I.

Introduction

Since grammar is a key in all languages for meaning and understanding; English is not

the exception and this report will explain about “The use of grammar in speaking in English

language learners”. This research will be focused on how learners use grammar when they

communicate orally, what causes misusage of grammar in speaking and how learners work

on their grammar, if it becomes a weakness. Information for this research will be collected

from English III students at The Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco Morazán

“UPNFM”.

1
 The use of grammar in speaking in English language

learners

II. Stating the problem

Grammar usually represents a problem for people, especially for students; regardless

of the country, language, age, academic level or context. But, to deal with this issue is

necessary at first to define what grammar is. It is found in the Oxford Dictionary of

English Grammar, that grammar is “the entire system of a language, including its

syntax, morphology, semantics and phonology” (Chalker & Weiner, 1994, p 177). That

means that grammar encompasses the correct use of structure of words, sentences,

clauses, and paragraphs; pronunciation; and the intended meaning in the written and oral

communication.

Naturally, the use of grammar is a big deal for everybody around the world; but, for

Latin American people it seems to be such a big challenge as mathematics. It is because

of the implementation of too many rules during communication; further, during speaking

in which people have to think faster than in writing grammar is a great issue. In order to

help people who are interested in overcoming this issue, there are uncountable articles,

studies, books, videos, tutorials, etc.; available in stores, private and public libraries, and

even the internet for a pay or for free, indistinctively of the place where they live.

Honduras is not the exception in this matter. Honduran people usually complain

about the importance of the use of grammar, in their native language or in the learning of

a foreign language; in writing or in speaking; just for communicative purposes or for

academic ones. But, the people who disagree with the use of grammar rules, especially

2
while speaking, are those who come from the towns to the city for a job or to study; who

feel pressed to speak in a different way than they are used to. It is because of the context

in which they were born or have been immersed.

When the grammar issue is approached, at first, it has to be considered as Takala of

the University of Jyvaskyla states “fifth skill”, meaning the correct use of grammar to

communicate, either orally or in a written way; she calls it “grammaring” (Takala,

2016:78). In that way, grammar has to be developed in students in the same grade of

importance than the other skill; working it out while reading, writing, listening, and

speaking. Some of these are used just to communicate and others are used in formal

environments; but in all cases, grammar rules must be considered. Even though many

students are aware of their lack of grammar in their speaking, they seem not to be aware

of how much they are assessed and judged according to the way they speak; due to the

fact that many of them are students.

This problem could be caused for the lack of practice in listening, reading, and

speaking skills; lack of practice for internalization of grammar rules; more focused on

communicative activities with little attention on grammar; lack of awareness of the

benefits and importance of grammar; grammar problems in their native language, in case

of students of other languages; or just because students have not noticed about this issue

or how to overcome it. Indeed, students have to be conscious that this is a problem, and

this will cause consequences for their academic and professional lives.

Consequently, some issues of the lack of grammar are: being misunderstood

frequently; being asked to repeat what it is said; not to understand information,

presented in both written and the most essential, in spoken language; having difficulties

3
answering questions; struggling to retell an event in the appropriate sequence; confusion

of tenses; etc. Thus, it is easy to identify when a student has a deficiency in grammar

with just listening to him/her.

Further, the lack of grammar in academic contexts is worrying because of the

expectation appointed to the scientific community; which must display the most correct

form of communication in every particular area. An example of this is the case of the

English Foreign Language Learners (EFLLs), English course, who are part of nine

hundred eighty-eight students from the English Program of the Universidad Pedagógica

Nacional Francisco Morazán (UPNFM) of Tegucigalpa; according to a diagnostic

survey applied to seven students of this course, may present a lack of grammar in the

practice of the target language.

In Honduras, the UPNFM is unique because it is the only public teacher-training

University in Central America. For that reason, authorities and teachers are worried

about the issues their students might present in different areas. But, in this occasion this

research will focus on how to find the reasons for the lack of grammar in the speaking of

English, in EFLLs of the course III that are part of the five courses from the Teaching of

English Program.

