An examination of the implementation of active learning strategies that enhance

active learning of secondary school English grammar

By

Mathews M. Manda

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of

Master of Education in Teacher Education

At

Mzuzu University

August, 2023
 DECLARATION

I declare that the research work, ‘Examination of the implementation of active learning

strategies that enhance the active learning of secondary school English grammar’, is my own

original work and that all the quotes or sources used have been indicated by means of

complete references. This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements

for the degree of Master of Education in Teacher Education at Mzuzu University. It has not

been submitted before for any degree or examination in any other university.

Signature Date 8th August, 2023

MATHEWS M. MANDA

MEDTE1720

Signature Date: 8th August, 2023

Dr AGNESS HARA

RESEARCH SUPERVISOR

i
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am deeply indebted to many people without whom this work would not have reached this

far. I am particularly grateful to my supervisor, Dr Agness Hara, for her scholarly and

constructive suggestions, advice, guidance and encouragement without which the study

would not have reached its completion. Special thanks to all lecturers and academic peers in

the Department of Education and Teaching Studies for the continued support during the

entire course.

My heartfelt appreciation goes to my family members and my wife, Melliness Chisi, my son

Brian and my daughter Brandina, who encouraged and undertook additional responsibilities

to facilitate my studying. May God bless you abundantly.

Special thanks also to all teachers of English in all the targeted schools who gave responses to

my research instruments that enabled me to succeed in my research findings.

To all who made this work a success, I give you special thanks. God bless you all.

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 DEDICATION

I dedicate this study to my parents, Mr M.G.W. Manda and Mrs Regina Kaunda, my wife

Melliness Chisi, my children Brian and Brandina and my brothers, sisters and Aunt Veronica.

You did endure all the pains, financial hardships and absence from home during the whole

period of my study.

iii
 ABSTRACT

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the implementation of learning strategies

that enhance active learning of secondary school English grammar. Simple random sampling

and purposive sampling were used to select the study site and participants respectively. The

study targeted twenty-one secondary school teachers of English from seven selected

secondary schools in Lilongwe Rural East Education District under the Central West

Education Division (CWED). The study was guided by Constructivism Theory of learning.

The study used interpretivism research paradigm, qualitative research approach, and case

study research design. Data were collected through observation of lessons, interviewing

teachers of English and examining official documents. Thematic analysis was used when

analysing data.

The study reveals that most teachers do not use lesson plans when teaching English grammar.

The development makes teachers not to select appropriate active learning strategies. As a

result, students fail to participate effectively during lesson delivery as teachers tend to use

teacher-centred techniques. The teachers who participated in this study used techniques like

questioning, role playing, storytelling, lecturing and explanation. Some of the techniques like

questioning, role playing and storytelling were effective because students had a chance to

practise language in the classroom, and classroom activities informed real life situations.

However, lack of interest, students’ poor background knowledge, lack of understanding and

shyness of the students were some of the challenges that were encountered when using active

learning strategies. These problems can be mitigated by supervising group activities,

encouraging students to speak English all the time, cultivating the culture of reading in

students and encouraging students to participate in English grammar lessons as a way of

practising language in a classroom setting.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration ................................................................................................................................................... i

Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................... ii

Dedication .................................................................................................................................................. iii

Abstract ....................................................................................................................................................... iv

Glossary of acronyms/abbreviations ....................................................................................................... xi

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Chapter overview ............................................................................................................................. 1

1.2 Background information ................................................................................................................. 1

1.3 Statement of the problem ................................................................................................................ 5

1.4 Justification of the study ................................................................................................................. 6

1.5 General objective ............................................................................................................................. 7

1.5.1 Specific objectives .......................................................................................................... 7

1.6 Significance of the study................................................................................................................. 8

1.7 Theoretical framework .................................................................................................................... 8

1.8 Delimitations of the study............................................................................................................. 10

1.9 Limitations of the study ................................................................................................................ 10

1.10 Operational definitions of terms ................................................................................................ 10

1.11 Organisation of the study............................................................................................................ 11

1.12 Chapter summary ......................................................................................................................... 12

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CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................................... 13

2.1 Chapter overview ........................................................................................................................... 13

2.2 Importance of using learning strategies when teaching English grammar............................. 13

2.3 Strategies used when teaching English grammar ...................................................................... 15

2.4 Barriers faced by students when learning grammar .................................................................. 18

2.5 Solutions to the challenges ........................................................................................................... 20

2.6 Malawian literature ........................................................................................................................ 22

2.7 Chapter summary ........................................................................................................................... 23

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH APPROACH, DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ................. 24

3.1 Chapter overview ........................................................................................................................... 24

3.2 Research paradigm ........................................................................................................................ 24

3.3 Research approach ......................................................................................................................... 25

3.4 Research design.............................................................................................................................. 25

3.5 Research site ................................................................................................................................... 26

3.6 Target population ........................................................................................................................... 26

3.7 Sampling ......................................................................................................................................... 26

3.7.1 Sampling procedure ...................................................................................................... 27

3.8 Research participants ..................................................................................................................... 28

3.9 Data collection methods ................................................................................................................ 28

3.9.1 Document analysis ........................................................................................................ 29

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 3.9.2 Interviews ..................................................................................................................... 29

3.9.3 Observation ................................................................................................................... 30

3.10 Data analysis ................................................................................................................................ 30

3.10.1 Document analysis data .............................................................................................. 31

3.10.2 Interview data ............................................................................................................. 32

3.10.3 Observation data ......................................................................................................... 32

3.11 Trustworthiness and credibility ................................................................................................. 32

3.11.1 Triangulation .............................................................................................................. 33

3.11.2 Pre-testing data instruments........................................................................................ 33

3.11.3 Peer debriefing ............................................................................................................ 34

3.12 Ethical considerations ................................................................................................................. 34

3.13 Chapter summary ......................................................................................................................... 35

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS ......... 36

4.1 Chapter Overview .......................................................................................................................... 36

4.2 Active learning strategies used in teaching and learning English grammar .......................... 36

4.2.1 Lesson preparation by teachers of English ................................................................... 36

4.2.2 Selection of active learning strategies and use of resources ......................................... 42

4.2.3 Selection of learners’ activities for learners’ practice .................................................. 47

4.3 Strategies teachers used during lesson presentation.................................................................. 50

4.3.1 Questioning technique .................................................................................................. 51

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 4.3.2 Role playing technique ................................................................................................. 53

4.3.3 Story telling technique .................................................................................................. 54

4.3.4 Lecturing technique ...................................................................................................... 56

4.3.5 Explanation technique .................................................................................................. 58

4.5 Assessment of implementation of active learning strategies amongst teachers .................... 59

4.5.1 Perception of the teachers of English grammar ............................................................ 59

4.5.2 Rendering assistance to students .................................................................................. 61

4.5.3 Catering for the diverse learning needs of the students ................................................ 62

4.6 Analysis of the effectiveness of active learning strategies ....................................................... 63

4.6.1 Effectiveness of questioning technique ........................................................................ 64

4.6.2 Effectiveness of role playing technique........................................................................ 66

4.6.3 Effectiveness of storytelling technique......................................................................... 68

4.7 Challenges experienced when using active learning strategies during an English

grammar lesson ..................................................................................................................................... 72

4.7.1 Lack of interest in the way English grammar is taught using role playing .................. 72

4.7.2 Students’ poor background knowledge ........................................................................ 74

4.7.3 Lack of understanding of the target language when using questioning technique ....... 76

4.7.4 Shyness of the students when using role playing teaching technique .......................... 78

4.8 Suggested solutions to the challenges ......................................................................................... 80

4.8.1 Solution to students’ lack of interest ............................................................................ 80

viii
 4.8.2 Solution to poor background knowledge on the part of the students ........................... 82

4.8.3 Solution to the lack of understanding of the target language ....................................... 83

4.8.4 Solution to shyness of the students ............................................................................... 85

4.9 Chapter summary ........................................................................................................................... 87

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND

CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................ 88

5.1 Chapter overview ........................................................................................................................... 88

5.2. Summary of the findings ............................................................................................................. 88

5.2.1 Active learning strategies used in English grammar lessons ........................................ 88

5.2.2 Effectiveness of active learning strategies.................................................................... 89

5.2.3 Challenges experienced when using active learning strategies .................................... 89

5.2.4 Suggested solutions to the challenges .......................................................................... 89

5.3 Implications of the study............................................................................................................... 90

5.4 Contributions of the study to the education field ...................................................................... 91

5.5 Suggested areas for further research ........................................................................................... 91

5.6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 92

REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................................... 93

APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................................ 103

Appendix 1: Timeline ........................................................................................................................ 103

Appendix 2: Document analysis guide ............................................................................................ 104

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Appendix 3: Interview guide for teachers ....................................................................................... 105

Appendix 4: Classroom observation checklist ............................................................................... 107

Appendix 5: Approval letter from MZUNIREC ............................................................................ 109

Appendix 6: Letter from the Department of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies...... 111

Appendix 7: Letter of introduction .................................................................................................. 112

Appendix 8: Letter from Central West Education Division (CWED) ........................................ 114

Appendix 9: Letter of introduction to Headteachers ..................................................................... 115

Appendix 10: Consent form .............................................................................................................. 116

Appendix 11: Information sheet for participants ........................................................................... 117

x
 GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS/ABBREVIATIONS

CLT Communicative Language Teaching

CoP Communities of Practice

CPD Continuous Professional Development

CWED Central West Education Division

EFL English as a Foreign Language

ELL English Language Learners

ESL English as a Second Language

INSERT In-Service Training

JCE Junior Certificate Examination

L2 Second Language

MSCE Malawi School Certificate of Education

MIE Malawi Institute of Education

OER Open Educational Resources

SLA Second Language Learning

SSCAR Secondary School Curriculum and Assessment Reform

UG Universal Grammar

xi
 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Chapter overview

This chapter introduces the study. It specifically presents the following: background

information, statement of the problem, justification of the study, general and specific

objectives, significance of the study, theoretical framework, delimitations of the study,

limitations of the study, operational definitions of the terms and chapter summary.

1.2 Background information

Learning strategies are techniques teachers use to help students become independent and

strategic. These strategies become learning strategies when students independently select the

appropriate strategies and use them effectively to accomplish tasks or meet goals. Learning

strategies motivate students during the learning process to the extent that they become eager

to learn. In addition, learning strategies also organise information for understanding and

remembering and monitor and assess learners. Saskatchewan Education (2009) asserts that

learning strategies are the most specific category of teaching behaviours. They are necessary

for procedural purposes and for structuring appropriate learning experiences for students.

Nwachukon (2005) describes learning strategies as decisions about organising people,

materials and ideas to provide learning. Weston and Cranton (1986) view learning strategies

as both teaching methods and the materials used in the process of teaching. That is, learning

strategies determine the approach a teacher might take to achieve learning objectives. Some

of the learning strategies that teachers use include demonstration, inquiry, discussion and

lecturing. Furthermore, for students to become successful strategic learners, they need step-

by-step instructional strategy. They also need a variety of learning approaches and learning

materials. In addition, students need appropriate support that includes modelling, guided

practice and independent practice. They also need opportunities to transfer skills and ideas

1
from one situation to another. Students need to make meaningful connections between skills

and ideas and real-life situations.

Effective instructional and learning strategies can be used across grade levels and subject

areas and they can accommodate a range of student differences. The situation is like that

because these strategies aim to promote critical and reflective thinking, research and

evaluation skills. These skills help students to take positive action to protect, enhance and

advocate for their own and other’s health, wellbeing and safety. Students use personal and

social capability to work collaboratively with others in learning activities to appreciate their

own strengths and abilities and those of their peers and develop a range of interpersonal skills

such as communication, negotiation, teamwork, leadership and an appreciation of diverse

perspectives. Teachers are encouraged to use their professional judgement to review the

suggested strategies and decide on the most appropriate ones for meeting the needs of their

students and deliver the essential content in resilience and wellbeing. The learning strategies

linked to learning activities are a suggestion only. Since teachers know their students learning

styles and needs, they can select alternative strategies or adapt those suggested to deliver the

content (Saskatchewan Education, 2009).

On the other hand, grammar is used in a variety of senses to identify different types of

grammar ranging from linguistic topics to linguistic competence. Hornby and Wittie (2010)

define grammar as the study and practice of the rules by which words change their forms and

are combined into sentences. There are two basic elements in this definition: the rules of

grammar and the study and practice of the rules. According to Hornby and Wittie (2010), the

rules of grammar are concerned with how words change and how they are put together into

sentences. For example, our knowledge of grammar tells us that the word ‘walk’ can be

changed to ‘walked’ in the past tense. Thus an example of a word changing its form. Our

knowledge of grammar also tells us what to do if we want to put the phrase ‘not many’ into a

2
sentence. For example, ‘There are oranges on the shelf’ to ‘There are not many oranges on

the shelf.’ This serves as a clear example of how words are combined into sentences.

Grammar, then, is the way in which words change themselves and group together to make

sentences (Harmer, 2015).

Andrews, Togerson, Beverton, Freeman, Locke, Low and Zhu (2004) posit that there is no

evidence that the formulaic teaching of grammar by labelling and identifying items of

language use has any beneficial effect on language production. However, there is powerful

research evidence, including a large scale study from Exeter University. Mayhill and Fisher

(2010) demonstrate the benefits of relevant grammar when taught explicitly and in context.

Teachers who contextualise the study of grammar within the reading of literature and discuss

real life texts reported a positive impact on pupils’ writing and a deeper knowledge and

understanding of language. Mayhill et al. (2010) explain that the key to effective use of

grammar is to open children’s eyes to the infinite repertoire of choices that are available to

them as writers. When used in this way, grammar helps children to understand how language

works and how to express themselves with greater craft and creativity. Furthermore, grammar

should be taught within English lessons and support the children’s learning of a specific text

type.

The present study is in line with the current trend in the field of instructional design and

technology, where developmental studies are being seen as the right way to advance direction

in the discipline. In fact, Reeves, Herrington and Olives (2005) observe that developmental

research can contribute to the field as it can inform the field of instructional design as it may

well advance the quality and usefulness of a field that is presently at risk of becoming

inconsequential and irrelevant through the ineffective media comparison studies. Actually,

Reeves et al. (2005) point out that if educational technologies want to be more socially

responsible, they should pursue developmental goals. In his study, Sanga (2016) posits that

3
the framework was developed by English methodology faculty members in Malawi’s five

secondary school teachers training institutions. The framework is important to the field of

instructional design and technology as it provides a model for the use of theory, to drive

effective instructional practices. The studies indicate that situated cognition provides a more

authentic learning experience.

The framework has been created to inform future teaching of English as a second language in

Malawi. Recent studies also provide a gap that while situated strategies have shown to

improve teaching in various areas throughout the world, these strategies are not in use in

Malawi, especially in the teaching of English as a second language in the classroom (Lave,

2008). To that end, a different way to teach English as a second language more meaningfully

in Malawi has been identified based on the literature. The features contained in the

framework have been derived from situated cognition and they serve to contextualise the

teaching of various topics in English language and grammar. This, in essence, proposes a

solution to a problem where the teaching of English as a second language in Malawi is to a

large extent being done using strategies that do not enable learners to seemingly close the gap

between what they learned and how the skills would be used in real life outside the

classroom. Therefore, the current study supports the creation of the framework, informed by

the literature, and guided by the input of educational experts and practitioners who would be

employing these strategies.

The framework has been predominantly developed to be used in Malawi. From the analysis

phase, its development is guided by views and practices of English methodology faculty

members in Malawi’s five secondary school teacher training institutions. For example, the

eight faculty members emphasise the importance of developing the framework around the

four language skills; listening, speaking, reading and writing. To that end, there is a deliberate

effort in the development process to vary content in the examples used in the framework

4
across these four important skills in language teaching. Furthermore, learning materials and

aides used in the examples are typically Malawian including literary genre pieces and names

of places. It must further be pointed out that views from English methodology practitioners

on the potential challenges that the framework would face in Malawi are also taken into

consideration in its development. For these reasons, the framework is, to a large extent, good

for use in Malawi and it might work in other countries with minor modifications (Sanga,

2016).

1.3 Statement of the problem

The Malawi government introduced the new secondary school curriculum and assessment

reform in 2015. The aim of the new curriculum is to address some gaps that are there because

issues of assessment are not being addressed adequately. The new curriculum focuses much

on the use of various learning strategies in order to meet the needs of the students (Ministry

of Education (MoE), 2015). The current system of varying the learning strategies has been

adopted worldwide, and it is bearing fruits in addressing the challenges learners experience

during the learning process. The government of Malawi adopted the system with an aim of

meeting the needs of learners both in the classroom and outside the classroom. However, the

research which was done by Sanga (2016) reveals that although the system is being practised

worldwide, and it is yielding good results, this system is not being practised adequately in

secondary schools in Malawi. That is, teachers are still clinging to traditional ways of

teaching.

Several studies were conducted in Malawi in relation to active learning strategies. For

instance, Altinyelken and Hoeksman (2021) conducted a study entitled “improving

educational quality through active learning: perspectives from secondary school teachers in

Malawi.” The study targeted teachers who were interviewed. The findings of the study reveal

5
that active teaching and learning is positively viewed by all participants as beneficial because

it is improving student academic performance and skills development. In addition, Mizrachi,

Padilla and Banda (2010) embarked on a study titled “active-learning pedagogies as a reform

initiative: the case of Malawi.” The study targeted teachers, supervisors and school

management committees from sixteen schools in six districts. The findings reveal that

teaching students using active learning strategies is beneficial as it enables students to

remember and master the subject matter better. The process also allows for discovery

learning and that students are less shy when working in small groups.

