Using visual aids to motivate the 10th form students in practising new grammar structures

 I. INTRODUCTION
1. Reason for choosing the research 
Nowadays, in Vietnam, English is used more and more widely. It brings us chances to keep up with the development of the modern age. Therefore, teaching and learning English, especially at upper secondary schools play a very important role.
In any languages, grammar is considered one of the most essential elements of language. We can hardly comprehend the meaning exactly if we do not use grammar appropriately. So poor knowledge of English grammar can effect both the learning and teaching of English. Thus, it is necessary to apply new methods of teaching and learning to improve the situation.
The English language is completely different from Vietnamese language system so students have a lot of difficulties in learning and using English in general and grammatical structures. Meanwhile, grammatical structures are basic units to build up sentences, paragraphs and essays. How to make grammar lessons more interesting? How can we motivate students?
Visual aids are one of the most effective means of language teaching. It makes language class more interesting and communicative. Therefore, in this study, I would like to give some suggestions for using visual aids effectively. The effort of this study is to try to give some contribution to improve the quality of teaching English at high schools by “Using visual aids to motivate the 10th form students in practising new grammar structures”.
2. Aims and objectives of the study
- To study the current visual techniques in practising new grammar structures.
- To investigate the causes of difficulties that teachers are facing with teaching grammar to the ten form students with the help of visual aids, so that teachers can both improve the advantages and limit the drawbacks of language visuals in teaching grammar lessons.
- To introduce some common kinds of visual aids and their roles in foreign language teaching and learning.
- To increase the effectiveness in teaching English grammar.
The study is carried out to answer the following questions: 
- What are visual aids?
- What are the roles of visual aids in teaching language and in practising new grammar structures?
- How to use visual aids suitably in practising new grammar structures?
3. Scope of the study
 In teaching a new structure, visual aids may be used at three stages: the presentation stage, the practice stage and the production stage. Within the scope of this study, I would like to focus on practising with visual aids.
As time is limited, the survey is carried out on a small scale so the results may not reflect the real situation of using visual aids in teaching grammar to 10th form students: 10A7, 10A9 in the school year 2016 – 2017.
4. Method of the study
In order to carry out this study, it is mainly based on the data and information collected from surveys, observation and direct interviews from my colleagues. It is also based on a number of reference books about the use of visual aids in teaching English. Furthermore, my actual teaching at Dang Thai Mai high school provides the great practical contribution to the study.
 II. CONTENTS
1. Theoretical background
Visual aids are anything visible to learners, which teachers use for different teaching purposes in the class. They can be photographs, flashcards moved from hand to hand, group to group, real things in the classroom or brought into the classroom or something can be seen through window or the teacher and the students themselves.
In fact, students usually find it hard and boring to learn and memorize grammatical structures. Meanwhile, some teachers have to spend a lot of time explaining a grammar rule but sometimes, the results are not satisfactory. Therefore, it is important for learners to have plenty of examples of the structure and to understand them. Visual materials can also contribute to understand.
The simplest way to practise a structure is often to show it directly using things the students can see: objects, the classroom, yourself, the student themselves, pictures.
The practice of grammar will be much easier and more effective through situations, contexts which visual aids provide. Students can understand fully and practise more effectively. Moreover, students can communicate successfully as they are exposed to the reality and practise orally more often with the help of visual aids. On the other hand, visual aids motivate learners when they are tired of long drill of written grammar. As a result, they will be interested and pay attention to grammar activities.
2. The status of problem
The informants for the study consists of 82 students in the tenth form (age 16-17) from two classes 10A7 and 10A9, and 8 teachers of English at Dang Thai Mai High School.
The first reason for my selection is that my selected participants are accessible. All these students have learnt English for more than four years at secondary schools as they started to learn English when they were in grade 6. Most of them have got familiar with teaching and learning methods at middle level. 
The second reason is our awareness of the completeness and reliability of the data collected. We must be well-informed about the real situation of teaching and adapting visual aids in teaching and learning grammar at our school. 
