English Grammar Class Research Articles

THE AFFORDANCES OF THE FLIPPED CLASSROOM APPROACH IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR INSTRUCTION

Recently, the flipped classroom instructional approach has received much attention from teachers of different subjects around the world. This new pedagogical model has been reported to be a potential method in the area of EFL teaching. In Vietnam, teaching English grammar has mainly focused on students’ acquisition of grammar rules without much practical application in real communicative situations. This case study aims at investigating the affordances perceived by students in a flipped English grammar class in order to help language teachers to harness the approach to enhance their students’ learning. The qualitative research design was adopted in the study. Thirty-four students majoring in the English language at a university in Vietnam attended a 10-week flipped grammar class. The instruments include semi-structured interviews with ten students randomly selected from the participants. Thematic analysis was performed to address the qualitative data drawing on the Activity Theory framework. Twelve affordances of the flipped classroom approach in English grammar instruction such as being self-paced in learning, offering opportunities to voice opinions, saving time for in-class communicative activities and facilitating learning English grammar communicatively were identified. The results of the study offer valuable implications for the application of this model in teaching English as a foreign language, especially in the context of Vietnam.

Pre-service language teachers’ online written corrective feedback preferences and timing of feedback in computer-supported L2 grammar instruction

Although a plethora of research has been conducted on written corrective feedback and timing of feedback in various teaching and learning contexts, there is a paucity of research on learners’ preferences regarding different online written corrective feedback. Such a lacuna becomes prominent in EFL contexts, especially in grammar classes, where there are many calls for clear explanations on the rules and uses of language. To fill this gap, the current study reports on a case study regarding how technology can suit pre-service teachers’ preferences as to written feedback provided on online quizzes based on four units in Advanced English Grammar class. The study benefited from both qualitative and quantitative approaches to find answers to the research questions. The convenience sampling method was chosen, and the participants of the study included 64 seniors enrolled in the elective course entitled Advanced English Grammar II at a state-run university in the southwest of Turkey. Data collection instruments included four online quizzes supported with different feedback for each answer, and semi-structured interview sessions with the selected participants. Findings indicate that metalinguistic and concordance feedback were the feedback types that the pre-service language teachers most preferred. Immediate feedback was determined to be the most efficient way to support learning based on participants’ views and suggestions.

Students’ Perceived Challenges of Attending a Flipped EFL Classroom in Viet Nam

Flipped classroom is gaining more and more popularity among educators and researchers all over the world; however, its implementation in Viet Nam is still in infancy. This small-scale research project attempts to investigate students’ perceived challenges when attending a flipped English grammar class. Qualitative research design was adopted to address the research question. The participants include 34 second-year students majoring in the English language at a state university in Viet Nam. The instruments consist of an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was employed to address the qualitative data. The findings highlight that Vietnamese students encounter several challenges when attending the flipped classroom including difficulty in self-regulated learning, heavy learning workload, lack of immediate support and lack of ICT resources. Accordingly, the present research has some pedagogical implications to help address those obstacles for successful implementation of this innovative teaching mode in the Vietnamese EFL context.

A Comparative Study of Self-Esteem and Gender Bias in Confidence-Based and Number-Right Scoring Methods in English Grammar Classes

A Comparative Study of Self-Esteem and Gender Bias in Confidence-Based and Number-Right Scoring Methods in English Grammar Classes

Comparing Methods of Checking Students’ Answers in Remedial English Grammar Classes at a Japanese University

Comparing Methods of Checking Students’ Answers in Remedial English Grammar Classes at a Japanese University

A Video For Teaching English Tenses

AbstractStudents of English Language Education Program in Faculty of Cultural Studies Universitas Brawijaya ideally master Grammar before taking the degree of Sarjana Pendidikan. However, the fact shows that they are still weak in Grammar especially tenses. Therefore, the researchers initiate to develop a video as a media to teach tenses. Objectively, by using video, students get better understanding on tenses so that they can communicate using English accurately and contextually. To develop the video, the researchers used ADDIE model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation). First, the researchers analyzed the students’ learning need to determine the product that would be developed, in this case was a movie about English tenses. Then, the researchers developed a video as the product. The product then was validated by media expert who validated attractiveness, typography, audio, image, and usefulness and content expert and validated by a content expert who validated the language aspects and tenses of English used by the actors in the video dealing with the grammar content, pronunciation, and fluency performed by the actors. The result of validation shows that the video developed was considered good. Theoretically, it is appropriate to be used English Grammar classes. However, the media expert suggests that it still needs some improvement for the next development especially dealing with the synchronization between lips movement and sound on the scenes while the content expert suggests that the Grammar content of the video should focus on one tense only to provide more detailed concept of the tense.