Despite the introduction of SSCAR in 2015, students in various secondary schools across the

country are still struggling to use English effectively. According to MANEB (2022) chief

examiner’s report for English, candidates lose marks as a result of writing short essays,

wrong spelling, wrong tenses, wrong punctuation, wrong register and run-on sentences. In

other cases, candidates had challenges as they used Chichewa and colloquial expressions in

their compositions. This prompted the researcher to embark on the study that seeks to

examine the implementation of active learning strategies that enhance active learning of

secondary school English grammar.

1.4 Justification of the study

Most countries across the globe are implementing learning strategies that promote active

participation of students in the teaching of secondary school English grammar. However,

Malawian secondary school teachers do not use active learning strategies. Teachers are still

sticking to traditional methods that make learners become passive recipients of knowledge.

Therefore, this study will assist secondary school teachers in embracing up-to-date learning

strategies that liberate students to become active participants during the learning of secondary

school English grammar. Furthermore, the teaching of secondary school English grammar

6
using active learning strategies enables students to use language in various contexts because

students practise language extensively during lesson delivery; hence the need to embark on

this study. A further personal motivation for this is that of professional development. In his

foreword to the government ‘Learning and Teaching: A Strategy for Professional

Development’, David Blunkett, the then Secretary of State for Education and Employment in

United Kingdom, stated that, ‘I believe that professional development is above all about

developing extraordinary talent and inspiration, and especially the classroom practice of

teachers by making sure they have the finest and most up-to-date tools to do their job’ (DfES,

2001, p. 5).

1.5 General objective

The general objective of the study was to examine the implementation of active learning

strategies that enhance active learning of English grammar in secondary schools.

1.5.1 Specific objectives

The specific objectives of the study were to:

1. Identify active learning strategies that are used in the teaching and learning of English

grammar;

2. Assess the implementation or use of active learning strategies amongst teachers of

English grammar;

3. Analyse the effectiveness of active learning strategies in achieving goals and

objectives of lessons; and

4. Examine the challenges experienced when using active learning strategies during

English grammar lessons.

7
1.6 Significance of the study

The results of the research will assist teachers to realise the learning strategies that liberate

the students and how to use learning strategies to assist in ensuring active participation of

students during English grammar lesson delivery.

1.7 Theoretical framework

This study was informed by Constructivism Theory of learning. Constructivism is regarded

as a variant of cognitivism. Its proponents are Jean Piaget and John Dewey. This theory is

relevant to guide this study because the constructs that the proponents propounded are also

relevant to the examination of the implementation of active learning strategies that enhance

active learning of English grammar. In this theory, the proponents advocate that an individual

constructs his or her understanding of the world in which he or she lives by reflecting on

personal experiences. Learners are not supposed to wait for knowledge to be filled, but they

play an active role to seek meaning and nurture self-awareness. When encountering a

principle, concept or phenomenon that does not make sense, learners often interpret or

generate new rules to comprehend ideas (Biggie & Wilson, 2006). Furthermore, students

have different interpretations about similar things based on their living environments and

interaction with others. In other words, human understanding is contextually embedded and

interpersonally influenced by the living.

Lefrancois (2009) asserts that according to constructivist perspectives, learning occurs when

individuals are actively engaged in the learning process and integrate new knowledge with

existing knowledge. Learning is considered as an active process of constructing rather than

receiving knowledge. In addition, teaching is also considered as a process of supporting the

learners to construct ideas rather than delivering knowledge. When applying constructive

strategies, teachers must start with the information that students already know and lead them

8
to new knowledge by using thought provoking questions and scaffolding techniques.

Scaffolding refers to a spiral instructional model that provides extensive support and a

framework of sequential lesson contents to gradually build up students’ understanding of new

concepts based on their prior knowledge.

Constructivism emphasises on the need to have social communities because they have a

strong impact on constructed meaning, thus initiating the term social constructivism. Social

constructivism emphasises the important role social and cultural contexts that help transform

and share meaning among groups of people. In other words, without social interactions and

interdependent relationships, learners cannot construct understanding. This principle

encourages a teaching approach that should emphasise the social interaction in a sense that it

can engage learners in learning tasks and optimise learning outcomes. Among the learning

germane to constructivist theories are cooperative learning and service learning as they help

learners to build up learner understanding of disciplinary areas through team collaboration,

everyday communication and application of academic knowledge to real-life situations

(McGonigal, 2005).

Constructivist learning is of critical importance in this study in that participants were

explaining their experiences. That is, what they know in relation to the study. The theory

advocates that individuals construct their own knowledge or understanding of the world

based on personal experiences. The theory also guides the study in that the researcher visited

participating schools, natural environment, to appreciate the role teachers are playing when

using active learning strategies when teaching English grammar. The theory also determines

the data analysis methods because responses from the participants were transcribed, coded

and grouped into themes.

9
1.8 Delimitations of the study

Delimitation is the setting of boundaries for the study or limiting the scope of the study to

make it manageable (Mugenda & Mugenda, 2003). This study was confined to seven public

schools in one education division in Malawi; Central West Education Division. More

specifically, the study focused on teachers of English.

1.9 Limitations of the study

As noted by Cohen et al. (2007), every research has its own inevitable limitations. In the case

of this study, the following were the limitations. This study was limited to public secondary

schools in one Education Division (i.e. CWED), and one education district of Lilongwe Rural

East. The study focused much on seven community day secondary schools which was not a

full representation of the entire secondary school sector. Therefore, the findings of this study

could not be generalised.

1.10 Operational definitions of terms

Learning

Learning is the process that leads to change which occurs as a result of experience, and

increases potential for improved performance and future learning.

Active learning

Active learning is an approach to instruction that involves actively engaging students with

course material through discussions, problem solving, case studies, role plays and other

methods.

10
Learning strategies

Learning strategies are instructional methods that include specialised instructional phases in

line with the particular purposes of the subject and the features of the content area so that

learners can gain the target behaviour.

Active learning strategies

Active learning strategies include a wide range of activities that share the common element of

involving students in doing things, and thinking about the things they are doing.

Grammar

Grammar is the whole system and structure of a language in general, usually taken as

consisting of syntax and morphology, and sometimes also phonology and semantics.

1.11 Organisation of the study

Chapter one

Chapter one serves as an introduction to the study. It provides the background information

and it outlines the purpose of the study. It also contains statement of the problem,

significance of the study and specific objectives that was used to carry out the study. The

chapter also contains theoretical framework.

Chapter two

Chapter two is literature review and contains information on the use of learning strategies,

and how it relates to the teaching of English grammar in secondary schools. The chapter

further expounds literature on constructivism theory which is the theoretical framework

guiding this study.

11
Chapter three

Chapter three discusses the research approach, design and methodology. It is concerned with

sampling techniques used, data collection methods and how data was be analysed. The

chapter further looks at the validity, reliability and ethical considerations.

Chapter four

Chapter four dwells much on data analysis and discussion of findings.

Chapter five

Chapter five is the last chapter and concludes by summarising the findings. The chapter also

gives recommendations basing on the findings of the study. This chapter also looks at the

implications.

1.12 Chapter summary

The chapter has provided background to the study which has also laid the basis for the entire

study. It has further discussed how English grammar is taught in schools. A statement of the

problem has been presented followed by the justification of the study and the research

objectives. The chapter has also highlighted the significance of the study followed by

theoretical framework and the delimitations of the study. The next chapter presents literature

review.

12
 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Chapter overview

This chapter reviews related literature. It mainly targets studies that are in line with the

current research. Furthermore, the chapter shows how these studies are informing the current

research. It dwells much on the importance of learning strategies when teaching English

grammar, strategies used, barriers faced and solutions to the challenges.

2.2 Importance of using learning strategies when teaching English grammar

Yu (2013) conducted a study that focused on the teaching of English grammar using focus on

form approach in CLT. The study targeted teachers and students in the Korean middle school.

The study highlights some reasons as to why English grammar should be taught in schools.

The first one is to prevent fossilisation. Fossilisation means using a broken, ungrammatical

and pidginised form of language. He also posits that purely meaning-based on instruction,

which do not focus on grammar, can facilitate this fossilisation because some complicated

structures cannot be acquired by natural conversation.

The argument above is in line with Constructivism, which advocates that teachers should be

facilitators, whose role is to support the learning process by helping students who are

struggling by, among other things, correcting learners’ mistakes. The fact is that it enables

learners to be aware of how to construct grammatical English. The arguments in the research

inform the current study as it seeks to make sure that students own the learning process by

doing self-discovery of the grammatical rules, and they are able to apply them in their

conversations in class as well as in real life situations. In addition, students are able to use

these rules in various settings because of the confidence they accumulate by mastering the

rules of English grammar.

13
Secondly, Dornyei (2008) asserts that teaching English grammar using focus on form

approach had a positive influence on the EFL students’ spontaneous classroom participation.

For instance, learners who are already familiar with English grammar instruction could speak

English with confidence only when they are convinced that their speech was grammatical in

nature. This was in accordance with Lefrancois (2000), who considers that Constructivism

strongly perceived that learning occurs when individuals are actively involved in the learning

process and integrate new knowledge with the existing knowledge.

The findings of the study augur well with the current research as the study seeks to help

teachers use learning strategies that will enable students to interact well with the teacher and

fellow students. Students should be the ones owning the entire learning process with the

teacher supporting students in the learning process. Therefore, teachers should devise

strategies that are learner-centred, which would bring out students’ autonomy and be able to

vary them in a lesson. The development is quite crucial in English grammar lessons because

learners are able to practise language extensively by interacting with others as well as the

teachers. In addition, learning takes place in an environment where teachers motivate

students. It enables the students to become eager and respond positively to the learning

process. A positive response from students should be appreciated while a negative response

should be discouraged. This makes the students to become focused in the learning process

and to achieve their goals.

Baker (2000) states that the teaching of English grammar helps students to use grammar more

creatively. EFL students learn grammar in communicative language teaching (CLT) classes.

They do not only use set phrases or insert alternative words but also make choices within a

grammatical system itself. For instance, “Would you like a cup of tea?” or “Would you like a

piece of cake?” Biggie and Wilson (2006) stipulate that constructivism encourages students

to embrace different interpretations about similar meanings based on their living

14
environments and interactions with others. In other words, human understanding is

contextually embedded and interpersonally influenced by the living.

The results of the study are in line with this study as they promote the use of active learning

strategies to help students become strategic and bring out students’ autonomy. Furthermore,

it would enable students to use language in a creative manner by applying what has been

learnt in the classroom to different situations in real life. Some strategies would enable

students to act out situations thereby accumulating vocabulary that can be used in various real

life settings.

2.3 Strategies used when teaching English grammar

Since the mid-20th century, the positive impact of teaching grammar in context on students’

writing had been recognised. A host of current studies have emphasised the fact that humans

tend to learn in a web-like fashion, the web of content. Anderson (2005) states that teaching

grammar in context provides a meaningful framework that connects to reality in the targeted

language. We must provide a practical approach that allows ELLs to generate thoughts and to

make use of the received knowledge. Poth (2006) stresses the importance of providing

writing input into the teaching of grammar. Language learners must have the opportunities to

produce output in order to gain fluency and accuracy. Somervill (2017) asserts that teaching

methods like role playing are very important to students because they provide learners with

structural learning experiences to develop skills for work in the real world of work. Role

playing is a technique in which students spontaneously act out assigned roles in a given

historical, literary or contemporary situations in order to understand situations more

thoroughly. The current project also seeks to ensure that teachers provide students with the

conducive learning environment that allows them to practise language in a classroom setting

so that it informs the world of work. Therefore, teachers are urged to use active teaching

15
strategies that allow students to use technical words or terminologies that are used in various

contexts like courts and hospitals.

Teaching English grammar using focus-on-form method is one such example of teaching

grammar in context. The approach is also known as the grammar-in-context approach and it

is based on the notion that students need to construct knowledge of grammar by practising it

as part of what it means to write (Ehrenworth & Vinton, 2005). Advocates of this method

ensure that students tend to learn and apply language structure through practice and that

manipulating sentences through writing helps students practically use the language and

therefore, increase the language proficiency level. The term context is defined in the

Merriam-Webster online dictionary as “the parts of a discourse that surround a word or

passage and can throw light on its meaning.” Under this definition, this approach is linked to

Krashen’s language acquisition theory.

Krashen (2005) proposes that language acquisition goes beyond reciting, memorising and

completing closed exercises. He further explains that in order to be functional, language

needs to be taught and experienced through authentic contexts. Anderson (2005) clarifies that

contexts do not necessarily mean a lengthy text; it can be a paragraph or even a sentence.

Thus, contextual grammar approach could be applied through mentor sentences and

paragraphs to explain grammar concepts and mechanics in a relatively meaningful situation

that ELL students could relate to. The approach is clearly influenced by the Constructivist

Theory. The efficacy of this method presents both, explicit grammar instruction and

meaningful input. This allows students to elaborate on, experiment with and relate to received

knowledge.

As accomplished practitioners, acknowledging and being aware of the theories and

methodologies that have influenced ELL teaching and learning is a crucial step. Yet, it is

16
critical for teachers to consider that all theories are based on limited information and that this

information is consistently being examined and perhaps, even amended (Wilson & Peterson,

2006). Therefore, teachers must know what works for their students and use a balanced view

of learning and teaching (Wilson & Peterson, 2006). This might mean that it is necessary to

employ more than one approach when teaching, rather than focusing on just one approach.

For instance, following the Behaviourist Theory alone can lead to learning grammar rules in

isolation and students’ inability to transfer this knowledge to other language skills.

Similarly, following the Universal Grammar (UG) or Second Language Acquisition (SLA)

theory, both of which, stress language learning without grammar instruction, may not be ideal

for many students either. Many experienced teachers who have interacted with ELLs realise

that some students need a type of grammar coaching, as well as meaningful input, depending

on the students’ level and style of learning. Thus, having a solid understanding of how we

teach, possessing the ability to articulate our instructional approach, and being aware of the

various learning theories may hold a lot of promise in boosting teaching performance and that

might provide satisfying results. However, it is important that we choose the appropriate

approach that suits our learners’ needs. The study by Mohajan (2017) acknowledges that this

is in line with the method referred to as Community of Practice (CoP), where students formed

a group or community of practice. The study targeted the community that indulges in CoP.

They were engaged in joint activities and discussions, helped each other and shared

information. In this case, the community refers to the social structures that encourage

learning through interaction and relationships among members. Furthermore, it is a crucial

element for an effective knowledge structure about a specific practice.

The current research is trying to make the teacher become vigilant as it provides room for

them to use a variety of active teaching strategies in a particular lesson. The development

ensures that learners’ needs are taken care of and, at the same time, students build strong

17
relationships by working in groups. For instance, by working in groups, students share

knowledge and they are usually comfortable, and shy learners do participate. The argument

above is against the use of teacher-centred strategies, which are not effective in terms of

practising language.

2.4 Barriers faced by students when learning grammar

Azar (2002) posits that although the use of active learning strategies in the teaching of

English grammar is of critical importance to both English as a second language (ESL) and

English as a foreign language (EFL) student, there are some factors that hinder the smooth

implementation of the active learning strategies. For instance, in most EFL classes, the

curriculum, which is more often not designed for test preparation, is determined and fixed

through the teaching ministry and employing each material could be a hurdle for many

teachers who mandatorily teach from the textbook alone. The constraint might pose a

challenge in exposing ELLs to authentic and meaningful input of the targeted language.

Therefore, EFL teachers should conceive and explore various ways to implement authentic

English material with a tight curriculum and little resources. The current study is seeking to

equip teachers to use teaching and learning resources so as to make sure that students are

exposed to learning activities that are meaningful and expose them to real life situations.

Active learning strategies alone cannot work unless there are adequate learning materials for

the English grammar lessons. Teachers are also at liberty to improvise materials in order to

cater for the whole class.

Azar (2002) argues that another obstacle is the class size against the number of teachers.

Having a large number of students can impact a teacher’s feedback, especially in providing

one-on-one guidance. Giving EFL students’ one-on-one feedback might possibly result in

18
generous learning. However, such a practice could be difficult for teachers who teach large

numbers of students.

Therefore, the burden is placed on teachers in adapting strategies to allow to receive feedback

in a constructive and efficient manner. For instance, teachers could utilise peer feedback

amongst their students. Dhillon and Wanjiru (2013) argue that the education system and a

literacy focused ESL curriculum is further pressured by the shortage of English teachers in

schools. The study further reveals that shortage of English teachers in schools makes it

difficult for the teachers to provide quality language work for learners. They cannot manage

to give individual attention to students due to class workload and time factor. The study

sought to expose the challenges and attempts to provide solutions to them. Class size is an

issue that needs an immediate solution by either recruiting adequate teachers or constructing

more schools to decongest the existing ones. The development would enable teachers to

handle a reasonable number of students. Such being the case, students can be assisted

individually during English lessons.

