Penny Ur stated that: “people who know a language are speakers of that language” which shows the importance of developing speaking skill in teaching and learning English, in the past few
Trang 1Teaching online, especially teaching English online is becoming more and more popular because of its advantages, Learners are more flexible about their learning schedule More importantly, at covid epidemic outbreak, learning online is considered as the best solution- It’s the safest solution for both Teachers and Students During the past two years, most students have had to stay at home to avoid being infected with covid 19, so have my students, they have had difficulties in learning English at school, Moreover, it’s a new subject with my students in a mountainous place, they have no much chance to communicate with their friends in English, besides, time for each period per week is limited, sometimes they are off school due to co vid outbreak, they spend so much freetime at home Whereas, speaking skill plays the most important role of all skills, If students only know to write and remember words
or sentences, they can’t realize clearly What English is for, how exciting and meaningful is it
As a teacher of English I see difficulties happening to my children Penny
Ur stated that: “people who know a language are speakers of that language” which shows the importance of developing speaking skill in teaching and learning English, in the past few years the aims of lessons in textbooks concentrate on the communicative method, However, instead of focusing on speaking language, teachers focus on language and grammar skills to keep up with the planned curriculum Especially, primary pupils are often shy of speaking English in public owing to their age psychology or afraid of making mistakes… But we are now living in modern age, there’s no reason for them to bear more disadvantages, we have been protecting and preventing ourselves from Co vid but the epidemic can’t stop our children from learning English, I must turn this language into a living language by improving speaking skills for
my students at any time, With those criteria, during the past few years, I have successfully applied my experienced initiatives which I courageously write and
show out to share with my honorable readers about the topic: “ Using online
teaching at Co vid time to develop English speaking skill for the pupils at Minh Tien primary school” In the course of research, I believe that there will still be some limitations, I hope to receive comments and advice from my Leaders as
well as Colleagues
1.1 PURPOSE OF CHOOSING THE TOPIC.
As you know, English plays an important role in the development of our modern society Especially the speaking skill that is the key to the young learners to approach and integrate into the world, owing this they absorb in new technology, life standard and different cultures of developed countries Moreover, to have a better result, Teachers have to provide students a large source of English grammar and vocabulary and guide students to approach English channels on internet, radio or TV The fact is that Vietnamese students master grammar well and learn by heart a lot of vocabulary but their skill of speaking is not satisfactory Therefore, to improve students’ speaking skill requires Teachers always to pay attention to students and update the latest
Trang 2methods which bring interest to motivate students to speak English regularly and naturally
More importantly, Both Teachers and Students have been facing with the dangerous disease – co vid 19, so the curriculum of teaching is sometimes discontinued, whereas the national plan of foreign language until the year 2020 must concentrate much on speaking skill that’s the reason why I’m worrying to achieve the aim Luckily, internet is now available, so I use zalo groups and zoom cloud meeting to continue my teaching at home and by the way to develop children’s speaking skill of English which is suitable for their quarantine at home when covid-19 is highly infectious
From my thoughts and experiences above I research this topic
1.2 RESEARCH PURPOSE.
Speaking skill is one the most important skills in primary grade, the last aim of learning English is that students will be able to communicate fluently However, in the past two years my students have been copying with covid outbreak, so they have had no much chance to practice speaking at school To take advantages of their time at home I use online teaching to develop their English speaking skill
1.3 RESEARCH SUBJECTS.
In my topic, I just focus on how to teach and learn online at home to help the students at Minh Tien primary school to develop speaking skill effectively
by applying new and suitable methods such as: recording about one subject they are talking then sending to zalo group, imitating and self pronouncing before mirror, watching a film in English for children, singing a song, or a chant, especially using room cloud meeting to complete the contents of teaching and develop speaking English online in class
