STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EXPLICIT GRAMMAR

INSTRUCTION IN COLLEGE ENGLISH LEARNING

Dena Suar Deni

Student, Ar-Raniry State Islamic University, Banda Aceh

dsuardeny@gmail.com

Abstract

This study analyzed the student’s perception on the effectiveness of explicit grammar instruction

in college english learning, found out how explicit grammar instruction method affects student’s

ability to understand grammar easier and their perception on the effectiveness of it. The

researcher use random sampling to choose the sample of this research. Four respondents were

students college of English Education Department of Ar-Raniry State Islamic University who

have taken Teaching Methodology subject previously, which in this class they also learnt about

grammar by using explicit grammar instruction. To collect the data of this study, The researcher

did in-depth interview in order to get in-depth information to answer the research questions.

Then, the interview results were transcribed and coded. The results of this research showed that

most of students are argued that learning grammar is essential and most of them were prefer and

comfortable learning grammar through explicit grammar instruction method. Evidently learning

through Explicit Grammar Instruction make them easier in understanding the grammar, which

can be seen there were many abilities trained after learning grammar through this instruction,

wheter in terms of able to choose appropriate formulas when creating sentences or texts, or in

arranging the sentence better.

Keywords : explicit, grammar, instructions, perception, effectiveness, student college, english,

learning

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INTRODUCTION

A. Background of The Study

Grammar teaching is still a controversial issue in the field of second and foreign language

instruction. It has been of great interest to researchers and teachers to find out how to teach

grammar. Different attitudes to grammar have led to different methods (Nastaran Nazari, 2012).

Based on research conducted by a number of researchers, they concluded that grammar

learning must be used as something important for each student so that they are easy to accept

their knowledge rather than instead consider it as something that is not important or even

unnecessary at all. Researchers have also explored the views and opinions of teachers about the

role of grammar. However, very few of them showed sufficient interest in students' perceptions

of the topic.

Various studies have explored EFL teacher beliefs about the role of grammar in L2

learning and practice in their classrooms (Enriketa and Miranda, 2015). However, very few have

researched on the students' perceptions of their opinions about the methods of learning English

grammar applied by the teacher, whether it is effective for them or not. One of the grammar

learning methods that is often used in general in a learning is Explicit Grammar instruction.

Therefore, this study examines the perceptions of English learners in higher education about their

opinions about the effectiveness of using the explicit grammar instruction method applied in

English grammar learning and how it affects their ability to understand grammar.

Students' opinions about these two things are expected to be a motivation and

consideration for English language lecturers in teaching grammar better or even as a solution that

has felt less effective in teaching grammar.

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B. Research Question

Based on the explanation above, the writer intends to conduct research to answer three

main questions :

1. What is Student’s Perception on The Effectiveness of Explicit Grammar Instruction?

2. How Explicit Grammar Instruction method affects student’s ability to understand

grammar easier?

C. Literature Review

In learning a language skill, learners need knowledge. There are two kinds of knowledge

in gaining language skill, namely explicit and implicit knowledge (Ellis, 2004, Widodo, 2006).

The knowledge is accomplished by different ways. Explicit knowledge is knowledge about

grammatical rules gained by learners through formal classroom instruction or conscious learning.

In this sense, a person’s explicit knowledge apprehends about the system of language and ability

to utter those facts in some ways (Brown, 2001, Widodo, 2006). Of course, it means that explicit

knowledge is acquired by learning it consciously in the classroom to get the knowledge of

grammatical rules better (Ellis, 2004, 2009, Widodo, 2006). Ellis (2009) also states that explicit

knowledge needs a control process to gain the knowledge, while implicit knowledge is gained

automatically or unconsciously in the process of language learning (Widodo, 2006). In this case,

it can be concluded that grammar can be learnt by automatic and conscious processes. Moreover,

it requires an instruction in teaching in order to achieve the measurable knowledge.

Ellis (2014) says that teaching grammar will be the most effective if it considers the way

learners learn grammar. Furthermore, it can be meant that grammar teaching can help students

more effective how to gain the knowledge about grammatical rules either implicitly or explicitly.

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To make successful in teaching grammar, teachers can use grammatical explicit instruction to

develop students’ knowledge especially for explicit knowledge. So grammatical explicit

instruction helps students easily comprehend reading text and improve their ability in reading

skills.

a. Definition of Explicit Knowledge

Explicit knowledge is a language element used by learners and a role of language

knowledge maintained in human life gained by learners consciously through the process of

learning, teaching, and expressing language (Ling & Quan-feng, 2015). Shirzad (2016) wrote the

definition by Ellis that “acquisition of knowledge about the underlying structure of a complex

stimulus environment by process which takes place naturally, simply and without conscious

operation”. Indeed, it can be accepted through stimulation of a surrounding environment process

naturally, simply and unconsciously to acquire the knowledge.