In addition, the main method used was the Grammar Translation Method. The students may be good at writing grammatically correct sentences but they can not communicate in that language. During the process of learning, students are not often given chances to work in pairs, groups or to take part in such activities as discussion or playing games, etc. A number of students even find it difficult to learn what they studied at junior secondary school. Students have to learn in very large class without favorable conditions for learning a foreign language such as teaching aids: video, tapes, cassette, etc. The lack of these facilities reduces effectiveness of the teaching and learning process.
Most teachers in the survey are female aged from twenty- six to forty. They have been teaching English for at least three years. They usually teach classes with 39 to 45 students and each of them is in charge of three or four classes. Meanwhile, teaching facilities are poor and backward. Therefore, the main teaching material of the teachers is the textbook for students.
It can be found that the teachers have to work hard but the results seem not to be satisfactory. This is a great problem
3. Analysis of the data
There is a quick questionnaire designed for students from two classes 10A7 and 10A9 to gather necessary information about using visual aids to practise new grammar structures in classes. Students are encouraged to express their own opinions about their ability to apply new grammar structures in practising and doing grammar exercises.
This data is collected from students:
Students total
Know how to use new grammar structures to practise
Have difficulties in practising new grammar structures
Impossible to practise new grammar structures
82
30 (36,6%)
22 (26,8%)
30 (36,6%)
Table 1: Analysis of the data collected from students before applying the research
It can be seen from the table that only 36,6% know how to use new grammar structures to practise fluently whereas 26,8% find it difficult. 36,6% say they are impossible to practice new grammar structures.
The following data is the result of the school year 2015 – 2016 before applying the research:
Class
Number of students 
Excellent-good (%)
Average (%)
Weak (bad)
(%)
10A7
39
35
40
25
10A9
43
30
50
20
Table 2: Analysis of the data collected from the result of the school year 2015 – 2016 before applying the research
These figures show that it is really necessary to change the way to teach new grammar structures so that students are able to practise effectively.
4. Teaching application
It is necessary to give them enough practice after the presentation stage. At the practice stage, to work with new language items, the teacher’s main function is to provide them with the maximum amount of practice, which must be both meaningful and memorable so that they can understand and produce examples of it. Followings are some suggested practice activities using visual aids.
4.1. Using the board
In the practice stage, it can be used for substitution, completion, rearrangement, making sentences, etc. In other words, the board provides various activities for grammar practice.
4.1.1. Sentence pattern table
To provide cues for students to practice, the teacher should draw a sentence table on the board. Substitution can be cued by words added to the columns or by holding up pictures, pointing to parts of a big picture or by sticking small pictures into the columns.
Example: to practise the simple future tense in Unit 14 (part E language focus, page 150) the teacher may draw a table like this:
I
Will
Play
Football
Tomorrow
Mai
Buy
Coffee
In a few minutes
Hoa
Read
Book
Next week
Mai and Hoa
Drink
Beer
This evening
Mai and I
Watch
a house
In two months
 Comment: This kind of practice is more mechanical than meaningful so the teacher should spend only some minutes to help students be familiar with the structure. To put a creative element into this, the students should be encouraged to propose any words that they like providing the sentences remains grammatically correct. In seeing that a suggestion is ridiculous the students experience the meaning of the language used.
4.1.2. Questionnaires
The teacher draws a grid on the board and elicits information from students.
Example: practising conditional sentence type 1 in Unit 8 (part E language focus, page 90)
Name
Playing football
Watching television
Fishing
Going picnic
Reading book
Ly
Dung
Lien
Thao
 To fill the grid, the teacher uses the question “what will you do if you don’t have to go to school tomorrow?” By doing so, controlled language can take place because the above question must be asked and answered by each member of the class.
Comment: The information and completion in this grid has a meaningful purpose. It might be interesting to find out the hobbies of students in the class so they can understand each other better.
