Reasearch proposal 2

Acknowledgments First and foremost I would like to dedicate my thanks to Madam Jasmina Annie George, my lecturer. She has guided me a lot throughout this research. From choosing the topic, narrowing down the scope and forming a correct view on my topic. She has provided me the format of the research and the explanations about the ways to conduct this research. She has also encouraged me to read a lot of journals and articles to widen my knowledge about the topic that I have chosen. She has helped me a lot in forming the correct research questions and problem statement. I really appreciate her guidance. Without her help this research wouldn’t be possible. I would also thank my family and friends for encouraging me to do this research. My family has allowed me to go out and interview teachers and parents. My parents have sacrificed their time and money. My friends have read my review and guided me to improve my review. They have also helped me by giving me ideas to widen my research. Finally I would like to thank all the people who were directly and indirectly involved in this particular study. Without their help and co-operation I would not have been able to complete my research. Low Proficiency Student’s perceptions towards the learning of Grammar through an inductive approach in the Malaysian Secondary school. Chapter 1 1.Introduction 1.1 Background of the study Many researches have been done about teaching of grammar from the teacher’s point of view. Most research focused on the primary level students or the tertiary level students. Most researches that focused mainly on the lower proficiency students are also rare. Teaching of grammar among the low proficiency students is an issue in school due to many reasons. Thus, I decided to do research focusing on the lower proficiency group of students in the Malaysian Secondary school regarding their perceptions about learning of grammar. This is vital in order to cater the student’s needs in the current society. Learning of English grammar, the forms and structure of the language can be done via two approaches inductive and deductive. Firstly, the inductive approach that starts with some examples from which a rule is inferred. In grammar teaching, teachers present the examples at the beginning then generalizing rules from the given samples. Inductive grammar learning is commonly happen for native speakers of English, where they can produce a grammatically correct utterance but they do not know the rules underlie it. The second approach is deductive approach which derives from deductive reasoning where the concept goes from general to specific. Rules, patterns, principles are presented first, and then moves to the examples. Deductive approach is also known as rule-driven teaching. Deductive approach is preferred among teachers as stated by (Fortune, 1992),This approach has been the bread and butter of language teaching around the world and still enjoys a monopoly in many course books and self-study grammar books In Malaysia, English is learned as a second language. It is different from learning a foreign language. In second language acquisition learners are to connect with the culture of the language. Communication in the second language has to be successful. For successful communications learning of grammar is vital. As said by Halliday ( 1985, p.17) Language is a system that allows for effective communication between individuals. Communication is fundamental of property of the language itself. In the Malaysian school syllabus for English, both the deductive and inductive approaches have been implemented. This can be clearly seen in the textbook for English. Teachers can use it to help students to learn the grammar to produce desired utterances and communication among students. The textbook used in school are standardized for all the students of various level of proficiency in the Malaysian secondary school. The teacher will have to utilize or add extra material to support teaching and learning in the class. The current syllabus (PBS,KBSM,KSSM) is altered to be student-centered. Thus, students’ perceptions about learning is important to improve the situation and solve problems related to teaching and learning process in schools. However, the teaching of grammar among low proficiency students is challenging because of many reasons. Each of the low proficiency students will have a different reason to not be interested in learning the language. Learner and teacher needs to understand the importance of learning the grammar of the language. In this research I am going to critically analyze the perceptions of the students towards learning grammar via inductive approach. Students might not be aware of how they learn (inductive or deductive). The teacher decides the approach. However, is vital to know what the students prefer. Especially, the lower proficiency students in school. Their understanding about grammar is crucial. Teaching the students grammar deductively have become too common. Now, its time to make full use of the inductive approach that already in the textbook to help students learn grammar. The outcome and the effectiveness of this approach on the low proficiency students are important to reveal the actual difficulties of students and their response to a different kind of teaching. 1.2 Objectives of the research The objectives of this research are to: Motivate low proficiency students to learn grammar through inductive approach. Explore the low proficiency student’s perceptions on the learning of English grammar through inductive approach. To draw student’s preferences for learning grammar using Inductive approach. 