Furthermore, Graus and Coppen (2017) argue that students have different characters and

learning styles. This results in influencing their attitude on learning English grammar. In

grammar classroom activities, sometimes students lack attention and they are not serious at

all because there is no background knowledge of English grammar. They are usually

demotivated in developing their own grammar knowledge because they lack vocabulary. The

study entitled “Challenges and strategies for teachers and learners of English as a second

language” by Dhillion and Wanjiru (2013), stipulates that some students have negative

attitudes towards learning English and pupils forget easily what they have been taught due to

poor memory. This is the case because pupils lack motivation. The negative attitudes that

students have towards the learning of English grammar possess a great challenge to teachers

on how best to handle English grammar lessons in secondary schools. Another one is lack of

19
proper training on English teaching methodologies dealing with active learning strategies

provided by the government. It cannot be denied that most students perceive learning English

grammar as the most boring learning activity when they learn it in school. Even if teachers

try to vary teaching strategies, sometimes they would still produce an unenjoyably teaching

atmosphere. The argument augurs well with the current study which stipulates that the

adoption of different approaches when teaching English grammar promotes the use of target

language efficiently and clearly, and it encourages a degree of automaticity in production.

The absence of these appropriate methodologies means that there is language under-

achievement.

2.5 Solutions to the challenges

From the challenges highlighted above, some expectations are proposed to be considered in

designing teaching grammar. The first one is providing students with varied teaching

approaches and methods in teaching grammar by considering students’ learning styles, their

attitude and perception of English grammar. This can help EFL teachers create enjoyable and

meaningful English grammar activities. The study by Naka (2017) was aimed at orienting

EFL teachers to consider choosing the right strategies when teaching EFL students. The

results of the study consider differentiated instructions as a way learners acquire the

knowledge and strategies they apply during the delivery of an instruction. Differentiated

learning is of critical importance because it accommodates learners of diverse backgrounds

with diverse abilities to show their prerequisite knowledge.

Therefore, differentiation can be defined as a learning method that allows teachers to twist

the curriculum, their learning strategies, the educational sources used, the learning tasks and

the evaluation approaches to and in accordance with students’ diverse needs with an aim of

maximising the instructional opportunities for every learner. The assertion supports this study

20
as it enables teachers of English to accommodate learners’ needs when devising a lesson. The

teachers of English should use various teaching strategies that can make students active

throughout the lesson. This is the case because students learn differently, as such varied

methods are crucial in enhancing language practice in a lesson.

In addition, the teachers of English should make sure that the authentic learning materials are

used when delivering English grammar lessons. These supplementary materials should be

based on students’ contextualised life. That is definitely helpful in minimising the challenges

that teachers of English grammar experience. In addition, considering students’ preferences

and teachers’ difficulties in teaching English in EFL context can help educators and

developers in creating EFL curriculum and EFL teaching materials which match with both

students’ and teachers’ needs. Dhillon and Wanjiru (2013) posit that students should be

provided with adequate teaching and learning materials. These materials should be interesting

and curiosity-arousing in nature because such materials enhance a language-learning

environment and initiate positive classroom interaction. The research recognises the use of

materials as a crucial component of language practice. Resources help teachers in managing

the class and they help learners to grasp the concepts with ease. Therefore, teachers of

English should be resourceful enough when preparing for an English grammar lessons

because this enables students to practise language effectively.

Furthermore, there is need for designing training programmes that are related to teaching

methodology to enrich the teachers’ conceptual and practical knowledge on grammar so that

they can develop a teaching model based on the characteristics of EFL frame (Lee & Lin,

2019). The recommendation augurs well with the study done by Ucan (2016), which targeted

teachers because they are the custodians of change in the education system. The study

stipulates the need to conduct Continuous Professional Development (CPD) in order for

teachers to develop their teaching career. One of the imperatives of CPD is to assist the

21
teachers to advance their profession by enhancing their performance with the view of

improving performance in order to improve the learning outcomes of learners. The

development can be done by exposing the teachers to current learning strategies that can

allow active participation of students in the learning process. The current study aims to

engage teachers of English be aware of the current teaching strategies that are used

worldwide, which help in the mastery of content on the part of the students so that they

become autonomous and strategic.

2.6 Malawian literature

Several studies were conducted in Malawi in relation to active learning strategies. For

instance, Altinyelken and Hoeksman (2021) conducted a study entitled “improving

educational quality through active learning: perspectives from secondary school teachers in

Malawi.” The study targeted teachers who were interviewed. The findings of the study reveal

that active teaching and learning is positively viewed by all participants as beneficial because

it is improving student academic performance and skills development. In addition, Mizrachi,

Padilla and Banda (2010) embarked on a study titled “active-learning pedagogies as a reform

initiative: the case of Malawi.” The study targeted teachers, supervisors and school

management committees from sixteen schools in six districts. The findings reveal that

teaching students using active learning strategies is beneficial as it enables students to

remember and master the subject matter better. The process also allows for discovery

learning and that students are less shy when working in small groups. However, most studies

dwell much on the active learning strategies across all teaching areas and not the teaching of

English grammar in particular. Furthermore, there is a gap in knowledge on the

implementation process and achievements incurred through the use of these active learning

strategies. This prompted the researcher to embark on the study that seeks to examine the

22
implementation of active learning strategies that enhance active learning of secondary school

English grammar.

Investing in education is critical if a country is to achieve meaningful development. Human

capital development that is globally competitive and highly motivated contributes

significantly to the development of the nation. The youth should be equipped with relevant

skills and this could be enhanced through the provision of quality education. Most Malawian

youths are lacking the skills; hence; they fail to contribute effectively to national

development. This has been the case due to mismatch between education and the world of

work (Malawi, 2063). In order to address the issue of mismatch of the activities, there is need

to contextualise the education system so that what is taught in class should inform the world

of work. The use of active learning strategies should be employed in order to contextualise

the teaching process. To this end, communication is also critical if a country like Malawi is to

attain significant development. Hence; there is a need to contextualise the teaching of English

grammar for use locally and internationally. Malawi adopted English as an official language

and there is need for youths to practise the language extensively for them to be able to use it

in various situations for them to achieve communicative competence.

2.7 Chapter summary

Literature indicates that extensive research has been done about active learning strategies in

the teaching of English grammar worldwide, and literature also shows that Malawi’s

education system is not employing active learning strategies in the teaching of English

grammar. The researcher aims at exposing the current strategies in use, its effectiveness and

the challenges being experienced when employing these strategies. The next chapter will

present the research approach, design and methodology.

23
 CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH APPROACH, DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

3.1 Chapter overview

Kalu and Bwalya (2017) assert that methodology means a framework of theories and

principles on which methods and procedures are based. According to Newby (2014),

methodology is a set of beliefs that give guidance to the study, especially when collecting and

analysing data. Furthermore, research methodology is defined as a set of systematic

techniques used in research which include procedures by which researchers go about their

work of describing, explaining and predicting phenomenon (Igwenagu, 2016). Therefore, the

definitions clearly show that the aim of the research methodology is to give guidance to

research on how it can be conducted. Therefore, the chapter focuses on the methods that are

used to collect and analyse data. It encompasses concepts like paradigm, research design,

research methods, research approach, methods of data collection, selection of the sample,

research process, data analysis techniques and ethical considerations.

3.2 Research paradigm

According to Cresswell (2014), there are four types of paradigms namely; post-positivist,

interpretivism, transformative and pragmatic. However, this study was guided by

interpretivism research paradigm. Interpretivism paradigm is concerned with understanding

the world as it is from subjective experiences of individuals (Reeves & Hedberg, 2003;

Lather, 2006). In addition to that, it uses meaning oriented methodologies such as

interviewing or participant observation, which rely on a subjective relationship between the

researcher and participants (Cresswell, 2009). Therefore, interpretivism paradigm was

relevant in this study because this approach would allow close collaboration between the

researcher and participants. Participants are able to tell their stories and describe their views

of reality which in turn enables the researcher to better understand the participants’ actions

24
implementing the instructional strategies when teaching English grammar in secondary

schools. Furthermore, the study used mean oriented methodologies such as interviewing and

participant observation which augured well with interpretivism paradigm.

3.3 Research approach

The approaches in social research include quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods

(Cresswell & Clark, 2011). This study used qualitative research approach. Qualitative

research is a naturalistic approach that seeks to understand phenomenon in the natural context

(Maree, 2007; Kumar, 2011). Therefore, qualitative research approach afforded the

researcher the opportunity to observe teachers in their natural settings in order to find out

exactly what happened in their classrooms. The researcher visited teachers in their own

schools where they were interviewed and observed in their classrooms. The interactive nature

of qualitative research further made it possible for the researcher to obtain an in-depth

understanding of respondents’ views and to gain a holistic understanding of how teachers

implement active learning strategies when teaching secondary school English grammar,

analysed the current use of instructional strategies, the effectiveness of the instructional

strategies and the challenges teachers experienced when implementing active instructional

strategies.

3.4 Research design

Brink, Van der Walt and Van Rensenburg (2012) explain that research design forms the

blueprint of research that sets out the methodology to be used by the researcher in obtaining

information, such as elements, units of analysis and participants for collecting and analysing

data and interpreting results. Therefore, the aim of the research determines the choice of

appropriate research design for a given study (Seidman, 2006; Welman, Kruger & Mitchell,

2010). There are different types of research designs in social science and these include

25
survey, experiment, observation, case study and content analysis, among others (Seidman,

2006). This study adopted the case study design. Baxter and Jack (2008) alluded to the fact

that a case study is an approach to research that facilitates exploration of a phenomenon

within its context using a variety of data sources such as interviews, observations, documents

and reports, with selection based on fitness for purpose. The case study research design was

employed because of its relevance in helping the researcher not to explore the phenomenon

through one lens, but rather a variety of lenses which allowed for multiple facts of the

phenomenon to be revealed and understood.

3.5 Research site

The study was conducted in seven different selected community day secondary schools in the

Central West Education Division (CWED) in Lilongwe Rural East Education district. The

selected institutions are offering core education.

3.6 Target population

The target population was thirty specialised secondary school English teachers who are

directly involved in the implementation of the active instructional strategies in the teaching of

English grammar in secondary schools. Therefore, the researcher needed to sample

participants from the larger population who were teachers, who were involved in the

implementation of active learning strategies in the seven schools in Lilongwe Rural East. For

the purpose of this study, twenty-one teachers of English were involved. They were

interviewed and their lessons were observed as well.

3.7 Sampling

A sample can be comprised of individuals, items or events selected from a larger group. The

purpose of sampling is to gain information about the population by using a sample. In this

study, twenty-one teachers participated in the study.

26
 3.7.1 Sampling procedure

There are different types of sampling techniques, but this study used simple random sampling

in selecting the Education Division and purposive sampling, when selecting participants.

3.7.1.1 Simple random sampling

In Malawi, there are five education divisions, but the researcher needed to conduct the study

in one education division. Therefore, in this study, all the names of education divisions were

written on piece of papers and were put in a box that was shaken later. Then the researcher

put a hand in the box to pick the education division randomly. The first paper to be picked

from the box was the education division where the study will be conducted, which is Central

West Education Division (CWED). In the Central West Education Division, there were five

education districts but the researcher needed to conduct the study in Lilongwe Rural East to

check if at all community day secondary schools in rural areas were implementing active

learning strategies in English grammar lessons. Therefore, in this study all names of

education districts were written on pieces of paper and were put in a box that was later

shaken. Then the researcher put his hand in the box to pick the education district randomly.

The first paper to be picked in the box and was taken as the education district where the study

took place. The education district was Lilongwe Rural East. The same process was followed

to select participating schools and seven schools were selected for this study.

3.7.1.2 Purposive sampling

In this study, the researcher employed purposive sampling to select seventeen teachers of

English in Lilongwe Rural East Education district who had an in-depth knowledge of the

active learning strategies used in teaching English grammar in secondary schools. The

researcher involved specialised teachers of English who have more than five years’ teaching

experience in the subject in order to be sure that they were aware of the learning strategies

27
used when teaching English grammar. The researcher further considered that the selected

participants would shed more light on the researcher’s questions due to their subject

specialisation, practices and expertise as teachers of English.

3.8 Research participants

The study involved a total of seventeen participants sampled from the seven community day

secondary schools who are specialised English teachers each with a minimum of five years

and above, of teaching experience. In line with ethical considerations, the researcher used

codes instead of the names of participants and schools. Teachers in the one-on-one interviews

were referred to as teacher A, B and C in each school, while the schools in the study were

referred to as NKHO, MWA, CHIG, KAU, CHING’O, MCHI and KAL. Participants in this

study were specialised English teachers identified from each of the seven sampled schools

with five and above years of teaching. Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2007) contend that in a

qualitative research design, the sample size should neither be too small nor excessive but

manageable and limited by time and money. Cohen et al. (2007) further state that a sample

size within the range of 8 to 15 is ideal in order to fulfil the requirements of efficiency,

representation, reliability as well as flexibility. From the demographic data, there were seven

females and fourteen males that were involved in the study. The difference in the number of

females and males was based on the availability of teachers in the schools under study. The

demographic data also showed that participants who were involved in the study were

qualified English teachers who have taught English subject for more than five years.

3.9 Data collection methods

Data collection methods involved the actions that a researcher took to gather relevant

information to offer solutions to research questions. The current study employed qualitative

methods of data collection. The instruments that the researcher used to collect data in this

28
study were document analysis, interviews and classroom observations from the sampled

schools.

3.9.1 Document analysis

According to Coffee (2014), documents can either be official records of different types

designed as records of action and activity or everyday documents of an organisation and

routine documents that were at the core of everyday social practice. The documents that were

analysed in the schools include syllabus, teacher’s guide, student’s textbooks, supplementary

teaching materials and schemes of work. These provided a wider variety of materials with

information concerning the availability of resources for implementation of active learning

strategies.

3.9.2 Interviews

There are four types of interviews commonly employed in social sciences. These are

structured interviews, unstructured interviews, semi-structured interviews and focus group

interviews. However, this study used semi-structured interviews to collect data because such

interviews allow the researcher to determine in advance the exact wording and sequencing of

questions to be asked (Cohen et al. 2007). The method saves time and allows the researcher

to explore, probe and classify answers (Maree, 2007). Twenty one teachers from the seven

community day secondary schools were interviewed individually after school hours at their

schools at times convenient to them, with the purpose of gaining an in-depth understanding of

the teachers’ experiences on the implementation of active learning strategies in the teaching

of English grammar.

The researcher arranged the interviews with each individual well in advance, while

permission to use the venues was requested from the headteachers of the participating

schools. All teachers consented to participate in the study by signing the consent forms. Each

29
teacher was interviewed once for about ten to twenty minutes. The data collected through

interviews was audio-recorded for accurate transcriptions of verbal interactions, of course

with the permission of the participants and transcribed verbatim.

3.9.3 Observation

Ndengu (2012) asserts that observation is immersing oneself in a research setting so that one

can experience and observe at first hand a number of issues in that setting. Observations were

very important as part of the data collection for this study because it served to describe the

settings; in this case, the classrooms, and provided a social context for what teachers said and

did in the field during contact time with learners when they presented their lessons. Out of the

twenty-one teachers, seventeen teachers’ lessons were observed. The teachers explained the

researcher’s presence in the classroom to the learners and the researcher sat at the back of the

classroom. Each lesson was observed for at least forty minutes using an observation

checklist. The observation checklist guided the researcher to determine what should be

observed.

Furthermore, the researcher played the role of the non-participant observer where the

researcher only took field notes without interfering with the activities included as part of the

lessons. Non-participant observation minimised the presence of the researcher in the

classroom. It helped to ensure that the classroom process was as ‘normal’ as possible (Liu &

Maitlis, 2010). Lesson observation helped the researcher to find out first-hand information on

the preparation of English grammar teachers in as far as implementation of active learning

strategies was concerned in the classroom.

3.10 Data analysis

Data analysis is central to credible qualitative research. According to Ndengu (2012), data

analysis is about making sense of the data collected. Qualitative data analysis is basically

30
interpretivist whose purpose is to provide a thick description which involves going through

description of the characteristics, processes, transactions and content that constitute a

phenomenon being studied (Terre-Binche, Durrheim & Painter, 2006). There are different

types of qualitative data analysis, but this study used content analysis because it offered a

clear and usable framework for analysing the contents of interviews or observational notes

(Maguire & Delahunt, 2017; Kumar, 2011).

The data was analysed using thematic content analysis which employed four steps. The first

step was to identify the main themes. This step was employed in the descriptive responses

from the participants in order to understand the meaning they communicated. The second was

to assign codes to the main themes by using key words. The third step was to clarify

responses from the participants under the main themes. Having identified the themes, this

step was used to sift through the transcripts of all the interviews in order to classify responses

from the participants. The fourth step was to integrate themes and responses into the text of

the report. The content analysis was used to analyse the relevant data collected through

document analysis, participant observation and semi-structured interviews. This helped the

researcher to relate the themes found during thematic content analysis with the chosen

theoretical framework.

3.10.1 Document analysis data

The researcher analysed the data that was collected from official documents thematically.