4
III. Research objectives

1. Define what grammar is.

2. Define what grammar in speaking is.

3. Analyze the grammar problems that students have when they speak.

4. Determine the causes of the lack of grammar when students speak.

5. Identify the difficulties that students have when they do not use grammar

correctly.

IV. Research questions

1. What is grammar?

2. What is grammar in speaking?

3. Which are the grammar problems that students have when they speak?

4. Which are the causes of the lack of grammar when students speak?

5. Which are the difficulties that students have when they do not use grammar

correctly?

5
V. Justification

This research aims to analyze the situation in which the students of the English III in

the Teaching English Program at the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco

Morazán (UPNFM) have been affected by the lack of grammar when they speak. The

Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar, states that grammar ‘’is the entire system of a

language, including its syntax, morphology, semantics and phonology’’ (Chalker &

Weiner, 1994, p. 177). Therefore, it is a big problem and at the same time it is relevant

because the use of correct grammar makes the messages to make sense and also because

grammar is an essential part when acquiring a new language. This kind of issues about

grammar can be solved by practicing, with the help of the four skills: reading, listening,

speaking, and writing. Some implications that the lack of grammar presents could be

misunderstanding messages, structures and confusion of tenses.

6
VI. Theoretical framework

There is a saying that goes: “Show me how you speak, and I will tell you who you

are.” It is because speaking which does not reflect a correct uses of grammar just carries

a bad judgment from the listeners to the speakers. Thus, in order to overcome this

dreading issue, it is necessary to display what this problem is about; which are the

causes, difficulties, consequences, and possible solutions for the lack of grammar in the

practice of English as a target language.

Grammar

Grammar is “the entire system of a language, including its syntax, morphology,

semantics and phonology” (Chalker & Weiner, 1994, p 177). It means that grammar can

be a reflection of a language in the way it is used. The use of correct grammar is

important because it helps to acquire a language efficiently. In simple words, grammar

shows the way to have a good organization in the structures of sentences, phrases or

paragraphs. Also it brings the development of good pronunciation, fluency, and other

skills that are important to acquire in order to master a language. Actually, grammar

plays an important role because it is an essential part in language learning. Therefore, the

use of grammar helps to get a good communication in a formal way. Another key point

is that grammar rules help learners develop a habit of thinking logically and clearly.

Grammar in speaking

For the purpose of the researchers, this study focuses on grammar in speaking. The

use of correct grammar increases the level of understanding when students speak, in this

7
case, in the English language. It means that when learners start to learn the language

using grammar rules, they speak in order to give communicate with other people. In that

way, it is important to know the relationship between grammar and speaking because

they work together in order to get better communication. Also it reflects that when

people learn a language, they have to communicate according to what they understand.

For that reason, the use of grammar rules is needed in order to speak. It contributes to

language learning not only when speaking but also for supporting the other skills:

listening, reading and writing.

Lack of grammar

Lack of grammar can be a consequence of the incorrect use of grammar in language

learning. People who learn a language sometimes believe that making grammar mistakes

is not a problem. For that reason, it is important to emphasize that acquiring the grammar

of a language, in this case English, is a challenge for people who study the language.

Nowadays, there are students who are learning English and they have a serious problem

to improve the use of grammar rules at the moment of speaking. This problem can be

caused by the lack of practice in listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills. For

academic purposes, students must be aware that the lack of grammar is a problem and

they have to know how they can improve it. Furthermore, students can get in trouble

constantly if they do not know how to answer a question that the teacher is asking

because they do not understand or do not know how to use grammar rules. This can

affect students not only in academic situations but also in their professional lives.

8
 Causes of lack of grammar when speaking

The students have different problems because many teachers focus more on

communication, for that reason the students do not pay attention about grammar and just

try to communicate each other without grammar rules (Tuomar, 2015). Some causes that

lead to this problem are: lack of practice, lack of awareness of the importance of

grammar while learners are speaking and grammar problems in the native language.