1.3 Problem statement Problem faced by low proficiency students in the learning of grammar through inductive approach in the current syllabus in Malaysian Secondary school. The low proficiency students face problems learning grammar in school. Students are responsible for their own learning. Their perception about the teaching of grammar in school is important. There must be a number of reasons for the students for not being able to master the language. The blame cannot be entirely on the teachers. The students’ feelings, anxiety level, motivation, background, prior knowledge, influence, reason for attending school and many other factors must be considered. We have to get to the insights of the students in order to get to the root of the problem. There must be reasons behind why low proficiency students have difficulties in learning and understanding grammar. Why do they face problem when it comes to learning grammar and applying the rules? A lot of research has been done on teachers perceptions. Students perception must be considered. Students’ perceptions about the way they learn must be considered in Malaysia. Research related to students’ perceptions is rarely conducted in Malaysia. It’s time to look in to the students’ point of view so that the English proficiency among students can be improved. Some teachers believe in applying Deductive approach and some agree with the implementation of inductive approach in English classroom. The impact of both approaches became controversial issue that existed for quite a long time (DeKeyser 1995, Fischer 1979,Nagata1997). The low proficiency students at secondary level are exposed to learning English as a Second Language(ESL) for more than 6 years in school. However, students fail to achieve a certain proficiency level in English. What are the challenges faced by students in school when learning English grammar. Students prefer learning of grammar rules consciously or subconsciously. Through this research, the above addressed problem can be solve or some necessary changes can be made to the current situation in Malaysian Secondary school. 1.4 Research Questions The following are the research questions, How does the inductive approach used in the teaching of grammar affect the low proficiency student’s performance in the class? Does the inductive approach of learning grammar benefits the low proficiency students? What are the student’s perceptions about learning of grammar through inductive approach? 1.5 Hypotheses The hypothesis for this research is low proficiency students in the Malaysian secondary school can learn grammar through an inductive approach. Due to the fact that the inductive approach is more challenging to be used among low proficiency student. This research aims to prove this statement that inductive approach that is in already been implemented can be effective for the low proficiency students. My next assumption is that the perception of the low proficiency students about learning grammar via inductive approach must be considered to improve the performance of the students. Their perception is important to ensure that the learning and teaching process benefits the students. Low proficiency students may prefer learning grammar through an inductive approach rather than the deductive approach. In this study, the student’s performance will be look into when taught using inductive and deductive. A comparison between these two approaches will be made to see which approach the low proficiency students prefer. As most of the time low proficiency students are taught grammar deductively in school due to many reasons. Their perception inside and outside will be look into to make conclusion about the assumptions made. Grammar learning can be meaningful among low proficiency students if inductive approach is used to teach. 1.6 Significance of the study This study is conducted to look into the low student’s perception about learning grammar through an inductive approach. Students’ perceptions (low proficiency) are usually neglected due to the reason that they might be slow learners (cognitive problems), lack of interest, motivation and other reasons. In this study I want to look beyond the typical judgments that the teachers in school have towards the low proficiency students. The students are capable to master the L2, but what is holding them back. What are the problems they face when learning grammar particularly. Grammar learning is supposed to make language learning easier. Why it is not working that way for the students. The student’s ability is stereotyped. In this study, I want to get to the root of the students perception and critically analyze their views and attitude towards grammar. At the same time I am going to make full use of the inductive approach among the low proficiency students and see how it affects their performance. 1.6 Key Terms Explanation. Grammar is a description of the structure of a language and the way in which linguistic units such as words and phrases are combined to produce sentences in the language. It usually takes into account the meanings and functions these sentences have in the overall system of the language. It may or may not include the description of the sounds of a language. (Richards. et al, 1998). L2 is second language of a speaker. Students who learn a language after their native language Low proficiency students - In Malaysian context, low proficiency student obtains average mark between 0-39 marks. Inductive approach is related to reasoning from specific details to general one (Felder and Henriques, 1995 pp.7-25). It involves understanding concepts from specific instances to general ideas. Many researchers argued that inductive approach can also be called rule discovery learning. Perceptions – There are two different categories, sensations (outwards sentiments) and reflection (inward sentiments). Language teaching involves the perceptions that are focused on reflections. Which means that inward sentiments, are not always recognised and it is the way learners show their attitude towards the language. Lindsay and Norman (1997) stated that perception is the process by which organisms interpret and organize sensation to produce meaningful experience of the world. Sensation refers to immediate responds by human sensory systems (eye, ears,nose,tongue,or skin) perception refers to one’s ultimate experience of the world and typically involve further processing of sensory input. Perception involves more thinking as results of the information received from the sensory system as regard of certain