Thematic analysis is a form of pattern recognition within the data, with emerging themes

becoming the categories for analysis (Fereday & Muir-Cochrane, 2006). The process

involves a careful, more focused re-reading and review of the data. In this case, the researcher

took a closer look at the documents to check if active instructional strategies that enhance

active learning of English grammar in secondary schools had been included in the schemes of

work and lesson plans. The researcher performed coding and category construction based on

31
the data’s characteristics in order to uncover themes pertinent to a phenomenon. Like any

other analytical methods in qualitative research, document analysis data requires that data

should be examined and interpreted in order to elicit meaning, gain understanding and

develop empirical knowledge (Corbin & Strauss, 2008).

3.10.2 Interview data

The researcher analysed interview data by transcribing verbatim following the order of the

interview schedule. The researcher replayed the audio several times to ensure accuracy in the

transcription process. Cohen, et al. (2007) explains that replaying the audio several times

assists the researcher to transcribe the right information and maintain its accuracy. The

researcher coded and grouped key points into categories.

3.10.3 Observation data

The researcher performed coding and category construction based on the data’s

characteristics in order to uncover themes pertinent to a phenomenon. Just like in document

analysis, observation data is examined and interpreted in order to elicit meaning, gain

understanding and develop empirical knowledge (Corbin & Strauss, 2008).

3.11 Trustworthiness and credibility

Trustworthiness is paramount in qualitative research. Trustworthiness enables the researcher

to check for the accuracy of the findings by employing certain procedures (Cresswell, 2014).

Credibility establishes whether or not the research findings represent believable information

drawn from the participants’ original data and whether or not it is a correct interpretation of

the participants’ original views (Granaheim & Lundman, 2004). This study used

triangulation, pre-testing data instruments and peer debriefing to ensure trustworthiness and

credibility.

32
 3.11.1 Triangulation

Triangulation involves the use of multiple and different methods, investigators, sources and

theories to obtain corroborating evidence (Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2007). Triangulation helps

the investigator to reduce bias and it cross examines the integrity of participant responses.

Data triangulation was achieved in this study by using different sources of data collection

instruments such as document analysis, interviews and observation to enhance the quality of

the data from different sources. In addition, triangulation was achieved by verifying the

researcher verified what the participants said during interviews and what they did during

classroom observations.

3.11.2 Pre-testing data instruments

Krishnaswami and Ranganatham (2010) argue that the purpose of pre-testing is to test

whether or not the instruments obtain the responses required to achieve the research

objectives. This can be enhanced in the following ways: to test whether or not the content of

the instruments is relevant and adequate, to test whether or not the wording of the questions is

clear and suitable to the understanding of respondents, to test the other qualitative aspects of

instruments such as question structure and to develop appropriate procedures for

administering the instrument with reference to field conditions. Therefore, pre-testing

improves the quality of data significantly (Babbie, 2004; Rubin & Babbie, 2008). In this

study, pre-testing data instruments was done in one of the schools in Lilongwe Rural East

Education District. The researcher did document analysis, interviewed the specialist English

teachers and observed teachers’ lessons. This assisted the researcher to establish the

timeframe for the interviews, it ensured clarity of questions by removing items that did not

yield useful data and established the trustworthiness of instruments.

33
 3.11.3 Peer debriefing

Debriefing provides the inquirer with the opportunity to test their growing insights and to

expose themselves to searching questions (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005; Pitney & Parker, 2009).

During the study, the researcher consulted other academic staff in the Department of

Education and Teaching Studies who provided scholarly guidance. Furthermore, feedback

from peers also helped the researcher to improve the quality of findings. This was so because

peer debriefing looked into background information, data collection methods and process,

data management, transcripts, data analysis procedure and research findings.

3.12 Ethical considerations

The issue of protecting the rights of participants in the study is very sensitive and special

efforts were made to protect the rights of those who are vulnerable. The researcher ensured

that the study adhered to all the ethical considerations by obtaining a clearance letter from

Mzuzu University Research and Ethical Committee (MZUNIREC), permission letter from

Mzuzu University, a permission letter from the Central West Education Division, a letter of

informed consent from the headteachers of participating schools and participants were

requested to sign a consent form which outlined the rules and procedures of the study, and to

show that they agreed to participate in the study. The researcher also considered ethical

matters such as voluntary participation, informed consent, confidentiality and anonymity of

respondents.

On voluntary participation, participants were informed that their participation in the study

was free and voluntary, and that they could withdraw their participation from the study at any

time they desired. Secondly, getting informed consent from respondents is a pre-requisite

before the commencement of any research. Informed consent in this research was obtained

from the potential participants of the study who were given full and relevant information

34
regarding the study in which they were invited to take part in the study, to indicate their

decision of whether they would like to take part in the study.

Furthermore, the researcher told the participants about how data would be collected and that

they were requested to provide the researcher with copies of their instructional plans to be

used for study purposes only. All the stakeholders were assured that data would be

anonymous and confidential. Cooper and Schindler (2014) argue that the research must be

designed in a way that participants do not suffer any physical harm, discomfort, pain,

embarrassment or loss of privacy. All efforts were made to establish trust between the

researcher and participants to ensure that their privacy was not compromised. This was

achieved by giving pseudonyms to participants’ names and that of their schools.

3.13 Chapter summary

This chapter has presented the research design and methodology that were used to collect

data. In the process, the chapter discussed concepts such as interpretivism paradigm,

qualitative case study research design. The selection of the research site was done using

simple random sampling while research participants were selected using purposive sampling.

The data was collected using document analysis, interviews and lesson observations. Data

was analysed using thematic content analysis. The study used triangulation of data

instruments, pre-testing data instruments and peer debriefing to ensure trustworthiness and

credibility. The study also considered ethical matters such as voluntary participation,

informed consent, confidentiality and anonymity of respondents, and of participating schools.

35
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS

4.1 Chapter Overview

This chapter presents and discusses the findings of the study by following the order of the

four specific objectives. The four specific objectives were: (i) to identify active learning

strategies used in the teaching and learning of English grammar, (ii) to assess the

implementation of active learning strategies amongst teachers, (iii) to analyse the

effectiveness of active learning strategies in achieving goals and objectives during English

grammar lessons and (iv) to examine the challenges experienced when using active learning

strategies during English grammar lessons.

4.2 Active learning strategies used in teaching and learning English grammar

Under this objective, the study sought to identify active learning strategies that teachers of

English use when teaching English grammar in secondary schools. The findings reveal that

secondary school teachers of English do use active learning strategies in their English

grammar lessons, but not to the expected standard. Upon analysing the data under this

objective, four main themes emerged that represented how the strategies are used in English

grammar lessons: (i) lesson preparation by the teachers of English, (ii) selection of

appropriate active learning strategies, (iii) selection of learners’ activities for learners’

practice and (iv) strategies teachers used during lesson presentations.

4.2.1 Lesson preparation by teachers of English

The researcher considered how teachers of English in secondary schools prepare for English

grammar lessons in order to ensure that the students own the learning process. It was revealed

that most teachers do not write lesson plans. This was also observed when the researcher was

observing lessons and analysing official documents of the participants. The researcher

observed seventeen lessons and only four lessons were delivered following the lesson plans.

36
This is against the Ministry of Education’s expectation which is to ensure that every teacher

should have lesson plans well written in advance.

The lesson plan serves a lot of purposes in the delivery of a lesson. For instance, planning

work that can be taught in a single period taking into account the abilities of students. It was

worth noting that some participants who had well written lesson plans were able to deliver

their lesson logically. The teachers ensured a step by step presentation of the lesson and

students were active throughout the lessons.

For instance, participant C from KAU School explained that:

So, you consider the abilities of learners so that you can plan work which the learners

can manage to do or you (teacher) can manage to cover in a particular lesson.

Otherwise, if you don’t consider the abilities of learners, you may end up finding

yourself that you don’t finish the work planned on each day, so it’s important to

consider that.

On the other hand, participant B from CHIG School hinted by saying that:

You have to write a lesson plan in advance to be used when teaching. And you should

also bear in mind that you are following the syllabus.

Furthermore, participant C from KAU School concurred with the other participants on the

importance of lesson planning.

She had this to say:

So, on planning these strategies, the strategies are aligned to the success criteria. For

example, if I have a success criteria, for example, learners should be able to identify

adverbs from a given story, that means if I want to use group work, that group work

37
 will be used to achieve that success criteria because in those groups, I will tell them

to discuss and identify that are found in that story.

The comments made by participants above imply that some teachers of English in secondary

schools do understand that lesson plans are important when delivering English grammar

lessons. The findings are in line with what Okai (2010) describes as the usefulness of a lesson

plan. He asserts that if teachers have well written lesson plans, they are able to follow the

correct steps and procedures in teaching, and activities are related to the content as well as the

objectives of a lesson. The explanation above is also consistent with the research that was

conducted into pre-service teachers on lesson planning, which concluded that the process of

designing a written lesson plan is useful in preparing and organising for teaching. The

findings are in line with Constructivism Theory which asserts that when applying

constructive strategies, teachers may start with the information that students already know

and lead them to new knowledge by using thought provoking questions and scaffolding

techniques.

During lesson observation that involved participants with well written lesson plans, the

researcher appreciated that most participants used teaching and learning resources effectively,

at an appropriate time and the resources were indeed suitable for the lessons. For instance,

participant C from KAU School commented that: Lesson plans assist teachers to carefully

select active learning strategies that would help achieve a particular success criterion. The

assertion clearly shows that learners utilised the resources and were able to comprehend

concepts. Therefore, a conclusion can be drawn that most learners including shy ones take

part in the lesson thereby acquiring linguistic competence and the teacher could talk less

while students dominated the lessons.

38
Azar (2002) posits that although the use of active learning strategies in the teaching of

English grammar is of critical importance to both EFL and ESL students, there are some

factors that hinder the smooth implementation of active learning strategies. For instance, in

most EFL classes, the curriculum, which is more often designed for test preparation and fixed

through the teaching Ministry of Education and employing each material can be a hurdle for

many teachers who mandatorily teach from a textbook alone. This constraint may pose a

challenge in exposing ELLs to authentic and meaningful input of the target language.

Therefore, EFL teachers must conceive and explore various ways to implement authentic

English materials with a tight curriculum and little resources.

In addition, the teachers of English who had prepared for their lessons were able to give their

students assignments to be done at home after school hours. This is quite vital when it comes

to practising the rules of English grammar that define a particular language. Students were

given a good platform for language practice to be continued from where they left while in a

classroom setting. For instance, participant B from NKHO School gave his students an

assignment of finding a passage that contains phrasal verbs and deducing meanings of those

phrasal verbs as used in the passage. Assignments have an implication in that extensive

practice of English grammar helps students acquire linguistic competence which can be

applied in various contexts. Such scenarios will help reduce shyness among students when

expressing their feelings in various contexts.

This is in line with literature review which states that focus on form method ensure that

students tend to learn and apply language structures through practice and that manipulating

sentences through writing helps students practically use the language and therefore, increase

the language proficiency level (Ehrenworth & Vinton, 2005). This implies that teachers have

a responsibility to make sure that their students are able to practise language outside the

classroom. This can be achieved by making sure that classroom activities are informing real

39
life situations. However, the situation on the ground is not conducive in the sense that many

teachers are not willing to use active learning strategies, hence, students’ failure to utilise the

target language effectively.

Furthermore, during lesson observation, the researcher noted that teachers of English with

well written lesson plans were able to guide students on what is to be learnt in the next

lesson. That is, students were able to know well in advance. This was quite essential as it

enabled students to prepare for the next lesson by reading ahead the stuff to be taught. This is

important as it enabled students to participate effectively during lesson delivery, by among

others, asking relevant questions that would prompt a teacher to clarify certain grammatical

elements that they did not understand when they encountered the stuff on their own. These

strategies augur well with Dornyei (2008) who posits that Second Language (L2) learning

requires that learners take ownership of learning activities through interaction, active

participation and the use of target language in a more authentic context.

On the other hand, teachers who did not plan for their lessons did not give assignments to

their students for practice. In addition, students were not told what is to be learnt in the next

lesson. This kind of practice hindered students from realising their potential when it comes to

language practice. Therefore, the acquisition of linguistic competence is limited thereby

failing to enhance communicative competence because of failing to practice linguistic rules

outside the school environment because the classroom environment failed to provide room

for the same. This resonates well with literature review by Azar (2002) who remarks that the

traditional methods of teaching provided learners with fewer opportunities to participate

actively in class; hence, learners are less confident to express themselves.

The researcher, however, discovered that a number of participants taught English grammar

without lesson plans. This development made the teaching of English grammar not to be

40
effective because among other factors, the lessons did not progress as expected; that is,

logical presentation of stuff was not enhanced. For example, participant B at MWA School

failed to teach a lesson from known to unknown because the introduction was not relevant to

the content taught on that particular day and the lesson did not reflect real life. Fullan (1992)

asserts that lack of proper assessment on how teachers prepare to implement innovations in

the education system contributes to failure in many innovations.

Despite the importance attached to the use of lesson plans, most participants whose lessons

were observed did not have lesson plans well written in advance for the lessons. This implied

that their lessons were not delivered in an orderly manner, that is, lessons were taught without

following the proper order. In so doing, teachers dominated the talking throughout the lessons

of English grammar and learners were reduced to mere passive listeners. Such lessons

rendered nothing to learners because learners had no freedom to practice the rules of English

thereby failing to gain linguistic competence, and in turn, learners could not acquire

communicative competence. Therefore, the implication was that such students could not

practice language outside the school setting. As such, students were being denied the chance

to master English language effectively.

Sanga (2016) argues that although the system of varying active learning strategies is being

practiced worldwide and it is yielding good results, this system is not being practiced

adequately in secondary schools in Malawi. That is, teachers, including those of English, are

clinging to traditional ways of teaching. Lefrancois (2000) posits that constructivism

vehemently perceives that learning occurs when individuals are actively involved in the

learning process, and they integrate new knowledge with the existing knowledge.

Therefore, it can be deduced that despite having active learning strategies available in the

official documents that were available in the participating schools, the active implementation

41
of the same leaves a lot to be desired. Teachers of English are failing to use them effectively

during the learning process of English grammar. The ineffective use of the active learning

strategies in English grammar lessons robs students of their chance to practice language in the

classroom and outside the classroom environment. For instance, teachers of English failed to

use questioning technique effectively by, among others, failing to pose high order questions.

They mainly concentrated on asking low order questions. On the same, they also failed to

nominate students randomly, but only nominated those that were volunteering or raising

hands as a signal that they have responses to the questions. Another contributing factor to the

ineffective use of active learning was that most teachers of English grammar taught students

simply to pass national examinations and for them to cover a lot of work within the stipulated

period. They resort to using teacher centred methodologies, like explanation and lecture.

These strategies allow a teacher alone to explain concepts without involving students in the

learning process. As a result, students are always struggling to acquire the target language,

which is English.

4.2.2 Selection of active learning strategies and use of resources

During the interview session, most participants’ reactions showed that they chose learning

strategies that liberate students in most cases. That is, strategies that are participatory in

nature with an aim of making sure that most students were actively engaged throughout the

lesson and in addition, learners should be strategic. That is, they should be able to do

activities on their own with minimal supervision from the teacher. Some of the active

learning strategies that these teachers did mention are group work, pair work, think ink pair

share, role play, brainstorming, debate, question and answer, individual work, demonstration

and drama. Literature review asserts that teaching methods like role playing are very

important to students because they provide learners with structural learning experiences to

develop skills for work in the real world of work (Somervill, 2017).

42
Participants cited several reasons as to why they used active learning strategies when

teaching English grammar. The first importance of using active learning strategies is that they

could be used even when the resources were inadequate.

For instance, participant A from NKHO School said this:

Just because of the shortage of books, I do not have enough books. The school does

not have enough school books to cater for each and every learner. So, because of that

I usually use group work so that at least they have to share the books. The few books

that we have.

Generally, the researcher did appreciate that most teachers of English in the targeted

secondary schools had few resources against the total number of students in class. These

resources could not cater for all the students. When the researcher analysed the official

documents, it was noted that the situation as regards resources was pathetic in all the schools.

For instance, the situation is worse at KAL School where there were no books. This is like

that because the students there went on rampage and vandalised school property. In the

process, they went away with the school property including books.

This was a clear indicator that most secondary schools are faced with this challenge of

inadequate teaching and learning resources, thereby rendering teachers of English destitute.

This development puts teachers of English as well as students in an awkward position

because they fail to effectively implement English grammar lessons. Oni (1992) argues that

instructional materials are teachers’ strategic factors in organising and providing education.

The materials help to elaborate a concept that the teacher could not do without the

instructional materials. He further posited that this allows students to learn more comfortably,

therefore influencing positively their academic performance. This implies that there is need to

43
source adequate instructional resources that can cater for all the learners to ensure that the

quality of education is not compromised.

Another important element worthy noting was that the active learning strategies help cater for

all students in the classroom setting. The teachers in this study acknowledged that the active

learning strategies have the power to influence most learners to participate in English

grammar lessons. For instance, participant C from KAU School argued that:

Mostly the group work caters for the diverse learning needs of the students because

through group work, slow learners are helped by the fast learners, and the pace of

fast learners is also checked through group work because all work at an average pace

whereby slow and fast learners meet in between and all work together.

On the other hand, participant C from CHIG School had this to say:

The one that actually caters for most of them is pair work itself because when we tell

them to be in pairs, then everyone will be involved in that particular activity.

Participant B from MWA School posited that:

Mostly, the best one is individual because each and every learner you involve his or

her capability, the challenges and the strengths. This is the best because you can

assist the learners accordingly.

