Using Current Issues of Interest in Teaching Grammar

ABSTRACT: This study investigated the effect of the integrating currents issues of interest into class materials on the students’ achievement in learning grammar. The following question was proposed. Is relating current issues of interest to class materials useful on students grammar learning? It was hypothesized that integrating current issues of interest with class materials in teaching grammar has a positive effect on learning grammar. The study was performed at Islamic Azad University in Hidaj with 60 participants--male and female-- who were majoring in ‘mechanical’ and ‘electrical’ engineering. Since the researcher did not have the possibility of randomizing the subjects, 60 students of two classes who were taking their first semester at university were used for this study; one of the classes as the control group and the other as the experimental group. As Farhady (1995, p. 146) contends: “In classroom research it is unreasonable to expect the director of the courses to randomly assign students to classes for the sake of experimentation.” The subjects were taught for five weeks and finally took an achievement test. After analyzing the results of the test, and by comparing the means of the scores using t-test, it was found that integrating current issues of interest with class materials in teaching grammar lessons did not significantly improve students achievement in learning grammar.