events. It is an output process where judgments were produce by an individuals and influenced by the way they think and feel. Chapter 2 2. Literature review Grammar As defined in the Oxford dictionary, Grammar is a set of actual or presumed prescriptive notions about correct use of a language. It is the whole system and structure of a language or of languages in general, usually taken as consisting of syntax and morphology (including inflections) and sometimes also phonology and semantics. Grammar is also set of rules governing what strings are valid or allowable in a language or text. Most teachers, like most people in the wider community think of it in terms of...nouns, verbs and the like” (Christie, 1996, p.49). When we learn to speak as a child we do not know what grammar is. In fact, when we learn to speak, we start using sound and gradually builds up to phrases and sentences. However, grammar can help us to learn a language quickly. Based on the definitions grammar is something that guides us to learn a language easily. That’s the reason why grammar is taught in school. There are many subtopics that are covered in the English Language syllabus. Here are four notions by Nassaji and Fotos(2004 pp. 126-145) about the teaching of grammar. 1) The 1980s hypothesis that language can be learned without some degree of consciousness has been found theoretically problematic. “Noticing” is necessary in language learning to understand the form. 2) L2 learners pass through developmental sequences. This suggests that it needs a teaching process to facilitate and scaffold these sequences. 3) A large body of research pointing to the inadequacies of teaching approaches where the focus is primarily on meaning-focused communication and grammar is not addressed. In this case, learners could produce meaningful understandable language, but lack of accuracy. 4) Evidence for the positive effects of grammar instruction. In some researches, grammar teaching improves accuracy, rate and the ultimate level of L2 acquisition. These reasons suggest that grammar learning and teaching is vital in ESL. In ESL grammar, Ellis (2006, pp 84) defines grammar teaching as grammar teaching involves any instructional technique that draws learners' attention to some specific grammatical form in such a way that it helps them either to understand it and process it in comprehension and or production so that they can internalize it. Thus, learning of grammar will guide the learners to produce desired utterances no matter in spoken or written form. Grammar instruction is necessary to achieve optimal second language learning. This revival doesn’t mean though a return to the traditional ways of teaching grammar. The role of grammar is, thus, important in that “not only does it help learners to improve their writing skills, but also it helps them in reading and listening alike” (Wu, 2007, p. 48) Grammar is the foundation of communication. This explains that if students learn grammar it is easier to convey a message for successful communication. As said by Halliday ( 1985, p.17) Language is a system that allows for effective communication between individuals. Communication is fundamental of property of the language itself. Nunan (1991 pp.102-103) states that learners should be given opportunity to learn and understand grammar in context and also to make learners to be aware of alternative forms that exist to express various communicative meaning. Learner needs to be taught grammar in context so that they know how to use different forms that they have learned to achieve successful communication. Many studies state that grammar learning is not helpful to help learners use the forms taught in their writing, (Weaver 1996). However, in recent years, a number of studies have been published contesting the input hypothesis. These studies typically show that after providing students with direct instruction, they improve in the use of the rules taught, and show more improvement than comparison groups. This means that grammar learning is helpful. Consequently, recent research has restored positive views about grammar teaching and has begun to indicate that the lack of focus on forms and structures have brought some researchers, formerly in favour of meaning-based instruction, “[to] now believe that students need input on structure” (Frodesen, 2001, p. 234). Similarly, Ellis (2006) and Wu (2007) affirm that grammar is a fundamental part of L2 instruction. Moreover, Ellis states that “there is now convincing indirect and direct evidence to support the teaching of grammar” (p. 86). Taking this as the support for students. Learning of grammar is vital and must be taught. The benefits of teaching grammar are numerous. Grammar is an essential component of language, a system that learners can use for their communicative needs, a tool allowing them to say more than they already know. The failure of the traditional grammar-centered methods to lead to fluency in the target language brought some researchers and practitioners to consider and re-examine and revise grammar teaching from a different perspective. Instead of claiming and creating judgements that grammar is irrelevant, many researchers and educators have more recently raised the question of how best to integrate grammar into language instruction. For Azar (2007) including grammar in L2 curricula seems to have steadily formed. Azar explains that “through the eyes of many practitioners, grammar teaching is vibrantly alive and well... ever-evolving in innovative ways, and an integral component of effective second-language instruction for many students” (p. 2). As in Malaysia, the secondary schools students are taught grammar and students must learn it. Furthermore, it is important to understand what part of the grammar that is compulsory to be taught. As in the Malaysian English language syllabus the important forms of grammar must be taught to full fill the function of the language. The functions are expressing needs and likes, describing people, places, and things, describing actions, retelling past events and making predictions. Each