Van Canh, L. & Barnard, R. (2009). A survey of Vietnamese EAP teacher’s beliefs about grammar teaching. In L. J. Zhang, R. Rubdy & L. Alsagoff (eds), Englishes and Literatures-in-English in a Globalised World: Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on English in Southeast Asia (pp. 246-259). Singapore: National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University.
Abstract
Although it is now generally agreed that grammar should be an integral element of second language programmes, there is still a diversity of opinions about how it should be taught. In this paper, attention is first drawn to relevant issues raised in reviews of the teaching of grammar derived from SLA research and teacher cognition. This paper then reports a survey of Vietnamese teachers‟ attitudes towards grammar and grammar teaching in their own particular teaching contexts. It uses a questionnaire adapted from that used by in a 2002 survey of teachers of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in British universities and in a 2008 parallel survey of EAP teachers in New Zealand. The findings of the present study indicate that, like the teachers reported in the 2002 and 2008 studies, EAP teachers in Vietnam appreciate the centrality of grammar in their language teaching and have a critical awareness of many of the problems and issues involved. The findings suggest that the teachers favour a discourse, rather than a decontextualised approach to the presentation of grammar and there is an emphasis on systematic practice of grammatical forms and the correction of grammatical errors.
Publisher
National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University
Rights
This article has been published in Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on English in Southeast Asia. ©2009 L. Canh & R. Barnard.
