Grammar and variation in the classroom

Grammar is the structural foundation of successful communication, language use, and literacy development. Grammar is therefore sometimes viewed as the heart of language with an important place in language teaching. In a classroom setting, regulation of grammar knowledge through teachers is strongly influenced by teachers’ linguistic competence and beliefs. In this paper, we will first show the diversity in this knowledge by means of teacher interviews and speeded grammatical-acceptability data from pupils and students. We will then sketch a socio- and psycholinguistic perspective on several selected morphosyntactic variables in German. These will be discussed with reference to social forces that determine what is standard in a language (language norm authorities, language experts, model texts, and codifiers). Finally, we will draw a roadmap for teachers, language practitioners and editors looking for a qualified solution to grammatical cases of doubt in contemporary German and provide practical examples by drawing upon the German reference corpus.

IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TEACHING STUDENTS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE BASED ON A COMMUNICATIVE METHODOLOGY

In the context of globalization and integration in the country into the international community, the modernization of foreign language teaching in domestic higher education is taking place. The development of international contacts in the country causes a need for specialists of various profiles who are well-versed in foreign languages, but their training does not always give the desired results. Practice has shown that the grammatical translation method used in the last few decades to teach a foreign language to specialists of various profiles, in which the emphasis is on learning rules and translating texts, rather than on communication, has not fully justified itself. Having generally good grammar knowledge, and skills in the field of translation, graduates of non-linguistic universities have difficulties in communication with foreigners in the course of professional activities, and the question about the level of knowledge of foreign language professionals are increasingly responsible read and translate with a dictionary, which actually means no possession and failure to carry out practical communication in a foreign language.

An Empirical Study on the Fossilization of English Language Learning in the Context of Multimedia Network Teaching

To carry out the pilot teaching of multimedia assisted teaching and self-learning mode of network platform for experimental class, the data analysis results obtained by using tools such as questionnaire survey show that:The multimedia network teaching environment has a great effect on the students’ vocabulary knowledge fossilization, but has little effect on the grammar knowledge fossilization; The fossilization of reading ability among the four communicative abilities of English language is alleviated obviously, and the self-assessed oral ability of students improves faster after the addition of oral English classes; It accelerates the ossification of writing and listening ability, but it is mainly caused by the characteristics of the network itself and improper learning methods of students.

Investigating University Students’ Perceptions About Two Different Cases of Foreign Language Courses

This study investigates university students’ perceptions of two different cases of foreign language courses conducted in L1&L2 and in only L2. This qualitative study was conducted as a multiple case study. The data were obtained via a semi structured and analysed through content analysis. The study mainly revealed the students had overwhelmingly positive feelings about the courses in only L2 as in the second case. They explained some (dis)advantages about both cases of the courses in terms of efficiency, contribution to their vocabulary/grammar knowledge and listening /speaking skills. The frequency levels of both advantages and disadvantages regarding both cases stated by the students were so close. Based on the findings, it can be suggested that a student-teacher driven policy should be implemented to assist the process in using L1 appropriately and necessarily based on the students’ perceptions and preferences.

Design and Application of English Grammar Intelligent Question Bank System

The English grammar question bank can reserve a large number of special knowledge points and special categories of questions, which is helpful for English learners. Therefore, we design and verify the application effect of an intelligent question bank system. We construct an English grammar knowledge map, which is used to design the system architecture, including basic layer, data layer, service layer, business layer, and user layer. On the basis of the system structure, the index system of the item bank is established, and the functional modules of the system are designed comprehensively. Finally, we design a system database based on MySQL and give the table of knowledge points of English grammar. In order to verify the performance of the designed English grammar intelligent test bank system, a verification experiment is carried out. The experiment selects the accuracy rate of English grammatical feature extraction, recall rate, convergence, and system configuration accuracy. The experimental results show that the proposed system can extract English grammatical features with higher accuracy, and the recall rate is more satisfactory. Compared with the reference systems, the designed system configuration accuracy is higher.

Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) in Language Learning

This is a case study using an interactive digital game to teach grammar via Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL). The interactive game via MALL is aimed to ease TESL students' fear and trigger their interest in learning grammar. The game uses the Theory of Variation (Marton & Booth) to design the grammar exercises in the game. A survey questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were administered to gauge the students’ perceptions of using the game. The findings show that the game has somewhat improved students’ grammar knowledge. Keywords: Digital board game; Grammar; Mobile Assisted Language Learning; Variation theory eISSN 2514-7528 © 2021 The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA CE-Bs by E-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians / Africans / Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/jabs.v6i19.391

A PRELIMINARY STUDY ON ENGLISH GRAMMAR PROFICIENCY KNOWLEDGE OF DIPLOMA STUDENTS

The aims of the study were to determine the most frequent grammatical errors made by students and their performance in a grammar test. Hence,183 diploma students from a local university were chosen to assist in this study. The instrument of the study was a final test consisting of two reading comprehension passages and a grammar section. For the purpose of the study, the students’ answers of the grammar section were analysed. The grammar section consists of 10 questions covering different parts of speech and tenses which were randomly chosen. It was found that the majority of the students’ performance in a grammar test is in the middle range. Most of them did not perform badly but neither did most of them excel at English grammar. Based on the findings there seemed to be a need for a more enhanced focus on the teaching and learning of English grammar for Malaysian ESL students. However, because this is a small study that examined only one batch of students, the results of this study may not be too significant for a more generalised conclusion. Thus, continuous study should be done with regard to aspects of grammar knowledge and its teaching and learning in Malaysia.

The Effects of Using Infographics-based Learning on EFL Learners’ Grammar Retention

In Vietnam, EFL learners have always been concerned about improving their grammar knowledge, and many efforts have been made to do so through various methods. Some studies suggest engaging students in their learning process and focusing their attention on untilizing multimedia and visualizations in form of infographics. However, little research has been conducted on the topic, and the current study is an attempt to find empirical evidence for such a suggestion in Vietnam context. This study was designed to examine the impact of infographics instruction on grammar learning. While the experimental group learned grammar with infographics instruction, the controlled group learned it with routine and traditional techniques. Finding reveals that infographics instruction was an effective instrument to help EFL learners learn English grammar.

A Study on Golden Age for Vietnamese learners of English

When starting learning English, Vietnamese learners will often meet with some difficulties caused by the influence of both external and internal factors. One of the most important internal factors that affect language acquisition is the age factor; therefore, finding the golden age for Vietnamese learners of English will contribute to declining some troubles that can meet for beginners. This study is performed based on a combination of qualitative methods and quantitative methods, which aims to provide the most accurate results in this issue. First, the qualitative methods are applied through searching, analyzing, and synthesizing some studies related to this topic on the Internet via two main websites, Google Scholar and Google Book. Second, the quantitative methods are executed through two main forms: online survey via Google Form and interview via Zalo and Messenger. Through the study, it is concluded that the golden age ranges from ages three to under 18 years old; in this period, people can reduce to the lowest level of the problems relating to four skills in English, especially listening and speaking skills. Besides, the study finds out that different ages of learning English would lead to differences in some respects like vocabulary learning speed, English listening comprehension, grammar knowledge, etc.

A Study on Golden Age for Vietnamese learners of English

When starting learning English, Vietnamese learners will often meet with some difficulties caused by the influence of both external and internal factors. One of the most important internal factors that affect language acquisition is the age factor; therefore, finding the golden age for Vietnamese learners of English will contribute to declining some troubles that can meet for beginners. This study is performed based on a combination of qualitative methods and quantitative methods, which aims to provide the most accurate results in this issue. First, the qualitative methods are applied through searching, analyzing, and synthesizing some studies related to this topic on the Internet via two main websites, Google Scholar and Google Book. Second, the quantitative methods are executed through two main forms: online survey via Google Form and interview via Zalo and Messenger. Through the study, it is concluded that the golden age ranges from ages three to under 18 years old; in this period, people can reduce to the lowest level of the problems relating to four skills in English, especially listening and speaking skills. Besides, the study finds out that different ages of learning English would lead to differences in some respects like vocabulary learning speed, English listening comprehension, grammar knowledge, etc.