Lack of practice in reading, speaking, writing, and listening: for this reason, many

students do not participate in classes for fear of making mistakes when speaking in front

of their classmates because they laugh at their mistakes, it is then that the four skills of

the students are affected, since they are linked to each other. It is necessary that the

teacher helps his students so that this cause diminishes little by little, and thus get the

students to improve their speaking.

Lack of awareness: not all students are aware of the relevance grammar has. They do

not see a real need to learn or speak English effectively; if they lack motivation, the

learning process is also affected, the development of communication skills decreases. On

the other hand, if they have that motivation they will have the opportunity to express

their ideas, opinions and be able to relate to the people around them without any

problem.

Grammar problems in their native language: this is another cause that affects

students; they feel more comfortable communicating in their mother tongue since they

are less exposed speaking the language they are learning.

Speaking plays an important role in the life of every person in the whole world.

Grammar causes the student to have moments of discomfort and sometimes even terror.

9
Since grammar is one of the biggest problems faced by language students when they

study other languages, this is why researchers were interested in going deeper into the

problem presented in English grammar when students speak.

Difficulties of grammar when speaking

Some of the most recurrent of grammar difficulties when students speak English are:

grammatical rules; because most of the time people do not like to pay attention to how to

use correctly the rules of any language, students transfer sounds from L1 to L2; it

occurs when students transfer specific information from their first language to their

second language; and meaning changes when there is mispronunciation of words,

communication is poor or unclear messages are sent, students have problems with

tenses; they do not identify between the tenses.

Grammatical rules are one of the big difficulties found when people speak, as second

language learners usually make mistakes using grammatical rules. That happens because

people do not pay attention to how to use rules of grammar; they only focus on

communicating their thoughts and ideas.

Grammar encompasses many things: using words correctly that serve people in

written and oral sentences, choosing the words that will help people communicate

thoughts, ideas and information, so it is essential that they are used correctly; correct use

of punctuation is important, because if it is not used correctly, this can cause an

erroneous message or change the meaning of the written or oral words. This is difficulty

that affects grammar for there are many studies that show that students transfer sounds

from L1 to L2. This is known as negative transfer, because the mispronunciation of the

words or the change in the meaning of the words can affect what is said.

10
 Perhaps, the biggest problem found in the incorrect use of grammar is that

communication is poor or that the message sent is not clear, this can cause the

information to be misinterpreted; either in written or oral communication.

Most of the time, students tend to have problems with tenses. This is another

difficulty that is presented by them very often, since they have to be able to identify

between the tenses that are presented in a conversation or make sentences using a variety

of tenses. This fact worsens when speaking if they have no clear which each tense is

Consequences of the lack of grammar when speaking

As it was mentioned in the stating of the problem, it is easy to identify when a

student has a deficiency in grammar with just listening to them; it is because the

evidence jumps to ears. But, further of being misunderstood, there are other important

consequences of not using grammar properly when speaking, for example:

1. Students might not understand the culture of the target language, for the incapacity of

a proper communication; both especially important for students who want to be

English teachers.(Elbaum, 2001)

2. There might exist linguistic skill limitations, such as: incorrect use of vocabulary,

structures, tenses, etc. giving as a result incoherent speaking. (Elbaum, 2001)

3. Students might not understand contextual meaning in an everyday conversation; less,

in academic environments. (Elbaum, 2001)

4. Students also might present limitations in cognitive skills, as to be: poor attention,

processing, and sequencing of ideas and vital information. (Elbaum, 2001)

5. Students might not suit in a bilingual environment; regardless if it is academic,

professional, or just for personal enjoyment. (Elbaum, 2001)

11
6. Students might lose their motivation in the learning process of the target language,

because of the beating feelings. (Elbaum, 2001)

7. The students’ self-esteem might be affected for being bad judged or being ridiculed

because of the way of speaking.(Petrova, 2017)

8. The students’ performance might seem incompetent at the sight of classmates, teachers

and employers. (Petrova, 2017)