The few examples cited above clearly show that the teachers have trust that the active

instructional strategies make students participate fully in the teaching of English grammar.

However, the culture being portrayed during the delivery of English grammar lessons is

pathetic. During lesson observation, it was revealed that most teachers tend to use one

strategy throughout the lesson. Such an incident is not good as it leaves some learners behind,

without being involved in the lessons. A classroom setting has learners who have different

44
learning styles. Therefore, teachers are urged to devise mechanisms that would enable them

to vary active learning strategies in a single lesson, so that, most of the students can be

accommodated.

According to literature review, Naka (2017) defines differentiation as a learning method that

allows teachers to twist curriculum, their learning strategies, the educational sources used, the

learning tasks and the evaluation approaches to and in accordance with students’ diverse

needs with the aim of maximising the instructional opportunities for every learner. Emerson

and Taylor (2004); Johnson (2005) argue that different pedagogical strategies have varying

degrees of success. Students’ academic performance may be influenced positively by their

active engagement in the classroom. Constructivism Theory of learning advocates for the

need to have social communities because they have a strong impact on constructed meaning.

It emphasises the important role of social and cultural contexts that help transform and share

meaning among groups of people. Furthermore, it posits that without social interactions and

independent relationships, learners cannot construct meaning. This principle promotes a

teaching approach that should encourage the social interaction in the sense that it can engage

learners in learning tasks and optimise learning outcomes (McGonigal, 2005).

Generally, a teacher prepares for a lesson in order to impart the much needed knowledge,

skills and attitudes to the students, and in so doing, achieve lesson goals and objectives.

Likewise, this study sought to engage participants to hear from them and also observe them

teach English grammar lessons to appreciate the situation on the ground if at all the students

are grasping the concepts being delivered when using active learning strategies. It was made

clear by all the participants that active learning strategies play a great role in ensuring that the

goals and objectives of English grammar lessons are achieved. Proper use of these active

learning strategies was beneficial to students because they gave room to the students to

practise language. Teachers also took their time to assess students and they made corrections

45
where necessary in the course of the lessons. Literature review highlights that the teaching of

English grammar using active learning strategies helps students to use grammar more

creatively (Baker, 2020).

For instance, participant C from NKHO School shared this:

Since they are interesting in most cases and they arouse learners’ interest, so, in this

case they cannot be switched off. Proper use of them, definitely, you take all the

learners on board and they will really achieve what is in the success criteria why

there are lively questions.

In addition to that, participant A from MCHI School commented that:

And again, it helps the teacher so that students are able to know parts of speech and

how to come up with meaningful sentences using the grammar.

The implication was that active learning strategies were crucial components in the

achievement of lesson goals and objectives as evidenced above. When the researcher

observed lessons, the few teachers who had well written lesson plans and used active learning

strategies, were able to achieve the goals and objectives. The students were able to participate

fully during the lesson by doing most of the activities, and the teachers were reduced to

facilitators. Verkler (2004) opines that a language is learned best when a student engages in

rich and authentic communication with peers.

On the other hand, Moore (1989) posits that without interaction, there would be no education

because the educational process entails the learners’ intellectual interaction with fellow

students and or teachers resulting into changes in the learners’ understanding, the learners’

perspective, or the cognitive structure of the mind. The Constructivist Theory of Learning

encourages the need to embrace a teaching approach that emphasises on the need to use

46
social interaction and interdependent relationships in the sense that it engages learners in

learning tasks and it optimises learning outcomes (McGonigal, 2005).

However, lesson observation showed that fourteen out of seventeen teachers failed to

implement active learning strategies during the delivery of English grammar lessons.

Consequently, the lesson goals and objectives were partially achieved by both teachers and

students. This was the case because many teachers went to class to facilitate English grammar

lessons without being prepared. So, the lessons were dominated by teacher talk. The assertion

above is in sharp contrast with literature review which holds that teaching methods are very

important to learners because they provide learners with structural learning experiences to

develop skills for work in the real world of work (Somervill, 2017).

Participant C from NKHO School said that:

If they are not well prepared, they will have some of the disadvantages. So learners

will even fail how to connect from this stage to the other stage. Thus, when you are to

organise these things, you have to be well prepared and creative enough, and you

have to really know what your goal is, what you want to achieve at the end of the

lesson.

4.2.3 Selection of learners’ activities for learners’ practice

Learners’ activities are crucial in a lesson presentation because they determine whether

learners have achieved the goals and objectives of the lesson. This is the case because

learners’ autonomy is appreciated through active engagement in the activities that the teacher

prepared for them. Therefore, the teachers should thoroughly select learners’ activities that

will enhance students’ engagement in the lesson. Similarly, lessons involving English

grammar are no exception because language is about practising in order for students to master

both linguistic and communicative competences. Hence, the selection of learners’ activities in

47
such situations is of critical importance. This therefore, calls for a number of issues to be

looked into. It is against this background that the researcher sought to find out how teachers

are handling the issue of learners’ activities.

During the interview, language teachers were asked to give an account of how they select

learners’ activities. It was noted that most teachers of language did not tackle the issue of

instructions, except one. It was obvious therefore, that most teachers did not treat this issue

with seriousness it deserves. It should be noted that clear instructions to the students are given

in order for them to understand the concept to be discussed, and give them proper direction in

their respective groups. Poth (2006) stresses the importance of providing writing input into

the teaching of English grammar. Language learners must have the opportunities to produce

output in order to gain fluency and accuracy.

For instance, participant A from MCHI School said:

They are given questions after they have been highlighted on what they are going to

do. They are asked to discuss some work that I prepared so that in the end they are

asked questions to answer.

This statement showed that learners work best when they are given clear instructions on the

task at hand. Malawi Institute of Education (MIE) (2004) posits that a quality teacher will

acknowledge the needs and interests of the learner, permit the learner to learn at his or her

own pace, encourage learning through doing and, where necessary, provide remedial and

enrichment instructions among others. Another element is that when selecting learners’

activities was the issue of students’ participation. Learners’ activities should be chosen on the

basis that they allowed students to be fully engaged in the activities at hand.

48
For instance, participant B from MCHI School said:

As they are discussing, that means they will be helping each other so that those who

were behind can be assisted.

So, the goal of language learning when coming up with learners’ tasks was to make sure that

students’ involvement was enhanced because through practice, one is able to acquire a

language. Moore (1989) argues that participation of learners in a classroom situation is of

critical importance because it influences cognitive development, and it is important for

raising the quality of education.

Learners’ activities should also be selected on the basis that they reflect real life situations.

That is to say, a language teacher should be creative enough to ensure that classroom

activities were linked to real life situations so that students should be able to connect with

classroom activities and continue practising language while outside the classroom

environment. According to literature review, students should be provided with adequate

teaching and learning materials. These materials should be interesting and curiosity-arousing

in nature because such materials enhance a language learning environment and initiate

positive classroom interaction (Dhillion & wanjiru, 2013).

Just to cite an example, participant B from KAU School said:

Okay, as it is, English grammar has a lot of things to look at. First of all, we look at

may be, students should be speaking and writing at the same time. And also, may be

reading, and also should be able to know how to use may be the parts of speech, the

grammar that they are being taught. They should be able to use it in the classroom,

and should also be able to use it outside the classroom.

According to Zhou and Brown (2017), meaningful learning develops through authentic tasks.

Using authentic tasks means that the activities are chosen to stimulate those that will be
49
encountered in real life situation or in an assignment. McGonigal (2005) stipulates that

among the germane to Constructivist Theories are cooperative and service learning because

they help learners build up learners’ understanding of disciplinary areas through team

collaboration, everyday communication and the application of academic knowledge to real-

life situations.

Despite the assertions from both literature and the theory in use, it was worrisome to note

during lesson that many teachers of English did not consider learners’ activities as a crucial

component in their lessons. Most teachers did not carefully select learners’ activities due to

the fact that they did not prepare for their lessons. Most of the activities that were given to

students were simply demanding students to identify or pick out a particular part of speech

that was being taught at that time. Such kind of activities did not provide room for students to

discuss adequately with their colleagues at group work level, hence students could not

practice language extensively. Furthermore, such learners’ activities did not give a true

reflection of the real-life situation in the outside world, thereby denying students a chance to

link classroom activities with the outside world or world of work.

A similar situation was also encountered when analysing official documents like lesson plans,

the syllabus, learners’ books, teachers’ guides and the schemes of work. These prescribed

books need to be reviewed as they do not contain the learners’ activities that can bring out

learners’ autonomy in the learning process. On the other hand, the teachers should be creative

enough when coming up with learners’ activities. They should not rely much on the activities

that are in the books because students cannot benefit much in the area of language practice.

4.3 Strategies teachers used during lesson presentation

During lesson observation, the researcher observed a number of teaching strategies that

teachers of English grammar were using to entice students to get fully involved in the

50
teaching and learning process. More than three quarters of the students were responding well

to the active learning strategies that were being employed by their teachers. Some of the

strategies that were commonly used by the teachers of English were:

4.3.1 Questioning technique

Teachers of English grammar employed this kind of technique in order to make sure that they

checked how students were following and how to involve them in the teaching and learning

process.

Participant A from MWA School shared this:

The first one is question and answer. This is whereby you pose a question and they

respond just like that.

The participant went further to explain the reason behind asking questions in a classroom

setting and she had this to say:

Because they engage learners most since it’s all about outcome based education, so I

need to engage learners more.

Questions were asked at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the lessons. It was

observed that asking questions at the beginning of the lesson, was beneficial as it helped

students who had knowledge gap from the previous lesson to catch up with their colleagues.

That is, this session was essential to remind learners about the previous lesson’s work before

tackling new stuff and it also helped students to integrate new material with the old one.

Furthermore, teachers were able to ask students questions during the learning process. This

was also a crucial aspect in English grammar lessons because the questions were asked in

order to give students a chance to make clarifications of expressions with ambiguous

meaning in the learning process.

51
For instance, participant A from MCHI School commented that:

This is whereby the teacher explains something to students and then students are

asked questions in the end, to actually test their understanding after the

explanations.

The questions were also posed to students during the learning process with an aim of

motivating students to learn more. Questions that were asked at the end of the lesson were

aimed at checking students’ understanding and also assessing students’ learning. In addition,

such questions were asked to test students’ input and evaluate both teachers’ teaching quality

and the teaching and learning process, whether it had been running well or not. In this

section, it was essential to note that teachers applied recall questions; that is, referential

questions just to check students’ understanding.

Teachers asked questions as a way of establishing if students were learning and checking if

they were indeed following what the teacher was teaching. Different types of questions were

asked to students. That is, those questions falling in the category of low order and those in

higher order. Both closed and open-ended questions were. Questioning technique is a crucial

component in the teaching and learning process as it enables students to be active throughout

the lesson. This was achieved by making sure that when a question is posed to one student

and he or she responds correctly, another student could be asked the same question just to

repeat what his or her colleague answered.

Gattis (2002) argues that in the question and answer session, teachers can practise a variety of

questioning techniques and reinforcements to motivate students, and encourage their thinking

in the classroom. Questioning is one of the most effective ways to get students involved in

the delivery of the lesson. By asking questions, teachers could engage students to think about

the content of a lesson and simultaneously get feedback from students to demonstrate the

52
effect of teaching. This augured well with the constructivism theory which provides that

people learn to learn as they learn. The theory further states that one needs knowledge to

learn. Therefore, it is not possible to assimilate new knowledge without having some

structures developed from previous knowledge to build on (McGonigal, 2005).

4.3.2 Role playing technique

This has proven to be beneficial to the students in learning English as a foreign language.

About eighteen participants have embraced it and are making strides in the teaching and

learning process. Some participants used this technique during the delivery of English

grammar lessons. The investigator noted that role playing plays a great role in ensuring that

students develop fluency. This is enhanced through promotion of interaction and increases

the motivation of learners.

Furthermore, the technique also helped to contribute to the sharing of teaching responsibility

between students and the teacher, and as well as the fact that role playing is the most flexible

technique in the range. Literature review holds that role playing is a technique in which

students spontaneously act out assigned roles in a given historical, literary or contemporary

situations in order to understand situations more thoroughly (Somervill, 2017).

For instance, participant B from MWA School said this:

Learners will be involved whether to role play. It means learners will be at the summit

of the lesson. It means the teacher will talk less and the learner will talk more to

enhance their language skills.

When developing a role play, teachers should bear in mind the fact that there is need to have

clear learning objectives, encourage spontaneity, maintain motivation and activate

background knowledge and involve all the students. Participants who used this technique

ensured that students were given various roles to play. For instance, participant B at NKHO

53
School used this technique when teaching registers used in the judicial system. Students were

particularly interested in assuming roles like judge, lawyer, plaintiful and defendant, just to

mention a few. The investigator was also particularly interested in the way the lesson was

connected to real life situations. This type of learning engaged students more in the lesson

and students owned the whole process. As such, students were able to practice language

extensively.

Participant B from NKHO School commented this:

The students may try to come up with grammatical units from that role play, may be

identify some words from that role play and make sentences using those words or they

can find meanings of those words which have been used in that role play.

Altintas and Ozdemir (2015) posits that within a classroom, role play, which includes

simulations, plays and others, is usually used as a tool for practising speaking and

communication skills. It also serves as a means of providing real life context to specific

linguistic elements. Altintas and Ozdemir (2015) comments that role play in EFL can be

divided into different forms and each has its own use. These forms of role plays include:

conflict, cooperative, information gap and task-based. This stipulates that a teacher is at

liberty to choose which form of role play to engage because it should be aligned to the

learning objectives set. Constructivism Theory stipulates that learning is contextually based.

People learn in relation to what they know, what we believe, our prejudices and our fears

(Biggie & Wilson, 2006).

4.3.3 Story telling technique

This is another important technique that some teachers of English use to teach English

grammar. The technique is essential because it is participatory in nature. The technique

enhances speaking skills and accumulation of vocabulary with ease. The stories to be told

54
should be of the level of the students, interesting and should indeed help in achieving learning

goals and objectives. Participants who used this kind of teaching technique were successful in

their delivery of the lessons since the activities were interesting on the part of the students

and stimulated the desire to learn more.

According to Atta-Alla (2012), a story is a method people use to transfer their experiences,

opinions as well as cultural values. Furthermore, stories are important for societies, politics

and education. That is, stories are about how people understand themselves and their worlds.

Teachers can tell a story and could as well advise the students to answer some comprehension

questions to check their understanding of the story which they have just read. The teachers

can also go further to let the learners find meanings of words as used in the story, and make

sentences using such words. Activities like these engaged students more in the lesson by

sharing knowledge and experiences.

These sentiments were shared by participant B from NKHO School who said that:

Learners should identify grammatical units from the story such as phrasal verbs. They

identify phrasal verbs and they make sentences using them.

In this study, storytelling was a means of sharing and interpreting experiences. Stories were

important in that they assisted in filling a gap in linguistic and cultural divides. The

researcher observed that it was a technique that could be adopted for all ages thereby

ensuring inclusiveness. The investigator further observed that storytelling could be used as a

method to teach values of the society, ethics and cultural norms and differences. The

implication is that as the learners were practising language using stories being told, they were

also inherently becoming culturally oriented by acquainting themselves with the values of

their culture since culture and language are inseparable. Literature review stresses that

teaching grammar in context provides a meaningful framework that connects to reality in the

55
targeted language (Anderson, 2005). Constructivism theory advocates that construction of

meaning happens in the mind. Therefore, we need to provide activities that engage the mind

as well as the hands (Lefrancois, 2009).

4.3.4 Lecturing technique

This was one of the techniques that seventeen out of twenty-one participants adopted in their

teaching of English grammar in six participating schools. Though the participants knew

pretty well that the technique was not viable in terms of the accumulation of vocabulary and

enhancing speaking skills, but four participants used this technique because they thought it

was the only way that could be adopted to ensure syllabus coverage since they had a lot of

work to be covered before the students write their examinations.

Participant C from KAU School had this to say:

There is too much work in grammar. So, we have to work hard so that we finish the

work. So, sometimes we side-line these participatory methods.

The statement quoted above clearly showed that much as teachers of English would

appreciate to use techniques that liberate students, they failed because the teachers of English

they are under pressure because there is too much work to be covered before students sit for

the national examinations administered by the Malawi National Examinations Board

(MANEB). This had a bearing on the students because they were not being exposed to the

situation of practising language at classroom level; that is, during the learning process. This

meant that the students being produced cannot be competent enough to use language in

various situations because they were denied the chance to practise language at classroom

level during the learning process.

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Lecture method as a teaching technique allows for a teacher to dominate the talking

throughout the learning period. Huxham (2005) suggests that lecture method is a technique of

teaching by which the teacher gives oral presentations of concepts to students and students

are supposed to write down some short notes. This means that there was little or no class

participation by means of questioning or discussion during the class period. The above

definition speaks volumes in itself. Students are not given the freedom to interact with their

fellows and the teacher at classroom level. Such being the case, they cannot use language

meaningfully outside the classroom setting. Acquisition of linguistic competence, coupled

with communicative competence, makes students acquire the second language in a

meaningful way since they are able to practice the language in various situations at classroom

level.

