Grammar Teaching Research Articles

Mapping Queer Berlin: The potential of virtual reality pedagogy for the language classroom

AbstractImmersive virtual reality (iVR) is a novel form of computer technology that promises to transform not only the delivery of language and cultural instruction but also how students produce language. The existing, yet limited, scholarship on the applications of iVR in the language classroom suggests affective and cultural benefits (e.g., increased student motivation and enthusiasm and bringing inaccessible locations and cultures to students) and a positive impact on vocabulary acquisition and speaking proficiencies, but evidence of iVR's effect on listening comprehension, reading, writing, and grammar instruction as well as higher‐level cognition remains scarce and inconclusive. The project presented in this article, “Mapping Queer Berlin,” targets this scholarly gap by investigating how iVR can improve students’ reading and listening proficiencies and promote advanced research and communication skills. The explanation of the project design and the learning process and outcomes aims to guide instructors on how to integrate iVR into their classrooms, including its technological constraints and pedagogical pitfalls. Drawing on the instructor's and students’ reflections, the article concludes that iVR is currently not mature enough to facilitate significant improvements in students’ language proficiencies beyond an elementary level but shows potential for transforming language curricula with future developments.

Let’s Do It Differently: Exploring the Effectiveness of 5E-Supported EFL Grammar Instruction

The teaching of and research on grammar have long been central to language education, with an ongoing quest for more effective models for fostering student understanding and application. The 5E (viz., Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration, and Evaluation) instructional model, recognized for its effectiveness in promoting engagement and active learning, may not only constitute an innovative approach to grammar instruction but also leverage an interactive inquiry-based environment which improves student comprehension and retention of grammatical concepts. This study examines the potential effectiveness of the 5E Model in EFL grammar instruction. The participants, 70 students in two intact tenth-grade sections from a public school in Irbid, Jordan, were randomly assigned into an experimental group (n=35), taught using the 5E Model, and a control group (n=35), taught per the guidelines of the prescribed teacher’s book. A pre-/post- test targeting five grammatical structures (viz., state and dynamic verbs, second conditional, making suggestions, defining relative clauses, and non-defining relative clauses) was used. The findings showed statistically significant differences (at α= 0.05) between the experimental and control group students’ performance in both overall grammar and each of the five structures in favor of the former. The study concludes with several pedagogical implications and recommendations for further research.

A Study of College English Grammar Teaching Strategies Based on Interactive Teaching

A Study of College English Grammar Teaching Strategies Based on Interactive Teaching

An Investigation of Teaching-Learning Process and Measurement and Evaluation in Elementary English Course Curriculum with the Communicative Language Approach (Teachers’ Views)

This study aimed to determine how teachers use the communicative language approach in the learning-teaching process and measurement-evaluation dimensions while implementing the 2018 Primary English Course (Grades 2-8) Curriculum. Embedded single case study design, one of the qualitative designs, was used in this study. The study group included 14 primary education English language teachers instructing different grades in public schools in Eskişehir, Turkey. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with teachers and analyzed by content analysis. The findings demonstrated that communicative language approach could not be implemented in the classroom due to physical problems in the teaching-learning process, student reluctance and lack of readiness, teachers' initial failure to analyze the learner goals and styles, the lack of the predominant employment of the target language, partial inclusion of the activities determined by the communicative language approach in the course, preference of grammar instruction, partial utilization of group activities, the lack of using authentic materials, immediate correction of learner mistakes, inability to adopt the communicative language roles such as initialization of communication, providing resources and preference of traditional roles, and inability to measure the four basic language skills due to systemic measurement and evaluation errors.

Strategies for Cooperative Learning in Grammar Teaching of Senior High School

Strategies for Cooperative Learning in Grammar Teaching of Senior High School

Teaching Chinese grammar through International Chinese Language Education micro-lectures: negotiating mass and presence through multimodal pedagogic discourse

