(SKKN 2022) USING VILLAGE FESTIVALS AND TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN THANH HOA PROVINCE TO IMPROVE ỬITING SKILL FOR GRADE 11 STUDENT OF HAM RONG HIGH SCHOOL

THANH HOA EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEPARTMENTHAM RONG HIGH SCHOOL ---*****---INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE HELPING GRADE 11 STUDENTS AT HAM RONG HIGH SCHOOL IMPROVE WRITING SKILL BY EXPLORING V

THANH HOA EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEPARTMENT

HAM RONG HIGH SCHOOL

-***** -INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE

HELPING GRADE 11 STUDENTS AT HAM RONG HIGH SCHOOL IMPROVE WRITING SKILL BY EXPLORING VILLAGE FESTIVALS AND TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN THANH HOA PROVINCE

Author: Phan Thi Hang Nga Position: Teacher

Research field: English

THANH HOA 2022

PART I: INTRODUCTION

PART II: CONTENT

I DESCRIBE THE PROJECT

1 The topic.

3 3 3

3 Objectives of the project

3.1.Target languages and skills

4 The students taking part in the project 4

4 Teacher's plan and preparations for the project

4.1 Deciding on the topics for the project

4.2 Time for the project

4.3 Authorities, teaching staff and parents

4.4 Financial matters

4.5 Language and genre

4.6 Criteria for assessing the products

4.7 Disscussion and experience sharing

8 8 8 8 8 9 9

III LESSONS FROM THE PROJECT 10

Experiential learning refers to the organization of the learning process

on the basis of the pedagogical principle of "learning by doing", that is,learners' acquisition of knowledge is conducted through the process ofexperiencing, or doing something new Experiential learning is defined as theexploitation and processing of experience, aiming not only at acquiringknowledge, but also at transforming the way of thinking and changingattitudes This is based on the assumption that "learning is the processwhereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience"

Task-based learning is an instructional method with the center on thelearner Instead of following a rigid lesson plan that instructs learners down aspecific path of learning outcomes and objectives, task-based learning(henceforth TBL) allows in-depth investigation of a topic under discussion.Through TBL, learners have more autonomy over what they learn,maintaining interest and motivating learners to take greater responsibilitty fortheir learning TBL enables the expression of diversity in learners, such asinterest, abilities and learning styles Thus, TBL is a teaching method aimed atsolving problems in a collaborative environment over an extended period oftime TBL is a hands-on experience which starts from driving questions andproblems that creates activities and leads to the meaningful product in theend

Since the school year 2021, the Ministry of Education and Training(MOET) has encouraged TBL in schools nationwide, hoping that studentshave chance to be active learners and learning does actually exist In the case

of English, TBL can be applied and the final product is an English report on aparticular topic

Being a teacher of English at a high school I know the advantages ofTBL over traditional learning Namely, with TBL

- learners are more active

- learners are more creative

- learners do everything by themselves, thus, are more responsible for theirlearning

- learning process actually exists

- all learning styles are appreciated

- learners do something new in collaboration with their friends

- learners and learning are centered

- learners produce a real product

During the school year 2021-2022, I applied TBL in my teaching Thestudents participated in the project with great enthusiasm and the productswere satisfying I am convinced that TBL can be applied to the teaching andlearning of English at high schools Therefore, I am writing the document

named: “ HELPING GRADE 11 STUDENTS AT HAM RONG HIGH SCHOOL IMPROVE WRITING SKILL BY EXPLORING VILLAGE FESTIVALS AND TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN THANH HOA PROVINCE” to share my teaching experience with other teachers of English

who wish to create a more favourable learning environment for their students The document has three parts:

- part 1: desribes the project

- part 2: describes how the teacher and students developed the project

- part 3 :presents the lessons gained from the project

PART II: CONTENT

I DESCRIBE THE PROJECT

1 Topics

In the textbook Tieng Anh 11, basic curriculum, unit 8 and unit 16 areabout celebrations and wonders of the world The requirements set by theMOET are that, after finishing unit 8 students will be able to talk and/or writeabout a celebration or a festival they know or witnessed; after unit 16 theywill be able to write and/or talk about a tourist attraction using suitablevocabulary and structures I feel that it would be better if students could talkabout the festivals or celebrations in their home villages Similarly, it would

be more practical if they could write a report on a tourist attraction in theirneighbourhood or in Thanh Hoa province