Lake (2001) argues that the objective of a teaching technique should be to view the students

as an active processor of information rather than as a passive recipient of knowledge. He

further posited that the purpose of a technique should be to facilitate the objectives of the

course, not to present unusable information to passive learners. Constructivist Theory

advocates that learning is an active process in which the student uses sensory input and

constructs meaning out of it (Biggie & Wilson, 2006). This clearly shows that the

involvement of the students in the learning process is of vital importance since it enables

students to process information in a meaningful way. The same applies to the involvement of

students in the course of learning English grammar. Students are exposed to linguistic rules

as well as communicative competence, which enables them to use the target language

meaningfully outside the classroom setting. Hence, there is need for teachers of English to

involve students when facilitating English grammar lessons to avoid denying students the

chance of practicing the target language.

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 4.3.5 Explanation technique

Explanation technique also dominated a lot in the teaching of English grammar in almost all

the seven schools the researcher visited and observed lessons. Many participants used to

explain concepts to students while the students were listening and taking down some short

notes. This kind of teaching technique made students become passive during English

grammar lesson presentations. They could not fully participate because the teacher is the only

source of knowledge. The situation was detrimental to students since they were not involved.

Hence, they were not given an opportunity to practice language in the classroom. The

development had a bearing on the part of students as they were not exposed to various

activities that could essentially inform the outside world, and in so doing, students could not

competently acquire linguistic rules which are essential for language practice.

Some participants cited a number of reasons as to why they tend to use strategies that do not

bring out students’ autonomy. All teachers have the tendency of using teaching techniques,

like explanation because as teachers, they are able to teach a lot of stuff within a short period

compared to using active learning strategies. This is like that because most language teachers

teach so that students excel in the national examinations like Junior Certificate (JCE) and

Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE), which are administered by the Malawi

National Examinations Board. This makes the teachers of English not to engage the students

effectively in the teaching of English grammar.

For instance, participant C from KAU School had this to share:

So, too much work doesn’t match with the time we have per year. We have to work

hard so that we finish the work. Sometimes we sideline these, not just because we

want to sideline them, but because we want to catch up with the work that is there.

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Wegner, Minnaert and Strehlke (2013) emphasise on the need to use cooperative learning.

They further comment that silent students who often take the outside position in class, and

children with attention deficit or hyperactivity disorders, can be integrated into the learning

group more easily. They are enabled to join conversations and discussions with their class

members. This implies that some students whose attention span is small, cannot bother

listening to the teacher explaining concepts throughout the lesson. Such individuals tend to

lose concentration in the course of the lesson. Therefore, teachers should use active learning

strategies that assist students in interacting with the teacher and fellow students. If applied in

the teaching of English grammar lessons, students will be able to grasp linguistic rules of

English grammar, which can enable them to use it in various contexts upon being practised in

a classroom setting. The theory of constructivism argues that learning is considered as an

active process of supporting students to construct ideas rather than delivering knowledge

(Lefrancois, 2009).

4.5 Assessment of implementation of active learning strategies amongst teachers

4.5.1 Perception of the teachers of English grammar

During the implementation of active learning strategies, the researcher observed that few

teachers had positive attitude towards the implementation of active learning strategies. This

was enhanced by the preparedness of the teachers. They had detailed lesson plans and

adequate resources to assist adopt the lessons to real life situations. This made students enjoy

the lessons because they owned the learning process and thereby bringing out learner’s

autonomy.

Lesson presentation is usually determined by the way teachers prepare for a particular lesson.

When teachers are fully prepared for English grammar lessons, they make the lesson

enjoyable for the students. Students interact very well with one another and in the process

59
share ideas and experiences. Such interactions enable learners to use the target language and

practise the same in a classroom setting. In addition, learners are also able to use the concepts

grasped in classroom in real life situations. For instance, learners are able to use vocabulary

of specific places like hospitals, courts and many more.

However, most teachers of English grammar have negative attitude towards the

implementation of active learning strategies during the learning of English grammar. Most

teachers could teach without lesson plans as a guide towards the smooth implementation of

the active learning strategies. This made them fail to follow the right procedure or steps

during the learning process. As a result, most students were not fully assisted to grasp the

required concepts during teaching and learning.

The perception such teachers has a negative effective effect towards the implementation of

active learning strategies. Such teachers failed to use active learning strategies effectively

because their performance was hampered by unpreparedness. Usually, students’ performance

during the learning process is negatively affected by their inability to fully participate in the

activities of the lesson. This development results into boredom among students and their

attention span becomes short. Furthermore, students are not given room to practise the

concepts learnt in class, as a result, they cannot translate into real life situations what has

been learnt in class and consequently fail to use the target language effectively.

Literature review stresses that sometimes teachers lack proper training on English teaching

methodologies dealing with active learning strategies provided by the government (Dhillion

& Wanjiru, 2013). However, Amare and Kelkay (2020) argue that teachers who use active

learning strategies their students learn better and develop the ability to express their feelings

confidently and students have a chance to reflect on the teaching and learning process.

McGonigal (2005) advocates that among the germane to Constructivism Theories are

60
cooperative learning and service learning as they help learners to build up learner

understanding of disciplinary areas through team collaboration, everyday communication and

application of academic knowledge to real-life situations.

4.5.2 Rendering assistance to students

Participants who used active learning strategies during the teaching of English grammar

assisted students a lot in the course of learning. During the learning process, the teachers used

to give clear instructions when students were being given tasks. This enabled students to take

a course of action and do the activities without much difficulties. Furthermore, the teachers of

English grammar used to move around supervising the activities which were being done in

groups. This kind of development was done to ensure that students are really doing the right

thing. If teachers do not supervise what learners are doing, students tend to be off-task and

start concentrating on other issues.

Supervision of group works in a classroom setting has a positive impact on the learning

process. Teachers who move around the class checking what students are doing get an

assurance whether the activity being tackled in class is done perfectly. If it is not done as

required, the teacher takes his role of assisting the student when they are stuck. In addition,

the teacher also gives instructions to the students in case they were not clear so that students

carry out the activity as required by the teacher. This process of supervision enables teachers

of English to maximise the learning process so that all students benefit from it and be able to

apply in real life situations.

However, many teachers who did not implement active learning strategies did the opposite.

They failed to maximise the learning process because the teachers dominated the talking

during learning. Students did not benefit much from the lessons which were marred by little

or no activity for students to do which could enhance interaction. Such scenarios made

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students not to practise language in the classroom. This had a negative effect in as far as

English grammar learning is concerned and as a result students were being bored and did not

concentrate on the learning process. Failure to involve learners in the learning process means

denying learners to own the learning process. This translates the fact that students have not

been adequately exposed to English grammar in terms of practice and the students cannot use

the target language effectively both in the classroom as well as outside.

Saskatchewan (2009) posits that learning strategies are techniques teachers use to assist

learners become independent and strategic learners. He further states that these active

learning strategies bring out learners autonomy. The assertion is essential as teachers need to

vary active learning strategies with an aim of assisting all the students in order that they grasp

the concepts with ease. The constructivism Theory emphasises the need to have social

communities where knowledge and experiences can be shared and the teacher directs the

learning process by supporting those having difficulties (McGonigal, 2005).

4.5.3 Catering for the diverse learning needs of the students

The implementation of active learning strategies when teaching English grammar is essential

for the learners. Participants that used active learning strategies ensured that most of the

students are taken on board during the learning process. Teachers of English enhanced this by

varying active learning strategies in a single lesson. Most participants used different

strategies to achieve different tasks in a lesson. This assisted teachers to accommodate all

students in the process of teaching and learning. By doing so, learners are put at an equal

footing because students are able to practise language effectively because all of them have

been exposed to second language linguistic concepts.

By virtue of varying active learning strategies when teaching English grammar enables all the

students to be exposed to linguistic concepts. Students were able to use the language

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effectively since they were aware of the system of the target language. This is so because

grammar is the hub of every language including English. Furthermore, variation of the active

learning strategies has an interactive effect among students. Socially, students interact when

carrying out an activity in pairs and groups. At this moment, students share experiences and

knowledge while engaging the target language thereby ensuring extensive practice of the

language.

Zhou (2011) argues that matching teaching styles to learning styles can significantly enhance

academic achievements, student attitude and student behaviour. Furthermore, students retain

ninety percent of what they say as they do something. The argument shows clearly that

students should be actively involved in doing various activities at classroom level as this

enhances their retention rate. Students involved in learning activities own the learning

process and are able to apply the acquired skills in real life situations. This is made possible

when teachers vary active learning strategies as this assist in addressing the diverse learning

needs of the students in a classroom setting. This assertion augurs well with Constructivism

Theory which advocates that learning occurs when individuals are actively involved in the

learning process and integrate new knowledge with the existing knowledge (Biggie &

Wilson, 2006).

4.6 Analysis of the effectiveness of active learning strategies

The researcher sought to find out from the teachers of English on the effectiveness of the

active learning strategies. The effectiveness of active learning looks at how students are taken

on board when teachers use active learning strategies. In addition, the researcher wanted to

find out if the active learning strategies assist in achieving learning goals and objectives.

Assessment of the effectiveness of the active learning strategies in the teaching of English

grammar can be enhanced in many ways. The goal of every English grammar lesson is to

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ensure that students practice language extensively during delivery of the lesson. Teachers of

English should strive hard to ensure that they devise various ways of making sure that their

students are exposed to constant practice of English. During the interviews with various

participants in various secondary schools, a number of factors cropped up illustrating the

effectiveness of active learning strategies in the teaching of English grammar.

4.6.1 Effectiveness of questioning technique

Students’ involvement in the lesson of English grammar was enhanced by the use of

questioning technique. Questions were asked at the beginning of the lesson, in the middle and

at the end of the lessons. This was done to ensure that students are active throughout the

English grammar lessons. Since English is a L2, it requires that students be actively involved

throughout the lesson. Such being the case, students are assured of the mastery of the many

skills that are attached to English. For instance, through constant engagement of students in

English grammar lessons, they were able to acquire linguistic competence, which are the

rules of language and, they were able to master communicative competence, which is about

the use of language in various contexts.

Participant B from MWA School shared this:

Sometimes yes, the moment you are involving them into practice because language is

a skill based subject. For example, English is a skill based subject. The moment you

are giving the practice, they internalise the knowledge or skill.

When students are involved, there are improvements in the way students perform in class.

Among others, sentence construction and word articulation improve. Questioning technique

always provides room for immediate feedback from students whereby students provide

feedback after being asked a question, they are able to give feedback right away which was

64
reinforced by the teacher. Therefore, the proper way of tackling questions was given to

students.

These sentiments were also shared by participant A from CHIG School who said:

Yes, these active English strategies they are really effective in grammar lessons

because students are able to improve their proficiency. They improve in terms of word

articulation, in terms of phonology, in terms of fluency and even vocabulary.

All these can be enhanced through active involvement of students in the teaching of English

grammar. So, teachers of English have an obligation to ensure that they engage their students

in the teaching process. They should move away from the traditional way of teaching

whereby students were reduced to passive listeners and rote memory was encouraged.

Participant C from CHIG School added that:

Yes, through this one they are able to make good sentences through these particular

methods or strategies that are being taught, why? Because they are fully involved in

the teaching and learning process. They acquire these, they use these in order to

improve for the better.

The effectiveness of the questioning technique is manifested in various ways as it constantly

checks the progress of students in the course of learning English grammar. For instance,

questions are asked at the beginning of the lesson to enable a teacher to establish the prior

knowledge students have pertaining to the new lesson to be delivered on that particular day.

This assists a teacher and students to integrate what they already know with the new

knowledge. In addition, the questions are also asked to the students in the course of the lesson

in order to make sure that students follow and they are able to understand the concepts that

are imparted to them. Questions are also asked at the end of the lesson to check if students

have understood the entire lesson. Teachers were able to make decisions whether to reteach
65
the lesson or not. Another unique feature in the use of this technique is the fact that teachers

were able to nominate anyone whether those who volunteered to answer the questions or not.

The development enables students to be alert always and thereby ensuring that students are

attentive throughout the learning period.

Shanmugavelu, Ariffin, Vadivelu, Mahayudin, Arasi and Sundaram (2020) posit that in the

question and answer session, teachers can practise a variety of questioning techniques, and

reinforce to motivate students and encourage students’ thinking in the classroom. Questioning

is one of the effective ways to get students involved in the delivery of the lesson. By asking

questions, teachers can engage students to think about the content of a lesson and

simultaneously get feedback from students to demonstrate the effect of teaching. This implies

that students who are constantly engaged through this technique are always active and they

are able to acquire grammatical rules of English, and they are able to apply them in real life

situations. Constructivism Learning Theory advocates that learning occurs when individuals

are actively engaged in the learning process and they integrate new knowledge with existing

knowledge (Lefrancois, 2009).

4.6.2 Effectiveness of role playing technique

Role playing is another active learning strategy that enhances active learning of English

grammar. Some participants used role playing as a teaching technique. This was very

effective as most students participated in the lesson. As such, students were able to grasp

concepts and registers that are used in various places like the court of law, hospital as well as

school, just to mention but a few. As some students were performing, others were busy taking

note of whatever was happening and at the end of the lesson, those who were writing were

able to share with their colleagues by correcting the mistakes that were made by those who

were acting out. In addition, the students also developed public speaking skills, which are

essential in the world of work. Students were able to express themselves freely in the course

66
of acting out the situation. This was quite effective since it provided room for practising

grammatical rules thereby enhancing communicative competence.

During the interviews, about nineteen participants showed that these active learning strategies

do assist a lot in English grammar lessons as they helped in making sure that most learners

are not left behind in the course of lesson delivery. Their full participation in the lessons

assists in mastering a number of grammatical elements in the lesson.

For instance, participant C from NKHO School shared this:

I mentioned about three just because I handle a number of people who were born

differently. So, in that case when you use this one, the role playing and dramatization,

I think almost sixty and seventy percent of learners, are really following.

Another element worthy noting with the use of role playing as a teaching technique is that it

helps to cater for the diverse learning needs of students in an English grammar lesson. This

helped students to become fully engaged throughout the lesson because students have

different learning styles. Therefore, to help cater for the diverse learning needs of students,

there is need to vary active teaching and learning strategies. Teachers of English are urged to

ensure that they take on board a lot of students when delivering English grammar lessons by

varying active learning strategies since this would ascertain that most students are able to

practice language extensively in a classroom setting.

The participants had the view that students’ engagement in the teaching of English grammar

lessons is of critical importance if learning English language was to be enhanced.

Simanjalam (2008) considers learners’ participation in the classroom as one of the aspects of

interaction. He further points out that it was an opportunity for learners to practice the second

language and produce the output. Students can learn better the correct usage of English

language if they practice in their daily life. Hence, English language classrooms actually

67
create an opportunity for students to participate in the lesson and learn the language.

According to Simanjalam (2008), participation in the classroom can enable students to

develop social skills, increase recall of information, improve presentation skills and increase

their scope for improving the quality of work. Thus, it can be helpful for students to learn

English language to be used in their daily life. Besides that, Zolten and Long (2006) posit that

participating in classroom activities provides a critical opportunity for learning new skills.

Participation helps students to make deep, meaningful connections in the mind that are

important in learning. According to constructivism learning theory, learning is a social

activity. That is, our learning is intimately associated with our connection with other human

beings, our teachers, our peers, our family as well as casual acquaintances.

4.6.3 Effectiveness of storytelling technique

Storytelling teaching technique has a huge impact on the learning of students. As long as the

story is suitable for the level of the students and it is interesting, students become attentive

and eager to learn throughout the lesson. Through storytelling, students are able to

accumulate new vocabulary as well as enhance their pronunciation of words. Another unique

feature of the technique is the fact that the students are able to retell the same story in their

own words. This shows that they have understood the story and that they were alert in the

course of the lesson. Another factor that was sourced from one of the participants was

learners’ feedback. According to participants, learners’ feedback showed that the students

had understood the concepts or not. After the story is told, the students were asked some

questions and they were able to answer them appropriately. This kind of feedback was a clear

testimony that students followed and understood the entire lesson.

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Participant B from CHING’O School had this to say:

Yes, explanation method, you do not have feedback from the learners because apart

from giving learners exercises so that you have feedback to prove whether they have

understood or haven’t. These activities will also help a teacher to get feedback from

learners because if learners discuss something either in groups or pairs, they are able

to understand and internalise it.

The assertion above clear indicator that teachers should make sure that they engage students

in various activities throughout the lesson as a way of probing them to provide feedback as a

measure to ascertain whether learners understand the concepts of the lesson or not.

Participant B from MCHI School said:

They are effective of course, because they do help students to be fluent speakers and

again, they help students not to forget easily whatever they have done in their groups.

The result is that students’ retention of what they learnt is enhanced as they are able to recall

and utilise the concepts grasped in class. In a scenario where students failed to grasp the

concepts, teachers were also free to render the much needed support to students in a way of

assisting them to learn better. This assured teachers if they are really achieving the goals and

objectives of the lesson.

Participant A from MCHI School had this to share:

I think these active learning strategies are very effective in an English grammar

lesson simply because it helps a teacher to know that he is achieving what he had set

through the answers that the learners are giving.

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Learners’ responses are critical because they properly guide a teacher to take the necessary

course of action. Through the responses from students, the teacher can choose to reteach the

concepts that seemed difficult for students or else proceed to the next level.

Participant B from CHIG School shared this:

They are effective just because there is full involvement of these learners. So, they

are able, you are able as a teacher yourself to know that such a student has a problem

in this area, or that area and individual assistance is easily rendered to them just

because you follow whatever they are doing.

