Analysis of Data

In the analysis both the quantitative and qualitative methods were used in the analysis of the respective sections of the data given.

Qualitative analysis

So as to identify the factors which underlie in the responses of the questionnaires of the learner a qualitative analysis of the different factors were analyzed qualitatively. This helped in obtaining information that was more detailed about the beliefs of the learners about the grammar instructions and correction of errors. The participants were to respond to different questions by giving their view on how the rated themselves of some questions related to the subject matter. The responses by the participants were to different question was put indifferent databases and subjected to content analysis.

The analysis of the content consisted of variations iterations. At first the data from the questionnaires was transferred to the electronic file. In the next phase the data was coded and it was grouped considering the items that were closely related as an attempt to know that pattern that the data followed.Finally a decision was made that in grouping of the responses at a more conceptual level, by use of more general themes which were identified from the data.

Quantitative results

The results for the analysis of the factors produced six factors with eigen values which were greater than 1 accounting for 58% of the variation. The first factor was the efficacy of grammar and it contained items that addressed varied ways in which grammar may assist students. The second factor was taken to be the negative attitude toward correction of errors because it contained items on error correction. In addition it showed the direction of loading of the factor either negative or positive. It indicated that the learners agreed with the negative statements. The third factor was contained two items labeled communication priority and because both the items showed the preference for the usage of the language rather than focusing on the rules of grammar. The fourth factor contained two items which related to the grammar importance. The fifth factor contained variety of items that reflected the grammatical accuracy importance. The sixth factor showed the negative attitude towards grammatical instructions.

A function analysis for the discriminant was performed to show how well the six factors predicted the participants target language membership for the group. The table 1 below will show the results of the discriminate function analysis and indicates that two of the functions were significant in the membership of the predicting group and was amounting to 83% of the total variation. Table 2 shows the structure coefficients of two significant functions that is function 1 and function 2. With respect to function one, function 2 (negative attitude towards correction of error) and the fifth factor (importance of grammatical accuracy) had the loadings which were the highest.  For function 2 one loading which was highest and it was the third factor (communication priority). The named results indicate that the response of participants to the three factors namely 2,5 and 3 serve to different the participants according to the target language group.

Table 1

Summary of discriminant functions

Table 2

Factor loadings on significant functions

Qualitative results

Apart from the qualitative results obtained the learners were given were given four open ended prompts the themes that were identified for each of them were given one after the other. Many participants felt that study of grammar benefited them in the process to learn a language and that grammar was key to the endeavor of learning the language. For example variety of the learners made comments like “it assists in learning the language I am taking” and that grammar was essential to aid in mastering of foreign language.

Although many learners expressed benefits for study of grammar others commented that it was of great importance in specific aspects of the language. For example some saud that it helped them in writing. The participants also identified reading, speaking and listening as other beneficial skills in the study of grammar.

Some learners reacted in a negative manner to varied aspects to the study of grammar while others had contrast to study of grammar with other aspects of language study that they valued more.Some possible explanation to the prioritization of any communication or grammar instruction related to the social context in which the learners who were studying the second language were in.

Conclusion

The issues that relate to instruction of grammar and correction of errors which include questions of the amount of focus to place on linguistic forms and how the focus should be realized in the learning of the second language.Some of the limitations to this study were the nature of the instruments of data collection. Although the questionnaires provided useful and interesting information there were to what the instrument could tell us. The quantitative section the prompts and the answers were superficial due to their been short.

Some learners put more thought to some answers than they did on others.In spite of the varied limitations this study provided a large scale of overview of learners of the second language and their believes on instructions on grammar and correction of errors. There was a large sample size with affirms the strength of the study. In general the study gives information about debates about grammar instruction and identifies some possible areas for future research on the topic.

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