1.4 RESEARCH METHODS.
1.4.1 Research, kinds of English topics to find out which are related to their lessons to guide them to speak about the topics online
1.4.2 Research based on observation methods: To observe my students talking online, attend workshops about techniques of teaching primary pupils,
Or classes of my colleagues
1.4.3 Research based on practice: Teaching and learning online by applying internet to settle up zalo groups, room cloud meeting to fulfill the dis continued plan of the school year due to co vid 19 epidemic
1.4.4 Research based on studying materials related to topics for primary children to improve speaking skill, songs or chants, model sentences related to their lessons in their textbooks
1.4.5 Research based on interviewing my students questions about familiar topics they have learnt or ask them to give small talks in class
2 CONTENTS OF THE INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE
2.1 THEORETICAL BASIS OF INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE
Teaching online has drawn much social concern at co vid time, all lessons are taught on internet, both teachers and learners use internet soft wares such as: laptop, smart phone…they are connected with a host –teacher, all
Trang 3lessons and documents are shown as videos, sounds, images… which are easy for learners to access Besides, there are live lessons in which students can communicate directly with Teachers, Nowadays teaching online has been popular because of its prominent advantages: Firstly, it reduces the risk of infecting the disease because all lessons are carried out online at home Moreover, it promotes self –studying, Students can learn anywhere at any time More importantly, with the high technology time, this solution forces teachers and Students to update new methods to gain the best results
To achieve online teaching aims, Teachers must follow these rules: Firstly, Teacher must combine knowledge in their lessons with other life skills
to develop students’ abilities by using the method “ students-centered” Secondly, all online lessons must be child friendly, practical and keep them so simple Besides, teaching plans must be logical from low to higher level which are suitable with school year schedule at school to help students understand easily and be more flexible to practice in class or outside Last but not least, Teachers must master contents in each online lesson to make sure they are exact about all fields to fulfill children’s abilities
Our country has been integrating and developing, so English is the key
to open the door of integrating with other countries in the world, It means that teaching and learning English is an urgent situation which helps us approach outside world,Widen a large number of fields: science-technology, economy-society medicine…,So English is a universal language and speaking skill is really important to be able to communicate better, the fact is that many students master English grammar and vocabulary well, but they have difficulty in speaking, with new method, we need to pay attention to listening and speaking skill, according to percent of skills of primary grade, at grade 3 the writing and listening skills account for 30 % ,listening and speaking skills account for 70%
at grade 4 the writing and reading skill account for 40% ,listening and speaking skills account for 60 %, at grade 5 the four skills are equal and communicative method is chosen as the best method in teaching foreign language That’s the reason why I tried to find the best ways to take advantage of their time at home and choose the suitable method to develop their speaking skill when they are off school, I have made use of internet to create zalo groups to ask students to
do their homework at home by sending their reading vocabulary, sentences or a short essays of a topic they have learnt Besides, to keep up with the school year curriculum of teaching I use zoom cloud meeting to guide my students the contents of the units and ask them to read or talk individually about the topics related to their lessons or answer my questions After a long time of applying this method, I have seen the improvement in speaking English of my students and my teaching aims during co vid time have been fully completed
2.2 THE SITUATIONS OF THE PROBLEM.
2.2.1 Advantages.
2.2.1.1 On the part of teachers.
- Nowadays, there are so many soft wares about teaching speaking for
kids on internet such as: Elsa speaking, Monkey stories-Junior, Edupia, English
Trang 4123, tapes or videos which are child friendly to Children to motivate them to speak English Besides, Teachers are sometimes attended workshops that encourage Teachers to use communicative method in teaching
- Have to access and use of new methods in teaching
- Creativity, learn some appropriate teaching compatible with the content
of the lecture
- Teachers use modern equipments well such as computers, speakers, projectors, Internet, zoom cloud meeting
- At co vid time Teachers are encouraged to teach online by Authorities and students’ parents
2.2.1.2 On the part of students.
- The majority of school students is eager to be taught online at home because they can meet their teachers and friends without being on campus
- They are very active and so industrious
- They feel more confident to self practice speaking at home
- They are quick at using modern technology such as: internet, zoom cloud meeting, zalo
2.2.2 Dis advantages.
Besides the above advantages, teachers and students exist back:
2.2.2.1 On the part of teachers.
Teachers also use several methods that don’t concentrate on speaking skill, they pay attention to grammar or writing, so many children can’t both make sentences and say aloud correctly or fluently, Moreover there are only two periods of English a week, so It’s difficult for Teachers to organize speaking activities in class, especially at co vid time when teaching process is often discontinued which leads to double disadvantages in practicing speaking skill for students