This had an implication that the involvement of the students in English grammar lessons has

an impact on the part of the teacher as he or she is able to make an informed decision as to

whether to proceed to the next concepts or reteach the concepts if students did not

comprehend them. Kim (2004) states that feedback is the information about current

performance that can be used to improve future performance. Feedback plays a crucial role in

any educational process since it can significantly improve both learners’ and teacher’s

performance, and indicate some key aspects of their performance that can be improved. Herra

and Kulinska (2018) argue that feedback is the most important communication skill, both

outside and inside the classroom. Herra and Kulinska (2018) remark that corrective feedback

seemed inherent in the process of gaining linguistic accuracy in language learning: therefore,

it is advisable for teachers to examine and reflect on their own instructional practices in order

to find corrective moves that will be beneficial to students and suitable for teachers. The

Constructivism Theory provides that learners have different interpretations about similar

things based on their living environments and interactions with others (Biggie & Wilson,

2006).

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On the contrary, as the researcher was observing the lessons, it was also noted that sixteen

participants of English also used some strategies that were not actively engaging students by

design. Strategies like lecturing and explaining were used by some teachers. Such teaching

techniques were not giving students their freedom to be involved in the lesson throughout

since teachers dominated the talk in the classroom. The development reduced students to

mere passive listeners instead of being active in the learning process. This impacted

negatively on learning English grammar because students were not given a chance to practise

linguistic rules in the classroom. As such, they were also denied the chance to use the same

outside the classroom setting. Teachers who used these teaching techniques had their own

reasons for not using active learning strategies.

For instance, participant C from KAU School shared this:

We have to work hard so that we finish the work. Sometimes we sideline these not just

because we want to sideline them, but because we want to catch up with the work that

is there.

The evidence is clear from the above assertion that most teachers of English teach for the

sake of examinations. That is, their main aim is to see students excel in their national

examinations while they are denying their students to accumulate knowledge that can be used

in real life situations. Such kind of delivery of lessons enhances rote learning in students, and

after writing the examinations, students tend to forget everything they learnt at school. This

makes them not to be productive in the outside world because they do not have the necessary

skills that can assist them to become reliable in the society thereby failing to integrate well in

the community. If students cannot use language effectively, then they will find it difficult to

understand most things they learn because they are taught in English. Kaur (2008) comments

that one of the disadvantages of these strategies is that in the process of learning, students

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become more passive than being active in class. Constructivist Theory does not augur well

with the theoretical framework that advocates that learning involves language use. That is,

the language we use influences learning (Biggie & Wilson, 2006).

4.7 Challenges experienced when using active learning strategies during an English

grammar lesson

Challenges in the education sector are inevitable. That is why the investigator went further to

appreciate the various challenges being encountered by teachers of English when teaching

English grammar in secondary schools. This was done in order to expose them and urge well-

wishers to come in and assist alleviating some of them. These factors deterred teachers from

using the active learning strategies effectively, thereby denying students an opportunity to

practice language both in class and outside. The researcher also probed the participants to

suggest solutions that can be put in place with an aim of mitigating them. Once these

mitigating factors are put to full use, a change in the way English grammar is taught can be

embraced.

4.7.1 Lack of interest in the way English grammar is taught using role playing

The findings reveal that some students were not eager to participate wholeheartedly in the

classroom activities. The findings also reveal that some students still desired to be taught

using traditional teaching strategies. These are the strategies that do not liberate students to

actively own the learning process. Such students would rather want the teacher to deliver the

entire lesson explaining concepts while they sit back and listen. They always feel like the

teacher is not doing his or her job in the right way since they are at school to learn and not to

be involved in the activities as the teacher wants.

Such developments have a negative impact on the learning process. This is the case because

students are denying themselves an opportune time to practise language in the classroom, and

72
such being the case, students cannot use English language effectively even in real life

situations. The implication is that mastery of linguistic competence alone cannot have much

impact on the way communicative competence can be enhanced.

Participant B from NKHO School shared this:

The challenges are that most students do not like such kind of learning. They find it

very difficult for them to be in the fore front doing things because you know, when

learning a language, you need to have that passion to do that thing alone. Like

learning grammar cannot be achieved in class. Grammar can, should be achieved by

interacting with others, other students, reading a lot of books and newspapers.

The participant further lamented that:

So, when they come to class, you are teaching them things for them to discover those

things on their own, they become frustrated some of them. Sir, this teacher is giving

us a lot of work. Okay, instead of him teaching us, he is telling us to do this, to do a,

b, c, d. So, it becomes a challenge because more students do not have the passion.

The challenge outlined above can have an adverse impact on the activities a teacher prepared

for his students, as the students cannot fully contribute because they have that old mentality

that learning English grammar can be achieved only when the teacher of English is in front of

the classroom, delivering the lesson, without involving them as students. Students of this

nature tend to lose concentration when it comes to participation in classroom activities.

Participant B from CHING’O School said that:

And in other situations, if you as a teacher, if you are not careful, you might find

groups playing. Instead of concentrating on whatever task they have been given, some

find an opportunity to play.

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These sentiments were concurred by participant B from MCHI School who shared that:

And again, when students are in groups, because we have those students who are lazy

most of the times, they are noise makers there. So, when the teacher is helping, may

be another group, those people are busy making noise, so thus the challenge.

This implied that when students are not actively engaged in English grammar learning

process, they tend to disrupt the class because they lose focus. As a result, they usually resort

to making noise in class as their colleagues were busy with the activities given by their

teachers. This directly affected the lessons of English grammar and most students were put in

an awkward position because they did not fully utilise the learning process to practice the

language in class so that they could also do likewise in real life situations.

Mahesar, Pathan and Qadeer (2020) argue that lacking interest in learning is reported to be a

universal issue. It has become problematic when students do not develop due interest in the

study. Students’ lack of interest in the study hinders their academic progress. They do not get

quality education, which is significant not in the realisation of the explicit purpose of

education, but also in the student’s personality development. The findings above are in sharp

contrast with the constructivism learning theory, which emphasises on the need that learning

is an active process that requires the learner to do something. Thus, learning is not the passive

acceptance of knowledge which exists out there (Biggie & Wilson, 2006).

4.7.2 Students’ poor background knowledge

Students’ poor background knowledge is another challenge being experienced in most

schools which were visited by the investigator. Most students failed to contribute effectively

towards leaners’ activities during the delivery of English grammar lessons. These students

were not even ready to answer questions in the course of lesson delivery. Such being the case,

they deny themselves a chance to practice language at classroom level, which cast doubts if

74
the same could be done outside the school environment. This was witnessed in the way

students responded to questions with poorly constructed English. That is, sometimes they

could mix English with their mother tongue. Sometimes, such students could stop responding

to the question even before they finished answering the same because they were being

laughed at by fellow students in class. This had a bearing on the activities given to them by

teachers because such students could not effectively participate in the lessons of English

grammar.

Participant A from NKHO School shared this:

And then sometimes the background of the learners, for example, these are in Form 1.

And then it depends on where they are coming from. The way they learnt from their

background. So, it’s like sometimes, they bring in just because, in the primary school,

they were not handled seriously.

Students with poor background knowledge were mostly not willing to participate in

classroom activities, more especially when it came to the presentation of findings of the

groups. This could be the case because they were afraid of being laughed at by their fellow

students.

Participant C from CHIG School had to say:

In fact, the learners themselves are not willing to learn just because their background

is bad.

Failure to show willingness to learn has a negative impact on the part of the use of active

learning strategies because these strategies require that a student should be active and own the

entire learning process. This was particularly important in the learning of English grammar

because it required that students should participate in the class activities and be able to absorb

the rules of grammar in the target language and apply them in various contexts.
75
Participant C from NKHO School shared this:

So, if we try may be to ask them or may be to construct a question, or let us now try to

role play now in English language throughout, some of them say. I cannot handle

that. I have a very poor background on language, so you have to try or may be to

groom me so that in the near future, I can do that. Thus, the major challenge.

Participation of students in the activities is to a large extent negatively affected by the

reaction of students to the work at hand. Thus, students with poor background were not

willing to participate in the activities because of failure to express their feelings in the target

language. As such, the only option they had was to reduce themselves to mere passive

listeners who waited for the teacher to do everything in class on their behalf, without them

playing an active role. Fisher, Ross and Grant (2010) argue that lack of background

information may cause individuals to be unable to ask questions and process information

which is key for the learning process especially with inquiry based learning, which was seen

more in classrooms. Lefrancois (2009) argues that constructivism learning theory posits that

learning involves language because the language we use influences learning.

4.7.3 Lack of understanding of the target language when using questioning technique

During classroom observation, the researcher noted that the smooth implementation of active

learning strategies in the teaching of English grammar was also, to some extent affected, by

students’ poor understanding of the target language. Since the background was poor, most

students did not understand what was expected of them in the learning of English. When they

were given an activity to be done individually or at group level, most students failed to

perform because they did not understand English.

76
These comments were also echoed by participant A from KAL School who said that:

The challenge is that most of the learners do not participate, maybe it’s because this

is not their language. It’s like they are learning, so it’s very difficult for them to

understand it. Mostly, when they miss the tenses, it is very difficult for them may be,

to get what a teacher is to teach them.

Students had the tendency to shy away from participating in the activities of the class because

they were not able to comprehend the language being used in the learning process. This is

detrimental to the acquisition of the target language as it required that students should

participate actively in the learning process so that they acquire relevant skills of grammatical

elements which can be used in the future.

Participant B from MWA School shared this:

You can give them a passage. You can give them for them to answer either orally or

written, but the challenge is that they don’t understand English, the majority. So, we

try to source the origin of how they are struggling to access language in so doing.

But we have seen that the majority of them do not have good background.

Failure to participate in English grammar activities put students at a disadvantage in many

ways. As such, students could not manage to be assessed by their teacher in terms of spoken

language, if at all the sentences they are making are grammatical in nature or not. Newman,

Kaefer and Pinkham (2014) posit that in order for a student to be considered an ELL,

individuals may not be able to communicate fluently or effectively in English, and often

come from non-English speaking homes or backgrounds. Constructivism theory promotes

that language and learning are inextricably intertwined and that learners usually talk to

themselves as they learn (McGonigal, 2005).

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 4.7.4 Shyness of the students when using role playing teaching technique

The other challenge that was cited by fourteen participants was shyness on the part of

students. Most students were shy to the extent that they did not participate even in group

activities that involved students only. That is to say, at least half of the students did not feel at

ease to discuss the task at hand with their classmates in class. Such students were denying

themselves the chance to share the much needed knowledge in English grammar.

Participant B from MCHI School shared this:

We have got challenges of course because most of the times, as I already said that

others are shy. These shy students are not very active during group discussions. So,

most of the times they are left behind, that’s the challenge.

By virtue of not participating in the English grammar activities, these students are doing

themselves more harm than good because English grammar lessons needed learners who

were always active and own the learning process. The goal of learning a language is to

communicate in that particular language.

Participant B from KAL School commented:

In most of the English grammar lessons, learners are supposed to speak English. So,

forming groups is one of the challenges that these learners experience in classes. So,

shyness is one of the challenges that I face.

Shy students usually failed to participate in discussion activities, making it difficult for the

teacher to track their record in terms of performance. As such, if the teachers of English were

not vigilant enough, they could simply leave such students unattended thereby failing to assist

them properly. Failing to participate in group activities was detrimental to the acquisition of

78
the target language as a teacher found it difficult to assess them in terms of pronunciation and

word articulation, which are practical in nature.

Participant C from CHIG School argued that:

They don’t like to express their views. They feel like they will be laughed at by friends

whenever they are talking. Now, that shyness is really a challenge to a teacher

because you cannot easily know what these students in particular is good at or is

having some shortfalls because, for one to know about pronunciations, even word

articulation, thus his practical aspect.

The participant cited above acknowledged that English grammar lessons were to a larger

extent dominated by the practical aspect which meant that students’ involvement was of

critical importance during the learning process.

Participant C from NKHO School shared the reason why some students were shy:

Some really know the stuff. They say if I participate, may be at the very end people,

will be laughing at me. So, I don’t have to do that. Then they just stay away, they

don’t do that. But if you may ask them a question at the end of the lesson, they do

answer. But now participating through that method, we have few who are benefitting,

the active ones.

Shy students were difficult to handle in a class setting as they did not show their potential in

an English lesson. The investigator spotted some students who could not contribute anything

to the group. Such acts gave chance to some students to participate fully and dominate the

discussions, while others sat idle. The researcher felt that such students were denying

themselves the chance to practise language in a classroom setting, which meant that they

would find it difficult to relate classroom activities with the outside world. Shy learners

79
cannot make good public speakers as they failed to demonstrate the same in a class among

their peers because practice makes perfect.

Bashosh, Nejad, Rastegar and Marzban (2013) observe that shy students consider it a difficult

task to speak in front of others. They have a negative picture about themselves, which affects

their motivation to speak. The same situation happens when they want to speak a foreign

language or asked to answer a question in foreign language. A shy person may hesitate, make

a lot of pauses or even escape from the situation. Farooqui (2007) posits that shy learners do

better in reading and writing, but they do poorly in speaking. They feel shy and do not want

to speak in front of the class. One of the constructs of constructivism learning theory

stipulates that learning is a social activity. Progressive education is recognised as a social

aspect of learning and uses conversation, interaction with others and the application of

knowledge as an integral aspect of learning (Biggie & Wilson, 2006).

4.8 Suggested solutions to the challenges

The researcher sought to engage the participants to suggest some solutions to the challenges

that participants experience when using active learning strategies in English lessons.

4.8.1 Solution to students’ lack of interest

Lack of interest on the part of students is a cause for worry in the learning of English

grammar as this directly affects the participation of the students in the activities of the

classroom. If this issue remains unchecked and uncorrected, it might lead to collapse of the

lesson because lesson objectives and goals cannot be fully achieved. When teachers of

English were probed during the interview session, they had to suggest some solutions to the

problem.

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For instance, participant B from NKHO School suggested the following:

In terms of the passion of students, I think as teachers as well, we try as much as

possible to talk to them that they should have that reading culture. They should go

into the library, read. At the same time, interact in English because we normally

encourage students to interact in English they are within the campus.

Students always need to be encouraged and motivated in order for them to concentrate on the

learning process so that they can achieve their goals in life. Apart from that, as teachers, there

is a need to conduct guidance to parents and students so that they do not lose focus. They

should be briefed on what is expected of them in the learning of English grammar so that they

can participate fully in the learning activities.

This augurs well with what participant C from CHIG School said:

Sometimes we talk to parents as you are aware that the education of a child is based

on three angles. The parents have to be there and the child himself or herself has also

to be there, and then we actually talk to parents, to the students themselves on how

best we can actually do things together.

The statement above clearly indicates that for a child to learn best, there is a need for

collaborative effort from various stakeholders to take a leading role in ensuring that the

student is doing what is required of him or her. Such an effort is critical as it makes the

student become a strategic learner or independent in the learning process because he or she

knows what to do in a classroom setting. Mahesar, Pathan and Qadeer (2020) opine that

students’ active interest in their work is correlated with the characteristics, thus, enhanced

concentration and significant willingness to learn. It is the interest that keeps alive the

consistency and persistency of the student in the study. That is, the essence of education is

incomplete without having a sufficient level of interest. The theory of constructivism asserts

81
that motivation is a key component in learning and it can be understood to include an

understanding in which knowledge can be used (McGonigal, 2005).

4.8.2 Solution to poor background knowledge on the part of the students

Background knowledge is critical if learning is to take place effectively. Learners’ previous

experience for the subject matter plays an important role and teachers should appreciate and

capitalise on it to shape the new stuff to be delivered. This was like that because students

should be able to link information from the previous one. If students have a rich background

knowledge, they will be able to ask questions and also participate effectively in the activities

of the lesson. Teachers are doing tremendous work in order to make sure their students are

owning the learning process.

For instance, participant C from NKHO School had this to share:

I meet the learners face to face and I even tell them to say that training makes perfect.

Even myself, I have a lot of challenges, but if you are to perform better, you have to

do the following. There are other things that in most cases, we do debate so that may

be learners should be really used to speaking to groups. And I even, when may be in

class, I do choose them randomly and speaking is a must here.

The implication was that students should be encouraged at all cost to ensure that they

participate effectively in English grammar lessons. Acquisition of the target language

requires that one should participate fully in the learning process. Therefore, devising ways

that would help students have at least knowledge assists students to participate in English

grammar lessons.

82
Furthermore, participant C from NKHO School commented:

I feel like may be, still continuing using group activities. For example, if we are

talking about it is not easy to mark learners’ work. Then we just encourage them to do

the exercise in groups. And then, as for the influence of mother tongue, this is as I

have already said that it’s a process whereby you have to be teaching them, and then

making corrections.

The participant above emphasised the need for teachers to ensure that there is social

interaction among students and between the teacher and students. Once the teacher recognises

that the students are making mistakes, the teacher should be able to assist students

accordingly and ensure that students actively participate in English grammar lessons.

Newman, Kaefer and Pinkham (2014) posit that background knowledge is an essential

component for comprehension in many subject areas. The more information people know

about a given subject from previous understandings, the easier it is for the individuals to

retain information. Constructivists posited that one needs knowledge to learn. It is not

possible to assimilate new knowledge without having some structures developed from

previous knowledge to build on (Biggie & Wilson, 2006).

