system is being criticized by critics and teachers for its uncomfortable
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nature. Therefore, in many conferences, it was advised to substitute by two-way
satellite teleconferencing and video-conferencing courses. In spite of the
dissatisfaction of critics and teachers on the one way transmission, the system
has got greater acceptance by government officials. According to the
government officials, ITV is an effective means to overcome the problem of
overcrowded schools, poor infrastructure and facilities, and lack of trained
teachers. The officials further indicate that visualizing and listening to content
on plasma display panels makes teachers free to be creative and needs analysts
(Ethiopian Government Report to UNESCO, 2004). The report says:
... the new pedagogical paradigm offers teachers timeto be creative, identifies students' needs and fostersthem with the necessary attention and guidance, saves
time spent in drawing diagrams and simple practiceteaching learning process; enables them to carry outexperiments.
The report, says that "for what the technology can not offer, the teacher is
there, and for what the teacher can not offer, the technology is there".
Generally, they believe that the ITV has great motivational value since the
lessons are enhanced by graphs, animations and real-life footage. The plasma
display in Ethiopia according to them:
Present abstract concepts in a simplified manner Transmit uniform education to many students at the same time. Enable students to have access to model competent teachers Motivate learners to attend classes and learn more by creating attractive
situation such as presentation of graphs, diagrams, visual and sound aid
to the lesson (Ethiopian Government report to UNESCO, 2004).
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2.11. Comparative Research Evidences from Researchers on
Instructional Television and the Classroom Teacher in the
Teaching-Learning Process
Reeves (1998) states there are reasons why attention is given to ITV and media
technology. Some among many, according to the scholar, are:
People are curious to know if new technologies are more effective forteaching and learning than traditional classroom approaches.
People want to know whether new technologies increase educationaccessibility or reduce educational costs.
The existence of sharp disagreement among scholars about the value ofmedia and technology in education. There are contradictory findingsoften reported in educational research about the value of ITV.
Reeves further asserts that there is no significant difference whether some one
learns by ITV or by classroom teacher. The reason for this according to the
author is that learning results from factors such as task differences,
instructional methods and learner traits, not from the choices of media for
instruction. Furthermore, Chu and Schramm (1963) as cited in Schramm
(1977) tabulated 421 television versus classroom comparisons. They found that
308 of the studies showed no significance difference, 63 of the studies stood in
favor of television and the remaining 53 studies came out in favor of classroom
/conventional teaching. Similarly, Dubin and Hedloy (1966) in Schramm (1977)
examined 381 studies and found that 191 of them showing no difference, 102
of the studies came out in favor of television and 89 of them in favor of the
conventional (non-plasma) instruction. Based on this study, therefore, they
concluded that there is no precise reason to say that students learn more fromtelevision than from non-televised teaching or vise-versa. According to these
researchers, better learning depends on the method of the teacher, the effort of
the learner and the content of the material. However, Schramm (1977) contends
that the more carefully such comparisons are designed, the more likely they are
to show significant difference in learning from the two sources.
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On the other hand, Brumfit (1983) says that television programs can not be
seen as the main stay of the language learning process. In other words, the
classroom teacher still remains to play a central role either as a guide or
facilitator. The teachers role remains central because television by itself can
not relate the broadcast materials to learners needs. At the same time, it could
fail to understand the students background and the learning environment. Not
only this but ITV as independent teacher is also non-stop-straight through, no
pauses and repeats. As a result, students could be confused throughout the
instruction (Ibid).
2.12. Research Findings on Grammar Teaching
In their research finding, Choat, Harry and Dorothy (1987) found that ITV is
effective in teaching language rules and grammar items as effective as good
grammar teacher. They say that ITV is effective in teaching tenses and language
rules in a subconscious way. The reason according to their research finding is
that ITV uses different techniques such as stories, songs and pictures to
contextualize grammar lessons. They further indicated that ITV is effective not
only for developing linguistic competence of the learner but also to develop
his/her communicative competence because it uses rich contexts and brings
different natural settings for teaching grammar.
In spite of the foreign research work mentioned above, there is no local research
finding that compares the teaching methods and techniques employed by ITV
with the methods used by the conventional (classroom) teacher in teaching
grammar points, as far as the knowledge of the researcher is concerned. Of
course, Tatek (1994) and Luel (2006) studied problems of ITV in teaching
English and attitude and perception of students towards ITV in language
classroom respectively. But, their studies have not dealt with televised and non-
televised grammar teaching methods in comparison with each other. So, this
study is an initial attempt on the area.
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CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1. Context
This study has been designed to identify the similarities and differences of the
grammar teaching methods used by plasma and non-plasma school teachers.
The main research question is what are the similarities and differences between
the two types of schools in teaching grammar and what are the factors that play
a role in creating similarities and differences? In this study, the effectiveness or
ineffectiveness of a method that the teachers apply in classroom is seen in
terms of modern (communicative) grammar teaching theories and practices.
Method for the study was conceived by considering four stages. These stages
are the introduction, presentation, practice and production stages. These stages
formed the basis for the observation and interview. For the questionnaire,
attitude and problem of students in grammar classes formed the basis.
Through the questionnaire, attempts were made to gather information about
the students attitude towards the grammar lessons and their problems in
learning grammar.
3.2. Determining Target Population and Sample Size
The subjects of this study were both teachers and students. Accordingly, two
high schools were selected from the town of Jimma in Oromiya region so as to
collect the required data.
The schools are Jireen and Setto Senior Secondary Schools. The former, which
uses instructional television, registered 2,300 students at the beginning of the
school year 2007, but a drop out of 200 students. The latter, which is non-
plasma school, registered 2124 students out of which 120 dropped out their
education, as the statistics of the two schools indicate. In other words, the
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