2.2.2.2 Teaching equipment.
Equipment used for teaching English is limited Some equipments are spoiled or outdated inconsistent with teaching More importantly, there is no function room which is also a challenge with Teachers to organize speaking activities without any noise to other classes around, besides internet is sometimes disconnected between Teacher and students Which make it unable to continue teaching and learning online at home
2.2.2.3 On the part of students.
Students at my school start learning English from grade 3, they live in a mountainous place, most of their parents are farmers, they don’t know the importance of English, whereas their learning curriculum at school is often discontinued because of co vid epidemic outbreak, so their English skills have limitation
Some pupils have no internet or electric equipment such as mobile phone and computer at home, some have no parents living with them, moreover people around know little or nothing about this new subject, so they have no chance to practice at home Some children are shy to communicate in English because of their age More seriously, co vid 19 epidemic often causes them not to ba able to
Trang 5attend lessons at school regularly, they have fewer chances to talk in English than usual
Before applying learning online to develop speaking skill of English for children at home, I took a survey to see the differences I chose classes 3A1, 4A1, 5A1 at Minh Tien primary school in the school year 2021-2022:
No Class Total
Result of after applying the experience initiative accurate pronunciation Inaccurate pronunciation
According to the result of the survey above, There are still restrictions of speaking skill with my students, the number of students being good at speaking is rather low, whereas the percent of students being bad at speaking is rather high, so as a Teacher I must find out the suitable solutions to improve this important skill for my students to overcome the mishaps happening to us from
co vid 19 epidemic I always ask myself: What should I do to solve the problems
? Why are some students good but some are bad in the same class ? Why are they better at grammar than speaking? In general, my students are still weak at four skills Especially, the speaking skill because of some reasons such as: they are shy They are afraid of being laughed when making mistakes, some due to the overcrowded lass, Teachers have not got enough time to practice this skill for their students and the most important reason happening now is co vid 19 epidemic that’s the reason why I have been researching materials, exchanging with my colleagues and students to guide them to learn effectively at school and
at home by using online learning, depending on each lesson in the text book, I try to find the best method, for example:
+ Practicing for students to have a quick reflex in English at any situation
+ Practicing how to pronounce correctly
+ Practicing how to use intonation
+ There are various methods of developing speaking skill:
+ Yes/ No question ,
+Ask and answer,
+Making a speech about one topic
+ Steps to practice speaking for students:
+Pre – speaking
+Controlled practice
+ Free – practice
In my opinion, at any method, teacher must obey the communicative orientation and student center, Teachers are only guiders, observers, online speaking means that Teacher observes what students are talking to find out solutions, methods which are suitable for each lesson
Trang 6According to Penny Ur, a successful activity should have these qualifications: firstly, students are talking English in class more than Teachers Secondly, the participation of all members in class is even, thirdly participants are much motivated to speaking activities, last but not least, class language is child friendly with the aim: kiss- keep it so simple which is easily understood to bring the most effect
2.3 METHODS USED TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS
2.3.1.Using zoom cloud meeting to conduct online lessons and develop students’ English speaking skill:
Students of class 5A1 at Minh Tien primary school are learning English online
at home by using zoom cloud meeting - Source by Tran Thi Viet Huong.