4.8.3 Solution to the lack of understanding of the target language

The process of learning a second language requires active participation of learners during the

learning process. If learners are not playing an active role, then the acquisition of the target

language becomes problematic. Lack of understanding concepts during English grammar

lessons is one issue that requires a teacher to address promptly, because it might lead to lack

of concentration on the part of students. When participants were interviewed on this issue,

suggested solutions were sought.

83
For instance, participant B from MWA School had this to say:

The school can provide some rules, we can say this zone is for English speaking. In

so doing, the learner will be learning English in class and also outside class.

The facts above have demonstrated that teachers were aware that students’ capability to speak

English required that students should socially interact with their classmates and teachers at

school and outside the school setting. When students are outside the school environment, they

should as well strive hard to interact with people around them in English in order for them to

acquire necessary input that can assist them to interact with their fellow students without

problems. Once students accumulate enough vocabulary of the target language, they will be

able to participate effectively in the classroom activities of English grammar lessons.

Participant A from KAU School emphasised on the need to empower students to play an

active role in the learning of English grammar in schools. As students, they should realise

that playing an active role has its own advantages to them.

This is what she said:

Another one is, you try to empower the learners to take an active role in their

learning because if they are not empowered, will not know the benefit of them taking

an active role.

The statement cited above clearly shows that the responsibility to master linguistic

competence in a particular language mostly rests in the hands of students themselves as they

are the ones to apply linguistic rules in various contexts. Therefore, the teachers’ role is to

ensure that students are given that freedom of interacting with other students as well as the

teacher in the target language so that students should have that opportune time to accumulate

relevant rules of English grammar which can be applied in various contexts. Edmonds (2009)

argues that if students understand the concepts, it is easier for them to make a connection to
84
their life. He further posits that students may find it beneficial for them to develop a

definition within their own words, so it can be easily memorised. The theory of

constructivism advocates that learning is a social activity. Our learning is intimately

associated with our connection with other human beings, our teachers, our peers and our

family. Progressive education recognises the social aspect of learning and uses conversation,

interaction with others and the application of knowledge as an integral aspect of learning

(McGonigal, 2005).

4.8.4 Solution to shyness of the students

Despite facing a number of challenges in the teaching of English grammar in secondary

schools, teachers need to ensure that all students are accommodated in the learning process.

For instance, teachers should ensure that when it is time for group discussions, group leaders

should be able to track that everybody in the group is taking part in the activities at hand. Shy

learners should be able to be nominated at group level to present their findings to the entire

class.

These sentiments were also shared by participant B from MCHI School who said that:

The challenges can be addressed mainly when we have got group leaders who are

very active. They can help when students are making noise so that they can manage

other students, so that they can concentrate on whatever they are doing.

Therefore, it implies that students themselves have a great role to play in ensuring that the

learning process is taking place smoothly. In so doing, there is sharing of language items

which are essential for communication purposes. The primary aim of every English grammar

lesson is to ensure that students achieve the goals of the lesson. Hence, teachers should

ensure that each and every student practises language while in class.

85
Participant B from KAL School commented:

I mostly encourage students to be working hand in hand in groups, so that their goals

are achieved.

Information sharing is essential during the learning process. Group activities have proved to

be important in enhancing this. Therefore, teachers should encourage and monitor effectively

that all students are actively participating in such activities, so that the shy students should

benefit from such discussions.

Participant C from NKHO School shared this:

And I, when may be in class, I do choose them randomly and speaking language is a

must here, so that may be these learners, may be two to three terms, actually about

three quarters of them should at least make a sentence.

The teachers also make sure their students are always alert in class during the learning

process. They tend to nominate any student to answer questions and comment on the topic

being delivered at that particular time. The strategy puts students on high alert that they can

be chosen to contribute to the lesson which is being facilitated by the teacher.

Participant A from CHI School had this to say:

For those that are shy, we need to at least remove that shyness so that they can get

involved. We have to at least be a bit motivated. They should feel that they are really

important. What they are talking is of value to the class.

The implication is that every student should be alert that he or she could be nominated by the

teacher to answer any question. Shy students would also be having pressure of being

nominated at any time and this would compel them to be serious with whatever activity is

being done at class level. Concentrating would mean practising language so that they grasp

86
valuable concepts of English language. Namagui, Safaee and Sobhanifar (2015) argue that

EFL teachers should first build the appropriate teaching conditions by giving students

sufficient time to prepare for a conversational activity. Constructivism theory advocates that

learning is a social activity which is intimately associated with our connection with other

human beings, our teachers, our peers, our family as well as our casual acquaintances (Oliver,

2000).

4.9 Chapter summary

Overall, the study has found that the use of various active learning strategies is critical in

ensuring that students are actively engaged in the learning process. These techniques are

roleplaying, stortytelling and questioning. The findings further reveal that active learning

strategies are effective because students own the learning process, and this assists them to

practise language and acquire the linguistic rules of English. However, there are some

techniques that do not help in accommodating many students when used during the teaching

and learning process. These techniques allow a teacher to dominate the talking and students

are mostly passive. These are lecturing and explanation techniques. The study has also

revealed that there are a number of challenges that are experienced in the process of using

active learning strategies. Some of the challenges are lack of interest in the way English

grammar is taught, students’ poor background knowledge, lack of understanding of the target

language and shyness of the students. Solutions to the challenges have been suggested like

motivating students to remain focused, and schools should come up with strict school rules

that would encourage students to speak English during school time.

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 CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND

CONCLUSION

5.1 Chapter overview

The chapter serves to summarise the research findings. It also presents implications of the

findings to education. The chapter also sheds light on contributions of the study to the

education field, recommendations, suggested areas for further research and conclusions of the

research.

5.2. Summary of the findings

Summary of the findings is presented in this section using the research objectives as the

organising framework. The purpose of the study was to examine the implementation of active

learning strategies that enhance active learning of secondary school English grammar. The

researcher aimed at unearthing the active learning strategies, establish their effectiveness,

uncover the challenges and also provide solutions to the challenges so that students’

participation during English grammar lessons can be enhanced.

5.2.1 Active learning strategies used in English grammar lessons

The study revealed that fourteen participants of English do not adequately prepare for English

grammar lessons. Some teachers do not write lesson plans and they fail to fully accommodate

students when delivering English grammar lessons. But the seven participants who were fully

prepared delivered their lessons by following the steps as required. They involved students

quite a lot and used resources timely.

The research also reported that most participants were not able to choose authentic tasks for

their students. This was revealed during the official document examination and lesson

observations. Such being the case, students were denied the chance to be fully involved in

English grammar lessons and consequently failed to expose them to real life situations. Some

88
of the strategies teachers used during lesson delivery are questioning, lecture, explanation,

roleplaying and storytelling. However, it was reported that most participants used strategies

that do not fully involve learners during the learning process.

5.2.2 Effectiveness of active learning strategies

The study revealed that active learning strategies are ideal in English grammar lessons

because they enable students to participate fully in English grammar lessons. In the process,

they acquire linguistic competence and they are able to use language in various contexts.

Learners are also able to give feedback instantly. This is an indicator that students were

owning the learning process and also guided the teacher to make the necessary decisions in

the course of the lesson. The strategies are also interesting to students and they give them the

desire to learn more.

5.2.3 Challenges experienced when using active learning strategies

Through this study, a number of challenges were unearthed. Some of the challenges were

lack of interest in the way English grammar is taught using role playing, students’ poor

background knowledge, lack of understanding of the target language when using questioning

technique and shyness of the students when using role playing technique. These challenges

have a bearing on the acquisition of English grammar because most of the students do not

participate fully in English grammar lessons. Therefore, this results in poor use of language

outside the classroom as teachers are not able to track the performance of students.

5.2.4 Suggested solutions to the challenges

The participants were also asked to suggest mitigating factors to the challenges. The study

established that students need to be encouraged and motivated in order for them to remain

focused. Students should also be urged to indulge in social interactions among students

themselves and their teachers. Furthermore, schools should promote English speaking policy

89
so that students interact in English which is the target language. Random nomination of

students to answer questions and comment on the lessons make every student active during

the learning process.

5.3 Implications of the study

The study findings have revealed that there is a gap between well prepared lessons and

lessons not well prepared. Teachers of English who were prepared used strategies that

accommodated students throughout the lesson. However, this was not the case with teachers

who were not adequately prepared for their lessons. This implied that more than three

quarters of the students did not practice language in a classroom setting. Consequently, they

were not able to practice the same outside the school setting. According to MOEST (2013),

the current curriculum demands that teachers should employ learner centred methods which

keep students busy in a lesson.

Teachers’ lack of engaging and meaningful learning opportunity during English language

lessons is worrisome. Classroom interaction has proved to be an essential element for

language learning. This provides students chances to share knowledge and to acquire the

target language. The findings of the study act as clear indicators that the strategies which are

used by the teachers may impinge on the students’ learning of a language. Some strategies

utilised by the teachers were not able to bring out students’ autonomy. The preference for

teacher centred methods was detrimental to students’ language learning. Such strategies are

not auguring well with the literature which support the use of active learning strategies.

A lot of challenges are being experienced by both, teachers and students as established by the

study. If these challenges are not addressed, they will have far reaching consequences not

only on the education system, but also for the type of students produced, and this would

affect the general economic growth of the country.

90
5.4 Contributions of the study to the education field

The study has contributed knowledge about the need for thorough preparation of the teachers

of English. The need for teachers to carefully select and use active learning strategies that

would bring out students’ autonomy. Adequate provision of the necessary support in terms of

CPDs to act as refresher courses for teachers to provide relevant support to all the students

during the learning process. Failure to satisfy the above, results to the poor implementation of

active learning strategies in the teaching of secondary school English grammar.

5.5 Suggested areas for further research

There is need to conduct further studies regarding the use of instructional strategies in the

teaching of secondary school English grammar in a different setting:

1. Investigate the role of key stakeholders in the examination of the implementation of

instructional strategies that enhance active participation of learners in the teaching of

secondary school English grammar.

2. Examine the effectiveness of supervision and inspection in the course of

implementing active learning strategies that enhance active participation of learners in

the teaching of English grammar in secondary schools.

3. Investigate the effectiveness of the CPDs as regards the examination of the

implementation of active learning strategies that enhance the active learning of

secondary school English grammar.

The same study can be conducted in a different setting to appreciate if teachers of English are

using the active learning strategies when teaching English lessons.

91
5.6 Conclusion

The use of learning strategies in teaching and learning secondary school English grammar is

of critical importance. Learning strategies like question and answer, role play and

storytelling, just to mention a few, are very important when properly implemented during the

delivery of English grammar lessons. They are there to make learners busy throughout the

lesson. These strategies particularly expose students to real life situations hence, if teachers

do not engage learners adequately in a lesson, they deny students the chance to relate school

life and life in the world of work. The strategies usually inform the world of work. Therefore,

teachers should be exposed to the current teaching practices that are intended to engage all

learners in a classroom situation. This study has revealed that most teachers in secondary

schools do not use active learning strategies. The development affects students as they are not

given ample time to practise the target language in the classroom. The students find it

difficult to practise the same in the world of work.

92
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 APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Timeline

MONTH ACTIVITY

September to November, 2021 Research proposal writing

December, 2021 Research proposal presentation

December, 2021 Research proposal submission to MZUNIREC

January to May, 2022 Data collection and analysis

June to August, 2022 Thesis writing

September to October, 2022 Colloquium on thesis report

November, 2022 Submission for examination

103
Appendix 2: Document analysis guide

DOCUMENT AVAILABILITY APPROVED/NOT ADEQUACY CONDITION

APPROVED TO NUMBER
GOOD/POOR
OF
STUDENTS

Syllabus

Teacher’s guide

Schemes of

work

Lesson plans

Learner’s

books

104
Appendix 3: Interview guide for teachers

INTERVIEW GUIDE ON AN EXAMINATION OF THE ACTIVE LEARNING

STRATEGIES THAT ENHANCE THE ACTIVE LEARNING OF SECONDARY SCHOOL

ENGLISH GRAMMAR

Section A: Biographic data

District: …………………………………………………………………………………….

School: ……………………………………………………………………………………..

Pseudonym of teacher interviewed: ………………………………………………………..

Sex: …………………………………………………………………………………………

Age of teacher: ……………………………………………………………………………..

Academic qualifications of the teacher: …………………………………………………….

Date: …………………………………………………………………………………………

Section B: Questions for the interview

What are some of the learning strategies you know?

Which of the learning strategies do you use most?

Which ones help to cater for the diverse learning styles of the students?

Why do you use them frequently?

How can the learning strategies help to achieve the learning goals and objectives?

105
Do you think these active learning objectives are effective? Explain your answer.

What challenges do you experience when using active learning strategies?

How can these challenges be addressed?

106
Appendix 4: Classroom observation checklist

Section A: Particulars

District: ………………………………………………………………………………..

School: …………………………………………………………………………………

Teacher: ………………………………………………………………………………..

Subject: ………………………………………………………………………………..

Lesson topic: …………………………………………………………………………..

Date: …………………………………………………………………………………...

Form: …………………………………………………………………………………..

Duration: (From………….To………….)

Name of the observer: Mathews M. Manda

Section B: Table showing pre-lesson observation analysis

Documents Document Document Document Document Teacher’s

self-
Availability Preparedness approved by Updated
evaluation of
head teacher
the previous
lesson

Schemes of
work

Lesson plan

107
Section C: Lesson observation protocol

LESSON PRESENTATION YES NO COMMENTS

Introduction

Was the lesson well introduced?

Did the introduction incorporate active learning strategies?

Was the lesson introduced from known to unknown/simple

to complex tasks?

During lesson delivery

Is the teacher able to use varied active learning strategies?

Are the active learning strategies being used appropriately

by the teacher?

Do the learning strategies cater for all the students in the

classroom?

Do the learners interact well with one another during

lesson presentation?

Are learners participating effectively during lesson

delivery?

Do the learning strategies assist in the construction of

concrete ideas from abstract ones?

Do the learning strategies help in achieving lesson

objectives?

Are there challenges being experienced when using active

learning strategies?

108
Appendix 5: Approval letter from MZUNIREC

109
110
Appendix 6: Letter from the Department of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum

Studies

111
Appendix 7: Letter of introduction

Mzuzu University

Private Bag 201

Luwinga

Mzuzu

Cell: 0993439608/0881167254

Email:

[email protected]

The Education Division Manager

Central West Education Division

Post Office Box 98

Lilongwe

Dear Sir

REQUEST TO CARRY OUT A RESEARCH IN SELECTED SECONDARY

SCHOOLS IN CENTRAL WEST EDUCATION DIVISION

I am a postgraduate student at Mzuzu University pursuing a Master of Education in Teacher

Education. I am carrying out a study on an examination of the implementation of active

learning strategies that enhance active learning of secondary school English grammar as a

partial fulfilment of the requirements of the award of the Masters Degree. I am therefore

writing to request for permission to carry out this study in some of the schools within your

division.

112
Attached is an introduction letter from Mzuzu University.

Yours faithfully

Mathews M. Manda

113
Appendix 8: Letter from Central West Education Division (CWED)

114
Appendix 9: Letter of introduction to Headteachers

Mzuzu University

Private Bag 201, Luwinga, Mzuzu

The Headteacher

______________________________ Secondary School

Dear Sir

REQUEST TO CARRY OUT A RESEARCH AT YOUR SCHOOL

I am a postgraduate student at Mzuzu University pursuing a Master of Education in Teacher

Education. I am carrying out a study which examines the implementation of active learning

strategies that enhance active learning of secondary school English grammar. During my

study I would like to work with teachers of English.

Not all teachers will be involved in the study. I therefore request you to assist me in

identifying three teachers who have been working for a number of years and can voluntarily

participate in this study.

It is my hope that my request will be considered positively.

Yours faithfully

MATHEWS M. MANDA

115
Appendix 10: Consent form

CONSENT FORM FOR PARTICIPATION IN A RESEARCH

I am Mathews M. Manda, a postgraduate student at Mzuzu University pursuing Master of

Education in Teacher Education. I am embarking on a study which examines the

implementation of active learning strategies that enhance active learning of secondary school

English grammar as partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Masters

Degree.

I intend to observe your English lesson and will be taking down some notes in the course of

the lesson presentation. I also intend to interview you on the active learning strategies that

enhance active learning of English grammar, their effectiveness and the challenges teachers

encounter in the process of implementing them.

Your participation in this research is voluntary and negative consequences will not result

from this study because the information you will provide will be treated with confidentiality.

You are free to decline to answer any question and you can withdraw from the study at any

time. Your real names will not be used in order to protect your confidentiality. I would like to

provide you with a summary of my research results on completion of this study.

Name: ________________________________________ Signature: ____________________

Date: _________________________________________

116
Appendix 11: Information sheet for participants

I …………………………………………………… agree to participate is a study which

examines the implementation of active learning strategies that enhance active learning of

secondary school English grammar. I am aware that the research is academic and my

participation is voluntary and negative consequences will not result from my participation

and that all the information will be treated with confidentiality. I am entitled not to respond to

any question and I may withdraw from the study at any time.

Name: _________________________________________ Signature: ___________________

Date: __________________________________________

117