Abstract Micro-lectures have become a prevailing resource for teaching Chinese grammar in International Chinese Language Education (ICLE). One crucial feature of these lectures is that they are inherently multimodal and the design of multimodal pedagogic discourse in these lectures is vital for the teaching of Chinese grammar. Based on this background, this paper investigates teaching Chinese grammar through multimodal pedagogic discourse in ICLE micro-lectures, focusing on the organization of complexity and abstraction of meaning for knowledge-building. Drawing on Systemic Functional Linguistics’ genre theory and ideational mass and presence, this paper views the organization as a dynamic negotiation of mass and presence across generic stages. Analyzing a representative ICLE micro-lecture on grammar, it scrutinizes the distribution of mass and presence across stages, along with multimodal pedagogic discourse features. The findings show that Presenting Scenarios, Example Extraction, and Grammar Explanation are pivotal stages for grammar instruction, each characterized by distinct mass and presence. Presenting Scenarios, featuring relatively weak mass and strong presence, employs non-technical and concrete multimodal texts to depict everyday scenarios, while Example Extraction with similar mass but weaker presence recontextualizes these scenarios into linguistic phenomena through non-technical linguistic text. Grammar Explanation characterized by relatively strong mass and weak presence distills grammatical knowledge from example sentences through technical and abstract linguistic text. Overall, the weakening of presence across the stages allows for recontextualizing scenario-based sentences as linguistic phenomena and generalizing these sentences into abstract grammatical concepts, while the strengthening of mass enables distilling meaning from example sentences and builds the complexity of grammatical concepts. The findings hold potential implications for the design of ICLE micro-lectures on Chinese grammar, which aims to facilitate the teaching of Chinese grammar through multimodal pedagogical discourse.

Exploring the psychometric properties of the Grammar Learning Strategy Inventory in the Chinese EFL context

Learning a second language is a life-long process requiring acquaintance with a repertoire of language learning strategies (LLS). Despite copious research on LLS and their role in fostering autonomous learning, few studies have examined strategies employed when trying to master specific subsystems of the target language, especially grammar. Meaningful communication in a second language hinges on implicit or highly automatized grammar knowledge, which, given the limitations of classroom-based grammar instruction, must for the most part be developed by learners themselves outside the classroom and this can best be achieved through adept use of grammar learning strategies (GLS). Our knowledge of the GLS, however, is scant, an issue that can be addressed either by designing reliable GLS measurement instruments or revalidating the few existing ones. This study adopts the latter approach by investigating the psychometric properties of Pawlak’s (2018) Grammar Learning Strategy Inventory (GLSI) in the Chinese context. The tool was administered to 923 English majors, and the responses were subjected to exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. We found that all seven strategy categories included in the original instrument showed acceptable composite reliability and discriminant validity. The paper concludes by suggesting further revalidation of the GLSI and proposing avenues of research that employ methodological innovations to shed further light on GLS.

Highlighting the Best English Teaching Method for Katsina State Secondary Schools: Communicative Versus Traditional

This study was undertaken to highlight the best English teaching method in Katsina state secondary schools by comparing communicative method (CLT) against traditional method (GTM) to ascertain the best approach for teaching grammar, vocabulary, written composition, oral composition, and oral English. The study population comprised all 2023/2024 SS2 students of public secondary schools in Katsina State. It deploys experimental design which involves gathering quantitative data from the students’ post-tests to assess their mastery of these language skills. In order to analyze the collected data, the researchers utilized the SPSS (IBM Statistical Processor Version 25) for precise and efficient processing, generating various necessary outputs to draw meaningful conclusions. Based on the findings, with the exception of teaching grammar which revealed no significant difference as the p-value was.003 which is below .05, CLT proved to be more impactful compared to traditional methods in teaching the other four subjects. To this end, the researchers recommend full implementation of the CLT method at Senior Secondary Schools in Katsina State. Similarly, it is suggested that CLT and GTM should be blended in teaching grammar in order to help students to learn the grammatical structures of English and use them in a meaningful and engaging way.

Efficiency of Deductive and Inductive Approaches to Teaching English Grammar:

The necessity of grammar, how it is taught and how much it should be incorporated into language teaching remain matters of discussion in most ELT classes. Considering this fact, knowing teachers' beliefs towards teaching grammar is significantly beneficial for researchers. Thus, this research studied English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' beliefs towards teaching grammar in deductive and inductive approaches in the Sunrise curriculum in Duhok high schools. The study used a mixed-method (qualitative and quantitative) strategy for data gathering and analysis. The participants were EFL teachers of Duhok governorate high schools. The results showed that Duhok EFL teachers of Sunrise curriculum preferred using an inductive approach to teaching but they use the deductive approach because of some reasons such as the time of the lesson, number of students in a class, etc. This study might help EFL instructors employ appropriate approaches to teaching in the classroom.

Implementation of Flipped Classroom in Increasing Students’ Grammar Ability of Islamic Economic Department Student in UIN Datokarama Palu

The aim of this research was to describe the effect of the flipped classroom on increasing students’ ability in grammar. This research belonged to quasi-experimental research with a group pre-post-test design involving 50 bachelor degree students from the Islamic Economic Department at UIN Datokarama Palu as the sample. The sampling technique was total sampling with the experimental group (25 students) and control group (25 students). To assess the students’ ability in grammar, four components were measured: accuracy in tense usage, consistency, understanding of tense form, and contextual appropriateness. The students’ scores were classified into five categories: very good, good, medium, low, and failed. After treatment, the grammar ability scores increased for the experimental group. The percentage increased in all aspects: accuracy in tense usage increased by 45%, consistency by 40.6%, understanding of tense form by 31%, and contextual appropriateness by 32.8% from the pre-test scores. The Flipped Classroom model revolutionized the teaching of English grammar, offering practical strategies for implementation, and emphasizing the need for collaborative and independent learning experiences to enhance students' language proficiency and overall learning outcomes.