function requires a different form that the students have to learn. For example, indirect and direct object, subject and verb agreement, pronouns, nouns, pronouns, adjectives present continuous, adverbs, past tense, perfect tenses (present and past), future tenses (going to, will), conditional mode, comparing adverbs, conjunctions, superlatives, comparatives. All these forms must be taught so that students are able to write and speak accordingly. Grammatically accurate and fluent. Accuracy helps students to produce grammatically correct written and spoken English. Fluency helps students to express themselves in English. They pay more attention to meaning and context and are less concerned with grammatical errors. Low Proficiency Students In schools, English is taught through four skills, reading, writing, speaking and listening. Grammar can be taught using these four skills. Level of proficiency in students can be determined by how well they speak, read, listen and write. They can be classified to beginner, intermediate and advanced level. When they are unable to master the language well at a certain age in school according to a certain standard in language the students are considered low proficiency students. According to Wisconsin Administrative Rules PI 13.08(3)(1)-(6). Low proficient students can be classified in levels 1 and 2 The students may not understand or speak in English with exception of few isolated words or expressions(level 1), The students understands and speaks conversational and academic English with hesitancy and difficulty. The student makes many errors of grammar and syntax as they experiment with language (level 2). In Malaysian context, low proficiency student obtains average mark between 0-39 marks. The students learning become big challenge for the teachers to create suitable way to make them understand grammar. Low proficiency students have not mastered the forms of the language. This has resulted in poor communication and low-self esteem in using the language. Studies found that major differences lie in aptitude.(Skehan 1998), learning strategies(Abraham and Vann,1998),( Huang and Tsai,2003) learning behaviors. For example, the behaviors of underachievers have some characteristics. They lack good learning attitude, motivation or persistence. These students need more personal attention, take longer time to finish task, skip classes. In the similar study , learners also lack of self management, frustrated learning process making students to have low motivation. (pp. 235-236)( Huang and Tsai, Gan, Humpreys and Hamp-Iyons(2004). All these problems have been detected among students. However, efforts are not made to motivate learners by using different approach to teach students grammar to reduce frustrations. As teachers in schools cannot cater for each student need, student’s motivation and feelings toward learning is overlook. Low motivation among students is a barrier for the teacher to overcome. One of the ways to help teachers is to make full use of the inductive approach that has already been implemented in the textbook in school effectively. Due to the reason English is a Second Language. Students must be able to master the language. There must be reasons why students are still not proficient enough in the L2. The students perceptions are to be looked into to make changes to the current situation in the school. Inductive Approach in Grammar Inductive approach is related to reasoning from specific details to general one (Felder and Henriques, 1995 pp.7-25). It involves understanding concepts from specific instances to general ideas. Many researchers argued that inductive approach can also be called rule discovery learning. Where teacher teaches grammar by presenting some examples of sentences and learners derived the rules from the pattern of sentences.( Widodo 2006 .pp. 127). Inductive teaching and learning is a term that in known as discovery teaching, it involves providing students with examples of language and working with them to come up with grammatical rules. This approach is student-centered. Chomsky(2002) suggests that an inductive approach can help students rediscover their subconscious knowledge about English Grammar and bring it to consciousness, as the grammar of the language is acquired through abstracting a set a grammatical rules from language data, rather than imitation. I agree on the view given by Chomsky about inductive approach where students discover the grammar. One important aspect of grammar teaching, according to Azar (2007), is that “it helps learners discover the nature of language, i.e., that language consists of predictable patterns that make what we say, read, hear and write intelligible” (p. 2). Larsen-Freeman (2001) believes that grammar should be conceived of as a skill to develop rather than a transmission of knowledge. She argues that “it is better to think of teaching ‘grammaring’ than grammar” (p. 255). Grammar is not only a set of rules that teachers try to inculcate in students’ minds. The idea here is to have students use grammatical structures “accurately, meaningfully, and appropriately.” There is always an argument about teaching grammar using inductive and deductive approach.Shaffer(1989), did not reveal any significant difference between the two approaches but slightly in favour of inductive approach. Erlam (2003) , Robinson (1996) and Seliger (1975) have detected an overall advantage is for deductive approach. In contrast, Herron and Toasello(1992) have a totally opposite view on deductive approach. Due to this conflicting findings, no definite conclusion can be made about the best approach. From this research, I want to find out if the use of an inductive approach among low proficiency students would benefit them in the learning of grammar as this approach was previously not made full use of. As this approach has not been made full use among the low proficiency students. As stated by Widodo (2006), inductive approach is applicable for higher proficiency level students. Lower proficiency students should be taught using deductive approach . Both the approaches