Solutions for lack of grammar when speaking

The use of grammar is quite important in the learning of any language. It might

happen that native speaker’s omit some words or abbreviate them, in order to make them

shorter, if so, learner speakers tend to communicate in the same way, making them

leaving aside grammar rules. That is why, according to Sharwood Smith (1942), learners

who have focused on grammar directly and have had a lot of opportunity to use grammar

linking to the language environment are more likely to put the rules of grammar in long-

term memory. As second language learners, people have to put into practice all the

grammatical rules with the purpose of memorizing them. Many teachers suggest that an

excellent way to solve the lack of grammar not only when speaking but also in writing is

by using authentic materials such as books, magazines, newspapers, listening to radio

programs, English music, and others There might exist other ways to solve this kind of

problem, but are more for academic purposes just as Pictionary, workbooks, and journals

in which learners can work on their grammar. While it is true, people would say that if

they want to improve their grammar on speaking, they should practice more speaking to

hear their mistakes or if they want to improve their grammar on writing, they should

12
write more. But, it does not matter how people practice, grammar will be used in every

English skill because it is the base of any language.

Conclusion

Having good grammar when speaking could reflect how focused people are in

learning a new language. This means that, a person who is trying to learn English for

academic purposes will try to understand all the grammatical rules that English has,

rather than a person that is learning English just for traveling. Nevertheless, if someone

is interested in learning a new language, and it turns kind of difficult memorizing the

grammatical rules, there are some activities to put into practice and try to memorizing

them by using them in context. Second language learners must be even more worried

about the message they want to transmit because grammar is used to make sense, if not

the message can be interpreted in another way.

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VII. Methodology

i. Research approach

The approach taken for this research is qualitative because it attempts to explore, describe,

understand, and find a solution for the use of grammar in speaking of English as a foreign

language. This issue may be seen under the qualitative scope due to the incidence of some

important factors for students like: the time students have been studying English; emotions

students could be dealing with, while students are corrected in grammar; awareness of grammar

problems in English while speaking; awareness of the implications of this issue; knowledge of

effective strategies to strength grammatical weaknesses, in an autonomous way; and, the use of

enough strategies and techniques to overcome this problem. In this way, this research is expected

to obtain relevant information for authorities, teachers, and the students themselves in order to

overcome this difficulty.

ii. Type of study

This research is descriptive because researchers will describe the characteristics of the

phenomenon named The use of grammar in Speaking in English. This research will

describe how people that are acquiring a new language (such as English) use its grammar

when they speak. It also describes, the techniques of how students can work on their

grammar, the tools they use, some materials that exist to be used in the learning process of

a language. This type of study also describes some of the problems people have when they

use grammar when speaking in English. It also focuses on the techniques or strategies that

English learners use to work on their grammar.

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iii. Categories of analysis

To categorize the data obtained through the instruments, the focus followed was to work on

an abstract level directed to create categories and subcategories, based on the objectives of the

study, so the researchers could group information. In this way, it was more effective to infer

ideas or elements that could lead researchers to conclude on specific concepts.

For this particular research, the following categories and subcategories were worked:

1. Importance of grammar in speaking for students. In this subcategory, information about

the relevance of grammar in speaking for students was considered as a trigger in the overcoming

of an incorrect use of grammar while speaking.

2. Incorrect use of grammar in student’s speaking. In this subcategory, evidence of an

incorrect use of grammar in speaking was gathered up as evidence, in searching for a solution to

this matter.

3. Pauses during speaking for grammar mistakes made by students. In this subcategory,

awareness of grammar problems, auto- corrections, and / or a positive attitude toward the

language learning process were sought as sample that students are making efforts to overcome

their grammar problems.

4. Student’s transfer of grammar structures from L2 to L1. In this subcategory, reference

or evidence of the use of translation of difficult grammar structures from English to Spanish, as

an important strategy for the improvement of grammar in speaking, was sought in the English

speaking of students.

5. Causes of misusage of grammar in students’ speaking. In this subcategory, possible

causes of why students are misusing grammar in their English speaking were sought; including,

if the students’ efforts are enough to overcome the grammar issue

15
 6. Techniques/ strategies used inside classroom by the teacher. In this subcategory,

samples of the tools offered in the classroom for the improvement of grammar in students were

sought, and awareness from students that their teacher is trying to help them in this matter as

well.

