Assignment - ORLC

SUBJECT RESIT:
OBSERVATION & RESEARCH IN THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

Luz Andrea Bolaos Benigno

PEFPMTFL2118447

Group: 2016-02

PhD. Vernica Cabaas

Tutor

July 30th, 2017

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INDEX

I. INTRODUCTION.3

II. POPULATION.4

III. ADAPTATIONS FOR THIS SPECIFIC

GROUP...5

IV. COLLECTING
DATA.6

V. ANALYSIS OF THE
DATA7

VI. CONCLUSION...7

VII. APPENDIXES...8

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I. INTRODUCTION
One of the most difficult areas for students to learn is grammar. Therefore, it is a
challenge for teachers to get students to acquire it easily and smoothly, considering it is
definitely an area we can not omit in our lessons, and most of the time we have to struggle
with the variety of learners we have and try to make the grammar lesson manageable and
understandable for them.

Through all the development and evolution of language teaching, grammar has gone
through different approaches and methods, and nowadays, teachers tend to use a mix of
them due to the different ways of learning students have and also taking into consideration
their interests and goals.

In the following assignment, we are going to adapt the research number two which
focuses on Self study grammar practice and analyze how students learn grammar
efficiently and productively as well as which is the best way for them. This adaptation will be
based on a new population and context, and the objective is to get a better idea of how
students process grammar better and the best way teachers can provide this knowledge in
an easier and more practical way.

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II. POPULATION
The group of students taken for this research are young adults aged from 18 to
30 years, most of them studying at a university, and some who have already finished
and are working in different fields in Lima- Peru. These students need to validate
English studies until the intermediate level to get a bachelor or masters degree. Most
of them are eager to finish all the advanced level.

The language center in which these students take the English lessons is the
one provided by the same university in order to help students get the validation
automatically. That is why in some cases, students feel forced to take the lessons and
not motivated to attend classes, and in many cases, they are consecutively absent
because of exams or projects at university. This makes their learning process slower
and more difficult. Therefore, their level is lower compared to other groups.

The classes taken by these students go from Monday to Friday, two sessions of
fifty minutes each day with a ten minute break for sixteen days, and one day for the
exam and after that, one day for feedback where students get their final results. The
groups selected for this investigation will be from the 7:00am schedule and another
group from the 9:00am schedule .

The first group does not have a break and the students are older than the
second group. Here we will find people in the last cycles of the university or people who
are already working and/or studying a masters degree. We have to point out that this
group of students are the ones who have more difficulty in arriving on time due to the
schedule and the different responsibilities they might have (some of them are parents,
for example.). They are more motivated, though.

In the second group of students, we will find younger people who are studying
the first cycles of the university, most of them are between 16 and 20 years old. They
do not present problems with arriving on time, but there is lack of motivation due to the

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fact that they are more interested in socializing than learning or just because they are
more forced (some of them by their parents) to learn English. That is why their
performance and participation in class is much less than the first group.

III. ADAPTATIONS FOR THIS SPECIFIC GROUP

In my opinion, the adaptation of the structure of case study two to another
context will be feasible due to some similarities my students share with the population
of the original case. The group of the case study are also learning English in an EFL
context, and are in an intermediate level, but the difference is that there are fewer
students, between 15 and 25 per class, only. The majority of students have started at
the induction level or been classified in a basic level through an interview or
placement test.

Regarding the way teachers teach grammar in these groups, we can appreciate
that in both cases, teachers are trying to find the best way to give students a good
resource for learning considering they have different types of students with different
learning strategies.

As we know, teachers always apply two types of teaching grammar - inductively

and deductively - but the same strategy does not always work in the same way and
have the same result with students. The outcome will depend on the group of students
we teach. Therefore, we need to recognize what kind of students we have to make
grammar easier and more practical for them.

Besides, in the real context of the language center in Lima, we should try to
make our classes run smoothly and follow the approach used by the language center
which is to try to introduce grammar inductively.

Regarding the adaptations for my case study I would take two intermediate
groups (from the same level. E.g. I1 in different schedules), and apply the deductive
way in group A and the inductive way in group B. This way, at the end of the cycle
when students take the final exam, we will be able to see which one got the best
results in grammar.

