Perceptions of Grammatical Items by Thai EFL Students in an English Grammar Foundation Course

Abstract

                The perceptions of Thai first-year students were studied regarding grammatical items in an English grammar foundation course in a regular English program. A questionnaire was used to distinguish levels of theses students’ perceptions throughout the first semester of the 2016 academic year. The survey covered five chapters: 1) principal elements of sentences; 2) nouns and articles; 3) verbs and verbals; 4) pronouns, substitution and ellipsis, and 5) adjectives and adverbs. The results indicated that students in all groups rated the grammatical items at a high level in all chapters. However, students suggested that there should not be so many grammar items or points in the course book as this was time-consuming. The main recommendation was that teaching English grammar to students should be based on a number of perspectives of functional contexts in which students have more opportunities to engage with deeper understanding and realization on language use and meaning making.  The findings will aid in the effective development, and updating of teaching materials.