It’s common knowledge that: listening- speaking - reading- writing are four skills which should be practiced regularly during teaching process, they are the aims of teaching and learning, especially the speaking skill, it’s the bridge joining learners of language to communicate with foreign people, it accounts for much more than other skills, when speaking well, students feel confident in using this language, so teacher needs to ask them pronounce carefully, make stress, linking sound, intonation….During the lessons of primary grade, this skill
is developed in the parts: Look, listen and repeat, Point and say and Let’s talk
At primary grade, there are lots of speaking topics in the text books, for example:
At grade 3: students can be able to
+ Introduce about themselves and their friends, then ask and answer about
the others
+ Ask and answer about someone’age
+ Give and reply commands, ask for permission
+ Introduce function rooms in their school and have yes/no questions about
it
+ Talk about schoolthings and distinguish singular or plural noun
+ Ask and answer about activities at breaktime or their favourire sports
At grade 4 : Students can be able to:
Trang 7+Ask and answer about their address, date of birth,abilities to do something
+ Ask and answer about their hobby, favourite subjects
+Ask and answer about past activities Ask and answer about time
+Invite someone something Ask and answer about appearance, popular holidays Ask and answer about price, plans for summer holiday…
At grade 5 : Students can be able to:
+Ask and answer about past events, intentions for future,subjects at school Ask and answer about directions, weather , activities in freetime,
+Compare between two places, two things Ask and answer about Sports Day, someone’s feeling
These are some methods I have applied in teaching zoom cloud meeting online to gain the teaching aims of those grades at my school:
First method: Practice for students to react quickly in English
The fact is that It’s easier for primary students to understand short and simple sentences in class, so I often give commands, compliments, or greetings which are child friendly and make them familiar by using them regularly day
by day For example:
- Hi/ Hello/ Good morning…
-Sit down, please - Stand up, please
- How are you today -What’s day is it today?
-What’s the date today? - Who’s absent today?
- Are you ready? - Who’s volunteer?
In addition to that Teacher should asks students the sentences which relate
to their last lessons to revise and check their reactions For example: to check old lesson talking about the weathwer in English 3 - unit 19: Teacher can ask them some of the questions below:
What’s the weather like today, class? Do you like the weather today, Nam? Is it sunny today, Mai? Who can tell me what the weather like today is?
An other example for English 4- unit 18: asking about phone number:
Teacher ask Students the questions :Who can tell me ?
What’s your mother ‘s phone number ?What’s your father’s phone number ? What’s my phone number ?
Especially, When teaching online, I often ask my students to turn off if they are listeners and turn on micro if they are talking to keep zoom class quiet
More importantly, My students can be able to understand the sentences directly without translating from VietNamese
To practice reflexes in English well Teacher should follow these tactics:
+ Showing nice pictures related to the lesson or one topic, then ask them
to talk about it This is often used in the part: Look, listen and repeat, point and say
For example: English 3- unit 16-lesson 1-Part 1: look , listen and repeat Teacher shows 2 pictures on the screen and ask them to guess:
Who are they? What are they talking about? What can you see in the pictures?
Trang 8Part 2: point and say: Teacher shows 4 pictures on the screen and call some pairs to ask and answer the model sentence with each picture:
Do you have any … ? Yes, I do/No, I don’t
+Teacher gives more pictures about pets related to their lessons and ask them to talk about them This is often used in the part: Let’s talk
For example: Unit 17-lesson1-part 3: talk about their toys Teacher calls some students and asks them to talk about toys they like:
St1: What toys do you like?
St2: I like…
+Teacher turns on some tape scripts about one topic related to their lesson then ask them to practice after listening twice or three times This is often used at the end of each lesson or to check old lesson:
For example: Unit 19- lesson 2 At the end of the lesson, I open the tape then ask them to practice in pairs in class:
Hoa: Hello, Mai This is Hoa , I’m in Thanh Hoa
Mai: oh, Great!
Hoa: What’s the weather like in Thanh Hoa today?