In order to have such derised aims, I combine two topics into oneproject I ask students to work in groups of 4 or 5, explore festivals or visitfamous places in Thanh Hoa province and write about them

2 Name of the project

The project conducted is entitled: "Using Village Festivals And Tourist Attractions in Thanh Hoa Province To improve writing Skill For Grade

11 students Of Ham Rong High School"

3 Objectives of the project

3.1 Target languages and skills

-Vocabulary: Vocabulary related to topic 'celebrations' and festivals

- Grammar: To describe a festival, the present simple tense and/or the past

simple tense are mostly used

-Skills: Writing and speaking

- Genre of the writing: Writing about a celebration; Writing about a tourist

attraction (a report of about 300 words)

+ Textbook requirements: Describing a celebration

+ Details that should be included in description are:

 name of the festival

 time of the festival

 purpose of the festival

 main activities of the festival

 your feeling about the festival (whether you like it or not and the reason(s))

Describing a famous place:

A piece of writing about a place sholud cover three parts

 an introduction in which you give the name and the location of the place

and/or reasons for choosing to write about it (e.g what it is famous for,what makes it so special, etc )

 a main body giving both general and specific details about the place

usually moving from the general features to specific ones You shouldgive the overall impression by referring to landscape, buildings,landmarks, etc , and particular details (sights to see, places to go,things to do)

 a conclusion in which you express your feelings or opinion concerning thesubject or give a recommendation

Besides the requirements and guidelines of the textbook, I provided the

students with a model description of Mid-Autumn festival

(see Appendix 1)

3.2 Cultural knowledge

- Students will learn a lot about the history of the village festivals they explore

- Students have a thorough knowledge of the tourist attractions they visit and

write about

3.3 Interpersonal skills:

To conduct the project, students have to go to village festivals, meet people

who have a good knowledge of the festivals, give them questions andtake notes Therefore they are expected to develop interpersonal skills.Meanwhile, they have to take photos, film the activities happeningduring the festivals and prepare power points for their presentations

As a result, they develop their "technology" skills as well

3.4 Educational aims

- Students explore village festivals, therefore, gaining a deep insight into the

traditions and customs of their homeland

- Students have deeper love for their homeland, feel proud of their villages,

thus are more likely to become good citizens

3.5 Scope of the project

Students attend village festivals, visit spots of scenic beauty in Thanh Hoa

province and write about them

4 The students taking part in the project

- The students taking part in the project are 46 students of class 11B10, Ham

Rong Upper Secondary School

- The students are the boys and girls, living in the northern communes of

Dong Cuong District In their villages, festivals are held annually andthey often attend the festivals However, they rarely explore thefestivals thoroughly, not knowing much about the history andsignificance of the festivals Never before have they talked about thefestivals in front of a large audience

5 Significance of the project

- The project aims to develop cutural knowledge, interpersonal skills,technology skills, enhance love and pride for their homeland in thestudents

- The project helps to develop language competence, English competence,writing and speaking skills as well as presentation skills in students

6 Teaching aids

- Textbook English 11, basic curriculum

- Pictures, photos of festivals and celebrations, wonders of the world

- Technology: Power points

7 Teaching methods

- task-based learning: - teacher organizes learning activities, students are

involved, find out the answers and present the products in writing andspeaking

- Assess the products according to criteria appropriate with TBL method The

basis of language competence is based on the standards set by MOET

8 Student Products

8.1 Written Reports

I divided the class into 10 groups Each group had to write a report in

English and a report in Vietnamese Meanwhile the groups were also asked topresent the diary of groupwork, photos, pictures they took during the project.Therefore, the products of the project were ten reports in English and ten

reports in Vietnamese along with photos, films and groupwork diaries Thestudents were very creative and the products were varied

