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Impacts of contextualized grammar teaching on Hong Kong English Learners' use and perceptions of phrasal verbs in speaking

1. Background + Problem (~400 words)

Evidence shown students are easily confused and misunderstood the meanings of phrasal verbs in their various writing and speaking tasks. EAL students tend to pick up the literal meanings rather than the figurative meanings and are not able to use them correctly in context.

From verbal communication at school, we observe that students sometimes misunderstood the meaning in a conversation as they take the meaning of phrasal verbs literally.

2. Literature review (~ 2000 words incl. research gap)

From the literature, we can conclude that the traditional grammar teaching of phrasal verbs does not work well as stated by Moon (1997) and van der Veer (2000). As a result, contextualizaed grammar teaching of phrasal verbs is needed as phrasal verbs are often polysemous, taking on a new meaning each time they are used in a different context as stated by Al-Otaibi (2019).

3. Research gap

Little is known about to what extent contexutalized grammar teaching impacts Hong Kong English learners' use of phrasal verbs in spoken English and their perceptions of learning phrasal verbs with the lack of qualitative research.

4. Methodology (~600 words incl. limitations)

1. Target

2 P.5 classes with similar English proficiency; 1 as control and 1 as experimental

2. Mixed-method

Independent sample T-test

Semi-structural interviews

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Background:

a group of MA students and in-service teachers in Hong Kong secondary schools figured out there is a need to improve the vocabulary acquisition of students in Hong Kong secondary schools. Since many students are struggling with vocabulary requirements in academic tasks, especially junior student, they are at a critical stage of cognitive and linguistic development.

suffixes has such potential to help students improving their vocabulary acquisition as the first step in English language learning.

This study aims to investigate how learning suffixes can actually affect junior form students' English language learning and vocabulary acquisition, and how such method motivate their vocabulary learning.

Literature review:

Importance in Vocabulary Acqusition

Impact on reading and spelling

relationship between vocabulary development and morphological awareness

relationship between vocabulary development and affixation

HK ESL's motivation and perception of learning English

Research gap & questions:

Most of studies and journals only focus on high school and university students who have learnt English for several years. Not many researches have focused on beginners with lower English language proficiency have been conducted.

Their focus of the studies are on affixes and suffixes in English language learning. They only adopted quantitive method but we are adopting mixed method to understand in-depth the effectiveness and motivation of ESL learning suffixes to facilitate their vocabulary acquisition.

Research Questions:

How does learning suffixes facilitate students' vocabulary acquisition?

Does learning suffixes motivates English language learning in HK secondary schools?

To what extend does suffix instructions enhance the spelling and reading skills in second language learners?

Methodology:

Purposive sampling

Mixed methods

(qualitative --- focus group interview with 5 participants) --> Does learning suffixes motivates English language learning in HK secondary schools?

(quantitative---- questionnaire)-->How does learning suffixes facilitate students' vocabulary acquisition?

--> To what extend does suffix instructions enhance the spelling and reading skills in second language learners?

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1. Background (400 words)

l   Vocabulary is very important in L2 acquisition.

l   Students are expected to master around 5000 words before Form 6. But they can merely know less than 3000 word families.

l   in-service teachers are “doubtful” about the ability to teach vocabulary effectively.

l   The teaching experience shared by one of our group members has served as a catalyst:

l   used word cards VS use picture cards  she noticed a higher retention rate for the facial features when using picture cards

2. Literature Review (1500 words)

l   using visual aids like pictures and drawings is one of the effective and engaging ways that can help students learn vocabulary

l   Pictures represent features of objects which helps learners to grasp its meaning even if one has little or no experience with the concept

l   presenting semantically related vocabulary in a lesson can aid vocabulary acquisition, experimental data indicates otherwise

l   translation times were remarkably slower for words learned semantically versus in random order. Translation performance was also poorer for words to be translated in semantic categories.

l   They found out that explicit instruction is more effective than implicit instruction because the overall scores of the experiment group is higher than that of the control group (dual-coding theory)

3. Research Gap (500 words)

l   Most of the studies focus on comparing the effectiveness of either teaching vocabulary with and without visual aids or teaching vocabulary in a semantically related manner and semantically unrelated manner

l   Combine the two methods to see which is more effective for HK primary 1-3 students in vocabulary learning

l   Research question: What is the effectiveness of vocabulary acquisition with or without visual aids for both semantically related and unrelated vocabulary in Hong Kong primary 1-3 classrooms?