can be used to teach students of low proficiency with careful and proper planned lesson. Shaffer’s research (1989) indicates that weak students do benefit from an inductive approach. However, the effectiveness of the inductive approach depends on the student’s mental ability and also challenges that they face. The inductive approach may affect the student’s performance. Therefore, in this research I need to see how the use of the inductive approach to teach grammar affects the performance of the low proficiency students? According to Bandura 1993, learners performance is connected to their self-efficacy, which is determine by one’s previous performance, verbal encouragement and vicarious learning. In other words students that have unpleasant learning experience will not believe in their own ability to learn and give up easily. This results in poor performance among students. Self-efficacy can be one of the variables to look into in this research. Grammar in school and the student perceptions. In the Malaysia’s syllabus of English for secondary students, there are plenty of grammar components that need to be covered for the whole semester. Grammar should be taught by integrating it with the themes provided. Most of the time, in the emphasis of grammar acquisition practice is neglected. To add on, the lack of motivation and minimal English background makes situation worse. Resulting in learners showing no improvement in the proficiency level. The focus of the teachers is too complete the syllabus and find the easiest way to teach students so that the students can complete their exam. However, the meaningful content that is supposed to be delivered to help students understand and apply the forms of the language is ignored. One such study carried out by Pillay and North (1997), examined the role of the topics in an integrated approach and the way it is handled in the KBSM syllabus, textbooks and examinations. They found that there is a perceived conflict between the official syllabus, the textbook syllabus and the examination syllabus, leaving teachers in a dilemma over what to teach. The official syllabus and the textbooks stress topics or themes, whereas, the examination focuses on skills and grammar. As grammar is taught in isolation. Not related to the topic. Goner, Philips and Walters(1995.pp. 135) states that inductive approach represents a modern style of teaching where the new grammatical structures are presented to students in a real language context(authentic). Students will learn to apply the structure through practice of language in the context and soon realize the rules form the practical example. Exposing students to authentic text is important to provide the students with the cultural background of the L2. According to Philips and Shettleworth 1978, Clarke 1989, Peacock 1997 cited in Richards 2001, authentic text can positively impact the student motivation, provide cultural material, relate closely to learners needs and it’s a more creative approach to teaching. However, Richards 2001,pp. 253 states that authentic text contain unneeded vocabulary and it is not suitable for lower level students. It is difficult to teach students of lower level. However, in the Malaysian textbook the language is presented in authentic text but teacher still teaches students grammar in isolation and deductively. In such situation, students’ perception is important. Definitely, teaching of grammar is less burdening if taught in isolation or deductively but what about the students preferences. What is the low proficiency student’s perception about learning grammar through inductive approach? Do they prefer inductive or deductive? Why can’t low proficiency students learn grammar through an inductive approach. According to Widodo (2006.pp.129), in inductive approach, learners are trained to be familiar with rule discovery that allows learning to be autonomous and self-reliance, learners are more active in the learning process, rather than being passive in learning, this active learning will motivate them. Are low proficiency students not responsible towards their learning, are they dependent on the teachers. They expect scaffolding in learning. All these assumptions are to be look in depth from the students point of view. If they are not responsible , what are the reasons behind it. Some disadvantages also come along with this approach, the approach is time and energy consuming as learners must be guided to appropriate concept and rules of grammar. The approach also can plays emphasis on teachers in planning a lesson. Teachers play an important role in guiding the students to the rules. Teachers must design materials and data carefully and systematically. This approach may also frustrate learners with their personal learning style or past learning experience. Students that are taught grammar through deductive approach might face difficulties in adapting to a total different approach. Thus, the student’s perception about the learning grammar through inductive approach is important. The student’s problem in adapting to inductive approach. As teachers we must understand the student’s point of view about learning grammar. What do they prefer , each student have different motivation, level of anxiety, attitude, expectation and feelings, L1 interference, cognitive abilities, learning styles, prior knowledge, preferred way of scaffolding, peer influences, culture, and age. Low proficiency students can be different from students who have already mastered the language. The students may have various desires on how they prefer to learn grammar their perception and comments are important for teachers to make necessary changes in the process of teaching and learning of grammar no matter inductively or deductively. The students learning are influenced by specific variable that I will look into. The variables that I will take into considerations are the student’s interest, attitude towards grammar, lack of awareness, background and importance of English learning. Based on a research done by the Fauziah Hassan and Nita Fauzee Selamat,Universiti Putra Malaysia, there