Title: Teaching English grammar to Vietnamese young learners through visual aids.

Table of contents

II. Introduction...............................................................................................................................1

II. Literature review.......................................................................................................................1

1. Teaching grammar.................................................................................................................1

1.1. Definitions of grammar......................................................................................................1

1.2. Necessity of grammar teaching for young learners............................................................2

2. Visual aids................................................................................................................................2

3. Types of visual aids in teaching grammar for young learners...........................................3

3.1. Pictures..............................................................................................................................3

3.1.1. Wall picture and wall charts ...........................................................................................3

3.1.2. Sequence pictures............................................................................................................3

3.1.3. Flashcards .......................................................................................................................4

3.1.4. Drawing on the board......................................................................................................4

3.2. Realia ................................................................................................................................4

III. Research gap............................................................................................................................4

IV. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................5

References.......................................................................................................................................7
I. Introduction
Learning grammar plays a crucial role in acquiring English as it supports students to enhance and
ensure the accuracy and eradication of language uses. Therefore, ensuring the effectiveness of
grammar teaching to students, especially children, has become a challenging task for many
teachers due to learners' specific characteristics and conditions. Proper application of educational
methods to keep children motivated, actively participating in the classroom, and highly focused
on the lesson is essential to solve this problem. Patesan, Balagiu & Alibec (2018) cite that the use
of visual aids in teaching can raise students' interest, attention, and understanding level as they
provide a meaningful grammar context.
This paper aims to a more general view and a deeper understanding of using visual aids as a
teaching method for children by giving some terminologies of "grammar," "visual aids," and
"types of visual aids," along with the necessity of teaching grammar for young learners. In
addition, some previous studies relating to this topic are also provided in different contexts and
with different participants but showed significant results that have contributed to the development
of this project.
II. Literature review
1. Teaching Grammar

1.1. Definitions of grammar

Over decades, since English has become an international language, grammar and its teaching
have always been controversial during the learning and teaching language process. The term
grammar itself has been defined in several ways. Many linguistic professors share the same
thought that grammar is a set of rules or structures (Ur, 1996), (Brown, 2007). However, Andrea
DeCapua (2008) believed that this idea was "a narrow view of grammar," thus, it seemed
impulsive. He pointed out that the cause lies in the wrong belief that grammar is fixed, abstract,
and absolute, and teaching grammar is explicit (DeCapua, 2008).
Meanwhile, in 1954, Francis (as cited in Hartwell, 1985, p. 109) inferred three meanings of the
word "grammar." First, he called it "the set of formal patterns," which is about word arrangement
to reveal more meanings. Next, when being taught as a scientific subject, grammar is considered
"the branch of linguistic science which is concerned with the description, analysis, and
formalization of formal language patterns." Finally, a "linguistic etiquette" to explain how they
use different grammars in specific contexts. On the other hand, Thornbury (1999), in line with
Francis, referred to grammar as a collaborative study of syntax and morphology, which refers to
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the arrangement and formation of words in sentences. In general, whether it is a set of rules or a
piece of abstract knowledge, grammar is an essential resource that supports us in communicating
our ideas and feelings coherently and precisely.
1.2. Necessity of grammar teaching for young learners
Nevertheless, no matter which grammar concept is accepted, there has been a debate about the
necessity of teaching grammar for both learners, especially the young, and educators.
Furthermore, the disagreement about the contents of teaching curricula should be either an
explicit set of rules or the practical usage continues without a recession (Sidney & Nelson, 2002.)
Prof. Diane Larsen-Freeman converted the term "grammar" into "grammaring" to emphasize the
equal importance of teaching grammar rules and usages (Larsen-Freeman, 2007).
Simultaneously, he named this new term the fifth skill, besides reading, writing, speaking, and
listening skill – a dynamic system, which helps students "to use grammatical structures
accurately, meaningfully, and appropriately." Besides, Thornbury (2006) strengthened the
significance of English grammar teaching for seven reasons, mainly focusing on preventing
vague communication, reducing grammatical errors, providing a systematic and methodical
teaching and testing process for teachers, and exposing students to a more efficient learning
experience.
On the other hand, the linguist Noam Chomsky (1957) from MIT proposed the idea of humans
"genetically encoded with a universal grammar" that helps children worldwide easily acquire
language and how the communication, or grammar, is formed thanks to their innate knowledge.
Similarly, many other linguists in favor of this theory believe that teaching grammar wastes
valuable time (as cited in Zhang, 2009, p. 185). Generally, despite the contestation over the
necessity of teaching grammar for students, given the teaching context in Vietnam, young
learners with low awareness and distinguishing capability are significantly beneficial from
grammar to improve the accuracy in their language usage and eliminate the errors during their
speech or writing process.
2. Visual aids
The motto "bring the real world into the classroom" has gradually gone mainstream in teaching
foreign languages these days. In English grammar teaching, it can be implied that teachers are
endeavoring to visualize all the rules or functions of grammar to offer students a more
meaningful context. According to Canning (2001), any visual element that accommodates
learners with the accurate meaning of the objects they see is visual aids.