4. Methodology (600 words)

l   Quasi-experimental method

l   Proficiency test  teach 7 words in two 35-minute classes by using different intervention methods  immediate post-test

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Background:

•most elementary and secondary schools in Mainland China still stick to focus on form. The majority of students are struggling to master grammatical structures for gaining high scores in exams.

•However, as one of the most important Focus on Form instructions, Textual Enhancement didn’t receive deserved attention from scholars and English teachers in China. The researches on Textual Enhancement under the background of Mainland China are very few. And most English teachers only emphasized Verbal Enhancement through repeating ‘please underline this grammar form’ during the class.

•Research questions:

1. To what extent does the underlining marked by the teacher reinforcing students’ acquisition of third person forms?

2. To what extent does the underlining marked by students under the instruction of the teacher reinforcing students’ acquisition of third person forms?

Literature Review:

1. •Textual Enhancement refers to modifying texts to make certain L2 linguistic constructions more perceptually salient through visual enhancement methods, such as underlining, bold facing, color-coding, italicizing, capitalizing (Sharwood Smith, 1991, 1993). It camp up together with the term Input Enhancement , as a subset in1990s.

In this study, Sharwood Smith’s Input Enhancement Hypothesis (1991, 1993) will be mainly referenced.

2.As a subset of input enhancement, textual enhancement specifically refers to modifying texts to make certain L2 linguistic constructions more perceptually salient through visual enhancement methods, such as underlining, bold facing, color-coding, italicizing, capitalizing (Sharwood Smith, 1991, 1993) .Textual enhancement may sometimes be accompanied by an explicit mention to the learners to attend to the highlighted form.

‘Implicit and less obtrusive’ (Doughty& Williams,1998), textual enhancement was regarded as effective in raising learners’ consciousness and promoting their attention on linguistic forms. (Doughty, 1991; Jourdenais, Ota, Stauffer, Boyson, & Doughty, 1995; White, 1998).

3.“people learn about the things that they attend to and do not learn much about the things they do not attend to” (Schmidt, 2001, p. 30).The first stage, in which input becomes intake, involves learners noticing language features in the input, absorbing them into their short-term memories and comparing them to features produced as output.

Besides, Robinson (1995) comments that it is inside short-term memory that noticing must in reality take place, since the "spotlight consciousness" (Skehan, 1998, p. 52) provided by short-term memory is triggered by different influences on noticing.

In addition, Schmidt(1990) summed up several factors that will influence noticing, and they are instruction, frequency, perceptual salience, skill level, task demands and comparing.

Research Gap

1. At present, the effects of Textual Enhancement are inconclusive.

2. Most studies on Textual Enhancement were carried out in United States on adult second language learners.

3. In Mainland China, textual enhancement is still under explored. No studies have been done on textual enhancement and third person singular form of verb.

Methodology

1. a quasi-experimental design

2. Participants: 125 Grade seven students will be chosen as participants, who are from three intact classes in an average-level Junior high school in Zhengzhou, Mainland China.

3. ANOVA

4. Procedures:

During the class

Class one (Control group): Explicit explanation of third-person singular rules+ reading material without textual enhancement

Class two (Treatment group1): Explicit explanation of third-person singular rules + reading material with teacher-marked textual enhancement

Class three (Treatment group2) : Explicit explanation of third-person singular rules + reading material with students marking textual enhancement under the instruction of the teacher

Note that the same teacher will give these three classes lectures.

Limitations

This study in under Mainland China background, so the results could not be generalized.

The treatment period is relative short and also one time, which will influence the validity of the research.

The sample size is not big enough.

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Background & Literature Review: Collocations are widespread in spoken and written native discourse .Meanwhile, learners who are able accurately and appropriately to deploy significant numbers of L2 phrasal expressions are viewed by others as being relatively proficient.

However, previous researches have shown that identifying collocations is difficult for learners, for example, ‘carry a risk’.