7. Techniques/ strategies used by students outside the classroom. In this subcategory, the

type of techniques or strategies that students use for the improvement of grammar in speaking,

outside the classroom were sought to infer their effectiveness for this purpose.

iv. Categories of Analysis Chart

Once the categories and subcategories were defined, a chart was created to make the analysis

more precise, as follows:

Categories of analysis

Category Subcategories

1. Importance of grammar in speaking for students.

2. Incorrect use of grammar in student’s speaking.

3. Stops during speaking for grammar mistakes made by

students.

4. Student’s grammar transference of grammar structures

The use of grammar in from L2 to L1.
speaking
5. Causes of misusage of grammar in students’ speaking.

6. Techniques/ strategies used inside classroom by the

teacher.

7. Techniques/ strategies used by students outside the

classroom.

16
v. Population and sample

In Honduras, the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco Morazán (UPNFM) is one of

the most important universities because it focuses on training teachers. The researchers focused

on English Foreign Language Learners (EFLLs), who are part of the six thousand four hundred

ninety-five students of the main campus from the UPNFM in Tegucigalpa. Out of those students,

there are twelve hundred seventy students in the Teaching of English Program, in the same

campus. The researchers worked with the students of English III which are forty-five students

enrolled in the second academic period of 2018.

vi. Techniques to collect information

Different techniques were used by the researchers to collect information: diagnostic

interview, survey, class observations and focus group.

1.Diagnostic interview: it was applied in the first academic term of 2018. The

purpose of this interview was to support the topic of the research. It was applied to seven

students of English III. It took 10 minutes per each student (See attachment 1).

The following techniques were applied during the second academic term of 2018.

2. Survey: before applying the survey, the researchers validated it, with a

teacher and an advanced student of the Teaching of English program. The purpose of this survey

was to collect the information related the topic. It was applied to twenty students of English III.

It took 30 minutes (See attachment 4).

3. Class observations: trigger statements were elaborated before class observation.

The researchers did two class observations in English III at different days. Each class

observation took an hour (See attachment 7).

17
 4. Focus group: this technique was done in the library of “UPNFM”. It was done with five

volunteer students of English III. The researcher explained the purpose of the focus group

and gave them disclaimers for them to sign. After that, it took an hour them to answer the

five questions (See attachment 10).

VIII. Analysis of Information

Related to the use of grammar in speaking, data was collected through the different techniques

used during the investigation; thus, researchers did the following analysis of the research

subcategories:

1. Importance of grammar in speaking for students.

18
 According to the survey: 11 students stated that grammar is important for complete

understanding when speaking, and 6 students admitted that is important for answering

questions (See attachment [Attach.] 6, Qt #4 ). During class observations: students

seemed to be afraid to speak, probably because they were not sure if they were able to

speak properly. During focus group: Student #2 said: “For me is more difficult because

of the structure, when I ask a question to other people” (See attach. 12, Qt #2). In data

collection displayed that students are aware of the importance of grammar in speaking.

2. Incorrect use of grammar in students speaking.

According to the survey: 17 students assured to have grammar problems (the majority)

when speaking, as to be: 9 out of 17 students, word order; 4 out of 17 students, choosing

the wrong tenses (See attach. 6, Qt # 3). In class observations: made by researchers, all

students showed grammar problems when speaking (See attach.9, trigger statements

[T.S.] # 8 and 9). During focus group interview: all students presented grammar problems

when speaking. Students said to have grammar problems in: student #1 said: difficulties

using tenses and order in questions (See attach. 11. b, Qt # 5); student #2 said: adding –s

and –es for third person and tenses (See attach. 11. b, Qt #5); student #3 said: use of

tenses (See attach. 11.b, Qt #5); student #4 said: tenses and prepositions (See attach. 11.

C, Qt # 5); student #5 said: connectors, prepositions, times and frequency adverbs (See

attach. 11.a, Qt # 5). Data collection displayed students presented an incorrect use of

grammar in speaking.