4.1.3. Table using information from the students
To do this activity, the teacher asks students to note down answers to the following questions:
1. What time do you get up?
2. What do you do to help your parents?
3. How do you get to school?
Then he draws the outline table on the board and selects students to come up to fill their answer:
Lien
Dung
Thao
1
5.00
5.30
6.00
2
Clean the house
Cook dinner
Do the gardening
3
On foot
By bicycle
By bus
Using this table, controlled practice can take place. For example, “Lien has to get up at 5 o’clock”, “Dung has to go to school by bicycle”, “Thao has to do the gardening to help his parents”. Then, they can practice a lot of structures such as “Lien gets up earlier than Dung”. “Lien usually goes to school on foot”. “It takes Lien more time to get to school than Dung” and so on.
In addition to these uses of the board in grammar practice, it can be also used for sentence matching, rearrangement.
For example:
*Matching a phrase in column 1 with a suitable phrase in column 2
Column 1
Column 2
1. He always does his homework
a. a beautiful house
2. There used to be
b. carefully
3. I bought
c. a clothes shop here
Key: 1b, 2c, 3a
* Learners are given some groups of words in disorder to rearrange into correct sentence:
a. will, a, I, win, buy, I, if, match, sport, the, car
b. built, house, ago, was, this, years, five
Key: 
a. If I win the sport match, I will buy a car
b. This house was built five years ago
4.2. Using real objects
Real objects are useful for substitution. By giving out objects, students can both practice vocabulary and grammar structures. From these objects, a lot of sentences can be created.
Example 1: The teacher wants his student to practise comparison in Unit 16 (part E Language focus, page 176) he shows them a watch, a pen and a ruler.
Teacher: What is this?
Students: It is a watch / a pen / a ruler
 After saying such sentences, the students compare them as follows:
- The pen is more expensive than the ruler is.
- The watch is the most expensive.
- The ruler is not as useful as the pen.
- The ruler is made of wood.
- The watch was produced in Switzerland.
Comment: A lot of real objects can be shown to give students more practice. This type of exercises helps students use the new words in phrases or sentences. It is also a communicative exercise because it encourages students to give comment on objects, to give ideas using their own words.
Example 2: In Unit 6 (part E Language focus, page 70)
Grammar point: the present progressive (with a near future meaning) and be going to. 
To practise to be going to + V, the teacher follows the coming - up steps:
Step 1: prepare a collection of small object such as a cup, a stone, a plate, a knife, a piece of string, a nail, a piece of wood, a sheet of paper or a box of matches.
Step 2: display one object to all class except for one student, who has to guess what it is. The guesser asks:
-What are you going to do with it?
 And others will describe their (imaginary) plans for the object:
- I’m going to cut bread with it.
- I’m going to drink tea from it.
- I’m going to write on it.
- I’m going to make a fire with it.
 To make students pay attention to the activity, after some objects have been guessed, the teacher asks a student: “What will be done with the knife / the cup?”
 This activity is also helpful for the practice of the future passive.
4.3. Using word cards
4.3.1. Telling about diary
This type of activity is suitable for pair or group work rather than for the whole class. In order to practise the simple past tense in Unit 1 (part E Language focus, page 21), the teacher gives out word cards filled with notes of different planned activities. 
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
07.30 - 08.00 get breakfast
07.30 - 09.30 get breakfast
10.30 - 11.30 meet Tom for coffee
08.00 - 09.00 water flowers. Housework
09.00 - 11.00 meet with Mike
11.30 - 12.30 watch end of football
Take kids home
 Each group should be given different word cards. Then, they are asked to expand the notes into full sentences. They may use the first or the third person. For example, such sentences may be made:
- I was getting breakfast at 7.45 Monday morning.
- I went to the office at 9 o’clock yesterday morning.
- I was watching the end of the football at 12 o’clock.
These cards, then, are used to ask and answer questions. This may be done orally first then in writing. The content of word cards can be shopping list, activities of a festival or TV programmes. Students are expected to use “then”, “next”, “after”, “before” to tell about diary. If this activity is done orally, the teacher may check other groups’ attention by asking them to recall the plan of a certain person.