Mai: It’s rainy
Teaching online really needs the interaction between teacher and students
or among themselves owing to the methods of practicing reflex, students feel confidents in speaking English and online lessons at home become more and more exciting and useful, English now is not boring, not practical, it is now a living language which my students can make use in daily life
Second method: practice pronunciation for students:
During speaking time, it’s important to pronounce correctly, so when teaching new words or model sentences, I’m always aware that I myself pronounce exactly both phonic, intonation and stress so that my students can imitate in the right way, which is the basic factor for teaching listening and speaking To compare with native people’s pronunciation I need to Listen to their tapes regularly, then I must teach and require my students to have an English habit of correct pronunciation that’s my target in teaching online or offline
-Teacher should ask them to pronounce well last sounds such as : bag
/bæg/, book /buk/
-Practise connected sounds: for example
If first words end with single vowels /ɪ/ hoặc /iː/, or double vowels /aɪ/,
/eɪ/ và /ɔɪ/ and the next words start with any vowel, sound /j/ will be used to connect these words, for example :
-“Say it” is pronounced /sei jit/
- With plural form, teacher needs to practise for students the last sound:
+ Pronounce /s/ when standing after voiceless consonants /t/, /p/, /k/, /s/, /f/, /θ/ For example: cassettes, books,
+ Pronounce /z/ when standing after vowel or voiced consonants //b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /ð/, /m/, /n/, /Ŋ/, /l/, /r/ For example: crayons, tables, markers …
+ Pronounce /iz/ when standing after vowels :/z/, /s/, /ʤ/, / tʃ /, / ʃ /, /ʓ/
Trang 9For example: pencil cases, oranges, nurse…
Third method: Practice for students to pronounce right intonation:
Intonation means your voice moves up and down, listeners may misunderstand
if you pronounce wrong intonation of sentence Intonation is separated into two
groups : the rising tune and the falling tune
The rules of rising tune :
a Yes/No questions:
For example:
+ Have you ever come here? Are you a student ? Are you ready?
b Asking for help:
+Can you give me a cup of tea? +Will you close the door for me, please?.
c Positive feelings:
+Wow, that’s great! I’m so happy! +Oh, really surprise!
d close or emotional feeling:
+Oh sweetie, How are you today? +My honey, come here
+Kery, my friend, sit down and drink with me
The rules of falling tune :
a Greetings to show close feeling:
“Good Morning!”, ”Good afternoon”,
b Wh questions: What, When, Where, Why, How,…”
+What do you usually do in the evening?
+ Where are the cats?
c commands , orders:
For example:
+ Don’t be late anymore!
+ Listen to me, now!.
+ Sit down , please!
d Negative feelings
For example:
+ Teacher, Sorry, I’m late
Fourth method: Introduce and practice for students the ways of developing speaking skill:
a Yes/No question :
+ I show a topic and ask them to practice:
+ I provide some related words and model sentences, I model first then students imitate and practice freely
For example: Unit 5-English 4: I call some students to practise in turns with pictures I show online:
T: Can you sing, Nam?
St 1: Yes, I can Can you dance, Long?
St 2: No, I can’t Can you play the guitar, Minh?
St 3: Yes,I can Can you cook, Dat ?
b Ask and answer :
Trang 10This method help students have quick reflex of speaking I show questions or pictures about one topic or contents related to their lessons and ask
my students to answer
I call two students to open micro to practice in pair, each part I call three
or four pairs For example: English 3- Unit 14- lesson 2-part 2
I show pictures of pets and ask them to practice in pairs
St1: How many….are there?
St2: There are………
English 3: Unit 14: Are there any posters in the room? lesson 2-part 2 sent to online class 3A1- Taken from English 3 textbook by Tran Thi Viet Huong.
c Using Let’s chant :
Music always motivates and attracts children to join attentively lessons, with popular melody of words and sentences in the chant taken mostly in their online lesson, students memorize easily and speak more naturally Chants in online lessons can be used to warm up, review old lesson or teach new words… the sound of chants inspires the feeling of speaking English in online class
For example: English 3 - Unit 12 This is my house
Teacher chants first, then call some pairs of students to practice again
Is there a garden?
Is there a garden behind the house? Yes, there is Yes, there is
Is there a yard behind the house? Yes, there is Yes, there is
Is there a gate behind the house? No, there isn’t No, there isn’t
Is there a pond behind the house? No, there isn’t No, there isn’t
Fifth method: practice for students to speak with topics
Each lesson has different topics, so I often ask my students to make speech on conline class Sometimes they do this in the part consolidation,
There are many topics for each gade: me and my friends , me and my school, me and my family, me and the world around…
Normally, I ask them to use words or phrases, model sentences they learnt
or have just learnt to make speech about one topic related to their lesson
For example: English 4-Unit 8: What subjects do you have today ?
At the end of the lesson I ask them to talk about their school subjects: Student: Hi, My name’s…I study at Minh tien primary school I go to school from Monday to Friday.I have Maths,Vietnamese everyday, On Monday I have…On Tuesday I have…On Wednesday I have….On Thursday I have….On Friday I have…My favourite subject is…