3. Pauses during speaking for grammar mistakes by students.

According to the survey: 19 students assured to have a positive attitude toward the

language learning process; 8 feel comfortable when the teacher corrected them, and 8

19
 understand that they are in a learning process (See attach. 6, Qt #2). During class

observations: researchers found in observation #1 that the majority of students avoided to

participate in the communicative task, because students seemed to be aware of their verbal

grammar difficulties ( as an inference made by researchers) , and they neither tried to

correct each other (See attach. 9, obs. 1 and 2, T.S. 4) nor tried to translate from English

to Spanish when they did not understand something ( Attach. 9, obs. 2, T.S. 7); but during

observation #2, the majority of students showed a positive attitude to the communicative

task ( as an inference of researchers), they tried to communicate with each other in English

even though they were not in an oral task (See attach. 9, T.S. 5) and they translated from

English to Spanish when they had doubts (See attach. 9, T.S. 7). During focus group:

students presented a relaxed attitude toward how they spoke English, they neither

corrected themselves nor corrected each other when making grammar mistakes (See

attach. 12); also, they did not present pauses while speaking, even though they were aware

of having grammar problems; but, they assured to be making efforts to become better in

grammar (See attach. 11 Qt # 4, 5; and attach. 12). In data collection displayed students

showed a relaxed way of speaking outside the classroom, not paying attention to the use of

grammar during speaking; while in classroom oral activities they presented a poor

confidence when they were speaking.

4. Students transfer grammar structures from L2 to L1.

According to the survey: students were not asked for this issue. In the class observations:

few students made transfer from English to Spanish of grammar structures (See attach. 9,

Obs. 1, T.S. 7). In focus group: Students were not asked about this matter. It was not

20
 observed that they made use this strategy (See attach. 12). In data collection displayed the

majority of students did not use the transfer from L2 to L1 strategy.

5. Causes of misusage of grammar in students speaking.

According to the survey, just 9 students answered question #6 which focuses on whom the

students ask when they are having grammar doubts, from which; 5 students answered that

they usually ask to the teacher, 3 students usually ask their classmates, and 1 student asks

another person; but 11 students did not answer this question (See attach. 6). Researchers

could infer that the grammar issue is a sensitive matter for students because most of them

did not answer this question, despite the fact that researchers asked them if they had any

question or doubts about the survey. It is probably that most of the students are not asking

or looking for help when they have any doubts, regardless of the topic.

Then, in question #8, which focuses on the causes of lack of grammar in the speaking of

students, they answered: Literal translation from native language (7 students), and not

understanding and memorizing grammar rules (6 students) (See attach. 6). It seems that for

most of the students literal translation from Spanish to English and the difficulties

understanding and memorizing grammar rules are the main causes of the lack of grammar

in their speaking.

Also, in question #9 researchers noticed that the most relevant strategies used by students

to improve English grammar outside classroom are: Listening to English music (9

students), having conversations with their classmates or friends (6 students) (See

attachment 6). Researchers also noticed that the major input received outside the classroom

to students comes from informal sources, for example: listening to music, watching movies

in English, watching tutorials in YouTube, talking with people who live in USA.

21
 In the class observations both of them, students did not try to make well use of phrasal

verbs as a sample of contextual understanding of the new language usage (See attachment

9, T. S. 9); also, as an inference made by researchers during observation #1, just few

students participated voluntarily during the communicative task; but during observation #2,

almost all of the students tried to participate in class. Probably because they noticed that

they were being observed. Another phenomenon is that during the first observation students

did not communicate with each other in English; but, during the second observation they

did (See attachment 9, T. S. 5). And finally, just during the first observation a group of

students tried to translate from L2 to L1 as a strategy to improve in grammar (See

attachment 9, T. S. 7). During the focus group: students were not asked about this issue.