4.3.2. Giving instruction
 This type of activity is suitable for practicing the imperative form of the verbs in Unit 5 (part D writing, page 58)
Word cards are also used to practise giving instruction:
 To make a call
- Have money ready 2 minutes or 10 minutes lift receiver
- Listen for continuous purring
- Dial number or code and number 
- When you hear rapid pips, insert in a coin
- Put in more during conversation or when you hear rapid pips again
4.3.3. Jumbled texts
 In other activities, word cards are also helpful. For instance, word cards are used for jumbled texts. Each word card contains a word. Then, the teacher asks students to make the longest sentence possible with these words and to build as many sentences as possible in five minutes.
Early
about
Five
o’clock
An
old
thin
and
Bent
man
Walked
slowly
Under
the
yellow
trees
Example: An old thin man slowly walked under the yellow bent trees about early five o’clock.
4.3.4. Bingo card
Bingo card is often considered to be a useful technique for revising or checking vocabulary. However, in grammar practice, bingo card is also effective. It can be used in controlled and guided practice stages. For example, to practise the present perfect tense and the structure “have you ever done?” in Unit 5(part E language focus, page 60), the teacher can give each student a piece of paper consisting of several squares and in each of square, there is a word or phrase.
 Hai Phong
had an accident
broken a bone
seen
met famous people
had flu
been drunken
gone abroad
seen a fire
 The teacher has a pile of separate cue - cards, and offers each one at random, using the questions:
- Who has ever been to Hai Phong?
- Who has seen a ghost?
- Who has gone abroad?
 The student who possesses the item answers:
- I have been to Hai Phong.
- I have seen a ghost.
 And receives the card with which he or she covers the item on the sheet. The winner is the first to cover all his or her sheet.
4.4. Using pictures 
Various types of pictures provide a great deal of activities for grammar practice.
4.4.1. True / false game
This kind of game is suitable for controlled practice. It is introduced to make students think about meaning and they want to communicate. In order to carry out this game, the teacher hangs a picture and makes a number of statements, some of which are true, some of which are false. If the statement is true, the students repeat it, if it is false, the students correct it.
Example: practise “the present perfect tense” in unit 5(part E Language focus, page 60)
Teacher: They are in restaurant.
Students: Yes, they are in a café.
Teacher: The girl has long hair.
Students: No, she has short hair.
Teacher: She has already eaten!
Students: No, She is eating.
Teacher: The boy is eating with her.
Students: No, he is talking with her.
Teacher: The boy has drunk a grass of beer.
Students: No, he hasn’t.
Teacher: The girl’s friend has had lunch with her.
Students: Yes, he has left here.
If this game is done orally, then the students can correct the teacher when he or she makes a false statement. If it is done in writing, then the teacher might write a number of sentences on the board and ask the students to copy the correct ones and correct the incorrect ones. This game can be used to practise any structure the teacher wishes.
4.4.2. Say what you see
To practise the past tense (Unit 1, part E language focus, page19), the teacher prepares some picture flashcards on which reference for students to answer and to ask questions provided:
Teacher: (Holding up a picture of some apples) I have been to the shop. What did I buy?
Students: You bought some apples
To make the activity more interesting and the language used more meaningful, the teacher should not show the picture to the students so that they must guess what he bought or saw.
Comment: the students may be attracted to the activity and they really communicate by trying to guess what the teacher did. Their vocabulary is also improved.
4.4.3. Describing picture
Example: Describing changes
In order to practise passive form in Unit 10 (part E Language focus, page 111), the teacher prepares a pair of pictures showing a situation or place before and after a set of changes. Ask the students to imagine the second picture is the present and to describe what have been done.
 The teacher introduces picture A first and asks the students such questions as:
- What are there on the table?
- Is there any water in the glass?
- How many apples are there?
Then he shows picture B and the students observe what has changed. Such sentences as the followings may be produced:
- The apples have been eaten.
- The water has been drunk.
- The bread has been sliced.
Comment: This activity is very interesting and the teacher can exploit a lot from the picture. Therefore, the students can communicate with eac