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Besides, Allen, Kate & Marquez (2011) believe that visual aids "enable students to use more than
one sense at the same time" thanks to unlimited words suggested by a picture. Additionally,
students in visual aids integrated classrooms tend to have more motivation and find the learning
process less complicated (Klasone, 2013). Besides, Scott & Ytreberg (1995) illustrate that
children learn a language much more easily when a teacher provides meaningful activities.
Therefore, applying visual tools such as pictures, flashcards, and realia into enjoyable activities
would be one of the most effective methods to teach grammar for young learners

3. Types of visual aids in teaching grammar for young learners

3.1. Pictures
Wright & Hallem (2001) consider using pictures a great importance in the English-skill teaching
process, especially in listening and writing. Allen says that students at the elementary level are
quickly interested and attracted by pictures that show human situations (Allen, 1983). Bowen
(1991) classifies pictures into four different types, including "wall picture and wall charts,
sequence pictures, flashcards, and drawing on the board."
3.1.1. Wall picture and wall charts
Meanwhile, most wall charts are a combination of visual and verbal language (Klasone, 2013); a
wall picture exemplifies a scene or an event or sets of them (Bowen, 1991). Obviously, we can
base on the purposes to distinguish them. A wall picture will be a great choice if teachers need
visual material for the whole class involved activities. However, the complex and small wall
charts are often used in a team or individual assignments.
3.1.2. Sequence pictures

Spivey (2005) defines "sequence" as the "process of putting events, ideas, and objects in a logical
order." Therefore, sequence pictures are known series of images, which reveal stories or themes
on a single subject (Klasone, 2013). In general, learners are supposed to put the pictures in the
correct order with the continuity of characterizations, contents, and context from one picture to
another, then, based on them, create a story or a theme. Moreover, Celce-Murcia and Hilles
(1998) believe that beginners or low-level students, especially the young ones who hardly
understand complex verbal information in length, are significantly beneficial to picture pictures
as they support to convey a better language point.

3.1.3. Flashcards

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Another type of picture to apply in the classroom is flashcards, which include "words on one side
and pictures or definitions on the other side." (Chien, 2015, p.111). They can be in different
forms like; answer or question cards, object, subject, picture, sign, etc. Besides, Scrivener (2003)
defines flashcards as a great device to support students with new words and grammar patterns.
Additionally, Scott & Ytreberg (1995) discover that children are better at picking up grammar
than following a guided set of rules. Therefore, giving students access to flashcards with words or
sentences on the one side and pictures on the other side along with teachers' explanations can
stipulate both their activeness and creation and build their own grammar rules.
3.1.4. Drawing on the board
The most familiar object found in any class of all ages is the board in the static or the mobile
type. Teachers can use the board by drawing objectives or sticking pictures onto it rather than
writing cliché words or sentences (Wright, 1989). A well-organized board can draw the attention
of students and make activities in the classroom more engaging.
3.2 Realia
Harmer (1991) considers realia any actual objective used within the classroom by both teachers
and learners for various teaching purposes. Krashen & Terrell (1995) point out that teachers need
to help students participate confidently in classroom activities and have an optimistic attitude
towards foreign languages. As a result, using realis is among the most appealing and effective
ways as students can use all their senses (from what they see, hear, touch, taste, or even interact
with) with a real object in the classroom (Herrel & Jordan, 2000). Furthermore, the learning
process could be more memorable, amusing, and comprehensible by exposing concrete things.

III. Research gap

Although numerous studies have been conducted discussing the usage of visual aids in teaching
English for students of different ages, those focusing particularly on grammar teaching and young
learners seem to account for lower attention. Gautam (2015) tends to recommend some visual
aids-included activities for classes at pre/primary level and observe the effectiveness of these
activities applied by other teachers. Simultaneously, he emphasized that this study encourages
teachers who prefer high-level teaching to teach at lower ones in Nepal, where hieroglyphs are
used instead of the alphabet like Vietnam.
Given the English teaching context in Vietnam, the application of visual aids within the
classroom has been gradually widespread due to the convenience and effectiveness they offer to

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both teachers and students. However, the majority of their usage is to learn vocabulary rather than
grammar. Besides, the concentrated subject of these researches is mainly adolescents and adults.
Bui, Nguyen & Nguyen (2007) carried out research to investigate how using visual aids can
motivate students' learning process at Central Vocational College. The results show that pictures,
gestures, mimes, and actions are some visual aids that positively affect the emotion and feelings
of these learners if appropriately used. At the same research scope towards students above 18
years old, Bui (2012) listed some other visual aids typically used in the classroom, such as
overhead projectors, chalkboards, realia, and performances following the level of recurrence.
By acknowledging the gap among these research, this study mainly musters the influence of
implementing visual aids into transmitting grammar lessons to young learners.

IV. Conclusion
Visual aids, such as pictures, flashcards, realia, drawing on the board and are obviously helpful
grammar teaching tools to any teacher. The application of this device can support a word or basic
grammatical pattern for learners to understand easily and meaningfully. Moreover, students
accessing visual aids have more opportunities to experience fundamental grammar or group
discussion to concretize their illustration and imagination. As a result, students can self-regulate
their grammar rules learning process, which helps them build successful learning strategies in the
long run. Another advantage of teaching grammar patterns with visualized conditions is creating
a better association between lessons and themselves. Consequently, learners would be more
excited and attentive to the lectures.

On the other hand, teachers must carefully consider the visual material to suit students of distinct
characteristics, learning conditions, and English language proficiency. Furthermore, a good
choice of visual material can result in the success of the lessons in terms of the student's interest,
concentration, and understanding capability. Otherwise, learners might make wrong assumptions.

Last but not least, the researcher is also beneficial from experience gained throughout the study
regarding the teaching field in general and grammar teaching in particular. It also offers the
researcher many new strategies, techniques, materials, and instructional models in further
experiences when teaching grammatical rules for kids.

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