some factors influencing the learner’s English language proficiency. Those factors are limited opportunity to use English outside the classroom negative attitude towards English, lack of confidence, lack of motivation, insufficient exposure to English, an imbalanced focus of language skills, ineffective syllabus, inadequate teaching material, ineffective teaching methodology and lack of time to study. These are the most common reasons detected among students from the teachers perception. However, these factors are not look into to solve the problems due to importance given to examination oriented system. The students are taught to answer exam question. To pass examination and not to actually learn meaningfully. The students will definitely have bad impression and low motivation to learn English. The students exposure to language while they are in school is vital. The exposure may be for a short while but in the long run the students can gain benefits. That’s the reason the students perception needs to be look into to decide if they prefer to learn grammar inductively, not learn grammar or want to learn but their way of learning is not important, so students just decides to not voice out their perception or opinion. In this research, I want to look into what is actually the problem of the low proficiency students when it comes to learning grammar and the forms. Why after many years of attending school, they are still not proficient enough in the language. The focus of my research is the student’s perceptions towards the learning of grammar. Perceptions refers to a group of attitude and ideas, sometimes even stereotypes that the person convey in an unconscious way which affects the student’s learning process (Barbot and Camatarri 1999, .pp.58-59). According to Stanford’s Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Hume divided perception in two different categories, sensations (outwards sentiments) and reflection (inward sentiments). Language teaching involves the perceptions that are focused on reflections. Which means that inward sentiments, are not always recognised and it is the way learners show their attitude towards the language. Lindsay and Norman (1997) stated that perception is the process by which organisms interpret and organize sensation to produce meaningful experience of the world. Sensation refers to immediate responds by human sensory systems (eye, ears,nose,tongue,or skin) perception refers to one’s ultimate experience of the world and typically involve further processing of sensory input. Perception involves more thinking as results of the information received from the sensory system as regard of certain events. It is an output process where judgments were produce by individuals and influenced by the way they think and feel. In Malaysia, English is learned as second language. It is important to reveal the students perceptions about the learning of grammar of the second language. As the students learn grammar in school, they will definitely want their perception about grammar learning to be taken into consideration. Variables related to the students perceptions must be look into to improve teaching and learning process. At the same time the society is changing according to time,place and situation .Thus, the study about the perceptions influencing students attitudes need to be look into.(Liu 2007). The perceptions can be negative and positive. Both sides of it are to be looked into in this research. However, perception (senses) cannot entirely determine what the students actually portray is true or valid. Meaning the perception seen outside cannot be always the true perception. It must look into in detail in each student. Students can be behaving in many different ways due to many reason and not because they hate learning grammar. This misconception about perception must be avoided. Any judgments cannot be made until the teacher interviews the students and observe the students behavior in and outside the class, and he or she is very sure about the reasons what they feel about the learning process. The study will get a little challenging as each of the students perception is to be looked into to support the assumptions and to reach a conclusion. The limitations of my research should be noted as it merely focuses on the teachers perceptions about the usage of Inductive approach among low proficiency students. It will overlook importance of teacher’s perception of the value of the teaching approaches. What motivates the teacher in the teaching of grammar among the low proficiency students is overlook. Furthermore, this study focuses on low proficiency students (subjects), therefore ignoring the advanced and intermediate learners. The focus mainly in on the secondary school students. Adults learners are not part of this study. The inclusion criteria for this study is secondary school students while the exclusion criteria are adults or advanced learners. Perception is the root of thinking which invoke judgments and beliefs that influence humans attitude. Most researchers believe that student’s attitude is an essential part of the learning process which must be taken into consideration as a part in deciding methods used in teaching the second language. (Saracaloglu, 1992, pp 40). This study intends to determine the low proficiency student’s perception which is influenced by specific variables towards learning of grammar. The finding of this study should be able to be used in improving the language learning process. References Azar, B. (2007). 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Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice Cambridge: Cambridge University. Thornbury, S. (2001). Why teach grammar. Foreign Language Teaching & Research in Basic Education, 1, 51-54. Why aren’t students proficient in esl: the teachers’ perspective,Fauziah Hassan and Nita Fauzee Selamat,Universiti Putra Malaysia. Widodo,H.P. Approaches and Procedures for Teaching Grammar, English Teaching: Practice and Critique ,May 2006, Volume 5, Number 1. 2006 DRS 3413 Research Method in Language Learning (May 2014) 21