Therefore, feasible instructional intervention is necessary to solve these problems and set out to investigate whether the collaborative task dictogloss (DG) can be applied to achieve this aim. Because dictogloss can push learners towards accurate production of language that is beyond their current level, which accords well with Swain’s Output Hypothesis.

Research gap: Not much research focus on collocation learning with dictogloss task especially based in Chinese high school context. In addition, attitudes from students regarding this DG instruction are not much explored.

Research Questions: RQ1: To what extent does dictogloss improve the collocation acquisition of the Chinese EFL intermediate high school students?

RQ2: What are the students’ perceptions or opinions regarding the use of dictogloss?

Methodology:

Research design ：mixed method

Participants:20 Chinese grade EFL students will take part in.

Instruments: A pre-test about collocation from the text will be administered a week before the dictogloss task, again an immediate post-test will be given after the task. Two weeks later, there will be a delayed post-test. After that, four students will be randomly chosen for an interview.

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1) Background (300 words)

In service primary school teacher and CA found out that students usually get confused when they learn new English vocabulary. Semantic clustering is mainly used in Hong Kong and students always mix up the words in the same chapter. That’s why we are looking for a more effective way to teach L2 students English vocabulary.

2) Literature review (1800 words)

A. Logical & convenient: less effort is required when students learn words in a set

B. Stronger links of new words: stronger links between new words help L2 learners retain vocabulary

C. Learn more words: items that are similar in meaning can be differentiated

3) Research gap (300 words)

-There’s limited research investigating the effects of both thematic and semantic approaches on HK students.

-Primary school students, who just finished the first year of compulsory schooling, are usually not included

4) Methodology (600 words)

-40 students will be divided into two groups

-Two phrases in total: researcher will present words in semantic clusters to group A and words in thematic clusters to group B in the first week, when it comes to the second week, they will swap

-there will be pre-test, immediate recall test and delayed recall test

-30-min instruction lesson will be held before the immediate recall test (imitate normal primary school Eng lesson)

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1)(300 words)

Summary:

Our research is constructed under the focus on form theory, aiming to explore the effect of two categories of FonF—preemptive teacher-initiated and reactive—on the learning of past tense verbs in the Mainland China secondary school context through oral narrative tasks.

Problem-identifying:

The grammar instruction is exam-oriented, the main focus is form, not meaning. Under such instruction, students have many difficulties in learning grammar (having many grammatical and oral errors, etc.). Therefore, according to The Chinese Ministry of Education, students' communicative competence should be enhanced. Therefore, the need to emphasize "focus-on-form" in language teaching is a must.

2) (1500 words)

Literature Review:

previous research focuses on the comparison between the effect of FonF and FonFs instruction; on the frequency of FonF episode occurrences...

3) (300 words)

Research Gap:

Little has focused on the combined effect of reactive and preemptive FonF in the development of a specific grammatical form. Also, few studies has explored the impact of these two FonF on Chinese students’ oral accuracy in past tense verbs.

Research questions:

RQ1: What is the effect of teacher-planned pre-emptive FonF on the secondary EFL students’ learning of past tense verbs?

RQ2: What is the effect of reactive FonF on the secondary EFL students’ learning of past tense verbs?

RQ3: What’s the difference between the effect of teacher-planned pre-emptive FonF and reactive FonF on the secondary EFL students’ learning of past tense verbs?

4) (600 words)

Methodolody

students’ performance is measured by an accuracy ratio (correct use/total use)

Shapiro–Wilk and Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests will be used to make sure that the scores are normally distributed.

A 2 (condition) × 3 (time) RM ANOVA, a one-way RM ANOVA, and pairwise comparisons are used to find where the difference in learners’ performance lies.

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1. Background [300 words]

In-service teacher (P.6) teaching phrasal verb and found it hard for student to learn phrasal verbs because there is no phrasal verb in L1

Intentional learning has gained growing attention

2. Literature review [1200 words]

Intentional learning (explicit learning)

Incidental learning (implicit learning)

The mode of input in vocabulary through reading

Difficulties in learning phrasal verbs

3. Research gap [300 words]

Previous studies analyse the impact of either only incidental learning or intentional learning on phrasal verb learning

Few studies focus on phrasal verbs, most would just go for vocabulary learning

RQ: Is there any significant difference between impacts of (1)intentional learning, (2)incidental learning, (3) incidental and intentional learning among HK primary school ss’ phrasal verb learning?