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Some outcome is also possible to be seen during the process and the
development of the lessons, where students will be able to participate and produce
grammar orally. We will be able to see if students are improving the use of grammar
and if they are capable of using it correctly both orally and written.

Students will continue working in groups or pairs and developing the activities
proposed in the books and following the approach given by the language center, but at
the moment of studying grammar, teacher will give them the rules or have students
discover it. The teacher has to notice the progress of the students in the different
schedules and keep track of them.

The goal of this research will be to see which group is capable of producing English
better in both ways, orally and written and find out which method is the best one at the
moment of teaching: the inductive or the deductive way. Which one helps students the
most.

IV. COLLECTING THE DATA

As students have finished all the basic level, on the first two or three days of
classes, the teacher will get information about the students history from the previous
cycles, and also during the classes, students will be asked some questions about
different topics, where they have to use and recycle the grammar they have learnt. For
example, students will be asked about their last weekend (to use the past simple), or
their future plans (to use the present continuous or future with will), etc.

By asking this kind of questions and checking the students history, the teacher
will have a more clear idea of what the students need and their background and, if
necessary, the teacher might have to make a review to even out the level. In addition,
s/he will be able to decide which group will be the best one to apply the inductive way
of teaching grammar and which one to be applied the deductive way, depending on the
learning strategies and needs stood out in the group.

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V. ANALYSIS OF THE DATA

The process of research will last approximately one month (18 days of classes)
and during this cycle, students will be provided with resources to practice grammar.
These resources will be written and oral activities, where students have to put in
practice what they have learnt inductively or deductively.

During the development of classes, the teacher will keep track of the students
progress considering their performance grades, and keeping a diary with all the
students mistakes at the moment of speaking. This diary will help the teacher compare
the progress of students from group A and group B. Therefore, we will be able to At the
end of the cycle, as usual, students will take their final exam and that would be the last
resource to analyze which group did it better and therefore, decide which method was
better in order to improve students understanding and use of grammar.

VI. CONCLUSION

After this investigation, what we will be able to see is that even though we teach
the same content and use the same method, the outcome will depend on the group of
students and their learning techniques. Some students will respond better when
applying the inductive way, and others when applying the deductive way when teaching
grammar.

We will never be capable of finding just one good method for all the students in
the same class, and in many cases, we will have to adapt and apply both methods at
the same time, due to the fact that both methods are useful and necessary for learning
grammar. It is our job as teachers, to be capable of reaching our students needs as
much as we can and help them feel comfortable and motivated with learning.
Otherwise, students will finish the cycle frustrated and even with the will of abandon
their objectives.

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APPENDIX

Assignment Guidelines

SUBJECT RESIT:
OBSERVATION & RESEARCH IN THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

GENERAL INFORMATION:

This assignment has to fulfil the following conditions:

- Length: 5 pages (without including cover, index or appendices if there are any-).
- Type of font: Arial or Times New Roman.
- Size: 11.
- Line height: 1.5.
- Alignment: Justified.

The assignment has to be done in this Word document and has to fulfil the rules of
presentation and edition, as for quotes and bibliographical references which are
detailed in the Study Guide.

Also, it has to be submitted following the procedure specified in the Study Guide.
Sending it to the tutors e-mail is not permitted.

In addition to this, it is very important to read the assessment criteria, which can be
found in the Study Guide.

The assignment mark is 100% of the final mark, but the participation in the activities
performed during the tutorials can improve this mark.

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Assignment:

Read the six case studies in the pdf document, each of which investigates a
different topic: literature, grammar, oral English, teaching techniques, language
learning, writing. When you have finished reading, follow the instructions below.
(From Wallace 1998: 166-169). Of the six case studies outlined above, which
topic would be of most interest/relevance for a group of students with which you
are familiar? Think about how you would need to adapt the case study for your
target group's needs by considering the following questions:

1. Clearly outline the population for your adapted case study.

2. How would you adapt the structure of the case study to fit in with your
target group and teaching context?

3. What sort of data would you generate and how would you generate it?

4. How would you analyse the data?