Ellis (2014) defines that the influence of implicitly knowledge acquisition can be attained

directly either through the attraction of attention in the use of a certain grammatical form by

means of an input-base task or the establishment of a context for the precise expressed and

purposed use of a definite grammatical form by means of output-base task. Then, implicit and

explicit knowledge also oblige learners to achieve a successful language learning. It could be

concluded that explicit knowledge could help students comprehend how the way to learn

language by implementing grammatical form as the first input in learning a language especially

for English.

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 b. Definition of Instruction

Ellis (2009) proclaims that instruction is an endeavor to intervene in inter-language

development. Instruction is a way of intermediary to achieve the goal of target language. In

teaching ESL or EFL, it requires an instruction to make students obtaining the achievement of

the accurate target language. Therefore, in this case, by establishing an instruction in teaching

grammar, it makes better progress for learners.

c. Explicit Grammar Teaching

Explicit grammar teaching is a method of teaching used by teacher to make students more

successful in learning grammar rules whereas implicit grammar teaching method doesn’t present

the grammar rules (Ling & Quan-feng, 2015). In this case, the teaching of grammar of using

explicit instruction could help students in understanding grammar knowledge in order to achieve

the effective target language. The use of implicit and explicit instruction is useful to survey the

development of students’ language to reach the target language. In explicit instruction, the

activity done by teacher is began by starting to focus on the grammar and explaining it, possibly

giving the learning of grammatical terms.

Ken language. Nazari (2013) mentions the result of research that an explicit teaching

strategy has a better effect in enhancing the EFL learners’ L2 grammar. Akakura (2012)

discovers the study result that explicit instruction can give useful knowledge either implicit L2

knowledge or explicit knowledge. Thus, explicit instructions can give more advantage effect in

developing learner’s grammar. Besides, by the explicit instructions, learner also gets more

favorable knowledge on both implicit knowledge and explicit knowledge The study by Green &

Hetch (1992) and Macrory & Stone (2000) displayed correlation study about whether learners’

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explicit and implicit knowledge has the relationship. Hu (2002) also showed whether the

available use of explicit knowledge could be utilized to invent implicit knowledge. All the above

studies show that explicit instructions have more influence in enhancing learners’ knowledge

explicitly and also help to fortify learners’ implicit knowledge. Explicit instruction is an

instruction that not only construct the learners’ insight in learning language but also help the

learner to increase language knowledge especially for grammatical knowledge either explicit or

implicit knowledge.

D. The Research

a. Description of the study

This study aims to examine the opinions of students about grammar learning through the

application of the Explicit Grammar Instruction method by lecturers in the English learning

college as well as the influence gained on their understanding ability of grammar. There are two

main questions of research question. Then I provided five specific questions to support

answering those two. There three question that related to the first one, that is “What is Student’s

Perception on The Effectiveness of Explicit Grammar Instruction?” and two more questions that

related to the second research question, that is “How Explicit Grammar Instruction method

affects student’s ability to understand grammar easier?”

b. Participants and Data Collection

This study was took place not only in the classroom, but also in the park, and even in the

canteen, where the researcher and respondents determined the most convenient place. This

research site has been chosen for reasons of accessibility of researchers to carry out research. The

researcher was one of the students majoring in English at one of the state universities in Aceh,

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namely the Ar-raniry State Islamic University Banda Aceh. Thus, this helps researchers to get

easier access to the research location.

The participants of the study are students college who learn grammar subject by explisit

grammar instruction that implemented in Teaching Methodology classroom. The class is

Teaching Methodology class which usually has schedule once a week. The researcher use

random sampling to choose the sample of this research. From 27 total number of students in the

class, there only 4 students were taken by researcher as the sample to involve in this study.

The researcher did in depth-interview to collect the data of this study. The interview have

done to students who have taken Teaching Methodology subject previously. The researcher spent

a few minutes to give explanation about the purpose of doing the interview. After that, the

researcher immediately interviewing the students one by one about 30 minutes.

E. Analysis

The five specific research questions to answer the two main:

 Section 1

For the 1st research question :

1. Do you agree that grammar knowledge is essential to learning a foreign language ?

2. What do you know about Explicit grammar instruction?

3. Do you prefer and comfortable with the method ?

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  Section 2

For the 2nd research question :

1. By learning through Explicit Grammar Instruction method, is it make you easier in

understanding the grammar?