Of the ten reports, two were about Phú Khê village festival, one about PhúcTiên village festival, one about Thanh Nga village festival, one about TrinhNga village festival, one about Bà Triệu Temple, two about Hàm Rồngbridge, one about Tiên Sơn Cave, and one about Lam Kinh Relic site.Thestudents wrote about the history, the main activities and the significance of thefestival The report was very detailed Photos, pictures were printed toillustrate the information of the report, which made the products pleasant toread and look at

However, most of the reports were longer than expected That is becauseStudents write all the information they had about the festivals or the spots ofbeauty The second drawback was that the reports had grammar, spelling andword use mistakes It is easily understood as it is not easy for the students to

transform the information into English ( see Appendix 2)

8.2 Presentation

On May 21st, 2021 five groups presented their reports and showed photos,videoclips and films The other five groups, due to the limit of time, could notpresent

All the presentations were filmed ( see Appendix 3)

II DEVELOPING THE PROJECT

1 Time

The project was expected to be completed in one month and a half,from March 1st to April 15th The spring time was chosen as during the time,festivals were held Moreover, the weather was favourable for the students tomake trips or visits to the spots of beauty and attend festivals

2 Procedures

The procedures of the project were as follows

- Introducing the project

- Grouping

- Selecting topics

- Guiding how to collect information

- Guiding how to synthesise the information

- Guiding how to write a report

- Guiding how to present the reports

- Presenting products and assessment

- Discussion, experience sharing

1 day - introduce the purpose

of the project, divide thestudents into 10groups,guide studentshow to make atimetable, assign thetasks to the members,choose the group leader

- ask for permission ofauthorities at school

-know about theproject, decide on thetopics, choose thegroup leader, writetimetable, assign tasks

- write timetable,details of assignment,work plan of thegroup, estimated timefor project completion

- hand in the timetableand task assignmentsTackling the

project

1 day - notify the principal,

form teacher andparents about theproject

- help students with

technology skills(power point, takephotos,use camera tofilm festivals, etc

- obeserve the process

- do the project:collect information,attend festivals, loginto the Internet, meetvillagers to ask forinformation about the

- provide help if

necessary

festivals or touristattractions, gather theinformation andprepare to writereports

- ask teacher for help

if necessaryfinalising the

products

4 days - help students to

present collectedinformation in a logicalway

- help students presentphotos, pictures andvideo clips

- help students preparepower point to present

- gather information,order the ideas, writereports

- illustrate the reports

by photos, video clips,films in a creative andlogical way

presenting the

products

60minutes

- order the groups to

- present the reports in

English

- show photos, videoclips

- listen to theclassmates' reports

- produce criteria toassess the products

- inform the students ofhow good their products

- assess poducts

according to thecriteria the teacherproduced

- know how good theirproducts are

- prepare for finalproducts

mistakes and

writing the

products again

2 days -help students to

recognise the mistakes

- recognise the

mistakes

- work in groups,correct the mistakes inthe reports

- finalise the productsand produce finalproducts

discussion and

experience

sharing

half aday

- ask students to give

feedback on the project

- guide students to shareexperience they gainedduring the project

- prepare for the next

project

- give feedback on the

project-share experience withclassmate

-prepare for the nextproject

4 Teacher's plan and preparations for the project

4.1 Deciding on the topics for the project

Textbook English 11 has 16 units covering more than ten differenttopics However, I felt that the two topics "celebrations" and "touristattractions" are suitable for the students as in their home villages, festivals areheld annually Moreover, in the local, many spots of scenic beauty such as BaTrieu Temple, Ham Rong Bridge, Tien Son Cave, are located Hoang HoaDistrict in particular and Thanh Hoa province in general are rich in culture,festivals, celebrations and spots of scenic beauty Therefore, it is ideal totackle a project on the topics related to culture, festivals and tourism

4.2 Time for the project

As it is the first time students do a project, they lack experience andskills The students are village boys and girls, so they do not have adequatetechnology skills for the project Most of them do not have a computer athome, a mobile phone, a camera and the access to the Internet is not always