Helping EFL teachers build capacity for effective curriculum implementation: A case study

The study presents the outcomes of capacity-building training that aims to facilitate and enhance Turkish EFL teachers’ curriculum fidelity in the state school context and provides in-depth insights into the issue in this context. After the training, all the participants developed positive perceptions about the curriculum. Five participants’ stages of concern evolved to concerned about and not resistant to the curriculum. One participant’s concerns altered to not resistant but unconcerned, whereas five participants’ concerns remained resistant. Only one participant showed ideal development, both in her stages of concern and instructional practices. As well as the insufficiency of curriculum-specific formal training, school-level institutional support, and individual and collective sense-making out of the curriculum were found to lack in the context. Whereas explicit grammar teaching and assessment were revealed to form a comfort zone, teaching and assessing language skills, especially speaking and writing, to present a challenge for the teachers. The ineffectiveness of train-the -trainers, and the need for curriculum maps and mentors were also asserted in the study

The Effect of Different Planning Conditions versus Explicit Grammar Instruction on Young EFL Learners’ Oral Production of a Picture Promoted Task and Grammar Gain

This study examined the effects of three task conditions on young EFL learners’ oral performance of a picture prompted task and their grammatical knowledge gain. To this end, 34 EFL learners were randomly assigned into three experimental groups, namely online planning, pre-planning, and explicit instruction, and one control group. Pictures were employed as prompts to implement the tasks in all groups. A Grammatical Judgment Test was used to compare students’ knowledge of simple present passive structure before and after the treatment. Learners’ oral task performance was measured in terms of Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency (CAF). The findings demonstrated significant differences among groups as for CAF measures. However, no significant differences were spotted in GJT posttest scores. The paper calls for the incorporation of diverse prompt-based planning conditions in task-oriented teaching practices in order to target learners' higher levels of oral competence.

Grammatical understanding predicts reading comprehension in secondary-level students: insights from a Finnish national survey

A lot of research into the relationship between explicit grammatical understanding and literacy development in L1 contexts has focused on writing. A lot less is known, however, about the interconnectedness of explicit grammatical understanding and reading. This study investigated the relationship between grammatical understanding and reading comprehension in Finnish 9th grade students. Using national assessment data (N = 6,044) and multilevel quantitative analyses, the study found that explicit grammatical understanding accounted for a significant portion of the variance in reading skills, even after controlling for various background factors such as school, family socioeconomic status, homework and book reading habits, attitudes towards studying L1, and writing ability. The findings suggest, without implying causality, that understanding language structure and making explicit metalinguistic observations are closely connected to reading comprehension. The study encourages further research on the benefits of explicit grammar teaching for reading comprehension using different study designs. Additionally, it highlights the need to investigate how grammar instruction can be linked to reading, as well as explore the effectiveness of such instruction in different educational and linguistic contexts.

Motivation and learning psychology of teachers in language translation learning

AbstractThis study aimed to understand pre‐service teachers’ motivations and learning psychologies in language teaching. The study used a phenomenology pattern, a qualitative research method, to gather pre‐service teachers’ views about language teaching, motivations and learning psychologies during translation activities. The study group consisted of 42 language department undergraduate students from the Education Faculty of a private university in TRNC in the 2022–2023 academic year, selected using the criterion sampling method. Data were collected through semi‐structured interviews. The NVIVO‐R1 qualitative data analysis program was used for categorisation and coding in the data analysis. The findings revealed that translation studies motivate and improve comprehension–explanation skills, increasing academic success, positively impacting learning psychology, and reducing anxiety. Effective teaching methods and motivation were influential factors in teaching language to pre‐service teachers. The study also found that reinforcers, intrinsic motivation, exemplification–association, measurable goals, teaching environment, teaching method and applied learning significantly affect the language teaching process and academic success. It was concluded that pre‐service teachers are attentive to their professional careers and motivations. Additionally, the study revealed that learning the historical development of the language and different types of translation positively contributed to the motivation levels, academic achievement and language learning knowledge and skills of pre‐service teachers. Regarding grammar teaching, pre‐service teachers highlighted the importance of focusing on the social and interactional dimensions of language in addition to grammar learning. They expressed that language learning anxiety stemmed from insufficient practice. Finally, the study suggested that the language‐learning problems of pre‐service teachers could be attributed to the neglect of translation studies.