According to data collected, the causes of misusage of grammar while students speak in

English are: the majority of students do not ask when they have doubts, regardless of the

topic and especially in grammar; students usually translate from Spanish (L1) to English

(L2) when they are practicing English; students do not understand grammar rules; students

do not memorize grammar rules; students are receiving mainly informal knowledge (input),

outside the classroom; students are not pushing themselves to practice their English, inside

the classroom to be corrected by the teacher; they do not talk in English outside the

classroom, with classmates and friends; and, they avoid to work harder in grammar.

6. Techniques or strategies used inside classroom by the teacher.

In the survey: 12 students assured that the teacher makes use of photocopies; 7 students

assured that teacher makes use of grammar books during the development of the class (See

attach. 6, Qt # 10). During the class observations: students participated in communicative

activities (See attach. 9, T. S. 3). In the focus group: The participant #1 said that the

22
 teacher makes reviews before all the exams; participant #2 said that the teacher makes

practices “ordering sentences”, and it works on the four skills; participant #3 said that the

teacher provides an interactive class, given examples and different activities for speaking

every day; participant #4 said that the teacher makes interesting review activities; and,

participant #5 said that the teacher makes them working in groups or pairs, playing games,

worksheets, planed classes, working on the four skills (See attach. 13, Qt # 3).

Data collection provides important information about that students are aware of the efforts

that their teacher is making to help them in their grammar improvement.

7. Techniques or strategies used by students outside the classroom

According to the survey, 9 students have improved their English grammar by listening to

music, and 6 students by having conversations in English with their classmates or friends

(See attachment 6, Qt # 11). In class observations, this subcategory could not be observed.

In the focus group interview, students assured to have practices in: participant #1 watches

tutorials on YouTube, practices with classmates, listens to music, and watches movies in

English; participant #2 is a volunteer worker with native speakers, watches movies in

English, and listens to music in English; participant #3 watches movies in English, listens

to music in English, sets his/her cellphone in English, and participates in chats in English;

participant #4: watches English movies, listens to music in English, and participates in

chats in English language; and participant #5 practices in his/her work, makes reading

exercises, and practices with family who lives in USA (See attach. 12, Qt. 4; and 13, Qt.

4).

According to the data collected, students assured they use the following techniques:

listening to English music; because they say in this way they are able to improve their

23
 grammar with some authentic material, having conversations in English with their

classmates or friends; In order to practice their speaking and make it more fluently than

now and their grammar as well, watching tutorials on YouTube; because it helps them with

grammar heard from someone that is native from the language they are studying, setting

their cellphone in English; in order to get engaged with the language and get used to it,

practicing in their work, making reading exercises, and practicing with family who live in

USA.

The techniques most used by students displayed in the survey were listening to music and

having conversation with friends and classmates; the same techniques were provided by the

participants of the focus group interview. But during the focus group, the researchers

noticed that the students who presented a better grammar performance were: the one who

practiced with family living in USA, and the other student who had contact with native

speakers. (See attachment 12 and 13)

IX. Conclusions

The researchers got the following conclusions:

1. The researchers noticed that students have knowledge about what grammar is and its

usage.

2. Students were aware of the importance of grammar while English speaking; but

researchers inferred that students might not have internalized the knowledge about

grammar yet, to demonstrate the communicative competence.

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 3. Students admitted that they have grammar problems such as: use of tenses, word order,

prepositions, and connectors.

4. Students assured they are making efforts for getting their grammar in speaking better than

now, but the evidence shows they are still having plenty difficulties in grammar usage

during English speaking; also, students assured they are using different strategies or

techniques outside the classroom to improve grammar, but they might not know how to use

those strategies effectively. In addition, students might be suffering fossilization as a

consequence of the incorrect use of grammar.

5. Most of the students agreed that the major difficulties that they have to face for the

misusage of grammar when they speak are that people do not completely understand what

they say; and difficulties answering questions.

Recommendations

1. Students need more varied and authentic (inside and outside the classroom) grammar

practice in English speaking.

2. Students need suggestions and / or advice about how to use those techniques effectively

and / or strategies to develop grammar in English speaking.

3. Researchers suggest the teacher to work on students becoming aware about the

importance of what kind of input (resources) they are using outside the classroom.

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