2. Is there any ability that have been encourage after learning grammar through Explicit

Grammar Instruction method?

The whole answers of the research questions from the participants :

Question 1

 Student 1 answered that ; “ it highly essential because without grammar knowledge we

can not convey the intentions appropriately ”.

 Student 2 answered that ; “ yes, of course because it can help us in arranging the words

correctly ”.

 Student 3 answered that ; “ it is not really essential, because I think grammar just as a list

of rules in a textbook ”.

 Student 4 answered that ; “ without grammar, language can become incomprehensible, so

the main goal to be conveyed is not conveyed in the end ”.

Question 2

 Student 1 answered that ; “ it such like learning grammar by the rules ”.

 Student 2 answered that ; “ it is about how we learn grammar by the formulas ”.

 Student 3 answered that ; “ learn about how to judge a sentence as true or not both

structurally and meaningfully ”.

 Student 4 answered that ; “ learning grammar structured ”.

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Question 3

 Student 1 ; yes

 Student 2 ; yes

 Student 3 ; yes, but sometimes boring

 Student 4 ; yes

Question 4

 Student 1 ; Yes, it’s really help me in understanding english very well

 Student 2 ; yes, I can understand grammar easier by the instruction

 Student 3 ; yes, and also helpful

 Student 4 ; of course, I can also improve my skills in grammar easier

Question 5

 Student 1 ; yes, there is. I can choose appropriate formulas when creating sentences or

texts

 Student 2 ; yes, at least I can arranged the sentence better

 Student 3 ; I am not really sure what is that, maybe skill in terms of judge a sentence as

true or not

 Student 4 ; of course, by learning through that instruction I can write the text better than

before

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F. Discussion

After having analyze the data, the researcher would like to say that most of students were

agreed that grammar knowledge is essential to learning a foreign language. They also state

that by learning through Explicit Grammar Instruction method, it evidently can make them

easier in understanding the grammar. In addition, there also some abilities that have been

encouraged after learning grammar through that instruction method.

The following is a summary of the results of students’ perception on the effectiveness of

explicit grammar instruction in college english learning found by the researcher :

1. grammar knowledge is essential to learning a foreign language because by grammar

knowledge the learners can convey the intentions appropriately and also can help them in

arranging the words correctly.

2. As a whole, students already know what explicit grammar instruction is basicly.

3. It turns out that mostly student’s perception of the preference and comfort with the

explicit grammar instruction is good.

4. Evidently, learning grammar through Explicit Grammar Instruction method can make

students easier to understand the grammar.

5. There some abilities that can be encouraged by learning grammar through explicit

grammar instruction, such as; students can choose appropriate formulas when creating

sentences or texts, so it can help them arranged the sentences better, then students are

able to judge the correctness of sentence structures and also can help them in writing the

text better.

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G. Conclusion

At the end, based on the research result, the researcher can conclude that most of students

are argued that learning grammar is essential, they were agreed that grammar knowledge is

essential to learning a foreign language. They also stated that they were prefer and

comfortable with explicit grammar instruction method. And most of them were also admitted

that learning through Explicit Grammar Instruction make them easier in understanding the

grammar.

The most important result is it turns out that all of students have any ability that has been

encourage after learning grammar through the explicit instruction, wheter in terms of able to

choose appropriate formulas when creating sentences or texts, or in arranging the sentence

better.

To sump up, those all finally prove that explicit grammar instruction is effective if

implement in learning grammar especially for english students college.

H. References

Azar, B. (2007). Grammar-based teaching. Tesl-ej, vol 11, No 2 , 1-12.

Ellis, R. (2006). Current issues in the teaching of grammar: an SLA perspective. Tesol Quartelry,

40(1) , 83-107.

Felder, Richard M. & Henriques, E.R. (1995). Learning and teaching styles in foreign and

second language education. Foreign language annals, 28(1) , 21-31.

Fotos, S. F. (1994). Integrating Grammar Instructionn and Communicative Language Use

Through Grammar Consciousness-Raising Tasks. TESOL QUARTERLY, Vol 28, No. 2 .

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Söğütlü, E. (2014). Revıew on the changing role of grammar teaching in second language

instruction. Beder Journal of Educational Sciences Volume 4 Number 1 , 141.

Terrell, T. D. (1991). The role of grammar instruction in a communicative approach. The modern

language journal, 75(1) , 52-63.

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