Grammar teaching in inclusive learning groups. A reconstructive analysis of subject-specific teaching

Abstract This article argues that the relationship between subject-related and social participation is of paramount importance for inclusion-oriented subject teaching research. Firstly, subject teaching is understood as a social practice that is characterised by a specific complexity of the temporal, social and subject-related dimensions of teaching. Secondly, it is assumed that enabling and hindering subject-related and social participation in the practice of teaching is one of the most central analytical attitudes of inclusion-oriented subject teaching research. This is exemplified by empirical analyses of grammar lessons using the methodology of the documentary method.

A Quasi-experimental Research on the Effects of Explicit Grammar Instructions on English Performance of Chinese University Students

A Quasi-experimental Research on the Effects of Explicit Grammar Instructions on English Performance of Chinese University Students

An Experimental Study on the Application of Data-driven Learning in Secondary Education

This experimental study investigates the impact of data-driven learning (DDL) on the acquisition of the grammar instruction among middle school students, focusing on the English passive voice, a grammatical structure that poses challenges for Chinese students due to its divergence from Chinese passives with retained objects. The findings indicate a significant improvement in the experimental group’s ability to apply the English passive voice to translate special Chinese passives, underscoring the potential of DDL as a pedagogical tool for grammar instruction.

Error Analysis on The Use of Simple Present Tense in The Students’ Descriptive Text Among the Seventh Grade of Smp Swasta Pangeran Antasari Medan

This study is aimed at finding and analyzing errors in the use of simple present tense in descriptive texts written by seventh graders of SMP Swasta Pangeran Antasari Medan. The approach followed in this research was a qualitative method involving description and analysis. This data was collected through the students using tests that had been pre-prepared for them and interviews that were structured. In view of this, it is worth noting that there are only two main types of errors: intralingual errors and interlingual errors. These hindrances are caused by interference from their native language, Bahasa Indonesia thus making them disarrange sentences wrongly or even create new words. Meanwhile, intra-lingual errors, such as omission and addition, arise due to students' lack of understanding of English grammar rules. From the total 90 errors identified, omission errors were the most dominant with a percentage of 42.2%, followed by mis-formation (25.5%), mis-ordering (16.6%), and addition (15.5%). This study underscores the importance of more focused and interactive grammar teaching, as well as more frequent writing practice with constructive feedback to reduce errors in Simple Present Tense usage. The results are anticipated to enhance to standard of English language instruction in educational institutions, namely in the area of composing descriptive texts.

Teachers’ Perceptions and Practices of Learner-Centred Grammar Teaching Methodology in Selected Secondary Schools of Oromia Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne

This study attempted to investigate teachers’ perceptions of learner-centred grammar teaching methodology and their classroom practices. To collect data, three schools were randomly selected in Oromia Special Zone surrounding Finfinne, Ethiopia. The researcher used a mixed approach that included a questionnaire and an interview. In order to fill the questionnaire, twenty-four English teachers were selected using census method since it was manageable. For an interview, four teachers were selected using purposive sampling. The findings of the study revealed that teachers have clear understanding towards learner-centred grammar teaching methodology. However, implementing the methodology was difficult because teachers usually focus on teaching grammar through presenting rules first followed by practicing the examples. In addition, students’ reluctance in actively participating in classroom discussion and fear of making mistakes were other problems. In order to create awareness in the implementation of a learner-centred method in grammar lessons, the concerned bodies like Woreda Education Office, Regional Education Bureau and Ministry of Education should prepare trainings for both teachers and students.

CHALLENGES FOR INDONESIAN EFL STUDENTS IN ENGLISH ACADEMIC WRITING

This research aims to examine the challenges faced by Indonesian EFL students in academic writing, specifically the errors they made while writing scholarship application essays. The study focused on identifying syntactical and morphological errors and understanding their sources and reasons. The data consisted of 20 essays from third-semester students in an academic writing course at a private Indonesian university. Two English language lecturers reviewed the essays twice to identify the errors. The findings revealed that syntactic errors were the most common, with 132 instances (61.69%), followed by punctuation and capitalization errors with 50 instances (23.37%), and morphological errors were the least frequent with 32 instances (14.94%). Interlingual, or native language interference, was found to be the primary source of these errors. The main factor of making errors is the lack of previous experience and knowledge about the conventions of academic writing and the expectations of the institution they are studying at. This study offers teaching recommendations for EFL teachers, emphasizing the importance of considering the impact of learners' native language besides providing appropriate grammar instruction as the key to effective teaching for ESL teachers.