4. Methodology [700 words]

Quantitative analysis

Sample size: 30 (mixed ability)

Target: P.6 with elementary English language skills (they can read the passage on their own without much T’s help)

Method:

Pre-test (standard confirmation test to confirm homogeneity of each group)

Divide students into three equal groups and undergo three different types of learning

Post-test: After 1 term, re-do the same test

Data analyse: 1 mark each question (SPSS)

5. Conclusion [200 words]

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1) the background of your research and how you identify an issue or a problem on teaching and learning of vocabulary or grammar in the ESL/EFL context (300 words)

Frontline teachers working in local aided schools employ form-focused instructions as a teaching approach to impart grammar structures. However, observations have revealed that students often encounter challenges in learning grammar, particularly in distinguishing between the simple past tense and present perfect tense.

What is Form-Focused Instruction (FFI)?

Ellis (2001) defines it as “any planned or incidental instructional activity that is intended to induce language learners to pay attention to linguistic form”, while Spada (1997) interprets it as “either in implicit and explicit ways – direct teaching of language and/or reactions to learners’ errors.”

2) a thorough literature review (1700 words)

There are two common types used in Hong Kong. First, Focus on Forms (FonFs) can be performed both deductively or inductively. (Ellis.R , 2001)

According to Skill Acquisition Theory, L2 acquisition occurs in three stages: acquiring declarative knowledge, acquiring proceduralized knowledge, and automatization of procedural knowledge. Focus on Forms (FonF) aids in acquiring declarative language (stage 1).

3) how you identify the research gap and research questions (300 words)

Various researchers have investigated FonF and FonFs instruction in different contexts, including Persian, Malaysian and Japanese context.

1. Do learners who receive planned focus on form show more improvement in the accurate use of the simple past tense and present perfect tense, in comparison with another group receiving focus on forms instruction?

2. What factors influence the effectiveness of planned focus on form in the acquisition of the two tenses?

4) methodology (including data analysis) (600 words)

Participants

Sample Size: 25

Secondary 2 students

from a local aided Band 2 school

intermediate level of L2 learners

Method

A mixed-methods approach including quantitative (pre-test and post-test) and qualitative (interview) approaches.

Data analysis

Quantitative approach - ANOVA

compare the performance of the experimental group (receiving Planned Focused-on-Forms)

control group (receiving Focused-on-Forms)

to test the correlation between mean scores of each group’s pre-tests and post-tests (Arslan, 2020)

Qualitative appropach - Transcription

Converting the interview recordings into written text

to elicit possible factors affecting the learners’ acquisition of the target language structures

Limitation (100 words)

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Literature review

Our research proposal explores the concept of morphological awareness, which refers to understanding how words are formed based on sound and meaning combinations. The findings suggest a positive correlation between morphological awareness and vocabulary acquisition, reading comprehension, and writing skills. Additionally, the research indicates that the relationship between morphological awareness and language skills is unidirectional and that the morphological awareness of the learners' first language can also influence their second language proficiency.

Based on the review above, our research question is that

Research questions

(1)   Whether morphological awareness has a larger contribution to French-speaking ESL learners than to Chinese-speaking ESL learners in the classroom setting of daily schools with regard to reading comprehension.

(2)   Whether morphological awareness has a larger contribution to French-speaking ESL learners than to Chinese-speaking ESL learners in the classroom setting of daily schools with regard to general writing skills.

(3)   If yes, what is the reason behind this difference? If not, why L1 doesn’t play a role in the process?

Methodology

Participants will be recruited from two international secondary schools with both French-speaking students and Chinese-speaking students, both males and females will be included.

This is mixed-method research as it involves both quantitative research and qualitative research. As mentioned above, a pre-test will be conducted after the preliminary selection of the participants. This pre-test will contain three parts, an MA test, a reading comprehension test, and a writing test. (Those who are excluded from research don’t have to do the other two parts after the MA test)

Data analysis

The results of the MA tests (both pre-test and post-test) will be compared, with both mean score and standard deviation, to see if there are any differences between the two groups to see whether the 1-hour session per week is effective or not.