Comparing confidence-based and conventional scoring methods: The case of an English grammar class

This study aimed at investigating the reliability, predictive validity, and self-esteem and gender bias of confidence-based scoring. This is a method of scoring in which the test takers receive a positive or negative point based on their rating of their confidence in an answer. The participants, who were 49 English-major students taking their grammar course, were given 8 multiple-choice tests during the semester. These tests were scored both conventionally and in a confidence-based manner, and the reliabilities of these two score sets were compared. Each score set was correlated with the final exam scores to compare their predictive validity. Gender and self-esteem bias of the confidence-based scores of the eight tests were also calculated. The results showed that there was no difference between the reliabilities of the two sets of scores. Confidence-based scores had better predictive validity than conventional scores, but this difference was not significant. Confidence-based scores were not biased against a specific gender and specific levels of self-esteem. The conclusion is that confidence-based scoring is as good as conventional scoring and the choice between these two scoring methods depends on the teacher’s discretion and the teaching context.

STRATEGI INDUCTIVE LEARNING PADA PEMBELAJARAN ENGLISH GRAMMAR UNTUK MENINGKATKAN KOMPETENSI GRAMATIKAL MAHASISWA

This study focuses on a class action research (CAR) which tried to apply a method of Inductive Learning in a class of Advanced English Grammar to improve the students' grammatical competence and to find out whether there were students' behaviour changes in learning English grammar. This class action research (CAR) was conducted in two cycles. In each cycle, there were four steps, i.e planning, acting, observing, and reflection. Every cycle was conducted in two class meetings. The material for cycle 1 was ‘the position of adjectives' and the material for cycle 2 was ‘the forms of adjectives.' The subjects of the study were the 4 semester students of an Advanced English Grammar class in academic year 2011/2012. These students were Literature Study Program students of English Department Unnes. Based on the data analysis, the result of this CAR was quiet satisfying. There was an increasing percentage of students' test scores between cycle 1 and cycle 2. From test cycle 1, there were 32% students who got less than 70, while this reduced to only 24% students in test cycle 2. In addition, there were 68% students who got 71-100 in test cycle 1 and it increased to 76% students in test cycle 2. Based on the observation sheets and questioners given to the students, most of them liked Inductive Learning method to be applied in grammar classes because this method is fun and interesting. This attitude directly influenced their activity, motivation, and behavior in grammar classes which indirectly also increased their grammatical competence. Finally, the pedagogical implication th of the study is the lecturers and students are supposed to fully motivated to use Inductive Learning method in their grammar classes. This method, hopefully, can improve students' activity, motivation, behavior, and grammatical competence in learning English grammar.

An Empirical Investigation into Nigerian ESL Learners’ Apprehension of Grammar Classes

General observations indicate that ESL learners in Nigeria tend to manifest fear and anxiety in grammar classes, which could influence their performance negatively or positively. This study examines empirically some of the reasons for some ESL learners’ apprehension of grammar classes. The data for the study were obtained from 268 secondary school students and 17 English language teachers who responded to a questionnaire developed to provide answers to the following questions: Are ESL learners actually apprehensive of their English grammar classes? What are the reasons for their apprehension? Are there significant differences in subjects’ responses based on level of study, type and location of school and gender? The responses which were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics show that learners are largely apprehensive of English grammar classes. The findings also show that the reasons for their apprehension are threefold: inherent difficulties associated with learning grammatical structures of English and teacher and student related factors. It is recommended that specific measures be adopted to alleviate students’ fear in order to improve their performance in the subject. Keywords: Nigerian, ESL, learners, apprehension, grammar, lessons

Evaluating online conversation in an asynchronous learning environment: An application of Grice's cooperative principle

This study goes beyond student perceptions of online learning experiences, satisfaction, and attitudes, to examine the actual participation and dynamics that occur in online discussions and their relationship to student learning outcomes. A content analysis approach was used to investigate students' socio-cognitive processes in an online graduate-level English grammar class. Student postings were rated using a newly developed Gricean Cooperative Principle scoring rubric to assess student participation as determined by four maxims: Quantity, Quality, Relevance, and Manner. Results suggest that Quality is the most important criterion for predicting direct responses to a posting. Students with high average Quality scores also received higher final course grades than did their counterparts. In addition, students with high scores for Manner earned higher conference grades than did their counterparts.

Collaborative learning in university grammar courses

An innovative collaborative learning model, used for the teaching of modern English grammar classes, combined elements from peer teaching and cooperative learning. This model is innovative for higher education since it involved students and instructor co-laboring to master knowledge as a socially held phenomenon without any authoritarian leveling. It involved: 1) Student lectures explaining assigned readings from the text(s); 2) Daily quizzes of the material from the assigned reading; and 3) Student grading of the daily quizzes and exams with the instructor checking for accuracy. Student attitudinal surveys revealed positive perceptions of students on the whole toward the conduct of the class. An even greater positive aspect of the collaborative learning model used here is the attainment of a high level of mastery of the subject matter and almost perfect classroom attendance.